Nobody ever said it was easy...

Parenting is one of the hardest jobs out there. It is definitely harder than my day job, harder than university and harder than almost anything else i've ever done. I now understand  the rational for choosing to have only one child or spacing out kids by several years. I honestly didn't even think about how a baby would affect the balance in the house! When we decided to have #2 we were only a few days away from celebrating #1's first birthday. He wasn't even walking yet! But we were so happy being parents to our perfect little boy we wanted another one, just like him!! Our decision went something like this:
"Honey, i love how cute and cuddly baby is, He is such a good boy, I want another, just like him"
"hun, i'm not getting any younger, i don't want a baby at 40... we better have another one soon!! "
"honey, I keep forgetting to take my birth control, do you suppose that is a sign we should start working on our second"  His response to each... ok!!
Three months later we were expecting #2!!
No thought to how another baby would affect us financially, emotionally or physically. I always knew that I wanted more than one baby but as I wasn't blessed with starting a family at a young age so I had to make due with the hand i was dealt. Since I would never have had a baby without being married first.And i didn't get married until 31..  That meant having my first baby at 33 and a second at 35. My mom was 29 when i was born and and 31 when my brother came along, i always felt that she was the "older" mom in the bunch. How times have changed!!!
Anyway, i wouldn't change the way things have turned out but there are times when I wish I could just step out of my life for a short time, just to catch my breath and remember how lucky I really am!!!

SOOO

it has been a long while since my last post...can't believe how the time escapes me!
Anyway in reference to my last post- I did end up finding to bikinis that I love. YES I said BIKINIS!!! both very flattering on top and not too bad on the bottom either! I wore them with great confidence...until one broke...yup just broke- mid wear. My brand new $90 bikini broke. the plastic which closes the top just snapped into two. Luckily the store sent it for repair and it was ready for wear again in 2 short weeks. They have amazing customer service there and I recommend anyone looking for a bra style bikini check out Legs Plus on Leslie!

Still Searching

My son was diagnosed with Idiopathic Scoliosis in July of 2011. He has been wearing a Boston Brace for about 14 months now. At first he was fairly compliant and wore the brace with no debate or argument. As time goes on and he notices that nobody else he knows wears a brace he is becoming more defiant and less willing to wear it regularly. This is becoming a big problem for us as we are fully aware of the damaging effects non-compliance can have on his health long -term. This is very frightening for us knowing that what makes him happy now can seriously effect him negatively later on. I have nightmares when I think about him wearing the brace until he is 12 or 12. Another 6 or 7 years.
The problem is we have been searching for over a year now for a support group where he can meet other kids who suffer from Scoliosis and must wear a brace. We live the biggest city in Canada and there are absolutely no such groups around. There was one website with forums for both kids and parents dealing with Scoliosis available but that was recently disabled for reasons unknown to us. The closest group we have come across is in Ottawa...very useful. I have emailed numerous individuals from websites and even contacted the Scoliosis clinic at Sick Kids (where he receives most of his care) they have NOTHING for us. The only advise they had for us is to take him to a psychologist. JUST LOVELY. and so wrong on so many levels. If he had some other issue I'm sure he would have the option of a support group to vent his frustrations and gain understanding from other kids of how to cope but with Scoliosis he is treated like a pariah. The child has no outlet for his thoughts and feelings on dealing with being the only kid in his whole school with a brace other than speaking with his parents and teachers. It really isn't fair and we seriously need to fix this hole in the system.