• parenting - Parenting

    What If You Got Different Kids? #adoption

    April 6, 2010 - By 

    So it appears daughter number two is content to follow in daughter number one’s footsteps. At least when it comes to asking the very serious heart-stopping adoption-related questions. Up until now – she recently turned six – she has been relatively passive about her adoption story. She hears it but does not question it, at least not usually. Sometimes I wonder if she is even hearing me. But I repeat the words and rehearse the script, full of phrases common to our family now. Part of telling the story is learning how to get comfortable with it yourself.  My elder daughter…

  • family

    The Tooth Fairy movie and some days are like that…

    March 23, 2010 - By 

    This should be the review of the PG-rated movie The Tooth Fairy. But instead it is a post about flexibility. Not the kind that comes from doing pilates or yoga or any of that. The kind that comes from being a parent, especially well known to those parents of children with special needs. Anyways, what started out as noble intentions last week – a family movie with Grandma and me and my sweet kids, home for the March break, turned out to be what I can only guess was a full sensory assault to my little one, who as some…

  • family

    Starbucks Freebies Today

    March 23, 2010 - By 

    Love that morning cuppa, well this one is just for you. Although I really prefer my timmies in the a.m. I may be hitting Starbucks this morning for my free pastry before 10:30 a.m. Today (Tuesday) all Starbucks coffee shops are offering free pastry with the purchase of a handcrafted coffee. Make mine a tall cuppa breakfast blend and as for the free pastry, I’ll see what they’ve got that tickles my fancy. After all thriftymomma loves freebies. Cheers and enjoy your coffee.! P.S. Print this coupon or show it to the Barrista on your mobile phone.

  • family - homes

    Royale Renocation Contest Launch and Giveaway

    March 18, 2010 - By 

    What would you do with a $13,000 Renocation? That’s the question Royale is asking in their grand Renocation Contest. Luckily this thriftymomma is part of the Royale Mommy blogger tour thanks to Jen at Mom Central Canada. Well, I have to think for all of about three seconds on that one. My cupboards in my kitchen are hideous and slate blue – remember when slate blue was in? Early 90s maybe. Anyways my kitchen is a dreary little room with one redeeming feature – gorgeous hardwood floors. So for us, here at our house, a renocation would begin in the kitchen. Kitchen cupboard…

  • family

    March Break and Disney’s Sleeping Beauty

    March 17, 2010 - By 

    Looking for a fun diversion this March break for your school aged child? This week through Saturday Original Kids Theatre Company is running a production of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty For Kids: The Musical at Wolf Performance Hall in downtown London that is one of the best plays I have seen from OKTC. The spacious downtown theatre accommodates the grandiose production which, although only 45 minutes, is somehow still larger than life. Maleficent, the mean fairy, is a fantastic role for the young actress playing her. The costumes, props and set design are all incredibly professional. My kids were hypnotized. This is a…

  • family - family travel

    Cancun

    March 10, 2010 - By 

    The quest for affordable family fun this year led us to Cancun, Mexico and a great new resort called Great Parnassus Resort and Spa. This one stunned us with the service, staff, family activities, food and great price. Everything exceeded our expectations from start to finish. The Parnassus is a 12-storey sprawling family destination on one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. The food was remarkable and the flavour very cosmospolitan. Many tourists here hailed from all over the globe and spoke a variety of languages, which was lovely exposure to numerous cultures for our children –…

  • Back To School - FASD - special needs

    Grade One and Registration Day

    February 11, 2010 - By 

    Today I registered my fiver for grade one. It’s a monumental occasion for many. It’s a big deal for me and for her. Everyone who has a child with special needs will get what I mean when I say that my heart is in my throat and my fingers are crossed as I tentatively prepare to ship her off to public school. I have had a big knot in my stomach since I left the school this morning. And to think there’s another six months before she starts. It’s not that I don’t have faith in our public schools –…

  • Back To School

    Valentine’s Ideas

    February 8, 2010 - By 

    As we rapidly approach Valentine’s Day, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the need to orchestrate your child’s Valentine’s card exchange or bake sale or various other important crafts that seem to take over this time of year. I find this time of year challenging – two kids with two class lists, various goodies and cards to buy, multiplied by lists that also come from various extracurriculars (Brownies, for instance and Original Kids). When it comes right down to it this means chaos this week as my children write Valentine’s for at least five different groups of kids while also juggling homework.…

  • Parenting

    Lemon – a review

    February 3, 2010 - By 

    (this is a sample of thriftymommasbrainfood my other blog http://www.thriftymommasbrainfood.blogspot.com/) I have been a great fan of Cordelia Strube from the time she first drew attention for her novel Alex and Zee. Strube’s first novel was nominated for the W.H. Smith Books In Canada first novel award and it garnered a fair bit of praise roughly 15 years ago, back when young Canadian authors were being discovered and celebrated regularly, in both this country, and on the world stage. Strube’s various other novels Milton’s Elements and Teaching Pigs To Sing are firmly tucked away in my own personal home library…

  • Parenting

    Haiti and adoption

    January 27, 2010 - By 

    I have been asked in the last couple of weeks many times, both personally and professionally, to weigh in on Haiti and the international adoptions occurring in light of the earthquakes there. There has been much talk locally in the adoption community and in the community at large about what is best practice. At times the talk has been slanted towards the ‘let’s all swoop in and rescue the orphans and bring them to other countries.’ I wholeheartedly support the transportation of those children whose adoptions were approved and in process prior to the earthquake. They should all be moved, and…