It seems that no one has birthday parties at home anymore. Clearly, this has its benefits: no cake ground into your carpet; guests can’t arrive early or leave late; and the kids easily burn off all the sugar they’ve inhaled throughout the afternoon. But it has its downsides, too. En route to a party for…
Kiddopotamus TinyDiner portable placemat
Eating with a baby or toddler is a messy business. Before we had kids and moved to rural suburbia, we were big-city dwellers, living the high life: shopping every weekend after enjoying leisurely Sunday brunches, and eating out at great restaurants several nights each week. Although we were never parents-to-be who claimed that a child…
Matter: mom & baby – Substance Baby Sun Care Creme
Ah…remember the good ol’ days when you could climb out your bedroom window onto the roof and sunbathe, smeared in baby oil? SPF-what? (That wasn’t just me, right?) If you’re like me and escaped with little more than a few sunburns along the way, let’s count ourselves lucky. I’ve wised up since then and rarely…
buggyguard: lock up your strollers!
This might sound strange, but when we lived in the big city, I rarely worried about my stroller being stolen. We went to program after program where we were required to abandon our million-dollar strollers because the centre wasn’t big enough to accommodate them or was three floors up with no elevator. I never locked…
Ontario Early Years Centres (way better than you might think)
If you’ve only heard of the Ontario Early Years Centres in passing, and the first image that comes to mind is a flu-infested community centre with no heat, allow me to change your perception. I won’t say that I avoided the Centres during my first mat leave, but I didn’t free up any time to…
Squishy Banana…and other great songs
Have you heard some children’s CDs out there? Seriously, there’s some real crap. Terrible rhymes, annoyingly high-pitched voices and messages that aren’t really my idea of values I wish to instill. Sometimes I wonder if these so-called children’s entertainers are really just failed musicians who couldn’t hack it in the big leagues. That’s why it’s…
IKEA Antilop high chair
Like strollers, I thought the perfect high chair didn’t exist. We tried a couple of those chunky plastic versions – you know, the kind with the puffy vinyl-covered padding that appear as supportive as a newborn’s car seat and collect crumbs better than high-pile carpet. They had five-point harnesses. They reclined. They had toys that…
UPPAbaby Vista stroller
<In case you’re looking for the 2015 UPPAbaby Vista review…carry on…> When it comes to big investments – you know, a crib set or a vacation – I become obsessive (manic, really) about research. I’ll spend hours online reading about a product’s features and benefits, checking out reviews, and then spend an equal amount of…