My Domicile: April 2011

Life is a strange twisting tale. Just when you think you have the table beautifully set, the cutlery perfectly aligned for a multi-course meal, the wine glasses sparkling just waiting for the guests to arrive to share in a nourishing meal in which you all have made a contribution an unannounced guest can appear and without anyone noticing the subtle flip of a practiced wrist can snatch the table cloth out from under the whole display and 'poof' - it all disappears.

That is exactly what has happened in my world of work and my world of home and family. In a nutshell I will likely not be doing the job I love in the community I love with the people I respect this summer.

There is a romantic element to effectively being on one's own with two young children. I feel more than ever a sense of duty; of grave responsibility; of fierce maternalism. At all times, I must be the grown up. I must solve problems and until I am able to solve them, or make sense of them, I must continue to do what needs to be done for the girls - to smile and laugh and share in their innocence and belief that everything in the world is good and kind and that there will always be someone to take care of them.

In times of need or perceived need it is always the disadvantaged, the most marginalized that suffer the most. It is another small blow to education.

Although there is a 5M base at the Whistler Nordic site and you can still ski all the way down to the Village base, winter is coming to an end.

I think Paul has had an incredible (if exhausting) winter and will continue with his winter adventure as he heads to Kamchatka then the coast of Norway for a month or more. It is a pretty exciting life he is leading; however I know it is hard for him to be away from home for that long.

The girls and I have got to enjoy winter too. Anneka has had five days on her skis and Halle has had one day of downhill skiing. One weekend we took both girls up to Whistler mid-station and skied with them on the magic carpet. It was a heavy snowfall day. Anneka did seven laps with Paul and I did five with Halle between my legs. She was intrigued. She did not want to be held on the magic carpet; she crawled on it and stuck her hands off the edge to scoop up snow. It was a great introduction. Then I stuck her in our all terrain stroller and skied with it back down to the Gondola!

Anneka has done really well with the skiing - on the last day with Paul she was getting the feel for turning by leaning. Her skis are a bit long for her to snowplow turn just yet, but should be great for her next year. She has enjoyed it and that is the most important thing. Both Paul and I have tried to make it fun without pushing her.

I have really enjoyed the endurance aspect of cross country skiing this year. I got in less days than I would have liked (7 in total) but two days alone on skate skis which I think is my preference. The stroke is similar to figure skating so it feels natural to me and it is a great work out. I've had four days downhill - last night Paul and I stayed in Whistler without the kids. We sent out for a late dinner, then skied today. I really enjoyed our alone time and it was fun to ski with my man again!

Our nanny, Gretel has worked out better than we could have hoped. Gretel is an incredibly likeable person; a natural winner who seems to excel in all areas. She is a trained nurse, has exceptional interpersonal skills and seems to have a natural understanding of how best to interact with these young kids in many contexts. She is also intelligent and investigates stages of development, ways of managing behaviour and comes with ideas and plans for the day. In my opinion Anneka and Halle have thrived in her care and I am very glad she will be with us for a while longer. (Sometimes, Gretel, you make me feel inadequate :). http://margarethafortmann.blogspot.com/

Spring and Summer are just around the corner and I know we are going to have so much fun. It is very nice for Halle that she will be so mobile this summer. She is getting very quick on her feet - practically running. Between Gretel, myself and lessons (Gretel's boyfriend is their swim "coach") the girls have been spending quite a bit of time at the pool. Halle is quite comfortable in the water but not so much with her coach (it's because he's a he, I'm sure)! She has very little fear of physical stuff but can be scared by some odd things like men (not so strange really), insects, frogs, practically everything in the aquarium except the small colourful tropical fish and jellyfish which she loves. Women she also seems to love and walks up to my friends for hugs. The men thing is not ubiquitous especially with those she is familiar with and will lessen with time...and she absolutely loves her daddy! She remains a very social little thing despite these fears and a certain shyness.

Anneka is the opposite with the swimming thing - although she is not as naturally comfortable in the water (she is really coming along though) she has no problem with her. Actually she seems at ease in most situations and seems to make friends easily. The girls really enjoy eachother although there are occasional spats. I am sure they will continue - I suspect both are rather tenacious and sensitive. Overall Anneka is really good about sharing her toys and is vigilant about looking after Halle, but she does get upset, understandably, when Halle wrecks her stuff!

Here are a lot of pictures from the last couple of months.