Family Day

"Family Day is observed in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan on the third Monday of February. In British Columbia, Family Day falls on the second Monday of February. This holiday celebrates the importance of families and family life to people and their communities." - http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/canada/family-day

Yesterday I brought Alex and Gideon to my parents’ house for family day.  This space can often feel quite awkward since my parents are going through a separation; My Dad is living at the Homestead and my Mom will often come over on weekends.  Luckily my brothers were there as well, making the tension levels a little less obvious.  It was a beautiful cold day and I really enjoyed getting outside for some fresh air.  I feel so cooped up during this frigid time of year.  It can be so challenging to get a two year old and an infant bundled up to go outside that I often decide to opt out of the open-air play time and end up bringing in bowls of snow to play with.  It seems that the only time I’m really outside is when I’m running between the house, the car or the store.  At my parents’ house, there is a small river in the backyard and my brother was flooding the ice to make a smooth rink to skate on.  He had a small pump hooked up to my dad’s generator that made for a very smooth job.  We had bought Alex some bobsled skates for Christmas and I can’t wait until he can use them in on the river.  The evening ended with a big family meal and an unexpected power outage.  With the house plunged in darkness, our cue to leave was never more obvious.     

Family and family life has always been important to me.  Now that I have a family of my own, this has become even more evident.  Gideon is the newest addition to our family.  When my husband and I started trying for our second child, I was nervous but nothing could have prepared me for the journey I was going to take.