Preschool To Grade 1 - Things We Couldn't Live Without

 A while back I wrote a blog post called Baby to Preschool - Things We Couldn't Live Without and I thought I'd so a similar list now that the kids are a few years older. Here's my list of favs!

Preschool:

1. Oliver's Labels: My son has a allergies and after I blogged about it Oliver's Labels offered to let me try some of their allergy aware labels. What can I say, I fell in love. I LOVED the temporary wristbands that have his name, phone number and a clear NO NUTS stop sign on them. My son always takes his medi-alert bracelet off so what I love about these is that my son can't get them off unless I cut them off. I've placed these new labels on his lunchbox, and backpack and feel much more confident it will be noticed. Can be found at www.oliverslabels.com

2. CHILDish: Wee! My kids get so excited to eat off these personalized plates and use their personalized lunch boxes. Seriously, how cool it is that you can make the products resemble your kid? The kids think it's pretty neat to see themselves and it's made meals more fun (plus less of a battle over what plates to use!) *note* It's also a grade school product because the new personalized pencils worked perfectly for school; I didn't have to label anything! Can be found at http://mychildish.com/

3. Band-Aids: Yes I know you probably already have these but do you have enough?! On average I think our household goes through at least 1 a day. I put extra Band-Aids in the kids backpacks and make sure they have their favourite characters on them, it always seems to help. So, go buy more!

4. Twooth Timer: in the preschool years we started to teach the kids how to brush their own teeth. We still take a turn brushing and found the Twooth Timer helped teach them how long to brush for. We set the timer for 2 minutes and the 1st minute they brush and the 2nd minute we brush. The kids get a real kick out of it! Can be found at www.sprogs.ca

Grade 1

1. Moonjars: This product works for kids from preschool up but I think slightly older kids get it more. It's an allowance jar that helps to teach kids how to save money for specific things. We use the jar as savings for the charity of their choice (they picked the Humane Society), one for saving for themselves, and one for gifts for others (siblings, grandparents, friends, etc). Can be found at www.moonjar.com

2. Knot Genie: why didn't someone tell me about these before?!? This the only brush that DD uses and doesn't complain about. She will brush her hair wet or dry with it and not once say 'ouch!' I picked up one for both kids and I think we'll use them for many years. Can be found at www.sprogs.ca

3. Lunchskins: My daughter's school is a litter-less lunch school so they have adopted the practice of 'pack in - pack out'. This was new to me so I had to start researching ways to send her lunch in reusable containers that would all fit inside one lunch box. I found these and really love how easily the kids can open them themselves, and how well they fit in her lunchbox. I only bought two to test them out so now I'm going to have to buy a whole collection of them. The best part is that you can put them in the top shelf of your dishwasher to clean them and they are estimated to have 1000 uses. That's saving 1000 plastic sandwich bags! Can be found at www.sprogs.ca

4. Melissa & Doug Travel Toys: If you're like me you try to plan ahead and take items along if you're going to a restaurant, appointment, or a long car ride. I've found these travel toys to be among the best and they can keep my kids amused for quite a while. The items are pretty sturdy and have withstood two pretty active kids who have thrown them, banged them on tables, and stepped on them. The memory game cards can get a little bent so I'd suggest you do your best to keep them in the holder. Now that they're getting a little older they also really like the Hangman game but be prepared as the answer will like be their own name 1/2 the time. Can be found at www.melissaanddoug.com or most Chapters stores.

*NOTE* I have not been paid to advertise any of these items, they're just things I have purchased and love. The only exception is the labels from Oliver's Labels as I received a few labels to trial and I'll be going back to buy my own set!

100 Random Things

For my 100th post I thought I'd say something profound. But since I couldn't think of anything profound I thought I'd post 100 random things. Let the oddity begin:

1. I LOVE my daughter's freckles

2. Armadillos creep me out, they're like rats with a shell

3. Pasta, pasta, pasta - yes please!

4. My husband had a very elaborate way to propose to me but when it fell through at the last moment he planned a slightly less elaborate proposal.

5. I like GINGERS!

6. Bubble bath = Bliss

7. I didn't find my passion until I was 30 years old and working at the Mustard Seed in Calgary

8. Still don't understand why people have to be bitchy about what phone I use. I like it. It's my preference. Let it go. You are not superior for owning a different brand of phone.

9. Fall is my favourite season because I can wear many sweaters

10. GOILERS

11. My son loves robots and that makes him cool in my books

12. I have no idea what to do with our massive cd collection

13. Jinx!

14.  I say 'seriously' way to much and now my kids say it all the time

15. I sometimes repeat myself

16. I sometimes repeat myself

17. Words I find funny: bunwich, poke-check, five-hole, and kerfuffle

18. Cat purrs heal many hurts

19. The best invention in the past 20-ish years (besides the internet) is the PVR

20. That being said I watch many shows in FFWD mode

21. I've been married twice. HA! No I haven't, just thought I'd check to see if you're still reading.

22. Hugs and hearts to the people who come out and volunteer with me :)

23. Love that Hubs and I have the same love of fine dining, traveling and movies.

24. Troy and Abed in the MORNING!

25. Favourite 2 books of all time: To Kill A Mockingbird and The Power of One

26. Not a fan of going barefoot

27. Twitter kicks Facebooks butt

28. I talk too much and listen too little.

29. Nerds RULE!

30. What?! I'm only at 30?! I should have done this post for my 30th post not 100th.

31. I quote tv shows ALMOST as much as Hubs quotes movies

32. Vampires don't sparkle

33. A few months ago I got asked for ID at age 37. Woot woot!

34. Did you drink enough water today?

35. I'm lucky to have some amazing friends, all bring something different into my life and I hope I give a little something back to them :)

36.Going to be an Auntie again...wee!!!

37. According to Myers Briggs I'm 50% introvert and 50% extrovert; it's kinda right.

38. Watch Community and 30 Rock, if you don't you're missing out.

39. After living in the country for 18 years it took me 2 years to adjust to the noise & lights at bedtime

40. 4 is my favourite number

41. I always set a time limit to wallow and feel depressed

42. After many years of trying I still have yet to 100% correctly complete the paper crossword

43. So far it's taken me 4 days to write this post.

44. ohhhh, two 4's in a row (see #40)

45. People that share an email address with their significant other baffle me. I have 5 accounts to myself.

46. Does anyone else remember the tv show Four on the Floor? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_on_the_Floor 

47. I have no desire to ever be on tv. EVER.

48. I exercise so I can eat more foods I like that are not good for me (except they do wonders for my mental state)

49. We have a cat named Zazoo who likes to eat the strings on balloons and then puke

50. Half way there!

51. Love that my daughter has friends that call her Joc. One of the main reasons we named her Jocelyn was because it could be shortened to Joc.

52. I have one of the longest nick names ever: Joey Jo-Jo Junior Shabadoo (but I go by Joey Jo Jo Jr Shabado) and it's from the Simpsons http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Joey_Jo-Jo_Junior_Shabadoo

53. Peanut Buster Parfait is my ice cream weakness.

54. I only tend to make it 3/4 of the way through self-help/parenting/advice books and then never finish.

55. Spoon!

56. Yes, certain references you'll only get if you're a nerd.

57. My Grandpa Charlie was my hero.

59. No really I'm on 58 but once again I was wondering if anyone was paying attention.

59. Places I  want to see the most: China, Rome, Costa Rica, Vietnam, Turkey, and the list goes on...

60. I got glasses when I was in grade 3 and contacts when I was in grade 11 because I broke 8 pairs of glasses in sports in grade 10.

61. Remember Beta, Palm Pilots, Texas Instruments, and transistor radios? I do.

62. I learned to type on an actual typewriter.

63. Why do people say 'dethawed'?

64. Smiling is my favourite.

65. CSIS is cool.

66. The real James Bond will always be Sean Connery

67. Since everything has become non-smoking I'm a total smoke-snob & can't stand the smell

68. I'll stop watching a boring movie but won't ever put down a boring book.

69. *snicker, snicker*

70. What the WHAT?!

71. It's now taken me 8 days to write this.

72. People that fight on social media sites amuse me.

73. We really liked the name Marcus for a boy but his name would end up sounding too much like the department store Marks & Spencer.

74. Still want to have 2 cats named Mulder and Scully

75.Remember the days the Black Dog used to show episodes of the X-Files in their basement? It was so packed people sat on the floor to watch.

76. Pop pop!

77. Dill pickle chips #FTW

78. Ironing was my least favourite chore growing up.

79. Shelling peas was my favourite because you could do it in front of the tv AND eat them at the same time.

80. I miss drive-in theatres.

81. My mom said my first crush was John Travolta after seeing Grease when I was 3 or 4.

82. Country music and I don't mix.

83. Have you watched The Soup? You should. It basically just makes fun of all other tv shows and it's awesome:  http://thesouptv.com/

84. The one famous person I would have liked to have met before her passing was Mother Teresa.

85. I buy local as much as I can, after that I buy Canadian as much as I can.

86. Always have a zombie apocalypse plan in place.

87. Rule #2: Double Tap

88. I have a gift for predicting tv show, book and movie plots early on. It's a fairly useless gift.

89.Zumba!

90. The weather is the weather, you can't do anything about it but move.

91. Go volunteer somewhere, it will make you feel like a million bucks.

92. I prefer using commas rather than semi-colons even when I know I'm using them incorrectly.

93. Tom Cruise scares me and he always has.

94. I dread the day my son will no longer let me pinch his cheeks.

95. What ever happened to keytars?

96. Oh I'm picking out a thermos for you, not an ordinary thermos for you

97. This is seriously the most random list EVER. See, I used #14 again.

98. Watch out for tickers.

99. My family is my everything.

100. I'm shocked I'm still blogging after 2 years and even more shocked I couldn't come up with a better 100th post than this!

As Clear As Mud

Have you ever tried explaining a cliche to a kid? The look of confusion is priceless, and to use a few old cliches, you could see their wheels turning and steam coming out of their ears ;)

I never realized how many old cliches I use in everyday language until I had to start trying to explain them to my kids. Some simply go over their heads and some I struggle to actually remember what the saying even means! Sometimes we simply say things because we've always said them and the kids have forced me to really look at what I say and when I use that saying.

I thought I'd list some of the cliches I use that I've found difficult to explain to my kids:

- Beat around the bush

- The best thing since sliced bread

- You can't teach an old dog new tricks

- Don't look a gift horse in the mouth

- Till the cows come home

- A stick in the mud

- A good rule of thumb

- More than you can shake a stick at

- A snail's pace

- The shoe is on the other foot

- The apple of my eye

- In the doghouse

- Full of vinegar (or full of the dickens)

Do you use these types of expressions? What's your favourite or most used? Have you tried explaining them to your kids?

As for my own use of expressions I think I'll have to filter them a bit more before my kids start thinking I'm nuttier than a fruitcake ;)

The Power of Blankie

Overtired and want some comfort? Green Blankie! Have a boo-boo and need a pick-me-up? Green Blankie!

I find it truly amazing how many children pick an object and become so attached to that object. It seems to be the source of many magical powers that can cure everything and do no wrong. 

Surprisingly our daughter never really became attached to one particular object but our son has a beloved Blankie. He needs it at night to sleep but if he had his way he's carry it around all day like Linus from Charlie Brown.

It made me wonder why and when we give up these things? If they bring us such joy and comfort are they such a bad thing? I understand it's not ideal if they won't go to school without it, or they want to take it to play in the mud but if they can just use it in the comfort of their home do you let them have it whenever they want? We try to restrict the Blankie to just bedtime and instead we're trying to encourage him to use words to describe his feelings rather than just put his head under his Blankie.

I remember having a great affinity for a little pillow when I was young and I kept it until I was around 25 and the pillow disintegrated. Since then I can't say I have an object that I cling to when I'm feeling down. Do you or your kids have something that gives you comfort? Would you let your kid have it whenever or wherever they want?

Part of me feels sad that when my son no longer needs his Blankie he's going to lose a piece of his childhood that has brought him so much comfort.

June & July Book Reviews

Once again I'm behind with my book reviews so here's the books from June and July!

1. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter - Seth Grahame-Smith:  This book takes a few tidbits of the history of Abraham Lincoln and rewrites them to include his efforts to vanquish vampires. It starts from his birth all the way to his assassination. It's an entertaining take on history and a fun way to learn a few facts about that point in US history. After reading the book I took a chance on the movie and was very disappointed to see that only about 5% of the book was in the movie. The book stood well on its own as fast moving and exciting so it's a shame they didn't use more of that premise.

2. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh: This story follows Charles Ryder as he befriends a young aristocrat and his family in the 1920's. Charles becomes ingrained in the family and all his and their trials through divorce, religion, sexuality, love and alcoholism. The writing is smartly done and allows you to fully imagine the era and the eccentricity of the characters. It was enjoyable and I can see why it make the 501 Must Read list.

3. A Secret kept - Tatiana De Rosnay: This is the author of the much beloved Sarah's Key so I thought it was worth a shot. The beginning of the book showed promise but sadly falls short. It is written very much in the same style of Sarah's Key in that you travel back and forth through time but this is achieved through letters from the past. What I found to be an issue with this book is that there are far too many subplots. You follow the story of Antoine and his sister discovering the past of their deceased mother. From there you also follow Antoine's love life, his difficulties with his children/father/ex-wife, and many other little issues. It's just too much to follow and you finally start to lose interest in all his problems. It's still an OK read but don't expect another Sarah's Key.

4. The Forgotten Affairs of Youth - Alexander McCall Smith: This is a typical Isabel Dalhousie novel. It's very formulaic so I won't go into detail as until you've read the first 7 books this one won't mean much to you!

5. King Peggy - Peggielene Bartels and Eleanor Herman: Peggy went from being a secretary in the US to a King in Ghana and this chronicles her journey. Her struggles with being accepted as a female King by her own elders was interesting and informative. It was encouraging to see her prevail and get clean water, better health care and the like to her small village. It's inspirational but at times a little drawn out.


July

Books 1, 2 and 3 of the Josephine B. Trilogy - Sandra Gulland: These novels follow the life of Josephine Bonaparte and the French Revolution.  It was very interesting to learn about her upbringing, her brushes with poverty, her first marriage, her imprisonment, her children and her relationship with Napoleon. The books are all very well written and super hard to put down one you start them.

4. The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection - Alexander McCall Smith: again it's another in the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series and it's really predictable. As in most of McCall Smiths books it follows a set formula so it's really much different than all the others in the series. This one follows Precious as she gets to meet her mentor, she helps the matron of the orphanage and a few other side stories.

5. Cosmopolis - Don DeLillo: This is a very odd, disjointed book. I was interested in reading it before the movie comes out and I'm not sure I'm going to be any the wiser when I see it! We get to see a day in the life of Eric, a 28 year old billionaire. His goal in the morning is to go get a haircut but he is waylaid by chance encounters with his new wife, his mistress, a presidential visit, a funeral, a riot and a few other weird scenarios. Throughout the entire day he's conducting business in his limo and trying to assess his impending downfall. The whole book reeks of narcissism and is highly unbelievable. Even with it being that it still offers an element of surprise entertainment like watching a car wreck.

His Allergy, His Life

Have you ever walked into a school classroom or a day camp and noticed one of these signs?

That's my son they're talking about. Well, it's him and usually at least 1 or 2 other kids in the class. In my daughter's class there was 4 kids out of 22 with anaphylactic allergies. It's something that is becoming more common and more talked about and yet I still see people who don't understand how serious it really is.

My son is allergic to Tree Nuts. More specifically he's allergic to pistachios, cashews, hazelnuts and pine nuts. I know, who would have thought pine nuts?! It means he can't eat Nutella, he can never eat pesto sauce, he can't try some of my favourite dishes from the local Indian or Thai restaurants, nor many types of chocolates or ice creams due to cross contamination.

What happens if he comes into contact with his allergy? He goes into anaphylactic shock. The doctors have told us that within minutes (possibly seconds) of his next exposure to any of those nuts means his face and throat will swell to the point where he won't be able to breathe. He will have abdominal pain, a fall in blood pressure and possibly fluid in his lungs. The symptoms are endless. Based on his last exposure, watching his little face swell beyond recognition, it's simply something that we never, ever want to happen again.

What does he need to live after exposure? An ambulance to get him to a hospital. He carries an EpiPen but that will only help to open his airways for 10 - 20 minutes so it's essential he gets immediate medical attention. I had someone ask me if he would need help administering it. YES, he's 4, of course he'll need help but even older kids would need help because they'll likely be in a panic because they can't breathe.

Basically what I'm asking is if you see the above sign, or one like it stating someone has an allergy, please take a moment to ask the instructors what the allergy is. Sometimes you don't have to do anything but sometimes making a few slight modifications on a lunch or snack you would normally send along could mean saving the life of someone like my little Ham.

Is There an App For That?

A while back I was in a meeting and was talking to some other women about keeping our schedules straight. As a joke I started talking about building an app that would take my daughter's school schedule/appointments/special days/library book due dates and it would automatically put it into my phone calendar. The women went nuts with their excitement about this idea and kept talking about how great it would be and that I should develop it.

I was stunned. What no one realized is that I was joking. I had only made the comment in jest because I thought it was crazy that I was too busy to take the time to do it myself. Already the school uses a system to email us each time they make an update of information which includes all the above info. It's convenient and helpful and yet it's still not good enough. I need something EASIER. Isn't that kinda sad?

While I understand that there's many useful apps I also know that many are not necessary. I should make my daughter's schooling enough of a priority that I can take a few moments to check out the email I was sent and put the information in my calendar. It allows me that time to make sure the information actually registers in my mind.

So, though I love social media and technology I also need to take a step back and make sure I'm not getting wrapped up in the hype of making things easier. Instead I need to make sure I'm taking the time to sometimes go the longer route in ensuring my priorities stay a priority.