Has it been a year already?

My children all recently celebrated their birthdays. The twin's birthday was the 10th and Shy Fry celebrated hers on the 17th. So Naturally with the dates being so close, I planned ONE (1) extravagant party. I toyed with the idea as early as September. Made contact with those really good friends of mine who I know I could depend on to contribute willingly to this process. I then called on God-parents to fill in those gaps.



This party was to be the party of parties!! It was to surpass anything Shylah had enjoyed previously. I always knew my kids would have parties for their birthdays. As a child I can remember a few, and for those I cannot recall, my mother brags ocassionally on how many there have been. Why should my child(ren) experience any less?





The only birthday which fell short for Shylah was her fourth. This was the same time as the birth of the twins. Being emotionally and physically drained did not make me the best events planner. Somehow, those good friends of mine came through once more. Michele Gray, Shylah's God-mother, provided the cake, I wrapped the gifts I had previously begged and proceeded to decorate my mother's kitchen. It was immediate family only so I didn't need that much space.


This year's party I dubbed "3-in-1" And it was a blast. Special shout outs to Juileen Baker, Teresa Martinez, Sasha Dixon, Kenesha Miller-Simpson, Horace Reid, and especially Nicole Strachan. I shopped for the loot bags with her and I only hosted the event, pretty much. Thanks to Georgette for dressing the kids right before the party. (Like I said, I hardly did anything.)





There was face painting, sandwiches, hot dogs, fruit juice, cake, ice-cream, and let's not forget the all important bounce about. We had street races for prizes, games and competitions. Kidz Bop collection blared through the air and it was F-U-N. The pictures came out ok, allowing my kids, way down the line to see the effort put into giving them a memorable time.



 I still can't believe it's been a year. One whole year. Twelve full months. Fifty-two weeks????? They're talking, walking, running and pulling down items from furniture. They call to strangers as they pass the house. Follow Shylah to an fro, make believe read books and colour pages. Just a ball having them around. Shylah is reading, much better than last year, her math is on point and spelling has improved dramatically. She still watches Nick Jr. and dances to anything musical. Bright, happy kids I have I tell ya.

Home Work Time

I wanted to encourage my other mothers to make time for homework. After nine hours on the job; Staring at the monitor, writing up motorcycles, fielding all types of calls, football training, stretching, warming up and cooling down, then the treacherous evening commute, the last thing Gariece and I want to do is look into Shylah's book.

After her very first year at basic school I realised that the teachers will not all be the same. They will not all have the passion most of my teachers had, while I was growing up. I realised that the onus then resigned with me to get my child where I wanted her to go. Being that was the top, I had to make time to review and practice items from her syllabus.

Shylah is a naturally bright child, so my work wasn't as cut out as I had originally feared. I really was scared that she was slow, even dunce. She just wasn't producing as I expected her to by the time she got to class two. So I just assumed, because she was slow, the teachers couldn't be bothered to spend that extra time with her. First we started out by just helping her with the homework. I went on Ladybird's website and did my own research from there. I printed key words for us to practice. Bought the reading books for her and in a matter of weeks Shylah was reading at a grade 1 level. (She gets that from her mama!)

Next step we challenged her with a little advanced stuff, not too much to overwhelm her nor make her bored when that text was actually being taught in class. I learnt this tip from my very good friend, Michelle Silvera, who is a teacher by trade and personality. She pointed out that if she's reading the text at home, when she gets to class, having done it already, would be bored and then distracted. Great Tip! I can testify, Gariece and I've seen loads of improvement since taking this stand.


 Here are my suggestions: Start with just homework. Time yourself to say 10 minutes each evening. Fight the fatigue and tiredness; I promise as soon as you start it'll wear off anyways. As you become more used to the idea, go a little bit longer, say 20 minutes. Incorporate new words and spelling. There are tons of practice sheets for counting, additions etc. on the web. Free and printable. What more could you ask for?
A good rep with your child's teacher is also paramount. She can guide your evening sessions to best improve your child's outlook at school work and their ability to accomplish. Now that I know the requirements for Shylah to become her graduating class' "Girl of the year" the homework sessions 'tun up.' All the best, hope this helps.

Truly BLESSED with Twins

"Ask and you shall receive" Indeed this is true and here's my proof. When I found out I was pregnant with twins,  I was a nervous wreck. On the outside I was the picture of calm, my inside however, was a tornado of anxiety and worry. Not only were twins considered a handful and double the attention and care, they're survival rate was significantly lower than having singles. Multiples are known for either arriving prematurely, being born underweight, not being developed completely. In some rare cases, one twin "eats" the other. This is where one twin gets everything, all the minerals, nutrients and vitamins, that mommy ingests, leaving twin two to pretty much wither away. Don't forget the Siamese twins, God forbid they're joined at the head, much less ANYwhere for that matter. I never wanted IDENTICAL twins, I wanted two individuals, two different faces, personalities and separate genders would be a plus.

My constant, fervent prayer while I was pregnant was
1. Please let them come FULL term. 
2. Please let them me OVER 6.5 lbs. [average twin weight was 5lbs.] 
3. Please let them be FULLY developed, sight hearing etc. 
4. Please let them be individuals, dissimilar features.

Well my due date, based on ultrasound and physical examination, was for November 10th. For the first seven months of my pregnancy, I didn't enjoy food, not even fast food. I ate tons of vitamins [courtesy of Sasha Dixon] and they did nothing towards my appetite, they did help however in developing awesome kids. [Get to that later] I drank soda [my only vice]and water.  During the last trimester, my appetite returned with a vengeance and I tried to eat everything in sight. Just trying to play catchup to the seven months I hadn't been eating for and basically trying to up the babies' weight to at least 7lbs.

During my second ultrasound, I discovered that I had separate babies in separate bags [ALWAYS A PLUS] this meant, one baby couldn't steal the other's nutrients, that they wouldn't be identical and that I could have natural birth, no cut pan me pretty belly. I also found out that there WAS a little boy in there in addition to another little girl. {#4}[Blessed I tell you.]

I made it [and attended work, no less] all through October, my prayers were already answered in my opinion. If I had baby November 1st, I'd have been happy, two weeks shy of my due date was far better than two months shy, you feel me?? My next clinic date was November 10th, my due date. On the 9th I urged Dariece, [my wonderful husband] to have rough sex with me. WHAT?? All of you are grown, suck it up! I even drank that Red Stripe beer I had been eying in Denese's fridge. I asked Gariece again to repeat what he had done earlier.

At 9:30 am on the 10th of November my doctor exclaims, "but wait, you did know you already dilated 5cm??" {#1}I was ECSTATIC!! Nothing could have made my day any better. At about 11:30 am after registering, having Gariece drop off my suitcase, wishing me good luck and beginning my countdown, I was given meds to speed up the process. By 1:30 pm me a scream fe me mada, fe Jesus, fe God, fe de chorus of angels, fe de doctor, fe Barney, fe Big bird, anybody wha me think couldan help me.

Thirty-eight minutes later at 2:08 pm I had successfully [pushed] given birth to two healthy babies, GJ weighed 6.5 lbs and Angelique weighed 6.9lbs. {#2} Both had all the necessary appendages. All toes and fingers, two nipples, two eyes, a fully developed heart, no holes etc. Absolutely perfect. {#3} I am truly blessed and so are my kids.

Being a Mother is an Ungrateful Job

Today the babies are 7 months old. Angelique is doing more talking than walking, not holding her bottle, fighting GJ and blabbering like a mix-up-drama-queen. Cooing none stop. GJ is also a little blabber mouth. He's standing without holding on [for a few seconds], holding on and walking confidently, holding his own bottle, grabbing your hand whilst your trying to spoon feed him and laughs when you blow raspberries in his neck. Shylah is reading different books, learning new words outside of her curriculum, eating yogurt, fruits and more vegetables. She's getting amped for Summer School because this one is gonna teach her how to swim. My kids are loved, blessed and privileged.

Sunday was my birthday and none of them damn kids told me happy birthday. It was when I called Michele Gray-Kuhlen that Shylah asked: "Mommy, today's your birthday fe true? So where's the cake? How you nah've no party?" All now she nuh say: "Happy birthday Mommy, Love you." The twins worse, who not crying for feeding, crying to be picked up or changed. Neither Angelique nor Gariece Jr. wished me a "happy birthday. Ungrateful little brats!! LOLOLOLOLOL I gest. My children are quite affectionate, when they want "lovey dovey," lawks...it's all the world to me, they giggle and kiss you back and squeeze your neck and drool on your face. Come on tell me, What gets better than that??

While I'm on this subject: Didn't I have a disturbing pregnancy? I spat, I was constantly nauseated, I had no appetite, I had terrible acid indigestion, I, I, I,I, I, .....you name it, I probably experienced it, so can someone PLEASE tell me, why now when Angelique wants to talk, she's saying: "Dada, Daddy, Daddy, dada?" Gimme a break man!! SERIOUSLY!!!! Mama can't get no love???All Daddy ever did Angelique, was rub my tummy and say, "Wha gwaan Gariece, daddy son?" Him neva business bout you tan deh!!!!


Then Shylah is the other one, after making demands like this one: She brings an empty water bottle and shakes it in my face. I ask, "what is it Shylah?" She responds, one hand akimbo on her non-existent hip, head slightly tilted to one side, "there's no water in here, I need water so that when I go to school and I get thirsty I can drink it," she rests the bottle on the desk and continues, "I'm putting it right here so you hear?? So that when you finish you can put the water in there so I can put it in my lunch pan." after her regular tirades like this ,she really can't remember to wish me a HAPPY BIRTHDAY??? But a me first belly pain, so me forgive her and she is really my Mini Me. My kids are awesome, I promise you.

Much Needed and Well Deserved Vacation

My vacation was sweeeeeet!!! I really thought I'd have difficulty sleeping through the night, what with my abhorrent sleeping patterns breastfeeding twins at night. Much to my pleasant surprise, I slept like a log. As in I doubt I even rolled to change positions, much less to use the loo. HA!!!

I ate to my heart's content and my gigantic tetas didn't fill up and get engorged. I drank plent of water and didn't have an embarrassing leaking episode once. I FULLjoyed my vacation, my time away from mommying everyone in my home, including my hubby was nothing but sheer bliss.

That elated sense of independence came to an end the very MOMENT I stepped into the doorway of my little apartment! I had an emotional breakdown. All my womanly hormones and stupid female sensitivity came crashing down on me. How in heavens did I survive FIVE (5) whole days without my kids???? [bad mommy.] If I could have bawled right there and then, I would have. I missed my Shy Fry banana chips, missed the comforting cooing noises of my Mootsie Chootsie Angelique and the grown up laughter from my washbelly Tootisie-Chicarito GJ. I missed the late talks that run into the midnight with my hubby, Gariece Sr. The chaos of feeding, burping, changing, tickling, nurturing and scolding that comes with being a mother of three.

My kids, they didn't disappoint me one bit, for every overwhelming feeling I experienced, I guess they were going through it too, cause my first night home they DID GIVE IT TO ME. One bag a chatting, cooing, laughing and they took the longest while to fall asleep on their own. {I believe in self-soothing} As though slumber would rob them of their mom, whom they've just been reunited with. Poor babies. I couldn't do that again [not so soon anyways] Mommy missed you guys just as much.

Fatigue Much?

As a mother of three and a hard-working wife [I take my job seriously] there are plenty of times when I feel overwhelmed and tired. My sleep hours have been GREATLY diminished. There are times I just want to crawl under the bed, let alone the covers. Having twins is a great show-piece, not so great when they wake alternately. As soon as your through breastfeeding Angelique at 1:30am and dose off, here comes the wailing from a hungry GJ at 2:15am. Especially now, when they are both teething, have lost their appetites, appear to be in constant pain and are continuously miserable, it's easy to experience a break down.

I'm looking forward to a break, a vacation of sorts, where I can sleep uninterrupted for eight, no, make that nine hours; not whip my titties out every three to four hours. A break from bouncing babies on knees, wiping drool, burping, braiding hair, lulling to sleep etc. [you get where I'm going with this] I know I sound selfish right now, but I feel I'm entitled to sounding this way. Though we asked for kids, we sacrifice a lot to ensure they are happy, fed, and burped. Sleep is one of them, so EXCCUUUUUSSSEEE me for wanting nine hours of sleep.

I can tell you one thing for sure. A lot of abusive parents, even if they were abused themselves, if they had help: with their own kids and psychologically, the abuse wouldn't perpetuate. Stress is the catalyst for many a negative things. So imagine an abused mother feeling the strains of a cryng, teething toddler and being alone to handle all that stress....... Whenever I see where Gariece Sr. is feeling agitated, I send him away, or I take the kids up to my mom's house. Or I call in his mom to stay a few days. I don't want him to snap at the babies nor me [cause me'll answer him] and I couldn't imagine him running off and disappearing out of our lives. [yea, I'm a drama queen so what?]

I do wanna encourage the other parents reading my blog, to take time out for you, and for your hubby [if you're blessed to have 1] Makes no sense in driving yourself to the edge and being unable to pull yourself back.

Why are they peaking so quickly?

Shylah: "Mommy, when you say icn have a boyfriend again"
Me:      "When you're 17. Why? You see someone at your school you like?"
Shylah: "No, put the TV on music." [HYPE TV]
Me:      "Shylah him on here? Who him?"
Shylah: "Yes mommy, him sing 'come into my room' "
Why is my four year old in love with UGLY Movado??

Angelique, for the Grace of God, I can't understand nor pick up where I've taken this child to, for her to pick up this stink, loud, buttoo laugh. In heaven's name, when you throw her in the air, or tickle her sides, or blow raspberries on her tummy, all you hear from this small, sweet, innocent face is the most garrison, gully side, guttah laugh: Ha Ha HA HA **choke choke**  HA HA HA ** cough cough** I keep waiting to hear her say, "woi me side" Some big people laugh, like she deh bout long time or understand the joke.

Gariece Jr. bka GJ, at six months has the audacity to be holding on and walking. We have this light plastic chair, that we use to entertain on the balcony. The other day, their daddy was making the bed. He rests GJ standing up in front of the chair, placing his hands on the seat. What we heard next, was the scraping of the chair on the ground and AWAY was GJ. Holding on and walking all by his lonesome.

Me Thinks dem a gwaan wid too much!

My Spelling Bee Champ

My daughter, Shylah and I speak regularly about random things. Whatever it is she asks of me, no matter how age-inappropriate I think that question is, I do my utmost best, to answer so that she understands. I mean she must be asking me for a reason. The adage goes, "If the mind can conceive it ....blah blah blah" So if her little mind is asking me what a "period" is why would I run her???

Anyways, since recently she, Shylah, shared with me that she really wants to be a Doctor. Unlike most parents, I wasn't excited, nor amused. But it's what she wants. I explained to her that becoming a doctor entails A TON of work. Explained how hard she'd have to study, going to bed late reading her books etc. I use it as leverage now each time she and  I have studies together. When she gets lazy, I remind her of the hard work ahead if she wants to be a Dr. and it has paid off remarkably. She has had three weeks of "spelling" so far at school and has excelled. I was shocked, really, that she would have done so well. I know she's naturally bright and her brain is that of a sponge, but I must admit, I feel proud each time I remember all the "ticki" dem in her book. Bright girl Shylah.

Nurture as a part of Nature

Anyone can provide shelter, food and clothing. Anyone can transport a child to school and back. Anyone can bathe, brush teeth and moisturize the skin daily. But it takes a truly special one, to nurture. By definition Nurture means: "The act of nourishing or nursing; tender care; education; training; The environmental influences that contribute to the development of an individual;" [wikipedia]

I'm honoured that God has blessed my womb with not one, but three human beings, three more persons to shape society, who can and will alter the future, pave the way for others who'll come after them.

I teach Shylah that she's special, unique. I encourage her to dream big, aim above the skies, so that she'll land among the clouds. This gives her courage to try new things, allows her to be exposed to many other opportunities because she won't be afraid to step up or branch out. I praise her everyday, tell her she's pretty, she's super-intelligent. This builds her confidence and SELF ESTEEM. A man/boy would have to bring his A+ game to catch her eye. He would have to be outta-dis-world to garner and keep her attentions and that's the kinda man I want for them, [cause Angelique will grow similarly.] The BEST there is.

And my son will be one of the BEST there is. Shame to say, I was more excited about GJ's birth than any of my girls. I have the opportunity to affect so many more lives through my son than my daughters. He WILL be the ladies' gentle-man. Sweet, suave, kind, patient, and chivalrous. He will touch each girl's life and teach them, they DON'T have to settle. They only have to set standards and keep them. I already see where girls will ask him continually, "man like you still make?" Oh boy oh boy oh boy I can't wait!

What's all the Hubbub about Twins

Everyone in the entire world seem to be tons more excited than I am about having twins. See the secret is, when I was fourteen and staying with my aunt Bev, I shared with my cousin, Kashan, that I always wanted to have twins, well after a couple of years I forgot everything about that. Until, I gave birth, the memory hit me like a Mack Truck.

There's a fascination that can't be explained, some people ask pointed question when they realise that Angelique and GJ are in fact twins, others just stare. Once in PriceSmart, this lady gave me a crazy look [ I say crazy cause she must have been to be looking at me sideways], when she realised I was the one who gave birth to my handsome husband's two kids.

Here's what I've noticed for myself since having twins, they cry, eat, sleep and shit, just like REGULAR babies, only it's two cries and two feedings, two diaper changes, two babies to rock till the fuss dies down, two noses to wipe, two tummies to un-gripe, two babies to burp........you get where I'm going. Oh wait it gets a tad more annoying, Angelique, when fighting her sleep, can't doze peacefully until she's "touching" some part of her brother and vice versa. So if either is sleeping and the other decides they want some attention, woe be unto the parent on duty! I KNOW they talk to each other through Telepathy and read each others thoughts...cause there's NO WAY, I can just pick Angelique up to feed her and it's QUIET, and GJ just jumps up out of his sleep and starts to stare right at me. IS ANGELIQUE WAKE HIM...probably taunting him like, "a bay mommy pick me up and ya sleep" SMH.

Makes no sense. UP SIDE: I have now, not one but THREE kids to hug me, three kids to kiss, three kids to tell me they love me, two to throw up in the air, while I giggle at their peals of laughter [two, cause me no mad enough fe throw Shylah NOwhere] and three beautiful kids to call my own.

The difference between my twins

Gariece is a foodie, if he's sleeping and you happen to scrape your plate too loud he jumps from his sleep. He searches the room until he identifies, where the food is located and he proceeds to fuss until you stick something in his mouth. He tries and likes and therefore eats, everything. He drinks anything from his bottle, a new brand of feeding, fruit or vegetable juice, Lasco etc. He eats fruits, rice, chicken, cheese trix, u name it, we've put it to his lips and he's enjoyed it.

Angelique likes nothing. Not even the sweet breast milk she was feeding on the 1st three months of her life. She will drink cornmeal porridge, but believe, you better have it seasoned just right and sweetened to perfection or she'll spit it out. If she wakes thru the night, and after a few sips she realizes it's JUST breast milk, she spits out my nipple and makes a face to say just how displeased she is with, JUST breast milk.