• family

    Do You Know Who I Am?: Blogging and Entitlement

    In a digital world, bloggers have become a strange new breed of celebrity. Many are Moms, forging and shaping opinion, writing the future of media. They are on line columnists, brand ambassadors, reviewers, multi-media managers, content providers, publishers, SEO experts, social media strategists and tech experts. They are explorers, pure and simple. Some powerful females have carved out a home and grown an almost cult-like following through their blogs. The Bloggess has 67,000 followers on Twitter alone, not to mention the legions who read her on various other sites. Dooce got a book deal and became a legend. Type A Mom Kelby…

  • family

    Type A Mom: A Top Ten List of Hopes

    Well I have about 35 hours left before I escape – I mean fly to Asheville, North Carolina for the Type A Mom conference. (Husband laughed at me when I told him what it was called, as if to say Ha! You Type A. Hysterical!) Well, Type A doesn’t mean I am not domestically challenged. Silly man! P-Shawww!Anyways I am in the mood to make lists so here is my top ten list of what I really really hope to get out of my very first blogging/ social media conference. (Did I really just say that?!) While reading please sing the…

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    Snow in September – mini review

    Well the last day of summer is upon us and le premiere jour de-l’automne is here, so naturally my kids are making snow. Say what? Well Mama found this fun product several months ago and kept it for a rainy or sunny afternoon as needed. Supersnow is a powder product by http://www.dunecraft.com/ a company from Cleveland, Ohio. The snow is non toxic and recommended for aged four an up. Add water to the powder and stir. Instructions indicate that warm water makes it fluff up even faster. See picture here. My daughter, nine, who is clearly headed for a life…

  • family - Parenting

    Advocacy – WIN THEN BUILD Philosophy

    This is something I share when I do workshops throughout North America on advocacy. But because I know so many friends with children who can use this information I thought I would post a tipsheet on the topic. I call it the WIN then Build philosophy of advocacy. I run a non profit (Canadian Coalition of Adoptive Families http://www.canadiancoalitionofadoptivefamilies.ca/) in which I often use these tactics and I am a Mom and I have a child with special needs. This is what works my experience. Of course there’s more than one way to make things happen but this worked well…

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    SIX Questions and Answers about School Lunches

    So your baby is about to start school and she or he is staying for lunch. That opens up a whole new world of school lunches. I have a bit of experience with thousands of school lunches over the years and I wanted to pull together some questions and tips that I often get asked by friends whose kids are just starting kindergarten. A friend of mine prompted this post as she found it helpful last week when I emailed her in response to a question she had about school lunches and leftovers.   Six Questions about School Lunches Q1: What lunch…

  • family - parenting

    Activity Tax Credits, Mommies and What About Seniors too?

    I am all for activity tax credits and fitness tax credits and anything that keeps kids active and fit and healthy. I can back that any day and, in fact, I would. I spend well over the $500 a year allowed by the federal fitness tax credit each year – $1,000 for a disabled child. I have some extremely active children and they need a lot of martial arts/ basketball/ swimming/ skating/ music/ drama etc. I claim every year the maximum I can and I tell every new parent I know to take advantage of the federal credit. It makes…

  • family

    Monday Mingle

    Whoops almost forgot to give a shout out to my friend Jennifer over at 80 MPH Mom who started this vloggy fun on her blog. So Happy Monday Mingle. Make some new friends.

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    Friday: Back To School Edition

    Holy Shopping Batman! There are some incredible deals happening this weekend and some excellent freebies in and around London area too. Oh and it’s a follow Friday thing again here too.. So read on… Gap Give and Get program is on this weekend. It started Thursday and runs through until end of Sunday. 30 % off anything you buy at Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy. The bonus here is that the Gap gives 5% of what you spend to various non profits including Canadian Aids Society. Rainbow Cinemas at the Galleria has their annual birthday event this weekend and…

  • family - family travel

    Back To School Last Hurrahs

    Payton and Ainsley in the cool room at Great Wolf Lodge Great Wolf Lodge- Niagara Falls Father’s Day at Bingeman’s Park – Kitchener Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum – Niagara Falls Well, less than two weeks to school starting here and I am on a mission. We’ve had a fabulous summer of fun activities like the excellent Great Wolf Lodge weekend on Canada Day. Many thanks to Lay’s Chip Trips and Mom Central Canada. As a Trip Advisor, I have seen a lot of fun Ontario sites and enjoyed a few deep discounts. All that for the price of a few…