Daily Email Archives
articles with parenting tips
charity begins with kids
Filed Under Tips & Tricks | December 6, 2011
The wrapping paper covered shoe box is divided in half with a slot on each side. All year it has been receiving monthly deposits. Half of our kids’ (they’re five and eight years old) allowance is designated to charity. This weekend, following the last deposit for the year, we sat down to figure out where this year’s donations would go.
Looking for your Toronto yoyomama? Find it here!
‘tis better to give…
Filed Under Stuff, Tips & Tricks | November 21, 2011
What gifts do your children give? And to whom? We don’t mean fancy soaps for granny (that we buy and add a cute tag to), but gifts they make or buy. We want to teach our kids how to be givers as well as receivers, so we’ve been experimenting with different options the last few years. Since we’ve found taking kids shopping (anytime really, but particularly during the festive season) can ratchet up stress levels, we’ve been turning more and more to the handmade (which means starting early).
signs of the times
Filed Under Tips & Tricks | November 2, 2011
As our kiddos (and us) recover from Halloween and swag bags brimming with mini chocolates, candies and sweets, we take a bit of a serious turn as it’s now November and National Diabetes Awareness Month. More than three million Canadians have some form of diabetes, and over 300,000 Canadians live with Type 1 diabetes. Type [...]
trick or teeth
Filed Under Tips & Tricks | October 31, 2011
Knowing our kids will come home tonight clutching big sacks of sugar started us thinking about the wisdom of our current rule of “X number of pieces of Halloween candy a day for as long as it lasts”. So we talked to Dr. Robin Mak of Kits Family Dental for her take on Halloween treats, and a pile more toothsome truths.
spooktacularly safe
Filed Under Tips & Tricks | October 24, 2011
It chills us to the bone knowing that every year hospitals, medical clinics, and the ambulance service end up treating many preventable Halloween injuries, like burns, cuts, choking, and car accidents. The key word? Preventable. We’re writing about Halloween safety a week early this year because prevention is all about planning, and for that Mama, we know you need a little time.
granting indulgences: take the challenge
Filed Under Going Green, Stuff, Tips & Tricks | September 19, 2011
You look like you could use some time for yourself. Yes, we’re talking to you: the amazing mother who has spent the last few weeks changing the internal clocks of her family (no small feat) and getting them back to school; the fabulous mum who adds holiday and camp director to her already overflowing CV during the summer months; and the splendiferous mama who, let’s face it, does it all.
lunch box deconstructed
Filed Under Stuff, Tips & Tricks | September 12, 2011
As with most of parenting, school lunches are an intricate balancing act. Novelty and food don’t mix well for most kids, but equally guaranteed to return a full lunch box is a “booorrrring” meal. After a couple of years we’ve finally found a formula that seems to work; a sort of a mix and match approach. Each lunch has four components: main, fruit, veg, and snack, and we have about five or six options in each category. We’ve found that as long as we keep mixing them up, we don’t have to add new items.
those (last) lazy, hazy days of summer
Filed Under Tips & Tricks | August 29, 2011
Usually by this time of the summer parents are split firmly into two camps: those who are in denial the summer is ending, and those who can’t wait for the kids to go back to school. If you’re the former then you’ll get where we’re going with this; if you’re in the latter group you get your regular schedule back next week, so why not suck every ounce of summer enjoyment out of this one?
the big day approaches…
Filed Under Tips & Tricks | August 24, 2011
Nothing seems farther away than your own days in school when preparing your child for their first time at pre-school or kindergarten. It is a whole different ball game from a parent’s point of view.
First of all, to anxious first timers, we’d like to share our observation that 99% of children and parents have a very positive experience starting school. And here’s more reassurance, offered in the way of tips that have worked for us.
allergic to loss
Filed Under Stuff, Tips & Tricks | August 22, 2011
There are some things your child just can’t ‘afford’ to lose – and we’re not just talking money! From Canadian company Olli Lolli comes wardrobe essentials to help ease the burden for children who need to keep epinephrine auto-injectors (e.g. EpiPen®) or other medications with them at all times. Bemoaning items lost at camps this summer (raincoats, hats, water bottles, underwear – yes, really!) got us imagining what it would be like if it wasn’t just ‘stuff’ we were losing, so we were excited to get our tester’s feedback on the Olli Lolli windbreaker just in time for back to school.
