There are so many great things that I love about having a blog and vlog. I love the wonderful comments I receive and I like feeling like I am doing something productive with my down time.
There are some negatives though. I get do get comments from people who ask how could I possibly be spending anytime with my kids and still have a clean and organized home. People assume I ignore my children and clean all day. Apparently you need to have a messy home to be a good parent. I don’t know why I let this bother me, but it does. I have insecurities about my parenting skills just like everyone else. Even though I only clean during movie time or after the kids are in bed, I still hear these comments in my head whenever I take time away to clean up the dinner dishes or put on a movie so I can get a project done.
That is why I actually debated about writing today’s blog. I didn’t want to be judged as a bad parent again, but here we go. I spent the majority of my weekend working outside while my kids played… I know, the horror. What an awful parent I am for not engaging with my children 24/7. How dare I let them play without me. For shame.
Now that I got that out of the way, here is what I did this weekend! Last weekend my husband and I built a jungle gym for the kids. I stained it this Saturday, which was a huge job and after hours of staining, I was tired. Then I got a genius idea. We planned on taking the leftover wood to the dump but I decided I would use the wood to build a huge bunny cage instead!
When I told my husband my plan, he laughed at me. I have never built anything in my entire life and he was sure it would be a catastrophe. He actually hid the saw! My bullheadedness prevailed and I began my creation! Joe took the girls to the store and I sawed, drilled and hammered my heart out. I’m not going to lie, I was tired and in WAY over my head. I was determined to get it done before it got dark. Even the neighbours, who were all out having a fire and drinking beer, were LAUGHING at me! The more they laughed the more determined I got to finish this beast come hell or high water. Apparently a women using a power tool is hilarious to men.
Well, despite ridicule, lots of tears, splinters, exhaustion, cuts and staple gunning my finger (twice) …. I finished. Our bunny now has a safe, 10 foot by 3 foot enclosure with chicken wire all on sides including the top and bottom. I even put on a swinging gate for a door! Go girl power! It’s not perfect. It is actually pretty crooked, but I am proud of myself. I took the initiative to try something that I never thought I could do. I kept with it despite everyone laughing at me the entire time. I accomplished something big this weekend, and it wasn’t just the bunny cage. I realized that I can do more than I ever gave myself credit for.
And here is a message for my male neighbours. I spent my weekend staining an entire jungle gym, building a bunny cage, cleaning the house and playing with my kids. What did your wives do all weekend? Whose laughing now bitches? And for all my critics who spend their free time staring at the television; I hope you enjoyed those reruns and commercials..I built a freaking bunny cage.