Once Bit Twice Shy

Poor Auntie Mare. Ever the good sport, she volunteered to babysit on my first Friday night out since I brought Makeda home. She was good (foolish) enough to also volunteer for the following night, which was my first Saturday night out. Miss M, however, in an apparent attempt to sabotage mommy's social life, gave Auntie a rough time, tossing her cookies not once, but twice. Auntie Mare was a good sport and agreed to come back for the Saturday shift, but not without full protection. Luckily M was already in bed by then and Auntie Mare was able to take all that rubber home and put it to better use!

To Be or Not to Be... A Monkey

Here in Canada, we have a lovely tradition of calling cute things "monkey" (we also say 'eh' and we apologize a lot, but I digress). "Monkey" is most often used to refer to pets and/or small children and in fact, I've called my nieces, nephews and both dogs, "monkey" for years. But I've been struggling with it a bit since Makeda arrived. I even recently bypassed an adorable tshirt/yoga pant combo with both the word and picture "monkey" on it, in favour of the "sweet pea" version, even though the monkey outfit was cuter and a better colour. Once my shopping was impacted, I knew I had to give the matter more thought.

I expect if I used "monkey" to describe a cute black kid in the States, I'd be shot. Apparently, according to a recent returnee from the U.K., it's also an absolute no-no over there, although "cheeky monkey" is acceptable. So, what to do with Makeda?

Since she's arrived, I've noticed that people in her life have dealt with this issue in a few different ways. There's those that bite their lip mid-stream through the word and replace it with "peanut" or another substitute, those that have never used it when referring to her, and a third group that, whether intentionally, so as not to single her out, or simply out of ignorance of the potential sensitivity of the word, continue to use it. I don't object to any of these approaches. I know that the word is not racially charged up here, and I don't want people to feel they should treat her differently, when the pet name is clearly not a racial slur. For those who choose not to use it, I take that as a sign of respect and an effort not to offend, even though I expect they know that no offense will be taken.

Having said all that, I think this is a pretty big deal south of the border. I know I will consciously take it out of my vocabulary when I'm down in the States with her. But so far as general use goes, is this just an instance of "when in the States, do as the Americans do", but otherwise don't treat her any differently here at home? Or is this an issue of such sensitivity in some countries, that it does (or should) transcend borders, simply out of respect?

Inquiring minds (well at least one inquiring mind) want to know...

Somebody Doesn't Like Me Very Much

Someone who I shall permit to remain anonymous (Porter) has tagged me with an annoying questionnaire apparently officially known as The Super Awesome Hot Mama Blogger (SAHMBOSS) award. It works as follows:

1. Answer annoying questionnaire
2. Choose 7 bloggers who I feel are super awesome hot mama bloggers and "give” them the SAHMBOSS award. They will post their own answers to the questionnaire on their own blog and they will choose 7 more recipients. So basically this amounts to no more than email chain letter torture.

Here is the questionnaire:

A. Attached or single? Single, and looking. (Although, if one more friend points out another good looking black man on the street and mutters "baby daddy, 11 o'clock" in my ear, I may just choose to remain single)
B. Best friend? See comment under "tagging", below.
C. Cake or pie? Definitely pie. Cherry pie.
D. Day of choice? Saturday
E. Essential item? My crackberry. No wait, that's pathetic. Plus, I change my answer to Makeda.
F. Favorite color? Blue
G. Gummy bears or worms? Hate 'em all. Gimme chocolate.
H. Hometown? Vancouver, BC
I. Indulgence? Way too many to list but they generally begin with a glass of good wine.
J. January or July? No contest. July.
K. Kids? 1 awesome daughter. 2 additional kids with fur coats.
L. Life isn’t complete without? Friends and family (including bloggy friends).
M. Marriage date? 12th anniversary would have been next Tuesday if it had ever come off
N. Number of brothers & sisters? 2 sisters
O. Oranges or apples? Apples - Pink Lady
P. Phobias? Dying in a plane crash or some other way where you see it coming and can't stop it.
Q. Quotes? Got none. I'm not that edumacated in the Arts.
R. Reasons to smile? My baby girl.
S. Season of choice? Fall
T. Tag seven peeps! (see below)
U. Unknown fact about me? Hey, I'm an open book.
V. Vegetable? Carrots. Used to eat them in sandwiches as a kid.
W. Worst habits? Potty mouth - although that's all in the eye of the beholder
X. X-ray or ultrasound? Huh?
Y. Your favorite food? Pizza (thin crust). French fries. And, being the white trash kind of gal I am, Kraft slices with miracle whip on white bread.
Z. Zodiac sign? Libra

Now here's the fun part. I’m tagging... drumroll please... NO ONE. Either I don't have seven friends, or I'm just taking pity on the ones that I have and saving them from the suffering imposed by questionnaires. You choose.

My Little Birdie

It's not professional - it's not even pretty. But this is the best I can do. This is the noise Makeda has been making since the day I first met her. She used to be able to go on for hours, but it's been fading fast and now I think it's gone forever. I wanted to record it for her and it's a good thing I did since I've not heard it since I captured it last week. As you can see, it's a noise that seems to take a lot of effort...

Stalking: An Effective Networking Tool

I guess around 10 months ago, I began looking for some adoption connections. Trolling for blogs seemed as good a start as any to meet more of my ilk. As a result of my efforts, I came across Mummyheart. After stalking her for a bit, I introduced myself, and we started exchanging emails. Turns out dear Haze is in Calgary, where I head a fair bit on business, and it wasn't long before we were hooking up on pretty much every trip. This past weekend, I was lucky enough to have her here, in beautiful Vancouver, as my guest. She got to hang with the lovely Makeda and meet friends and family, some of whom have also been following her journey to Myfanwy. At no time did we sing. Here we are at brunch with some of my posse.

And here we are with M in her hip hop gear teaching her all sorts of bad habits. It was a fabulous unforgettable weekend - over all too soon. Love ya Haze. See you soon.