Category: parenting

June 18, 2015

Four Things I Miss From My Youth

Time flies and it is sometimes hard for me to believe that I was a child of the 80’s! Even harder to believe that I just admitted to that on my blog!!!

There are a few things that I wish I could pass on and explain to my kids how much I loved them (or dreaded) that they may never even know.

First, let’s talk about the electronics, where do you even start?! We had a giant television in our family room and not giant screen but giant big wooden box with a small screen in the left hand side and dials (no remotes here!). The kitchen television with its antenna that only picked up certain channels and even then it was full of static. Or the worst (which I am reminded of every time my child complains about the poor battery life of his iPod) – Walkmans. How hard was it to go for a walk with those, trying to listen to your jam and the cd kept skipping?.

Then it is the cartoons, oh the cartoons in the 80’s and 90’s were incredible! Let’s talk Ninja Turtles, Garfield and The Smurfs. I learned all my best terminology from these shows and not to mention my super ninja powers. How many of you spent hours watching cartoons especially on Saturday morning? These were some of my fondest moments and as the toy industry increased production of branded toys we could play out the cartoons together after the show was over. Which my Mom kept so it has been pretty awesome comparing our old toys to my kids newer versions.

And then there was the slang! Ace, airhead, cowabunga, jet and so many more. I still find myself dating my age when I use some of my favourite sayings.

Oh, the fashion. And the hair. Well, I don’t really miss the hair to be honest, all those pictures of mile high hair with hairspray, I can leave those in the past. But I miss the bright fun colours, ability to choose and be who you are. My favourite t-shirt was my off the shoulder, ‘Don’t worry, be happy!’ number that I would wear all the time.

Netflix did a recent study on Canadian Dads (and since Father’s Day is coming up, had to give them a mention!) which looked at how they felt watching cartoons with their kids and what were their favourite cartoons. There were some surprising answers in there:

65% of Dads watch cartoons when streaming with their children
76% of Dads feel like a kid again when watching cartoons
79% of Dads watching cartoons with their kids are re-watching cartoons of their youth
48% of Dads says their kids love watching movies with them as this is an important bonding time

And their favourite shows to watch? Scooby Doo, Spiderman, The Smurfs, Transformers and Alvin and the Chipmunks! All of which are now streaming on Netflix (woot woot!).

What do you miss from your childhood?

Disclosure: I am a Netflix #StreamTeam member and receive perks with this affiliation. All opinions expressed are my own.

June 14, 2015

Join The #RBCFirstHome Twitter Chat June 16th!

Buying your first home is terrifying! You have so many questions, fears and expectations with no one really to go to in order to talk through your worries. RBC Canada understands this and has assembled a team of experts (Lawyer, Realtor, Mortgage, Home Builders and Design) to answer all of those burning questions you may have at their #RBCFirstHome twitter chat.

The Details:

Follow @RBC_Canada and the #RBCFirstHome hashtag on June 16th from 8:30 pm ET to 9:30 pm ET. The bonus? Five lucky participants will have the chance to win one of five $100 gift cards – woot woot!

Jump in at any time with your questions and feel free to give others advice too! We are all in this together.

Looking forward to tweeting with you on Tuesday!

June 10, 2015

Introducing Your Child to the Theatre at the Shaw Festival

Introducing Your Child to Theatre at the Shaw Festival

I love attending plays and this was a huge part of my childhood. My parents took us to Beauty and the Beast, ballet, Phantom of the Opera and so many more fantastic live shows. I love the architecture of the theatres, the thrill in the audience and the raw emotions from the actors. Sometimes I feel as though children are not encouraged to attend because they have shorter attention spans or they may act out. While this can be true at times, you should always encourage them to attend with you. These are social experiences that will last with them for a long time. One of the best places to experience live theatre is at the Shaw Festival!

Here are some helpful tips for your child’s first visit to a live play:

Arrive early and walk around the city. Niagara on the Lake is stunning in the summer months with the flowers and scenery, so take advantage of this with your child. Pack a lunch to enjoy in one of the parks or try out one of the fabulous restaurants that line Queen Street. This walk really helped our youngest burn a lot of energy while allowing us to see lots of beautiful architecture in the city as well as the lake.

Visit the local shops along Queen Street. We found so many unique shops and this one particular shop really caught the attention of both of our boys with the wind chimes. They fell in love! We spent twenty minutes in this store alone and they came home with a special chime just for them to remember the day.

Niagara on the Lake is rich in history and everywhere you turn there is a sign or flag to display that heritage. Why not really make it a day and visit Fort George for an hour or two? During the War of 1812, Fort George served as the headquarters for the Centre Division of the British Army. This was an important part of our trip as well as we were able to blend some education value into this stop as well as having fun walking around the site (and pretending to shoot cannons!).

The doors to the Royal George open an hour early, so make sure you get in there and take some time to relax in the downstairs lobby. Use this time to make sure your children go to the bathroom, get a small snack and maybe something to drink. The boys loved the mini stage and tables that were set around it. We enjoyed some cool, quiet time before the show started.

The play will make your trip so research what you will see and talk about it with your children. We attended Peter and the Starcatcher, which was fantastic and was a perfect fit for our family! It was full of humour, action and adventure. At one point our youngest was so involved in the action scenes with the Black Stache that he called out no when he was attacking Peter. It was adorable to watch how involved they were in the play and to me this is what theatre is all about, drawing you in to the raw emotions and feelings of the play. The actors in Peter and the Starcatcher did an amazing job drawing you and keeping you entertained throughout the whole two hours. We did not want the show to end!

End your day with ice cream! We stopped in at the Il Gelato di Carlotta, which serves the most divine gelato! I had the Dolce Vita and was in love at first bite. This was the perfect way for us to celebrate the wonderful day we had. Not only is their gelato delicious, they also source all of their fresh fruit from local farms (a win win in my mind!).

The Shaw Festival is the perfect opportunity for you to introduce your child to live theatre, which will be an experience they will not forget!

What other tips can you offer to parents taking their child to live theatre for the first time?

Disclosure: I received tickets to Peter and the Starcatcher. All opinions expressed are my own.

May 25, 2015

Car Care 101: Preparing Your Car for the Summer

Car Care 101: Get Your Car Summer Ready!

The warmer weather has finally arrived! The return of the summer also brings with it fishing trips, beach days and road trips. While we begin to plan out our summer adventures it is important to remember to prepare your car before all the fun begins!

Here are some helpful tips to prepare your car for the summer season:

Service your vehicle!

This is one area that I know a lot of people personally forget to do and I get it, it is easy to forget to book these appointments when you are booking three to six months in the future. It is important to make sure you are keeping up to date with your oil changes and services. Before you leave on any road trips, check your oil fluid. If you don’t know how to do this, either have someone teach you or make sure you have it checked by someone who is familiar with this process (for me, it is my husband that does this as I just can never remember how to check the fluid). Top up your windshield washer fluid and maybe think about storing an extra bottle in your trunk.

Remove Unnecessary Items from Your Car

Make sure you don’t clutter your car with unnecessary accessories from the winter including your car brush (which as I am writing this I know mine is sitting in the trunk of my car). Remove any extra salt that you may be keeping in your trunk. Clean out the inside of your car, removing toys, coffee cups, sippy cups and all the fun stuff that collects over the winter in your back seat. Try to leave as few items in your car as possible that are not tied down, as these items can become dangerous if you were ever to be involved in an accident.

Update Your Emergency Kits & First Aid Kits

Take out your emergency and first aid kits, check them for missing items and update them for the summer months. For our car that means adding in Reactine, Benadryl and AfterBite (you have to love extreme seasonal allergies!). You may want to include sunscreen and extra hats.

Organize, Organize!

Clutter stresses me out, I can’t stand looking at it (even if it is not my own mess!), I just feel like I need to rearrange the items. Trunk space should be viewed as the same, it is important to keep the area tidy and organized (if only for your own sanity!). You can pick up easy items from the Dollar Store to help organize your trunk space.

Ensure You Have the Insurance Coverage You Need

I can not stress the importance of having up to date insurance that is reflective of your current needs. If you don’t understand your policy, have the company review it with you. You don’t want to find out in an emergency that you don’t have appropriate car coverage. Don’t settle for your insurance rates, make sure you shop around for the best deal. If you have a good record, your rates should be reflective of this. You can now get an instant quote from Lowest Rates from the top Canadian insurance companies ensuring you are getting a top rate that is reflective of your driving records. You can use this to decide whether or not it would be financially wise to stay with your current company or make a switch.

Now that your car is prepared for the summer months, you can hit the road with confidence that you will be riding in a safe car that is fully protected!

How do you prepare for your summer travelling?

May 21, 2015

Celebrating Our Unique Family with Netflix #StreamTeam

When my husband and I were married, we joined two very different cultures and backgrounds: Italian and Zimbabwean. Over the years this has meant adjusting to different attitudes towards aspects of the home, meals and even language! I still remember driving the car with my husband and him yelling at me to pay attention to the robots. So of course I looked around the intersection scanning for robots, but what he meant by robots was the traffic lights (oops!).

Eleven years and two children later, we are still growing stronger, becoming accustomed to each others cultures and preferences and blending this into our children. Our children attempt to talk like their Daddy (with the accent) and use his unique words. The only thing I can’t quite get used to is some of the food items he loves! I dislike meat on a bone (don’t ask it is truly a personal thing that even I don’t understand!) and he loves his meat (ox tail!).

Each family is unique in their own way and while our family brings to it a blended culture many other families bring their own twist on the traditional nuclear family – think same-sex parents and step families. There is no longer the ideal perfect family and this is what makes each family perfect in their own unique way.

Netflix is celebrating your unique family this month with some popular hit shows that includes: Party of Five, Raising Hope, Gilmore Girls and the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

For the younger kids, Netflix celebrates their uniqueness with films that include: Alvin and the Chipmunks, Despicable Me, Mr. Peabody and Sherman.

What makes your family unique? How do you embrace this uniqueness?

Disclosure: I am a Netflix #StreamTeam member and receive perks associated with this affiliation. All opinions expressed are my own.