a peek inside the fishbowl

Being a mum is the hardest job I’ve ever done. Let’s not beat around the bush. It’s incredibly demanding, immensely rewarding yet often thankless and a total drudgery.

When Emma was born I had no idea what I was getting into. I had no idea about all the sleepless nights, the endless piles of laundry, the diapers, the illnesses, the tears. I had no idea that being a parent meant sacrifice, and that the job would often leave me completely empty of energy. But the hard work pays off. I’ve ended up with two sweet and smart and loving children who charm and amaze me every day. The soft hand on my face, the caring look, the smiles and kisses and hugs have made my life much richer than I could have ever imagined, and I wouldn’t trade those things for anything.

I love being a mom.

You know what? I think I know the secret to being a happy mom.

Moms need to find time to spend on themselves.

I know this to be true. 11 years of personal experience tells me so! If I’m not getting enough sleep, if I’m not eating right, if I am putting my family’s needs before my own ALL OF THE TIME, there won’t be enough left over for me, and that’s when I wind up wallowing on the couch in my yoga pants and a holey t-shirt.

Eking out time is especially tough for new moms who can’t get an unbroken stretch of time anywhere – night or day. Sometimes all we can do is lock ourselves in the bathroom and give ourselves a manicure. Or hire a babysitter so we can get our hair cut. Or buy ourselves a new purse. ALL GOOD THINGS.

(You see what I mean right? Me time is important.)

Anyway, Nayla Natural Care (Nayla is a Fishbowl patron!) has been kind enough to host a giveaway here at the Fishbowl just in time for Mother’s Day. Any mom would love these items because they were all chosen with mom in mind and might help give her some of that me time back.

The winner of this giveaway will receive one of each of these products (by the way, you do know that everything in the store is organic or natural and eco-friendly, right? Woot!):

• Sole Delight Foot Therapy Kit
• Tub Truffles (umm cocoa butter!)
• Foot and Bath Salts (450g)
• Body Butter
• Babybearshop lip balm
• simply. body bar
• Lunchbot Eco

AMAZING.

By the way, have you clicked around the Nayla Natural website lately? Gwen – owner and a busy mom herself – has some amazing products for pregnant moms and babies/children but there are also many other great products available too … and you don’t need to be a mom or mom-to-be to enjoy them. Gwen is always adding great new stuff to her inventory. If you’re smart you’ll do what I do and keep an eye on her New Arrivals page to see what’s new or join Nayla’s Facebook page, because there’s cool stuff going on there too. :)

In case you don’t win the giveaway (and still want to do some shopping), you should know that Nayla Natural Care is an Ottawa-based online store … and if you live in Ottawa want to save on shipping you have the option of picking up your order. (I like that.)

Here’s what you need to know about this giveaway:

• This giveaway is for Canadian residents only.
• Since this is a Mother’s day prize please leave a comment about your intended recipient. Who’ll be getting the goods? Your mom? Another deserving mom? Or would you keep it for yourself? (It’s ok if you do!) I know that lots of fathers read along too. Tell us about your wife and how she deserves a bit of pampering. :)
• One entry per person please.
• Winner will be chosen with random.org and will be announced here. I will also contact the winner by email. (So make sure you type in a valid email address!) If it turns out that you don’t have a Canadian mailing address, or I don’t hear back from you in 36 hours, I’ll have no choice but to draw another name.
• Because Mother’s Day is coming upon us very quickly (ack!) I’m going to do this draw on Friday May 7, 2010 at noon EST. (Mother’s Day is Sunday.) If the winner lives in the Ottawa area he/she can pick up their prize. If you’re outside of Ottawa, it will have to be shipped… so you might want to consider giving your mom a card that contains an IOU. And buying her a very nice dinner. :)

Over to you!

p.s. Ottawa peeps, don’t forget about the other giveaway. You still have time to enter!

Once I saw a mom slathering sunblock on her kid at 5:30 in the evening, and when she was done, she sprayed her all over with bug spray.

When I was a kid, tanning was big. No one used sunscreen or sunblock.

I don’t remember my mother ever smearing me with any kind of sunscreen (although I could be wrong). But she was the kind of mom who opened the door, booted me out of the house, and told me not to come home until it got dark. :) 

In those days people used tanning oil, and baby oil, and would you believe it, cooking oil. (!) FYI I do not condone the use of any of these. I think you need some degree of SPF.

My mom used Bain de Soleil. It was an orange gel in a wrinkly metal tube. I loved smell of that stuff. I also loved Hawaiian Tropic tanning oil, so when I saw a bottle of it at the drugstore last summer I had to buy it.

The bottle I have has an SPF of four, which, in my books, is perfect for everyday use. Don’t get me wrong, I use stronger stuff on my face (at least SPF 30) but if I’m going to be mostly indoors – only flitting outside to walk the kids to/from school or to walk the dog, the lower SPF suits me fine.

The number associated with SPF (which stands for sun protection factor) signifies the number of times longer you can be in the sun without burning if you use the product as directed. So if I normally burn after 30 minutes in full sun, a factor of four means that I can be in the sun for two hours without getting a sunburn. And during the workweek I’m rarely out in the sun for that long. So why coat myself with 30 when I don’t need to?

I’ve read that spray sunscreens are missing an ingredient (and I’m totally blanking on what it is right now) that give regular lotions that gooey spreadable lotion-like texture. This ingredient apparently isn’t very good for you.

I spray my arms with my SPF4, and if I’m wearing shorts or a skirt I’ll give my legs a spritz too. Hawaiian Tropic can be greasy if you use too much but I love the sheen. The fact that I smell like a tropical holiday all day long is just a bonus.