“Beep. Ding! Ring!!” Twitter is chirping, the kids just finished a dance-off with the Wii and my facebook feed is buzzing on the Blackberry. As summer approaches, Canadians have a growing social concern about the impact that digital devices and technology are having on family togetherness. Remember those long cottage days as kids when we spent hours playing Battleship, catching fireflies and beating the parents at Monopoly? (I think they let me).
Asked by Walmart to create a birthday party for six children with under $100, UrbanMommies hit the aisles and embarked on the Walmart Frugal Heroes Challenge. Scouring the store and channeling our creativity, we decided upon the All-Star Sports Birthday Party. I was shocked when we got to the cash with an entire basket-full of goods. I will admit (sheepishly) that the total came to $101.50, but we’re still proud.
Items:
1. Skipping Rope
2. 6 Red soccer jerseys
3. 1 set of 2 lb weights
4. 1 set of 5 lb weights
5. 4 orange pylons
6. 1 soccer ball
7. 1 basket ball
8. Box of microwave popcorn
9. 8 frozen tenderloin beef skewers for the BBQ
10. 2 boxes brownie mix
11. 1 tin chocolate icing
12. dotted cocktail napkins
13. striped luncheon napkins
14. red paper plates
15. Blue plastic tablecloth
16. 1 Case of Blue Kool-Aid Jammers
Total: $101.50
Surely we can create a party with this! With stations for the leaders to guide the 6 kids in sporty challenges, we jumped rope, did bicep curls, kicked the ball around pylons, did a pushup race and shot hoops. The kids gorged on popcorn and ‘Brownie Cake’ for dessert and beef kebabs and salad (from my garden and not included in prices). The ‘goody bag’ was the red jersey that each child got to take home (and could easily be personalized with masking tape).
Therefore, UrbanMommies, the least ‘frugal’ magazine ever, was able to create a memorable and fun party with minimal cost – oh, and it covers the one-hour of activity quotient that so few of our children are getting.
Must go. We’ve got some drills to recreate!
Disclosure: UrbanMommies was given a $100 gift card for Walmart for the purposes of creating a birthday party. We were not compensated for this article and all ideas and opinion are our own.
We get a ton of products shipped to the office for testing and we try as many as we can. So we owe it to our readers to share our favs. Some are a tad racy, so watch out… Presenting Our 20 Favourite Beauty Products for the Summer! Enjoy and be sure to add your own in the comments section.
Her mother Queen Elinor placed the crown atop her head as she yelled – “I am Strong. I am Brave. I am Merida and I am a Princess!” Tears, tingles and cries of joy from the crowd as we gathered to see Merida’s coronation as the 11th Disney Princess on May 11, 2013 at Walt Disney World Resort.
Celebrity gymnast Gabby Douglas graced the stage, and Sophie Grace and Rosie from Ellen sang before Merida entered on horseback, bow in hand. My two boys (who usually hide around princesses “They are so beautiful Mommy!”) were in awe at her stature, her smile, but mostly the poise and strength she exuded.
There has been controversy on Disney’s decision to give Merida a lovely, Princess-worthy outfit for the most important day of her life. That Merida looked beautiful on this day does not say that she is less outdoorsy, strong or courageous. She dressed for the occasion and in my view is no less a role model for girls everywhere. Disney has given us our 11th role model for girls and boys alike, and I was proud to have my boys and my own mother by my side for the coronation.
“You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
— A.A. Milne
As Moms, we desperately try to keep the kitchen clean. It’s almost as if we feel like a bad mommy otherwise. The kids can be dirty, laundry unfolded and homework not done (who me?) but as long as the counters are clean we’re good, right? Bad news. When it comes to cleaning the kitchen, the majority of Canadians (60 per cent) use a dishcloth, which can harbour and redeposit millions of germs on surfaces and puts families at risk of cross-contamination*.
I’ve just done a dishcloth vs. Bounty DuraTowel challenge and was thrilled with the research that the paper towel that is clinically proven to leave surfaces three times cleaner than a germy dishcloth**. If you are wiping your countertops with a used dishcloth or sponge, you could be spreading around germs in the home. I’ll get my dishcloth test results soon and will add the scientific findings as soon as they’re in! But we also have 6 tips for a germ-free kitchen that you’ll want to take a peek at.
Dr. Elizabeth Scott, Co-director, Simmons Center for Hygiene and Health in Home and Community, recommends the following tips for a happy and healthy kitchen and home:
1. Wash your hands – Prior to any meal preparation, wash your hands often with warm, soapy water and dry them using Bounty DuraTowel
2. Wash and sanitize surfaces and utensils – Reduce the risk of contamination in the kitchen by washing and sanitizing all countertops, cutting boards and utensils that come into contact with food. Do this before and after preparing food and use Bounty DuraTowel to help clean up larger messes and wipe down surfaces
3. Separate your food – Make sure to always separate your raw foods, such as meat and eggs, from cooked foods and vegetables to avoid cross-contamination which is one of the leading causes of food borne illness**. Use separate cutting boards for meats and for vegetables etc.
4. Wash produce thoroughly – Immediately before prepping, wash all whole fruits and vegetables and dry using Bounty DuraTowel. This reduces the risk of transferring pathogens from the rind or skin to the inside of the fruit or vegetable when it is cut***
5. Keep your fridge clean – One way to reduce the risk of cross-contamination is to keep the fridge clean and to keep foods covered since many bacteria and molds are able to grow at refrigerator temperatures. Clean your fridge using a kitchen sanitizer and Bounty DuraTowel
6. Wash reusable grocery bags – Wash and thoroughly dry your reusable grocery bags frequently, especially if you are carrying raw meat, fish, poultry, seafood or vegetables.
*Findings from Proctor and Gamble Bounty Survey 2013, a national sample of Canadian consumers were randomly selected from TNS Canada’s Internet research panel from March 7 to March 11, 2013
**1tsp. spaghetti sauce, 10 mls. coffee, 1/8 tsp creamer on laminate countertop
***The Simmons Center for Hygiene and Health
I am a P&Gmom. The views, opinions and photographs expressed on this blog and in my social networks are my own.
This car positively purrs and it a fantastic ‘mom-mobile’. The BMW X5 is roomy and offers a ton of family-friendly features that make it a great option if your bank account can handle the hefty price tag.
My friends were exhausted. And for good reason. They have a 4 year old and a 1 year old, commute to work, and have to walk the dog. But, wait. Haven’t many people gotten through that? Looking at their tired eyes, and seeing them deal with their children, I remembered numerous episodes of Nanny 911. Structure helps everyone. Many a time I saw the nanny implement the ‘families sit down to eat dinner’ rule. ‘Everyone sleeps in their own bed’ soon followed. I always thought this simply provided structure just for the kids, but seeing this struggling family without much structure for children, it all made sense.
The routine provides clear decision making (or limits the need to make decisions) for parents. It eliminates guilt (I decided last year not to give in to tantrums, and this is a tantrum, therefore I shouldn’t feel guilty for not doling out another cookie) and it assists with family unity. Dinner being ready at 6, all sitting around a table facilitates conversation, and also allows duties such as washing up to follow. With bedtime, when parents can never have the same routine twice or depend on sleep for themselves or their children, a cranky family ensues.
Routines give kids a sense of security and help them develop self-discipline. Children also naturally fear the unknown, and structure will allow them to handle change within a context of the ‘known’. These little minds and bodies change daily and the familiar acts as a comfort.
The possibility of handing kids to babysitters and having them be put to sleep without a set routine is stressful and often ruins an evening that you are paying quite a bit for. Leave it to a night when you are exhausted for the toddler to decide not to go to bed, or to get up every 30 minutes. If you don’t have a fairly stricy routine for this, the child gets mixed messages. Parents should be able to parent – to make the decisions and be the ‘alphas’ in their family. Children crave this structure, and look for role models.
We have so much clutter in our brains and structure can eliminate all of those extra decisions. So get out the calendar and a timer and relax!
This is one topic that most of us aren’t pontificating over at a cocktail party, but most parents will need a few tips for treating head lice in their bag of tricks. Lice (the plural of louse in case you’re a grammar nut) are a very common problem, especially for kids ages 3 years to 12 years. Girls are affected more often than boys. Lice aren’t dangerous and they don’t spread disease, but they are highly contagious and can affect the self esteem of the most secure child. As the lice bite a child’s scalp, itchiness and inflammation occur.
Signs of Head Lice
Lice eggs are called nits. These look like tiny yellow, tan, or brown dots before they hatch. Nits look sort of like dandruff, only they can’t be removed by brushing or shaking them off. You may be able to see the lice or nits by parting your child’s hair into small sections and checking for lice and nits with a fine-tooth comb on the scalp, behind the ears, and around the nape of the neck.
Treatment of Head Lice
1. We’ve heard great reports about Lice Squad. They use pesticide free products, and carefully removes the lice with a solution and comb. It takes 1-2 hours and is done in your home. You can try medicated shampoos and removal combs yourself as well.
2. Saturate their hair in baby oil and go through it with a detangler comb then lice come. When you are confident you have most of the bugs, mix vinegar in with their shampoo and let them sit for an hour.
3. Soak your hair with mouthwash and then put on a shower cap. You may need to put a towel around your neck to stop some of the dripping. Let it sit in your hair for 2 hours. After that rinse out the mouthwash and then rinse your hair with vinegar to loosen the glue on the nits. After you rinse out the vinegar, use some conditioner as a final step.
4. Mix lemon juice with baking soda. The mixture will foam up as you stir. Apply to hair. Leave on for a few hours and wash hair.
Good luck and be sure to share which method worked best for you!
Almost December and the flowers still bloom. Beds of yellow leaves cover the sheep meadow and children run through, producing whirling dervishes in their wake. It’s a blast to watch kids in Central Park on a Sunday, with families are doing what families should be doing. Memories are being made, laughter is prevalent, and the merry-go-round plays happy show-tune-inspired tunes to a full house of horses and children.
The park, totalling 843 acres in the middle of Manhattan, houses a pond, Poet’s Walk, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Boathouse and loads of spectacular trails, vegetation and street performers. Central Park runs north to south from 110th street to 59th street and east to west from 5th Avenue to Central Park West. Whether you take your kids to explore Belvedere Castle, play at one of the many playgrounds, ride a horse-drawn carriage, hang our at the Swedish Cottage Marionette theatre or do some catch and release fishing, the kids will be smiling!
Not planning a Big Apple trip in the near future? Get outside in your own city! We often take for granted the nature around us, and can easily spend more time indoors than the New Yorkers living in tiny apartments with concrete and fire escapes. Complacency is not an option when you have kids. For your health and theirs, go outside.
www.centralpark.com
Many readers know that my son went through colic. But I’ve never really admitted the full extent of the turmoil that swept our house for 18 months. So in the spirit of our new blog, I will dish it. I was kicked out of mommy and me pilates. (Twice). And then excused from a breastfeeding group with nurses due to the excessive noise. People would come up to me on the street with advice (constructive criticism..). “I think he’s hungry! Wet! Tired! Overstimulated!”
What kind of mother would take a child that screams for an hour into a grocery store? The kind that needs groceries and has no other option, thank you. If you would care to watch him at home while I shop I would be grateful. But he will cry – no matter how many needs you satisfy. And he won’t get tired BY THE WAY – not even after 4 hours straight. It went on and on, and experts weighed in as close friends worried my husband and I would drive off a dock hurdling the whole family into the ocean in our LandRover.
Along with the other suggested colic remedies, we were introduced to Boiron camilia. I had used their arnica montana as a homeopathic remedy after giving birth and we decided to try the camilia. Typically recommended for teething, this natural herb is free of acetominiphen and anisthetics and is fully safe for babies. More important, it had a calming effect on our little (screamer) monkey. You twist the tip off the plastic tube of the convenient individual dose and can even slip the liquid into baby’s mouth while nursing (or better yet, have them pretend it’s a nipple and suck it out). We would have ‘picnics’ and I would have chamomile tea when he had his ‘medicine’.
Now that my two boys are bigger, though not quieter (now they never stop talking), they catch colds at school and get boo boos as they tumble. Insect bites while tree climbing are common. Boiron has (thankfully) expanded their lineup so I can keep curing the boys with natural medicines.
DAPIS gel is an ointment to relieve hives, itching and promote the healing of insect bites. Now they tell me. (I didn’t have to buy all of that mosquito netting after all.) The flip cap ensures a tidy application and the 40g tube is easy to slip into a purse or diaper bag.
I was one of those parents taken aback by the research on and subsequent removal of traditional childrens’ cough syrups from the pharmacy shelves. And it, of course, became another bone of contention with the older generation, “Well I gave it to you and you turned out fine! Kids these days…” Thankfully, STODAL honey-based cough syrup is great for kids over one year of age and – ahem – looks like any other ‘traditional’ cough syrup. So your mom doesn’t need to know that you’ve changed up the parenting practices. It’s so yummy my kids keep asking for it on their pancakes. When you come from Canada and it ousts maple syrup you know you’re onto something. (It now also comes in sugar-free). Unfortunately it doesn’t make the kids drowsy, so they keep talking and talking, but at least they’re not keeping me up at night with the cough. And I have Boiron camilia with my nighttime tea, so I’m relaxed anyway.
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Boiron. As always our opinions are our own.