Now that Spring has arrived, we are definitely taking advantage of the nice weather.  We have been out for walks, spent time at the park a number of times (where Lyla enjoyed her first time in a swing), visited a local eco-tourism site for Earth Day, and took part in a picnic for International Day of the Midwife this past weekend.  Lyla seems to be having so much fun exploring all the new things there are to see and do outside.  It has really given me and my husband the opportunity to see how much she’s grown and developed throughout these past few months!

I wanted to share a few pictures with you from our recent adventures:

This Spring (and Summer) we are looking forward to continuing to get outdoors and explore our environment.  My husband and I have always loved exploring with day-trips, geocaching, camping, etc., and we are really looking forward to sharing that with Lyla.  My husband luckily gets a whole month off this Summer, which will give us the opportunity to create lots of new memories as a family.  We can’t wait!

What is your family looking forward to this Spring/Summer?

After planning toddler-friendly picnics for the last two years, I do consider myself somewhat of an expert. Here are a few tips to help get the whole family outdoors for a lovely spring picnic:

1) Keep it Simple. Finger foods all the way! There’s no point in bringing extra utensils, condiments and/or paper plates to complement a more complicated dish. Kids are famous for just picking what they want anyways, so a simple spread of finger foods such as cooked chicken nuggets, vegetable sticks, sandwich halves, pre-cut fruit and chips are the way to go. (Don’t forget to pack a few spillproof cups, too.) Of course, mommy and daddy can have a fork or knife on hand, but for the most part, just dig in!

2. Make it Fun. Even though I’m completely entertained just lounging and eating grapes, toddlers require a little more stimulation. Pack a bag full of toys and games to keep the kiddies occupied before and after they eat. Balls, butterfly nets, Frisbees, squirt toys and picture books depicting nature are all a great way to help them enjoy the outdoors. And if there’s a walkway nearby, sidewalk chalk is also a great option.

3. Keep them Safe. Protecting little ones from the sun and bug bites is essential, especially if picnicking in conservation areas or near water. Even though it’s only May, I’ve already encountered tons of bugs! A gentle, waterproof sunscreen should be a staple in the picnic tote, along with a variety of insect repellents.

4. Pack your Canon. Your Canon camera, that is. There are so many moments I’ve enjoyed reliving: seeing the baby sitting on the picnic blanket (with chubby legs poking out); watching my little guy jump up to catch a football; capturing a colourful spread of summer ripe fruits and vegetables.

5. Think Outside the Park. Picnics can happen anywhere – at a nature conservation, the beach, on top of a mountain – even in your own backyard! Often we do a “Yarder”… it’s a great way to spend a sunny, weekday afternoon with the kids – with minimal fuss! A bonus: no need to pack a change of clothes/diapers, ha!

This spring, pack a picnic – you’ll be glad you did!

After a long winter, most of which was spent inside, hiding from the cold, it’s time to get outside!  That’s easy for me, I love being out in the garden and spending time in the fresh air.  And for my toddler, he would be outside from morning ’til night if I allowed it.  But I have a boy who is a challenge to get out the door.  He’s a video game kinda kid who quite honestly would spend most of his days in front of a screen…

So, here are a few of the tricks that I use to get my video game addict child out the door and into the sunshine!

1. Play with them: Kids who don’t want to go outside on their own need some encouragement. Get out there with them and help them find the fun in being outside.  Get them binoculars or a bug catching kid and show them the other worlds that exist outside their front door.
2. Let them get dirty: Don’t send them out in their Sunday best, but send them out in clothes that you’re ok with getting grass stained and torn.  Encourage them to play with their cars in the sand, build roads and buildings with mud.
3. Make an obstacle course: Use the outdoor toys you already have and make a circuit track or obstacle course.  Swings, trampolines, bikes, everything you’ve got.  Then maybe a prize of ice cream for all when the course in complete!
4. Dig for information:  You know your kids better than anyone, but sometimes they can be really good at keeping secrets.  On a sunny day, set up a table and chairs, some lemonade and have a chat.  One on one time is priceless.  Make it a habit and your kids will start looking forward to your outdoor chat time.
5. Let it rain:  Throw on your rubber boots and go puddle jumping with the kids.  Don’t forget your camera.  You’ll get some fabulous pictures.

If getting your kids outside is a challenge for you, I hope these help.  They’re the keys to getting my screen child outside, and they really work well for us.  If you have any other tips or ideas, I’d love to hear them in the comments below.

“Disclosure:  I am part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.”

Poor wee tulips. Mother Nature tricked them into popping up a couple of weeks ahead of schedule and just look what happened to them. Luckily, they’re hardy souls and the snow only lasted a couple of hours. A week later they’re still blooming.

We bought a new house about 18 months ago, and the yard in our semi-rural neighbourhood is ginormous compared to the postage-stamped size yard of our former suburban townhouse. I’m excited about the possibilities of revitalizing the flower garden and planting a huge vegetable garden, but we didn’t even manage a decent harvest from a couple of tomato and cuke plants last year.

I’m looking forward to getting the kids involved in the garden this year. The big boys are getting to an age where I can bribe them into manual labour (they earned 15 minutes of computer time for each garden waste bag they filled with twigs and branches a couple of weeks back) and my littlest one at four is completely in love with flowers. How sweet is this?

(Don’t tell him he’s weeding the garden with every dandelion he picks, okay? I can deal with discovering pockets full of limp day-old dandelions if it means I don’t have to spend hours de-dandelioning the lawn!)

I love early spring, when the garden of your dreams is still tantalizingly possible and not tainted by the idea of all that dirt and sweat and backbreaking hard work!

Before 2nd child came, my (then) toddler didn’t quite “get” the whole baby is coming concept.  So we borrowed big sister books from the library, played family with her dolls, helped her draw pictures of Mommy, Papa, me and baby….and we talked about what life might be like with a new baby…“She will cry sometimes”  “He will wear little diapers” “She will nap and we’ll all have to be a little quieter while she sleeps”.  Through communication we helped her realize the new baby concept a little better.

We also had to take action because big sister had to move out of the crib to make room for baby…so she transitioned to a big girl bed months before the baby was due so that she could get used to her new environment (and not think the baby stole her bed).

Baby #3 was due over the winter holidays making it hard to make plans for the whole family.  I was so pregnant (and actually went 10 days overdue!) that I couldn’t do many family field trips with the kids.  So we turned this into special time with Dad; taking them skating, taking them to a show, playing games (always keeping his mobile phone close just in case).

Then, when baby (finally) arrived, he took over big kid duty (while I was out of commission with my newborn) and they loved having Dad’s attention all to their own!

I also made sure we all had comfort foods in the house in the days of new babyhood.  Their favourite foods (ok maybe a treat or two) and mine helped us all stay energized and upbeat.

And I carved out special time with Mommy too.  Maybe it was a quick cuddle when tucking the big kids in at night.  Or giving baby to someone else to hold while we stole a few minutes to talk about our day.  But everyday I made sure to have a Mommy and Me moment with each of my kids to let them know how special they were (and are).

You can never be totally prepared for a new baby.  But parent to parent — I hope my tips help you prepare as best you can

It’s tough, though. I’m a natural hoarder (“We may need this scrap of fabric some day! What if I want to make a sock puppet out of this lone sock? I’m sure with just a little glue, this broken dollar store junk toy will be good as new…”) and collector, so it pains me to get rid of anything. And I’m sentimentally attached to many of the toys that all three of my boys played with through the years. I’ve always been able to rationalize keeping things because there was always a littler sibling to save things for – but there will be no new babies for this family! When it gets to the point that the boys can’t play with their toys just because they can’t FIND their toys or get to them in the depths of the piles in the closet, it’s time for action.

So once I’ve committed to the idea of letting stuff go, the next hurdle is the sorting. Do we try to sell once-loved toys at a garage sale? Consign them? Drop them off at St Vincent de Paul or a local agency like the Youville Centre (an Ottawa agency that helps teen mothers finish their education)? Or just put them at the curb with a “FREE” sign?

While I like the idea of trying to wring a few dollars from the toys, deciding to sell them is probably the hardest path. We’ll have to organize a sale and give up a good chunk of a Saturday for it, pray it doesn’t rain, and get all the stuff out into the yard looking saleable. And we’ll have to fend off the kids, who are worse hoarders than even I am. “You can’t sell my Ocean Wonders Aquarium! That was on my crib!” (Ten YEARS ago!)

Donating to a charity has a definite appeal. It’s out of the house quickly, and knowing it will go to a good cause instead of cluttering up my house long past its utility to us is reassuring. But to give it away, I’d first feel the need to clean it up, rally up all the parts, and fix any broken bits. Nope, I think the path of least resistance is the curb. Our neighbourhood is lousy with kids; I’m sure the stuff would disappear in a day.

And since my husband has occassionally called me his “crazy garbage-picking wife” for some of the treaures I’ve discovered on the curb and brought home, it seems karmically perfect to return the favour to other families.

Alright, so now we have a plan. Who wants to come over and start doing the actual toy sorting and hauling and piling at the curb for me? Erm, I mean WITH me, of course.

Since my daughter is still young, she doesn’t have A LOT of toys.  I personally don’t think children need LOTS of toys but instead a limited number of high quality toys that are age appropriate and cycled.  I believe that this allows children to explore the world around them, using everyday items to learn and play, while learning to appreciate and respect the toys that they do have.

Recently, our mode of cycling toys has been: having different toys for different places/rooms.  For example, some toys are for downstairs, our living room, the car, etc.  We are currently using a leather ottoman in our living room that has a removable lid with storage inside for all of Lyla’s toys.  Because she is young and doesn’t have many toys (and she is our first child), this solution works well for us.  But, as she gets older and she needs new age appropriate toys, we’ll have to start looking for new methods and getting a bit more creative.

Luckily, at the end of May we will be moving to a new (and bigger) family home.  Once there, we’ll be able to start experimenting a bit more with storage solutions for Lyla’s toys.  We are hoping to eventually create a play space in the currently unfinished basement.  For the time being we’ll have storage areas in the living room (a similar system to what we currently use – furniture that doubles as storage) and storage spaces in Lyla’s room (a toy box, shelves with baskets, …).

Here are a few ideas for re-organizing your children’s play space this Spring:
- Search for furniture that doubles as storage.
- Install shelves or use a bookshelf with a variety of coloured baskets and label them with different types or toys or for each of your children
- Develop a cycle system for your toys.  You can keep some toys in storage and cycle toys in/out monthly and as age appropriate.  Some families also like to cycle toys seasonally and for special occasions (e.g. holidays such as Christmas, Easter, …).
- Organize your child’s play space into different stations for different types of play.  For example, play stations can include crafts, make-belief or dress-up, reading, and more.
- When trying to downsize your child’s collection of toys make piles to separate toys that are to keep, donate (either to friends, family, or a charity in your community), or recycle (or throwout).

What does your family do to organize your childrens’ toys?

This Easter, we spent our time at the Grandparents house, and of course the kids brought out the Fisher-Price toys. The old and the new – the old little People barn is just as fun as the new Little People house that we have at home. The old farmer and farm animals and the new people and pets strengthen imaginations just the same – classic!

Ou Easter holiday was spent cherishing family and reminiscing on the past while looking forward to the future. A new year with new memories but some things are timeless comforts – from the toys that make kids smile right down to the same stories told from years past. Truly ‘back in the day’ memories shared among our whole family. It was a blessed and happy Easter!

Sharing news for Little People fans! Little People is coming to Treehouse- weekend mornings at 9am ET! The Little People series is about big discoveries as seen through the eyes of five little pre-schoolers with personalities as distinct as real children. It’s a world of wish fulfillment and wonder, where steam trains can fly off into the night sky.

To Find out more information on the Fisher-Price Little People TV show, visit this site: http://treehousetv.com/watch/shows/LittlePeople/default.aspx

What are your favorite Little People memories?

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When it comes to the kids rooms…I find these the hardest.  For one, the kids (and I) hold sentimental value to most of their toys.  Though some of them have long since been forgotten, as soon as you try to get rid of it, it’s their favorite toy in the whole wide world and they want to keep it forever.  Here are a few of the slightly sneaky tricks that I use to spring clean the kids room.

1. Save cleaning the kids rooms for when their not home.  Most likely, they will never notice what you remove, and will be thrilled to come home to a fresh, clean room with all their true, favorite things where they can find them.
2. Negotiate with your kids about what stays and what goes.  Offer them one tote container, that they can fill with the toys that they think they still want, but don’t get played with often.  Hint: The smaller the tote, the less they can chose to keep.
3. Suggest a yard sale/garage sale.  Since your knee deep in things you no longer want, pick a Saturday about 3 weeks away and start planning.  Suggest to your children that they chose the toys/books/clothes that they no longer want and give them boxes to put them in.  Spend a few evenings pricing and cleaning things up.  The money your kids earn could be used to buy a new toy, or put away for savings.
4. Don’t put too much in your kids rooms to begin with!  If you know they already have 4 different toys that do the same thing…restrain yourself from buying one similar, even though it’s on sale or clearance.
5. Donate.  Now is a great time to teach your kids about those less fortunate.  Have them wipe off their previously loved toys and let them come with you when you donate to a local church or community centre.

No matter how you handle cleaning out the kids mountains of stuff, view it as a way to de-stress and de-clutter.  In the end, everyone will be happier!

“Disclosure:  I am part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.”

Even though I believe that there can be as much value in playing a video game that there is in a lot of other kid activities, I was adamant for a long time that our boys did not need their own hand-held video game devices. They were six and eight years old when we planned a 19-hour road trip out to Nova Scotia and my husband and I decided it was finally the right time to give in. We kept the device within our control, though, by saying that it was Dad’s DS and so the boys needed to ask permission to use it. And they had to share it. And we put some pretty serious limits on how much time per day they were allowed to use it.

That was a couple of years ago. I kinda have to laugh at how uptight I was with the rules, as I watch my three-year-old play games on an iPod that has become pretty much his to do with as he pleases. The older kids pave the path for the younger ones, don’t they?

So I like to think we’ve staked a middle ground that works for us. The boys are allowed to play video games just about every day, but not quite on-demand. We try to limit screen time to an hour or so at a stretch, but they can earn extra time with good deeds and slave labour household chores. All gaming equipment is the property of mom and dad and access can be revoked at any time, and one must ALWAYS treat the equipment with respect. If you lose (or break, which hasn’t happened yet) a game or accessory, you pay to replace it. And most of the time, one must be willing to share or take turns with at least one other brother. Or Dad. Because he’s the biggest kid of them all!

How do you work the technology rules in your house? Is it a free-for-all or on a reward-only basis or somewhere in between? And, has anyone seen my iPhone? I know I left it around here somewhere….