Theodore & David

"Mom! can you carry me?"

"No, David you are too heavy for me now"

"Ok then, I will remove my hat"

Taking the kids to the park is an extreme sport:

Theodore fell down scraping his knee. To confort him, I put down my iced coffee and David drank it. As it was too bitter for his taste, he decided to eat dirt to overcome the flavour. “Yummy” he said and then proceed to eat a pebble and chew on a stick, which, luckily he did not find tasty. Two minutes latter, Theodore fell again now hurting his forehead and elbow. As I grabbed my kids to leave, my bra snapped.

Fortunately, we are now safe and sound in front of the TV.

Hands up!

My family – like many others in Canada – has a "no toy guns policy”. I don't buy my kids plastic guns, not even water guns. I guess, like many other parents, I have the  irrational fear that my kids will grow up to be violent adults if they play with guns; or maybe we just find plain disturbing seeing our little angels pretending to fire an arm. I admit it, it freaks me out.

Yesterday we were at a water park and some kids were playing with water guns. It didn't take long for my 7 year old to get acquainted with them, and before I knew it he had a water machine gun in his hands and was having the time of his life chasing the other kids. My inner over-neurotic-mom self was freaking out "he is playing with guns!" like if that isolated action would eradicate all the good things in him. The kids were having a blast and, to be honest, I don't think any of those kids would grow up to become a mass murderer. Sure, they'd probably torture their younger siblings and might break some girl’s heart, but other than that I believe those boys will grow up to become decent human beings, regardless of what they play with.

The truth is, we overthink things.

     Are they watching too much tv? Should I add tofu and kale to their diet? Is that BPA-free, gluten-free, child proof? None if this existed 30 years ago and we turned out fine. Our parents did not play video games yet they played with little green soldiers all the time and they turned out fine. ADHD, GMO, SPD, WTF?

Phew! This is exhausting.

Sometimes is best just to stop worrying about everything (good luck with that), and let them be kids. Our job is not to hide all the toy guns in the world (there will always be a stick or their thumb and index fingers) or to keep our children in  a bubble. Our job is to teach them about love and respect and once in a while turn the other way, just let them play with water guns on a sunny August afternoon.

Lemonade Stand - Day 2

 "Sir, do you want to buy some lemonade?"

"I would love to, but I don't have any cash with me"

"Just GO!"

"Sorry! he is still working on his customer service skills"

Theodore & David

"Somebody at work was mean to me"

"Did she call you poop head?"

"Hmm...no"

"Did she call you bum bum head"?

"Hmm...nope"

"Then you can still be her friend, mom"

Lemonade Stand Day 1

Our first customer, a senior gentleman walking his dog, left without paying for his 16 oz lemonade cup. Apparently he got seriously overwhelmed by the two chatty salesmen:

- What a cute doggy!

- Can I pet him?

- Ey! that is my chair!

- Do you want raspberries in your lemonade?

- What’s your dog's name?

- Sir, can you help me set up my lemonade sign?

- No, that is my chair!

- Sorry, we are out of raspberries

- It’s my chair!

- David! get your hand out of the jug!

I don't blame the customer. This is why family businesses don't work.

About this blog

Growing up in Mexico I read American comic stripes featuring kids in a lemonade stand, which seemed like very little work and a lot of fun. When I moved to Canada and my kids were born, I pictured them selling lemonade every summer: beautiful, happy boys having fun and learning the value of work. It seemed like a milestone in their childhood. 

Little did I know, lemonade stands are a lot of work (specially for parents) and sometimes you don't see the rewards right away. They are a good analogy of parenthood: It is not all perfect like the images you see in the comic stripes, sometimes is not all fun; but it is totally worth it when you see your kids' excitement.

So, the summer my kids were 7 and 3 years old we set up our stand and thus, the chronicles of a lemonade stand began.