• Technology

    Ring Ring Pick Up the Phone – Cell Phones and Teens – The Sequel

    January 23, 2015 - By 

    Remember this post? Remember when I posted this week about the $400 strange data charge on our Rogers bill? Remember how thrilled I was when I realized it was my darling daughter’s phone which doesn’t even have data that rang up a huge data bill? Yes, I was livid and I confiscated the phone and the iPad. And I was peeved at Rogers, because I told them when I hooked said phone up that it was for calling. We had talk and text only. And yet a $400 data bill arrived. How does that happen? I queried how this happened…

  • adoption and tweens - Parenting

    Ring Ring Pick up the Phone… ERRRR Don’t: Hard Life Lessons for Digital Kids

    January 19, 2015 - By 

    Kids are the best. Except when they are giving me grey hairs. Which was the weekend. Oh I still love them madly and to the moon and back. But opening a Rogers bill to find out someone had added data packs on their own to their relatively newly connected phone supposed to be used for emergencies only, and then having my eyeballs pop out of my head, was not on the schedule for today. And yet there it was $400 worth of added data. So what happened? Well, I picked my eyeballs up off my laptop and then I spent…

  • family - Giveaways

    K-Tel’s Mini Pops CDs 11 and 12 for Kids #Giveaway

    January 7, 2015 - By 

    My kids are 10 and 13 now and they are all about the music and the computers and gadgets too of course. My youngest loves listening to her Ipod Nano and she also has a pretty busy social calendar which means a lot of car time. In my mini van I have a TV but I don’t always want my kids watching TV on the road so I love to have music handy and books too. My husband has no entertainment system in his car and he often pops in a family friendly CD for road trips and even for…

  • active family travel - family - family travel - Travel

    Canopy River Tours in Puerto Vallarta #travel

    July 25, 2014 - By 

    Looking for a fun adventure in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico? Canopy River Tours is the perfect way to spend a day exploring rain forest from above. If the flip flops fall off, they will most definitely plummet 600 feet to their demise in the Sierra Madre mountains. I find myself wondering: will they whirl like maple keys do, or dive straight down into a rocky canyon below? Together? Or one at a time? Flip flops were the first questionable choice we made this morning. I am excruciatingly hopeful that this two hour zip lining Canopy River Tours adventure is not the second. Comfortable…

  • swear_jar
    Health - parenting

    Do You Have a Swear Jar?

    July 8, 2014 - By 

    I am $1.20 in the hole. My youngest daughter made me a bet that I had to take for the weekend. She challenged me to quit swearing. Ten cents a swear word. So I set up a swear jar.  A dime? A couple of my friends huffed angrily that I was taking advantage of my daughter by not advising her that she should have made it a loonie a swear word, but the amount wasn’t the point. I am not proud that I swore twelve times over the weekend (within hearing range of my child. She might have missed a…

  • Health

    Helping Your Daughter Prepare for her Period

    June 17, 2014 - By 

    If you are the parent of a daughter over the age of 9 then you need to be having some period conversations regularly so she knows what to expect. Now there’s a product that can help facilitate the talk, and prepare your daughter for menstruation.     If you are the parent of a tween girl, chances are good you know this familiar scene. One minute she’s the sweet little girl you know and love and the next minute she’s consumed by mood swings, dramatic shrieks and slamming doors. It’s enough to make your head spin. I’ve come to view these tempestuous mood…

  • adoption and tweens - Health

    How I Started and Continue the Period Talk With My Daughter

    April 4, 2014 - By 

    How we tackle tough topics in my family is something I often talk about here. Period talk is no different. It’s just part of being a parent. Periods are as natural as showering, eating and sleeping here. So why shy away from period talk? Starting and continuing the period conversation is an important part of parenting and a vital part of development for young girls too.     This post is part of the YummyMummyClub.ca and Always Tampax sponsored program. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. This post reflects my personal opinion about the information provided by…

  • Back To School - Food - Health

    Five Fast Wake Up Ideas for Tweens #YOP #BTS and a Coupon

    August 7, 2013 - By 

    They sure are sweet when they are sleeping. But try to get them to wake up and watch the fun! I am taking tweens and teens of course. And they rarely jump for joy when the alarm goes off. But here are a few ways I help wake up my tween and teen. Oh, we all joke that when they are sleeping they are angels, right? But, wake up time? Well, that’s a whole other ball game. My youngest daughter has always been the kind that springs out of bed bouncing with so much energy I wish I could market…

  • beauty products - parenting

    When It Takes A Village – Dove #CelebrateMom

    July 16, 2012 - By 

      This post is part of YummyMummyClub.ca’s support of the Dove Celebrate Mom contest.I received compensation as a thank you for my participation.This post reflects my personal opinion about the information provided by the sponsors.You can nominate inspiring moms here: celebratemom.ca In many ways my family is the truth at the heart of that saying It Takes A Village To Raise A Child. It took a village to help us build a family and when we adopted our girls, both as infants, well I knew always that  I would seek to find them strong role models to help guide them…