Standing on my Soap Box

Well, I guess an introduction is in order. My name is Sheila Kolesar, and I have been asked to write a blog on my thoughts and opinions. If you know me at all, you know that I have plenty of opinions, but not necessarily a whole lot of thoughts. 🙂

I have been married for 17 years in November to a wonderful man. I am a mom, with three boys 15, 12, and 10. My oldest is in grade 10, and starting driver’s education, my middle son is in grade 7, and loves to draw. My youngest is in grade 5. He started talking at the age of 1, and he hasn’t stopped talking since! (As my mother in law said “I turned his mouth on, how do I turn his mouth off”)

I am hoping to impart to you my many pearls of wisdom (or at least one or two over the next little while.)

I guess there is no time like the present, so here goes – Moms this one is for you!

Have you ever gone on a commercial airplane and had the stewardess stand at the front and tell you that if the air masks fall down from the ceiling of the plane, that you need to put your air mask on first before you put your child’s mask on them. They tell you that if you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to take care of your child. It’s the same in life.

All too often I hear a phrase that goes something like this… “So long as my children have a roof over their head, clothes on their body, and food on the table I am happy”. In the mean time you take a look at some of these moms and they are looking tired, ragged, semi depressed and just like they don’t take care of themselves. I happen to be one of them, so when I say what I’m going to say today, please know that I am talking to myself as well. And, yes I am working on taking my own advice!)

Mom’s who put everyone else ahead of themselves, become lost. When the children get older, and don’t need mom as much as the children were younger, and then the Mom’s have lost who they are. I used to often say to myself that my children don’t realize all I gave up for them, but in reality I didn’t give it up for them, I gave it up because I thought it was the right thing to do.

So with that said, Let’s take a look at taking care of ourselves. It is amazing how good you can feel after you’ve had a shower, put on nice clean clothes, did you hair, and spent time by yourself. There is an old saying “If Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy”. Momma feels better with a shower.

I am not saying you need to go out and spend a ton of money, or lock yourself up in the bathroom for 3 hours. We have a great MCC that a lot of people I know used to get great clothing finds at. You go to Shopper’s and get yourself a little make up and you don’t need to buy the expensive brand names.

What I am saying, is maybe trade babysitting with your friends, let them have a little alone time, and give your children someone to bug instead of you. Are you all alone by yourself with the kids all day? Invite friends over, or go to the park for a walk. You might end up meeting someone new.

As you can see from my introduction I have older children now, and I really wished I had spent more time going for walks with them, or taking them to a park. (you know those dust bunnies that multiply when you aren’t looking? They will be there when you return, but trust me your children won’t be little for long. I have very good kids, who are very respectful, and I am sure that is because I was with them most of the day. I could have been a better mother who felt better about herself if I would have just taken some time to cultivate me. Now that they are older, I am cultivating me. I am taking better care of myself, and I know the benefits of doing so. How about you? Wanna give it a try?

Once a month, during the school year, you will find a book review attached at the bottom of my blog. These reviews are coming from students of the Blumenort School. Today’s review comes from the Kindergarten class. I hope you enjoy it.

Book Review

Title: Germs, Germs, Germs
Author: Bobbi Katz

Submitted by the Kindergarten Classes from Blumenort School

We really enjoyed reading this book. It was so interesting learning about germs. Here are some things that we thought were important to remember about germs.

We need to wash our hands to flush germs down the drain.

Always remember to FLUSH THE TOILET.

We should always use soap and hot water for dishes (in the dishwasher) and soap and warm water to wash our hands.

We don’t like germs because they can give us the flu (make us throw up), tummy aches, or a cold.

Germs are tiny and strong and mean and sneaky. When we fall and scrape ourselves, germs can cause infections, and those hurt!

We should not suck our fingers or other things because they have germs on them. We need to remember, germs are EVERYWHERE!

Sunshine and fresh air help to kill germs.

We wash the floor with soapy warm water to kill germs.

We can help get rid of germs to stay healthy.

We learned lots about germs! They are EVERYWHERE!!