“Santa, I did it for you!”

 

While we’re all gathered for Christmas dinner, we’re looking at the door full with excitement and eagerness. The door is opening and Santa is entering the room. We were all expecting this moment. My son sees him and with a tremor in his voice says: “Santa, I did it for you!”

Every year, we celebrate Christmas together with our family, at my parents’ house. We share gifts, eat, drink and we talk about last year’s best moments. The Christmas of 2015 was a little different. This year, Santa was stopping by our house to share our Christmas presents, especially our son’s.

Few days before Christmas, I decided it was time to decorate our Christmas tree together with my son. The tree was already in its usual place, so I called my son and told him: “Let’s decorate the Christmas tree for Santa!” He was very happy to participate in this “adventure” of colorful Christmas baubles, tinsels and other tree decorations. He studied every single bauble, wanting to help in every way he could.

This was the first time he understood what Christmas really means. What we didn’t realize then, was that for him it had a deeper meaning. All that he knew was that he was decorating the Christmas tree for Santa to come and sit by it. If we didn’t have a Christmas tree, Santa wouldn’t come.

We considered that our son was old enough (being almost three years old) to meet Santa Claus, so we asked my husband’s brother to dress like Santa and bring us joy for ten minutes in our house. Of course, he gladly accepted and we couldn’t wait for the big moment to come, imagining how we would all laugh, knowing this little secret.

So, the most awaited moment came and he was in our house. As he entered the door, my son was filled with emotions. His whole body was shaking and, taking my mother’s hand he says: “Santa, I did it for you!” , looking at the Christmas tree.

I realized it then. Decorating the Christmas tree had a much more meaning to him than we realized.

Photo Credit: strollerdos via Compfight cc

 

X.O.X.O.

Oana

 

 

The Earth we walk on

Everyday, when we’re going to work or when we’re taking a walk in the park, our feet are stepping on the ground of Mother Earth. Even if it’s covered in concrete, it’s still our Earth, changes by us. It consists of dirt, mud, rocks or fine sand on the beach.
The Earth is round and we live and move around like little ants, taking advantage of what we’ ve discovered and still discovering new things. The Earth is giving us more than enough so we can enjoy our lives.

X.O.X.O.
Oana

My 5 Healthier Habits

A lot has happened in my life this year, but the one thing that effected me the most was my mother’s cancer diagnosis. After realizing how important our health is, I decided I want a healthier lifestyle. Even though I’m not a coffee drinker and I don’t smoke, I know it won’t be easy but I’m willing to try.

So here are my 5 personalized healthy habits that I want to adopt from now on:

1. Drink a lot of liquids – Ok. I know that I should say “Drink a lot of water” but I’m not a water person. Not even a bit. I really prefer drinking something that tastes of… something. A juice, a tea, syrup with water, anything but simple water. So, I decided to start drinking more liquids and healthier ones.
2. Eat less junk food – I’m officially a junk food addict. I love eating a Big Mac, drinking Coca-Cola and french fries. Not very healthy, huh? That’s why I ‘m trying to reduce my junk food eating.
3. Eat more fruits and vegetables – I recently started taking vitamins like vitamin C, calcium, magnesium… the important ones. And that’s because I’m sure I don’t take my necessary vitamins from my daily food. I’m sure that if I start eating more fruits I will obtain more of my necessary vitamins than I do now. Even though I’m not much into vegetables, I mean I’m a very picky person when it comes to food (this will be elaborated on another article),  I can find some attractive veggies. For example, I like eating carrot sticks instead of popcorn when I’m watching a movie.
4. Maintain a positive attitude – I am a positive person and I intend on remaining like this also in the future. It’s healthier to be a stress-free person.
5. Get enough sleep and rest – This is a hard one. It’s hard to get enough sleep and rest with a three year old kid.

So, be positive, be strong, be healthier. This is a good motto.

 

X.O.X.O.

Oana

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Fire

I could write so much about fire right now, but it would involve a LOT OF PAIN!

I could write about the terrorism attacks in Paris or I could remind you of the Fire from #Colectiv club, but the article would be filled with sorrow and tears.

So, I decided I won’t elaborate too much on this subject. Not now.

X.O.X.O.

Oana

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I need Water

• A blue cool wave is coming towards me as I feel the breeze of fresh salty air through my hair. I dive into it and I start swimming, moving my arms through the powerful current of the sea water. I love the feeling. There are places where I feel colder water and other places with warm water.

• As my son is deeply asleep I go and prepare myself a bubbly warm relaxing bath. I feel the water healing and hydrating me. It relaxes me. All my stress goes away and I feel so thankful for… water.

• My son drinks a lot of water. And when I say a lot, it means a lot. I try and diversify with some tea or natural juice. He screams “NO, I want water!”. I hoped I’d be more like him. I don’t drink as much water, or I must confess I don’t drink water at all.

The Air that surrounds us

I’ve decided that I should write down my thoughts as often as I can. Just sit down in my quiet place and write. No edits. Just my words.

So, I should find a lot of topics. But I decided to begin with some basic ideas. What about the elements of nature? I will try and write about the elements of nature: air, water, earth and fire.

I am in one of my favorite coffee shops, drinking my tea, eating some buttery croissants and writing. So, let’s begin!

Everybody knows that we need the air to live. Without it we would die. Thinking about it, air has to do with everything we do in life. Something that is literally invisibile, it’s actually so “present” to us.

I am walking in the mall and somebody just walks wright near me and I feel a fresh, yet floral, perfume in the air. The air just showed me what perfume that person was wearing.

I am outside in the park with my son. We’re picking some fall leaves and we play with them. Suddenly the air indicates to us that we should change the place we are playing in. There is a nasty odor of dog poop. Eewww. We leave the place.

While I do my walk on the beach I can feel a light breeze of salty air all around me. It’s so peaceful. All I can hear are the waves of the sea.

There’s a lot more to say about the air that surrounds us. How it helps you smell fresh coffee in the morning when you pass by a coffee shop. How it brings you the beautiful smell of mother’s cake when she opens the oven or the smell of fresh cut grass in the park.

That’s it for today!

See you soon,

X.O.X.O.

Oana

My Creative Mood – illustrating my own logo

Hello everybody!

I am in a very creative mood and wanted to create something new. I want to create a logo for this blog.

You probably noticed that the illustration includes my boy and my cat 🙂 How could I leave them out of this? Well, I couldn’t. My boy is my inspiration and my cat, Fluffy, is always around looking for attention.

If you want to see how will this drawing end up, please return. I will post more images of the steps.

X.O.X.O.

Oana

Bucharest Nightclub Fire – Hell on Earth

You probably already heard of the tragedy that hit a club in Bucharest on friday evening, October 30. If not, here is a brief summary on the news.

I woke up Saturday morning and, as usual, I was zapping through the TV channels., as I heard the NEWS: ‘Horrific Fire in a Nightclub – At least 27 people have been killed”. I was stunned. At this time, there are 30 people dead from the fire and 180 people are being treated in hospital. Some of these people have severe burns. There were 400 people attending the concert.

This is the worst incident in Romania in the last 20 years and it occurred during a concert by a rock band called Goodbye to Gravity. Two guitarists have died and the other members are in hospital with severe wounds from the horrific fire.

The band used a pyrotechnic display that went disastrously wrong. The polystyrene decor was on fire because of the fireworks used during the show. This caused a massive panic through the people. It was like a Halloween Movie (especially that this happened on full Halloween Season). Burned people trying to get outside screaming for help, asking for their friends that remained stuck in the nightclub. All of them were trying to stay alive.

I am now reflecting at my college years, when I went clubbing almost every weekend and I am asking myself: What if this happened to me? One of the nightclubs where I was going had only one door to get in and out and poor construction standards. What if I was in the same situation? I myself being a mother am reflecting and I feel these parents grief from losing a child in such a horrific way.

What did the witnesses, doctors and firemen saw there?  I don’t even want to know, really. I think it was like a zombie horror movie.

And just to think that one of the songs of Goodbye to Gravity was entitled “The way we day”.

May God be with them!

DIY Halloween crafted Haunted House

There are so many ways to spend time with your kids, getting ready for the Halloween Season.

Halloween should not include only spine tingling scary things, but it should also be a happy and fun time with our little ones. It’s time to bring out the kid in most of us and we can do this with some Halloween craft ideas for kids. So, I spent some quality time with my son crafting a fun Spooky Haunted House.

And guess what? It wasn’t as messy as I’d expected and my kid loved it.

I will share with you our little project, so you can too have some fun crafting together with your kids. Follow these step by step instructions to create a charming Haunted House and let’s do some Halloween crafting!

What you’ll need:

• Cardboard;
• Glue;
• 5 x 4 cm long strings;
• Acrylic paints;
• 1 medium size brush;
• 1 large brush;
• 1 black ballpoint pen;
• Scissors,
• thicker paper of different colors.

First of all, you must draw the outline of the house on your cardboard. This way you will know exactly where to cut it. Now, let’s cut the cardboard and glue all the parts until the house it’s complete.

It’s time to paint! Grab the large brush and use your black acrylic paint to paint the walls of the house. Leave blank spaces for the windows and the door. Let it dry! You can also paint another thicker cardboard with green paint, suggesting grass. We will use it a support for our haunted house.

After the painted walls are dry, paint the windows orange with grey border using the medium size brush. We’ll use the same orange color for
the roof top. I also suggested the tiles on the roof with black paint .

Glue the house on a the thicker cardboard you have already painted green.

Next, I have drawn and cut out a ghost, a witch-cat, five bats and two pumpkins. The cat and the pumpkins were drawn on orange paper and the ghost on white paper, but you can also use other colors. The bats were cut out of the same cardboard I used for the house and painted black with a marker on each side. I also added the eyes with acrylic yellow paint. Use your imagination and add these decorations around the house using glue and strings. I used strings to hang some of the bats, so they seem like they fly around the haunted house.

Decorate the surroundings of the house with leaves and chestnuts. After all, it’s fall.

Now enjoy the view. You have a Halloween Haunted House crafted together with your kids. What a great decoration idea, isn’t it?

X.O.X.O.

Oana

Photo credit: Oana

How do I Manage my Kid’s Temper Tantrums

For some time now, I am going through a very challenging period as a mother. My two and a half year old boy is having a lot of temper tantrum moments. I feel I’m having a meltdown. I’m going crazy and crazier. But I found some ways to manage this period and I want to share them with you. Maybe you will find them useful.

Here is an example of how I often start my day:

“It’s morning and my alarm clock app rings. I have to wake up my son and help him getting ready for kindergarten in half an hour, so my husband can take him on his way to work. While he sits on his potty I begin to dress him for kindergarten. Now the “brushing your teeth moment” comes. He doesn’t want to do it and so the kicking and screaming chaos begins. Sometimes he even hits me. My child seems out of his mind and the more he screams, the more I start to have my own meltdown. I scream back at him, yelling at him to stop kicking and to brush his teeth, but I don’t have such luck. Another day is starting and my son seems to make it worse. He goes to kindergarten without having his teeth cleaned.”

I feel like I’m going crazy with these temper tantrum moments. I know I have to be calmer. This way I can show him how to be calm as well. Me and my husband are the best examples for my kid. My self-control takes over me as I try really hard not to spank him. If I would spank him and hit him, I would show him that this type of behavior is ok and I don’t want that. I know I have a lot to learn, and find a better way to deal with these temper tantrums.

The thing is that my kid doesn’t know how to express his feelings and he shows when he’s upset or frustrated through these temper tantrums. I also see how my child wants more independence, more than he is capable of gaining. This must be frustrating. He just didn’t developed good coping skills, not just yet. I must teach him how to deal with frustration and, over time, this crazy period will decrease or, maybe, even end.

My kid started having these temper tantrums when we decided it was time to end the pacifier habit. Of course he had temper tantrums before, but the tantrums were easier to calm with the help of a pacifier.

I know that temper tantrums are a normal thing in the development of a child. I also know that some kids have tantrums often and other rarely. My son is one of the kids that have often tantrums. There is a long way before the tantrums will decrease in intensity and will end. I expect that this will happen around age 4.

Here are some rules to take into account that will help in avoiding and managing these tantrums that worked for me:

• Pay attention to your kid’s activity. Praise him when he is good and give him positive attention.
• If he wants control, give him control. Of course not for dangerous stuff, but give him control over little things. Let him make minor choices. For example, in the morning he could choose what to drink, tea or milk.
• Offer him a distraction. Offer him something else in place of what he can’t have, a new activity instead of the forbidden one.
• Be careful and observe your child’s limits. If he is too tired, don’t take him shopping.
• DON’T GIVE IN. I find this rule to be the most important one. Kids tend to always test your limits. Do not reward his behavior by giving in. This will only show him that the tantrum was effective. After he calmed down, give him a hug and show him that he is loved.

As your child will learn to communicate better and cope with frustration, we will all be happier parents.

X.O.X.O.

Oana

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