Author: theantsybutterflyadmin

Sleeping With the Enemy – When You Are Your Worst Critique

The other day, I bumped into an old acquaintance. She’s pretty judgmental and I always feel like I have to prove something to her. She gives me that disapproving look that says it all: you’re not good enough. She’s the worst.

Unfortunately, this acquaintance is a little more than an acquaintance. I’ve know her forever. Literally, forever. This acquaintance is me.

I’m my worst enemy when it comes to judgment.

I have this unrealistic vision of how things should be like and how my child should behave. I think, I must be a bad mom since my kid is refuses to calm down like I’ve asked. read more

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I’m Exactly Where I Need To Be – A Little Birthday Perspective

Another year has gone by and I have a lot to look back on, particularly, the post I wrote last year after my birthday: Not Where I Thought I’d Be At 38 . While there was truth to that post, I’m taking a different look at my life and surroundings this year, through the eyes of 39.

Thirty-Nine. Big number, huh? I can honestly say that this past year has been better and more rewarding than the last. I can also say that I’ve learned a lot about myself this past year and what I want out of my life. You can say that I’ve gained a bit of perspective, and I have writing to thank for some of that. Looking back on the recordings of my life during the past year, I can visually see all my ups and downs and recognize patterns and so that I can make the changes I need to make to be happy. read more

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The Women Of My Tribe

They say it takes a village to raise a child and I couldn’t agree more. But that village is also needed to keep the parents of these children semi-sane in this carnival we all willingly became a part of. I mean, let’s all be honest. Parenting challenges everything – including your friendships – and I’m lucky enough to be part of a tribe that has stuck together through it all.

My tribe resembles an old tree, whose roots are deeply embedded into the ground. With over twenty years of friendship, we are as tight as the knot we tie in our kids’ shoelaces. read more

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The Case of the Working Mom Guilt: It’s a Real Thing

Here I sit in bed with my sick boy, again, watching an excessive amount of children television programs, again, and I’m feeling pretty guilty. I’m missing another day of work to nurse my child back to health and all I can think about is how I’m not at work doing my job. Instead, I’m doing my other job – the more important job – but I guess that’s not good enough.

My guilt is encompassing a wide area. It doesn’t just touch down on one thing. Oh no. It likes to wraps itself around a variety of areas to ensure I get the full mom-guilt experience. read more

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Making the Decision to Change How We Parent

There’s something to be said about strong-willed children. If you have a child with this prized characteristic trait, then you know what I’m talking about.

This evening my husband and I reached our breaking point. All this time we thought we had seen the worst, but apparently our mini felt like he hasn’t quite been giving it his all. Tonight, however, we feel as if we’ve reached the top of Mount Everest. Something needs to change, and it needs to happen now.

Leave it to my kid to make sure he gets the full preschool-age experience. He’s been challenging us to the greatest degree and it feels as if he keeps trying to outsmart, outwit, and outplay us. Yes, we are literally playing Survivor. read more

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To The Men on Instagram Who Send Me Strange Messages: I Really Am a Married Mom

In the past few months, I’ve had a variety of different kinds of messages sent to me from men on my Instagram page. Some of the greetings have started with  “Hey beautiful”, “Hey sweetie”, “Hi there gorgeous”, “You’re cute!”, and even a heart emoji. To be honest, I’m really not flattered with this introduction tactic. I mean, it’s clear these men are not messaging me about my content and are looking to talk to me about who-knows-what (but we all know what though, don’t we). read more

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A Second Letter to My Anxiety

Dear Anxiety,

It’s been almost a year since my last correspondence with you and yet, here we are again. It’s as if you didn’t even read the letter I sent you. So, because you seem to have ignored my previous attempt in communicating my issues with you, I continue taking that pesky little white and yellow pill each and every morning to help keep you at bay. Mind you, I still experience your aura sounding me as your presence is like a bad wallpaint job, but it’s hardly as bad as it could be. read more

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Oil and Garlic Spaghetti-Squash with Chicken

I’m trying to involve more spaghetti-squash in our diets the best the way I can without my husband tasting what he considers as “gross squash”. He hates squash. All squash. I’ve managed to make a soup with squash that he loves so I thought maybe I could master the spaghetti-squash as well.

He didn’t love the squash, but he loved the flavours. The beauty of this recipe is that it could be easily substituted with spaghettini or any other kind of pasta you’d like.

Oil and Garlic Spaghetti-Squash with Chicken   read more

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No Ordinary Boy: A Child Growing Up With a Heart Transplant

“I want to write about you. Do you think that would be okay?”

I asked my nephew if I could write his story while we sat together on the couch, cooling down from a blistering hot day. I’ve been wanting to write about him for a while but since he lives in the US and I live in Canada, I wanted to wait to see him before I got started. This kind of thing is best done in person.

My nephew Landon is no ordinary boy. He is a ten-year-old kid who has gone through more than any child should ever have to go through in their lifetime. His story began when he was born with half a heart; the right side didn’t work. As if being born with only half a heart wasn’t bad enough, he was also born with Hirschsprung’s disease, a disease that affects the colon and causes problems with bowel movements. read more

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Homemade Meat & Cheese Lasagna

I was trying to do some spur-of-the-moment meal-planning at the supermarket this past weekend when a tiny light bulb went on in my head. Suddenly I found myself picking up the ingredients I would need to finally make that long-awaited lasagna. Oh how I miss lasagna. I’ve been craving it for a while now, yet I’ve been avoiding it because it’s work to make your own sauce and I’ve been lazy.

However, buying the ingredients I need to make this saucy and cheesy dish kick-started my motivation and in that moment, I was in it to win it. I was going to go home, pull out all the ingredients, and immediately get to work on making a something my husband, my son, and I all love. read more

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