With my partner off in London, UK for 5 days, I came up with a few tips and things to remember for solo parenting that I wanted to share:

• have zero expectations
• repeat to yourself “you can do it!”
• remember “a shower is a need, not a want” (like I said, these are MY tips…)
• imagine the light at the end of the tunnel. In particular, bedtime when the kids are sleeping and remember it’s all about you when they’re finally in bed
• ask for help and/or accept help if you have family and friends

I’m a SAHM (Stay-at-home-mom) and I find some days quite challenging with two kids under age 2 and a dog. Some days, it isn’t going well for me at all and some days I feel like a rockstar. Okay, so:
* I know my shoe area is a mess
* I’m THAT person who has a collection of socks in a pile by the front door
* There are only so many times a day I can put shoes together nicely until I don’t give AF
* Yes, I have small feet for an adult

My 6-month-old, Sloane is at the stage where scratching her eyes and face is a fun game so mittens are a must on her little hands. Except she’s REALLY good at this game where she pulls them off and hides them on us. When those are hidden, I turn to socks. Can you see those cute baby socks in grey with a pink bow in the photo? Those were the “mittens” we were using which were last seen on the couch. My husband swore they were on the couch and didn’t move them. I searched everywhere and couldn’t find them. I found these at the end of the night when I was about to take the dog out. It turns out Blake, my toddler took them and placed them by the shoe area because she knows socks go with shoes.

Where am I going with this? Even though I find some days extremely challenging with 2 under 2, toddler tantrums and lack of sleep (and coffee); moments like finding socks by shoes are really rewarding. It means we taught our little person something and she might actually turn out alright after all.

We can work from home, oh, oh, oh oh. Thanks Fifth Harmony for your catchy Work From Home song. Blake figured how to army crawl last weekend and in a week, she’s already zipping all over the place. WE NEED TO BABY PROOF!
For those who have done their research, the Skip Hop Interlocking Foam Tiles is BPA, phthalate and PVC free— one of the best mats for your crawling baby. It turns out it doesn’t matter what foam tiles you buy your baby because she isn’t going to stay on it. Blake had enough crawling on her foam tiles and decided that her and her white shirt would go off exploring on the laminate floor.

What’s wrong with that you say? We have a dog and his paws have been outside where it’s filthy. Then he comes home and walks all over the floor with them. How did we keep her shirt from turning black? The only thing I could think of using was a duster refill from my Swiffer by placing it under her as she pulled herself around. It worked so well! It kept her white shirt clean and she even cleaned the floors a little. Multi-tasking, now we’re speaking my language! Might as well put her to work early right?

Last weekend, our close friends decided to tie the knot. It was a ceremony we would never miss. The wedding was picture perfect on the Pan Pacific roof top pool deck overlooking the Vancouver Harbour in Vancouver, BC. One problem, the reception started at 7:00pm and we’ve been trying to put Blake to sleep between 7:00-8:00pm. Initially, I had this “brilliant” plan to go home between the ceremony and reception to follow through on our night time routine— give Blake a bath and put her in her sleeper then return to the reception. I also had to let our dog, Loki, out which was another reason why I was willing to drive all the way home. Alternatively, we could give her a bath in someone’s hotel room and avoid driving all the way home. None of the two options ended up happening.

So what really happened? I gave our amazing neighbours, Sophie and Thomas, the key to our place to let Loki out throughout the night so we didn’t have to worry about him. I packed a washcloth, sleeper, Baby Banz Earmuff and Ergo Four Position 360 baby carrier and hoped for the best. The ceremony started at 4:30pm and Blake did really well through it. As soon as the reception came, she started to get fussy because it was her bed time.

I want to explain a couple things. First of all, I’m not a huge fan of breastfeeding in public because I find it uncomfortable unless we’re covered with a nursing cover, blanket or I’m wearing a nursing shirt. Second, Blake is at the point where EVERYTHING distracts her. She dislikes any cover while she’s eating and if there’s any type of distraction nearby, she’s going to turn away and check it out.

I had to leave the table a few times because she was not doing well and I desperately had to find a place to feed her—distraction free. Thank you Pan Pacific! For some reason, there was an unlocked vacant room not far from the reception. There I wiped her down with the washcloth, changed her into her sleeper and nursed her to sleep. Then I placed her in the baby carrier with her Baby Banz and went back to the reception. Wearing her in the carrier ended up working out really well. Although she had woke up a couple times throughout the night, she was comfy enough to instantly fall back asleep. Miles and I were able to dance and hang out with our friends until 1:30am. Wild! I know! If we ever have to go to a wedding reception again in the near future, I’m bringing a baby carrier, ear muffs, sleeper and washcloth.

Of course when baby’s develop and grow, they become more interactive with their surroundings. I’m happy to see Blake hitting milestones, grabbing and throwing whatever she can, wherever she can, but sometimes it makes certain tasks such as diaper changes really challenging.

Now I’ve never had a cat because I’m super allergic to them, but based on what I’ve seen cats do, this is what I think they would be doing. If I don’t hide the strings on the blinds, Blake is constantly grabbing and batting at them. My biggest fear with the strings is if she ended up wrapping herself around them.

On another note, since she figured out how to roll over, she has been constantly twisting her bum up during a diaper change— and we know what she can do with an exposed bum! If you don’t know what she can do, catch up and read The Poop Accident. Luckily, the door is next to the change station and we are able to wrap the blinds string around the door handle. A combination of her twisting and playful string playing remind me of kittens. Anyone else feel this way or is it just me?

Warning: The following content may contain strong offensive images and foul language. Viewer discretion is advised.

Some lucky parents can say this has never happened to them. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. My 7-week-old baby at the time had a “little” accident. You’re already looking at the picture asking “How did this happen!?” Ohhhh, I’m about to tell you! Here I am, changing Blake’s 8th diaper of the morning and she let out a fart. First of all, she farted a lot and sometimes a little poop came out, nothing that couldn’t be saved (other than an exceptional time prior to this incident). This time, she farted, nothing… La la la, I’m doing my diaper change routine, holding her legs up in the air and then *squirttttttt!!!* the longest shart of shit go flying towards the wall and splashes everything around it (including in my mouth… no, I don’t want to talk about it). It was awful! It reminded me of a water gun under pressure. I had always wondered how her diaper got so full… that moment solved the mystery. Not only did her shit hit the walls, it hit the picture canvas on the wall stripping the ink off when I wiped it. Her shit dripped down behind the bookshelf to the baseboards and over extension cords. It was a mess! I quickly finished her diaper change and put her in the bassinet.

I tried to give the wall a good wipe with Lysol cleaning wipes and they didn’t do much. If you look closely at the second photo, you can see wiping it didn’t completely remove the shit. Did I mention we painted our walls on Christmas Eve? No? Well, we did. This accident took place three months later on March 29th. These walls were still fresh and new to me. Suddenly, Miles walks in (lucky me!) and he was able to help me clean the walls with a scrubby and combination of Lysol and dish soap.

Two days later, while Blake’s diaper was off during diaper change, without any warning signs or change in facial expression— not even a fart, Blake pees and it goes in my hair. It was an interesting week. In the future, if you ever get shit on your hands while changing a baby, just remember, it could be on your walls instead.

Does every new mother online shop or is it just me!? Lately I’ve been talking to other moms who have a child under a year old and many of us have an online shopping addiction. Since we’ve been in Vancouver, I have enjoyed driving less and enjoyed online shopping more. Who wouldn’t? You are shopping from the comfort of your own home— in bed, on the toilet, on the couch, while breastfeeding… you don’t even need to wear pants. It’s great! One noticeable difference from Calgary and Vancouver is the accessibility of big box chain stores. To name a couple, Walmart and Superstore, they are either on the outskirts of Vancouver, in Burnaby, Richmond or somewhere outside of Vancouver. Do you know how long it takes to pack up a baby, sit in traffic, find parking, go shopping and go home? Too long. A better idea, support postal services by allowing their employees to deliver your package to your front door.

If some of you have never heard of Ebates.ca, I highly suggest using it for online shopping. They may not have all stores you shop at but they have many. All you do is go to Ebates.ca, click through their site to the store you want to shop at (i.e. Well.ca), shop, shop, shop, and pay for your purchase. Then check your Ebates account and you should see some cash rewards from shopping. Each online store has a different percentage of what is given back of your total purchase. Personally, I like to make money any way I can. Why would I want to carry boxes of diapers to my home when someone else can? They’re getting paid for it. You are not alone when it comes to online shopping!