Ontario Science Centre With Baby

Today was the sort of day you dream about having when you start a family. We're talking good naps, brunch with friends and a well-behaved baby, and a trip to the Ontario Science Centre. We were going to go to the Aquarium, but we thought Jack needed more opportunity to run around and wear himself out.

By the time we got there we only had an hour to spend at Kidspark, the kid's section at the Centre. On one hand, this was okay since he only has a waking window of three hours max, plus that has to include a meal of some kind. When you include travel, we did the best we could. But damn, he went crazy in there. We really could have used more time.

There were so many things to touch and look at. He almost didn't know what to do with his bad self. By the time we got to the toddler area, he was pretty overstimulated and acted like a racoon who fell into a dumpster of shiny objects and corn cobs. It was amazing.

I had been wondering if 13 months was too young to enjoy this place or not and I couldn't get a good answer anywhere. Eventually I figured, fuck it. We'll just go. So glad we did. We're going to get the family pass and try and make this a thing, maybe once every month or two as a special treat.

We didn't get to see everything, by a long shot, but there was lots of stuff he was still too young for, things we can look forward to him enjoying later.

When I was younger, before I was sure I wanted a child, I used to see parents watching their kids play and I thought it looked boring. I felt bad for them stuck watching kids have fun while they sat on the sidelines. I've since learned that is the whole magic of it all. Watching your little baby become a toddler bit by bit, discovering the world, learning how to navigate his tiny body through a maze of new surroundings is almost a rush.

When you see a wee kid climb a ledge, it means nothing to you. When your own does it, you know the day he learned that skill and you relive your pride when you watch him do it somewhere new, on his way to figuring out something new.

Days like this are what I've always wanted. I experienced total contentment. And there's more to come.

Jamie Bell Playground

How does one even cover a missed month of blogging? I think the answer is just don't bother.

So, today I took Jack to High Park playground for the first time. It wasn't our first time to High Park. We'd gone for the cherry blossoms within a month of him being born last year. I was exhausted quickly and we left after a small amount of time.

One Month old and giving zero hoots about the park.

Today was better. Actually, better is an understatement. Jamie Bell Adventure Playground is amazing and now that Jack can walk confidently he zoomed all over the place. I like that it's sectioned off into differing levels where small children to older kids are fairly separated and the toddlers and kindergarteners can mosey about at their own pace.

From a distance the playground is pretty cool looking, but when you get right into the space you can see tunnels and nooks and crannies and tubes all over the place. What an incredible play space. And I like that the little kids section is fenced off so they can't easily run off.

I tried to get to get Jack to attempt climbing, but this guy was having none of it. Babies are so funny. They seem to zero in on certain abilities and milestones and ignore the rest. With all the babbling he's doing lately, I hope the next thing he's interested in is speech.

A year later and lovin' some park.

Sometimes I miss mat leave. I wish I could have had it end after a few months of great weather rather than the polar vortex. If I was still off I'd be taking Jack out to all kinds of fun places now that the snow is gone. But I have to settle for weekends. But at least those weekends can be awesome.

FML

Okay, so thanks to friend and fellow blogger at roaminginthenight.blogspot.ca I'm totally into FMListings. If you're so over Toronto real estate prices, this blog is amazing. I mean, I saw crap post-war bungalows for sale in the neighbourhood of $600,000 and thought to myself, the hell? In my hometown, such a hole would be $120,000, pretty much for the land value if it's spacious enough.

Here though? Practically nothing is worth everything. Jesus Murphy. And this blogger is calling everyone on it. Preach it, sister.

And that brings me to an unexpected grievance. I knew off the bat this blog was written by a woman. It was smart and witty, which is not exclusively the feminine domain, but there was a somethin'-somethin' about it that made me certain the author was female. Her blog reminded me of other funny and clever blogs out there written by women. There was that chick flavour to it. And I was right.

But then I read this: A Toronto homebuyer takes his frustrations to the blogosphere. Call me overly sensitive, but the male default people have is something that bothers me. It's similar to the White Assumption that is also prevalent in our society. If you don't know the race, it must be white. Unknown sex? Must be male. STFU Conservatives actually dealt with this issue. It irritated her because she never mentioned her sex, but got tired of being called "he".

I've seen this play out on a small handful of well-written non-sex-related anonymous blogs. Writers are assumed male until revealed to be otherwise. Do we assume women don't write well? Aren't interested in real estate or politics or finance? Only write sex or mommy blogs (which have their place, but are not the full scope of what women do in this world)?

This is about a 3/10 on the sexism scale, on par with the common mistake of saying "he" when referring to a doctor or boss of an unknown sex. But it needs to be pointed out. High profile journalists and publications shouldn't be sexist-sloppy. If you don't know the sex of a writer, say, "him or her," "he or she," "s/he," or even the less grammatically correct but colloquial "they".

As sure as I was the writer was female I wouldn't have written so unless I knew for sure. Heh, for one thing, as soon as you label someone or something female you have to explain how you know this. Because male is the default. That is something that needs to change, if for no other reason than that it's annoying and frequently inaccurate.

Think good thoughts

This really speaks to me. I feel the same way.

Additionally, this makes me love life.

And some positive feelings are needed today and a reminder that I genuinely love people. A group of about 100-150 people tore up downtown Toronto yesterday. And police let it happen. They all congregated around this group, mostly protecting that goddanm fence around the G20 summit, and did nothing to protect store owners' property.

Police then broke up peaceful protest in designated protest zones, firing tear gas, rubber bullets and using intimidation tactics.

Toronto is like a police state right now. If you live downtown, leaving your home can cause you trouble. The Dude and I are staying at home, well out of the downtown core. It just doesn't feel safe or reasonable to be out.

I'm thoroughly disgusted. I'm upset with the anarchists who ran amok in downtown Toronto and destroyed people's business fronts. I'm angry at the police who allowed it to happen. I'm furious with the prime minister who decided against all advice from Toronto MPs to hold the summit in downtown TO, knowing exactly what happens to the cities that host the G20.

Basically, any country that hosts this pointless gathering should have the sense and decency to hold it in a remote location, where citizens lives are not disrupted or put in harm's way, where businesses won't lose money or sustain damage to their property, where so much police won't be required. Hosting the summit in the largest, most densely populated city in the entire country was a massive fail.

Think good thoughts, Toronto, this bullshit will come to an end. Then we'll survey the destruction to our home.