Happy Things Friday: 28 March

Another week and another batch of Happy Things. Let’s dive right in, shall we?

CROCUSES AND SNOW

Yes, it was -8.5°C one morning. But, there are crocuses and birds singing. I can go outside the door without a hat and mittens most days. I have an appointment for switching out the snow tires on my vehicle.

When I opened the curtains yesterday morning I was SHOCKED to see a thick blanket of heavy snow. Even more shocking, I was actually happy to see the white stuff. To experience the magic of one last overnight transformation of the world. The trees were bending under the weight of the snow…and the roads were clear. Yes, please.

MOTHERHOOD

I’m often quick to grumble about the challenges of motherhood. It’s exhausting, emotionally complex, and frequently overwhelming. The demands are physical, emotional, and mental; becoming a parent fundamentally shifts one’s life in ways that can be difficult to fully prepare for. True, true, and true.

Yet, despite the challenges, motherhood is a joy and a blessing.

This week, as I reflected on the anniversary of becoming a mother — yes, it was Belle’s birthday! — I took time to be grateful for my often-overlooked reality that infertility was not part of my journey. Many people I care about have faced heart-wrenching struggles, sacrifices, and losses – often without the outcome they so deeply longed for – in their own path to parenthood. It’s far too easy for me to overlook the privilege of becoming pregnant without needing medical intervention.

To anyone reading this post who has experienced – or is currently walking – the difficult, painful road of infertility or loss, my heart is with you. I am deeply sorry that this is part of your story, and I want to honour the immense strength and resilience you’ve shown.

Hugs <3

THRIFTED FINDS

I haven’t done a thrift-store roundup in a while, but we’ve had some great finds. In fact, every single birthday gift for Belle was second-hand!

• A high-quality $8 scooter for Indy. We’ve only ever owned bare-bones hand-me-down scooters in the past and this is a real improvement. He is loving it.
• An iPhone for Belle ($200). More on this below!
• A new belt for $6. I didn’t own a belt and had some thrifted pants that really needed a belt.
• A $3 set of gender-neutral warm mittens. We can always use more mittens in our stash as they have a tendency to go missing *cough, cough – Indy – cough, cough*
• Belle adores university sweatshirts and we found one from a local school at a thrift store for less than $10.

• Three fuzzy pillow cases. Belle wanted a new BIG pillow (what my parents gifted her), but it required bigger pillow cases. I found 2 for $4 at a thrift store and washed them up. They are SO soft. Also, a fuzzy bear pillow cover ($3.50). The purple pillow is an old thrift find, as well as her giant reading pillow.

• I have been looking for a little orb lamp for YEARS to cast extra light into the corner of our dining room/living room. John spotted one at a thrift store but it didn’t have a price tag. A store worker ended up charging us $2.99 (-20% with our coupon). SOLD!

BELLE’S BIRTHDAY

Wow. Birthday’s are so much easier when kids get older. For starters, I didn’t wrap any of her gifts this year. I didn’t have gift bags that fit the bigger items and that inspired laziness on my part.

I also didn’t feel like wrapping up her phone, so we hid it in her room – setting the ring tone to crickets – and then called her number the morning of her birthday. She was SO surprised.

Decisions surrounding screens and technology are highly personal and I’m not trying to justify our decision either way as we’re confident in the timing. But I thought some readers might be interested in our reasoning for allowing Belle to have a phone at 14, and the rules we’ve put in place.

• She is literally the last student in her entire 8th grade without a phone. Just because everyone else is doing something isn’t a good reason to do something, and that’s been a hard lesson. But she has – quite shockingly – never really complained. She wrote an impassioned speech about all the reasons she should have a phone – and how she would use it responsibly – about a year ago, read it to us, we reiterated the answer was No, and she moved on with life. I’m a bit incredulous, actually. But she did really want a phone to communicate with friends.
• In talking with various friends who have children in high school, it is assumed and all but mandatory to have access to a cell phone in Grade 9. Knowing she will make that move in September, we thought it was important to have some buffer between the adjustment to high school and the transition into having a phone.
• Now that Belle is able to babysit and stay home alone, we have been leaving one of our cell phones with her since we no longer have a landline. This gets complicated and was not ideal.
• We have laid out a very clear groundwork for expectations. We have password protected parental controls. Safari is inaccessible. The phone goes to bed when Mom and Dad go to bed (we will charge it in our room). Like all screen time in our household, doors stay open at all times and 99% of the time that screen time takes place in a public space (i.e. not a room; but if in the room – the door is open).
• No social media – hopefully forever, but for as long as we have parental controls on the phone.

BONUS HAPPY THINGS

• Paying Belle and a friend to do some outside yard work that I was dreading so, so much. I offered them $2 each, but they worked for long enough – without complaint – I ended up giving them $5 each. Worth every penny.

• A card arrived in the mail from Maria! How thoughtful. She said she bought it specifically for me because it reminded her of the FIG Collective.
• I was doing a bit of yard work and spotted the crocuses pictured above. It was a nice surprise harbinger of spring.
• Plain yogurt, peanut butter, homemade granola, and berries. Words fail me. So delicious.
• A micro-nap that helped me deal with some lingering jet-lag.
• A deep-cleaned bathroom.
• Finding an IKEA drawer organizer that fit perfectly in my dresser and has helped me better organize my socks/underwear.
• Google Drive.
• Lemon chicken and mashed potatoes.
• Just-the-right-temperature coffee while I worked at my office desk.
• Continuing to re-watch the back catalogue of the Great British Baking Show.
• Crossing things off my to-do list.

• One of our friends (sort of like an adopted aunt to Belle) is a florist and she dropped off this arrangement on her birthday. Beautiful, no?
• The kind, thought-provoking, and inspiring comment section on my guest post over at The Frugal Girl.
• One of my “fun ideas” for the year is making it to my favourite cafe at least once a month. I’m barely squeezing it in under the wire, but I made it today – the 27th of March – and that’s where I’m writing this post.
• That Belle’s friends so graciously moved conversations to their school e-mail so Belle could be included for the many months she was without a phone.

And that’s a wrap on Happy Things in my life this week. This afternoon and evening will be filled with pizza and cake pops and a gaggle of giggling girls as we celebrate Belle’s progression into her teen years with friends. In less fun news, we’ll say goodbye to my parents this weekend…but that means that summer is officially on the way. (That’s me adjusting my proverbial sails.)

Your turn.

• What are some Happy Things from your world this week?
• How frequently do you buy fresh flowers?