Happy Holidays & Giveaway Reminder

I just realized on my last post I wrote "Christmas spending money". I might have offended some of you with that because let's be honest, not everyone celebrates Christmas but if someone wants to get their panties in bunch because I wished them a HAPPY or MERRY anything they can suck it. It's not meant to be an insult or a lack of respect for others cultures, its just my way of wishing you a happy holiday season no matter what you celebrate. I hate how Merry Christmas is seen as offensive and I seriously have the term "Happy Holidays".

With that being said I realize its been a while since I last blogged. I had so much going on with my little one getting sick and me getting sick and trying to make sure I take care of all my work projects before I leave for my vacation...I've been stressed to the max!!

Anyway, for the first time in 13 years I'm spending CHRISTMAS with my PARENTS! I moved when I was 18 and although my parents come to Montreal every winter they never make it on Christmas day. They always come up on Boxing Day. Their job requires them to work on Christmas Eve and they drive up so it takes a day and a half....so I decided to put a stop to it this year. I told my husband that we were packing up and flying to Texas FOR Christmas. So we are. :) My parents are so excited to have Christmas at their house after so many years, and more than that, excited that Demi will be there for Christmas. They have this huge meal planned and my dad bought Demi a Christmas tree that is probably taller than our house!! (FYI its been so long since we've had Christmas at my parents that they threw out all their lights and ornaments and had to start buying new ones from scratch!)

My moms best friend is coming to the house, my cousin Helen is coming over...its going to be fun. :) A few days later my sister is flying in and then we all leave together on Jan 5th but its going to be great to spend Christmas AND New Years with my parents.

This is the first year I've asked for NOTHING at all, I didn't want anything, I just wanted to be with my family. Afterall, isn't that the true spirit of Christmas? Spending the day with those you love the most? I'm going to celebrate my favorite holiday with my darling daughter, my wonderful husband, and my amazing parents...the only one left out of the equation is my sister (and therefore brother in law). This will be the first time in 13 years we DON'T celebrate Christmas together but we have so many more years ahead of us. I can't wait until her little boy is born and D is a little older so we can make Christmas so magical for them. The baking, the decorating, the stories, the good deeds....just ohhh boy Christmas is my favorite holiday!

Sadly though, George's father will not be going to Florida with my brother in law as originally planned. He doesn't want to pay the crazy fee for medical insurance on him IN CASE something happens. He has to pay $1,048.57 just to be covered. If he doesn't get sick then you don't get anything back. He says its not worth it so he's spending Christmas and New Years alone which I find really sad. Especially after my whole paragraph above about how the holidays should be about being together. The guy is 84 years old and is spending the holiday alone. I even thought about offering to fly him to Texas with us but the point still remains that he'd need to buy medical insurance. I'm honestly surprised that my husband hasn't yet backed out of going to Texas yet...which he can't. He knows how much this means to me, he also needs a break, AND part of our vacation will be doing some research for a venture we are starting in Montreal.

So why don't I end this blog post on that sad thought of an old lonely man spending Christmas all by himself? Nah. I wouldn't do that to you.

I just want to remind you that there is still time to enter in the giveaway that is in my last post! QUICK! Enter to win $110!!!!!!

Travelling with Children

It's not easy to travel with children, especially if you are ALONE. You have to handle your child, your luggage, carry on bags, diaper bags etc. It's freaking stressful. When D was three months old we took our first flight from Montreal to Dallas. I was able to handle it pretty well, especially because my daddy flew to Montreal just to fly back to Dallas with me :) He toted D around in her bucket seat, I took care of checking us in and everyone at the airport was especially helpful when they saw D and passed us through customs quickly, let us board first etc. It was great.

Then D and I flew from Dallas to Fort Lauderdale. We did that trip on our own. The airport staff was great. Since I was travelling alone they helped me get thru security "Can I get that for you?" "Do you need help" were things I heard often. They were great. At one point I was struggling to carry D in her bucket seat and the diaper bag down the walk way from the boarding gate to the plane. A very nice business man asked me if he could carry something for me in order to help me out. He carried D in the bucket seat right to our assigned seats and even strapped her into the seat. He told me, "My wife used to travel with the kids alone and I know its hard. I hate to see a mother struggle." I thought that was sweet. He also helped me off the plane with baby D and made sure I had my stroller before he took off. I pushed the stroller a few feet before my husband magically appeared.

I have yet to make the jump to "international" travel (for some reason US/Canada isn't considered international). But if I were to travel outside of this continent I would make sure of a few things. One of those things would be the car seat laws. I know that that US isn't the most strict with their laws but its also not the most lenient. What are the laws where we are traveling? Are they completely absurb?

Example: I had a friend travel to Greece this summer. She informed me upon her return that the entire time she was in Greece her one year old (14.5 month) daughter was not in a car seat. That Greece's car seat laws are if the kid can walk they could be restrained by a normal seat belt. Uh? What?

So I did what any normal person would do. I googled the shit out of that. Google informed me that while Greece is great in welcoming kids they are horrible at protecting them and probably have some of the most lax car seat laws BUT they still exist. The law states that unless a child is 3 years old and 135cm that they can not ride in a car without proper restraints UNLESS in a bus or taxi. 3 years old?! Isn't that a little...ummm...not right? Man, here in Canada I have cousins that have kids that are 7 in still in booster seats due to their small size etc. 3. That is it in Greece. Three years old and you can be restrained by a seat belt that is made for adults. Sure, who cars if you get decapitated or squished by air bags....

I kinda of let it go. I pretended not to care but I can't do that. I do care. I care about my child enough to say "screw you Greece laws". Greece may say that by law a 3 year old can be strapped into a normal car seat but I'd rather follow the laws of where I'm from. You know, laws from somewhere more concerned with safety. Greece may be the birth place of democracy, philosophy, politics, math, science but they also get the crown for being the birth place of crazy driving, unmarked roads, horrible car accidents due to bad driving and unmarked roads.  Basically, its not a place I want my child to be sitting in a car completely unprotected.

I totally get that its hard to change the minds of older people from generations about certain things. My mom never had to be in a car seat when she was growing up in Greece and when she brought me home from the hospital in Montreal she was holding me in her arms, in the front seat of the car, smoking a cigarette. Uh, guess what. Times have totally changed. We don't get in cars with our children unrestrained, we don't smoke in our cars with our children, we dont sleep with our front doors unlocked either. Times have changed people.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm just smarter than that. I mean, as parents we don't really need laws to tell us what is acceptable and not right? Like, is there a law that says "Don't let your child drink bleach" I don't think there is (I could be wrong) but even without a law I know its wrong/not good. I don't need a law that says "Hanging a child upside from a ceiling fan is strictly forbidden." I kinda know that its not something you do.

So have you traveled with your child recently? Had you come across some laws or situations that you found completely insane?

(btw for all you rear facing fanatics, in Sweden there is a car seat that allows you to rear face until 55lbs!)