Category: parenting

September 16, 2014

Saving For Your Child’s Future #RESPwithRBC

A university and college education is essential for students. For me it meant studying in a field I love, Kinesiology, while also experiencing my first time living away from home. Up until that point I had led a sheltered life at home with my parents purchasing all of my material needs and taking care of all the bills without ever including us in these discussions. Heading to university away from home was the ideal dream for so many of us – we all had this vision of awesome parties, living in a posh environment with cool new friends and our own space.

The part that we as young adults never realized? The total cost for this education and experience.

My parents had started an RESP when I was in my early teens but were not able to contribute as much as they had hoped to before I went off to school. I had enough to cover my first year of tuition (which was just under $5,000 CDN) but I never took in to consideration the cost of textbooks, supplementary fees, rent and utilities for the lovely apartment we had to have. In my first year alone I paid an extra $1,000 for textbooks and most of them were used. When I lived at home my parents were there to take care of all the money issues but for the first time in my life I was left to deal with my finances on my own and I was running out of money. Like many students I had to turn to student loans, OSAP and credit cards. Access to this credit was so easy and it didn’t feel like “real” money so it kept adding up. To be honest I felt like I had been lied to all those years about money – no one had taught me about savings, budgeting and credit. It was all to easy to rack up over $15,000 CDN in debt.

When I gave birth to my first son I was in my second year of undergraduate studies. After I gave birth, we knew the best gift we could ever give our son was an education and to achieve that we opened him up an RESP. I never wanted my son to feel the way I was feeling – hopeless and beginning to drown in debt. I wanted him to have some financial freedom when choosing post-secondary education. To me this was the most important decision as parents we would ever make. It is also the decision that I am the most proud of. The years keep speeding by and before I know it both of our boys will be ready to make the leap to post-secondary education.

With the wealth of information out there about the rising costs of post-secondary education as well as the importance of that education I am always surprised when parents say they don’t have an RESP or that they plan on financing with credit when the times comes. RBC has put together a fantastic resource of information on their website for families looking to save for post-secondary education.

Some of you may not have heard about RESP’s before and that’s okay too! Here is some information for you from RBC about these special savings accounts:

What Is An RESP?

A Registered Education Savings Plan is a tax sheltered account that helps families save for post secondary education.
You can combine flexible payment plans and direct government assistance (we received $700 in grants because I myself was a student when I first opened up my son’s RESP) to maximize savings.
The beneficiary only needs to be a Canadian citizen and have a social insurance card to set up an account (super easy!).

The Benefits of a RESP

Easy and affordable payments over a long period of time allows you to maximize savings ($50 a month over seventeen years adds up to a lot of money for your child!).
The Canada Education Savings Grant and Canada Learning Bond: the Government is giving you money to save for your child’s education! This is extra money above what you are contributing and only increases your savings over time.

As someone who has been in the position of graduating with a large amount of student debt I can not begin to stress enough the importance of saving for your child’s education.

Here are my own personal tips for families out there looking to save for their child’s post secondary education:

It is never too early nor too late to open an account. Head into RBC to meet with an advisor, learn more about your options and set goals.
Save based on your own financial situation. I know that I personally can not afford to save as much as I wish I could but every little bit counts.
Be open and honest with your children. Sit down with them and talk about money, tuition and savings. Let them view their own statements, open their own bank account and deposit money into their RESP. Let them take pride in saving for their education.

RBC has a fantastic giveaway live on their Facebook page right now where you have the chance to win one of four prizes of $500 to go towards an RESP. You have nothing to lose so head over and get yourself entered! This would make a fantastic start towards an RESP if you haven’t opened one yet or a great top up in an account you already have open!

On October 1st join RBC on Twitter as we chat all things RESP and more! You also have the opportunity to win one of six $100 gift cards! Just make sure to use the hashtag #RESPwithRBC – looking forward to chatting with you!

Disclosure: I am part of the RBC RESP blogger program with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own. Images from RBC used with permission.

July 4, 2014

The Straight Poop: Adventures in Toilet Training Infograph

Source: Early-Childhood-Education-Degrees.com

Find more here.

April 22, 2014

Easy Easter Gifts

Its that time of year again -Easter! I like to put together our own little goodie basket for our kids to ensure it’s tailored to each of my boys and different each year.

To make these easy gift baskets you will need:

– beach pail (I prefer these over Easter baskets as they can use them all year long)

– filling

– tissue paper

– Easter eggs (empty)

– package of gummies,chocolate eggs or other treat your child likes

– Easter baggies

– small gift ($5-10/each)

– plastic wrap

– ribbon

Directions

1. Line the pails with tissue paper and place the filling at the bottom.

2. Put gummies in the Easter bags and begin to add in the pails.

3. Fill the Easter eggs with chocolate eggs and add to the pails.

4. Wrap in clear plastic wrap and tie with a ribbon!

Do you celebrate Easter with small gifts? What do you like to gift?

April 11, 2014

Mother Hen Nutrition Month Taste Testing Play Date #IAmMotherHen

I had the pleasure of hosting a taste testing party this week with other parents to try out the Mother Hen product lines. I have and still use the Mother Hen products (you can find my review here) so I was very happy to be able to share my experiences with other parents and have fun at the same time.

If you are not familiar with Mother Hen baby food the products are certified organic fruits and vegetables (certified through Ecocert Canada), gluten and peanut free and no added salt or sugar. You can find them in their own freezers at many stores including Shoppers Drug Mart and Walmart.

The Planning

To be very honest this was one of our first big play dates (more then just one other child and not a relative!). So we were nervous and excited at the same time. Our first plan of attack? Sending out e-vites! Our youngest son decided to chose the cutest little chick e-vites to send out to our guests to invite them over. We chose our date, time and boom they were off! The e-vites tied in well with the animal theme of our event.

Now what is a party without party decorations and supplies? We went shopping and started to put together our little taste testing presents (had to convince him it was not his birthday party!). We picked up two different boxes of Mother Hen products and went with Lamb and Chicken Cacciatore. We also had two boxes in the freezer already of pears and mangoes (our little one’s favourite fruits!).

Our Taste Testing Play Date

Finally our big day arrived! We took out a nice tablecloth and began to decorate (one of Mommy’s favourite parts!). Out went the taste tasting presents we wrapped up the day before, along with food samples for the children (and for the parents to try too!).

Our crafts and activities also came out. I had such a hard time keeping them away from our little one! He was too excited and started running around an hour before ‘moo-ing’ and using his mask. Mother Hen also included some fantastic game cards and headbands that we (the parents) used and the older ones would give us clues on who we were (although they were not too familiar with the game and would just shout out the character!). Each card was full of facts on that particular animal, fruit or vegetable.

The little one’s favourite part of the day? The taste testing of course! I had purchased two boxes (and some of our own stash) which included pears, lamb and their chicken cacciatore. It was hard to keep the little ones still enough to try them all out but the parents were able to try them out. It was fun to also be able to share recipes, tips and tricks with other parents about ensuring proper nutrition for infants and toddlers (especially with all the new changes to infant nutrition!).

It was a fantastic, fun filled morning with great food, company and activities!

If you are not following them yet, make sure to follow Mother Hen on Facebook and Twitter for more nutrition information updates, recipes and so much more! You can also find more information on hosting your own taste testing event in your home!

What do you look for when purchasing infant food?

Disclosure: I received the above taste testing kit for participating in this event. All opinions expressed are my own. I did not have permission to share photos of the other children attending the event so they are not featured in this post.

March 20, 2014

Chevrolet’s Safe and Sure Child Car Seat Installation at #buddschev

Our children are so precious and every time we place them in their car seats we trust those car seats to ensure their safety. But were you aware that the misuse rates range from 44% to 81% for car seats and 30% to 50% in booster seats (Canadian Paediatric Society). I don’t know about you but that statistic terrified me! Especially when considering that a properly used car seat reduces the risk of fatal injury by 71% and the risk of serious injury by 67% (Canadian Paediatric Society).

Part of the problem (I believe anyways!) is that the car seats themselves are constantly changing along with the rules and regulations. To be honest, I had such a hard time installing our car seat that I gave up and asked my husband to finish it. I could not get the restraints tight enough no matter how hard I tried.

With those statistics in mind and child safety at the forefront, Chevrolet is launching the national Safe and Sure Child Car Seat Installation Workshop Program. Families can receive expert advice on installing car seats into any make or model of vehicle for free. Yup – for free.You can sign up for the free workshops at Safe and Sure.

The workshops were piloted in Toronto during 2012 and 2013. Due to overwhelming positive response from parents, grandparents and caregivers (yes the program is open to any one who will be responsible for driving a child in a car seat!), Chevrolet is working with Parachute to offer this program in three major cities.

If you are not familiar with Parachute they are a charitable organization dedicated to preventing injuries and saving lives. They officially came into being in July 2012 and united the former Safe Communities Canada, Safe Kids Canada, SMARTRISK and ThinkFirst Canada. You can learn more about them on their website.

With all of this in mind, our whole family headed out to Budds Chevrolet in Oakville to have our car seats examined and re-installed if needed. We were a bit worried that the boys would be bored but they were very happy when they received Hot Wheel cars! While I headed outside to learn about car seats the boys stayed inside checking out the cars and taking photographs of each one (no lie here – his favourite one is now our desktop image!).

I learned so much this past weekend at my workshop. As well as learning the how to’s on how to ensure a snug fit with an inch or less movement at the base, I was able to get hands on with the representative and help out.

Some important things to remember:

Car seats have an expiry date! If the date is not listed on the actual car seat you can call the manufacturer directly to get the expiry date.
Never use a car seat that has been involved in an accident. If you do not know the car seat’s history don’t purchase it (for used and borrowed car seats). Even with no visible damage, a crash can damage the integrity of the car seat.
Never rush a child out of the booster seat. The booster seat works to position the adult seat belt over the strong bones of the body. Children should not move into a seat belt until they are 145cm (4’9″). Always make sure to check your provincial laws around booster seats.
Only use attachments or cloth protectors under the car seat that have been tested with the car seat by the manufacture.

Check out this great video about the workshops:

Have you ever attended a car seat workshop in the past? Do you have any recommendations for first time parents out there?