Motherhood Archives -

Labels for Little Boys +Giveaway

August 25, 2015 by Farewell Stranger ·

See that kid? It’s time for him to start preschool. When it came time to register him, we had to count several times to make sure we had it right. Is he really old enough? I guess he is, though it doesn’t seem possible. Already?

With some other pending changes, he might also be in daycare, at least part time. Either way, he’s going to be heading out into the world in a new way, and he’s going to have stuff, and his stuff is going to need to be labelled.

When Connor was labelling-things age, we bought some Mabel’s Labels because everyone told us they were the best. And they are, though I can’t attest to the quality (or not) of many others, because we really haven’t tried any. Haven’t needed to. Mabel’s stick to anything, and this many years later Connor’s are still stuck. (They’re dishwasher proof, microwave proof, waterproof and laundry safe.) So we got some for Ethan too.

We got a Little Kid School Combo pack and there are several different design choices to choose from. You can get fire trucks:

Or monkeys:

Or butterflies (he actually probably would have liked these):

But in the end I chose trains, because he loves trains:

But not in that font. I chose this one:

See?

There are lots of ways to customize your labels, with even more design and font options than shown here.

So now I’m sticking them to things and getting ready to send my baby off into the world. Sniff.

Need some for yourself? I’ve got a giveaway for a Little Kid School Combo – just enter using the Rafflecopter form below.

Happy back-to-school time!

Thanks to Mabel’s Labels for providing a combo pack for Ethan and offering one to my readers as a giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed Under: Motherhood · Tagged With: family, firsts

The diaper days continue

August 14, 2015 by Farewell Stranger ·

I spent part of the afternoon on a search for newborn diapers – not for me, of course (because thank goodness), but for my sister, whose first sweet boy was born yesterday. Ah, newborns. My sister and her husband are already learning how many diapers babies go through in a day.

I forgot how hard it was to find newborn-sized diapers, especially when you’re trying to avoid the scented ones. After browsing the aisles in a few stores, I finally settled on some Huggies, which, as I mentioned before, is what we use with Ethan. Yes, we still use Huggies, because this child has no interest in potty training.

He’ll be 3 in October, so I guess that’s not entirely unusual, though I think his brother was trained by this point. Connor was, relatively speaking, quite easy to potty train, but I guess one thing doesn’t equal the other. Which shouldn’t surprise me, I suppose, given that in so many ways they’re totally different kids.

I think if we focused and bribed Ethan with new underwear (Spider-Man would probably do the trick) and M&Ms, he’d probably show some interest. I’m just hesitant to push it.

I’ve also always felt that I’d rather deal with diapers than accidents in underwear. Right? And there’s so much other stuff going on that this just isn’t a priority right now. Besides, some days he just seems so big.

And as long as he’s still in diapers he can stay my little boy.

And I kind of like him that way.

———

We used cloth diapers with Connor but, for a variety of reasons, didn’t for very long with Ethan. These diapers we’re using now are Huggies Little Movers Plus, and here are some of the reasons I like them:

They’re really soft and really absorbent. No leaks here.
They have tabs called Double Grip Strips that hold no matter how active he is.
They have the previously mentioned Disney designs.

Huggies Little Movers Plus are available exclusively at Costco in sizes 3 to 6. They also carry Huggies Little Snugglers Plus in sizes 3 to 6 as well as 1 and 2.

Disclosure: I’m a Huggies ambassador and was compensated for this post, but all opinions (including those about baby bums) are my own.

Filed Under: Motherhood · Tagged With: I was paid for this but it doesn't mean I'm not genuinely interested, toddlers are weird

Where’s Pluto?

June 22, 2015 by Farewell Stranger ·

So, it turns out that if you put a diaper with Pluto on the bum on your two-year-old he will turn around like a dog chasing his tail trying to see it.

We’re trying some Huggies Little Movers Plus diapers and Ethan trying so desperately to see his bum made me laugh so I thought I’d share my terribly amateur video with you. (I’m going to miss the baby-bum-in-a-diaper phase…if he ever decides to potty train, that is.)

And look, there’s Mickey too!

Love his little poochy tummy.

Here are the designs – sure to be loved by other Mickey-loving toddlers too. (These ones are available only at Costco.)

Disclosure: I’m a Huggies ambassador and was compensated for this post, but all opinions (including those about baby bums) are my own.

Filed Under: Motherhood · Tagged With: I was paid for this but it doesn't mean I'm not genuinely interested, toddlers are weird

Before you grow up

June 1, 2015 by Farewell Stranger ·

It snowed a couple of weeks ago in Calgary. It has snowed every month of the year here, as Calgarians are fond of pointing out, but I still wasn’t expecting to see it. It was actually the third time this month it had snowed, though it never stays. I’m glad about that, because it seems sort of silly to be making a list of summer activities when there’s snow sticking around.

I started that list a few weeks ago and it doesn’t have much on it yet, but I pulled out my on-again, off-again journal and found the list I had made the year my one word was “explore.” I didn’t get through that list (do we ever?) and there are lots of things on there I still want to do.

I’ve been feeling guilty lately, and my bad-mom voice has been creeping in. The boys have too much screen time and not enough time getting dirty and poking around in streams. Getting dirty is not usually the first thing on my list of appealing activities (hence my aforementioned summer emergency kit that is chock full of things like crayons and washable paint). But I have boys, and they’re the sort of boys who like to get dirty, so my summer activity list is going to have to expand to account for that.

The other list we’ve had on our fridge for ages is the UK National Trust’s list of 50 things to do before you’re 11 3/4. It includes all kinds of things from playing Pooh sticks (totally in favour) to holding a wild beast (eep – does a caterpillar count?) and, thanks to living on the coast and having inquisitive grandparents, Connor has checked off a bunch of stuff from the list. Maybe we’ll have to work our way through that too and help Ethan catch up.

I’m looking forward to things like flying a kite and making a daisy chain (wow, how long has it been since you did that?) and less so to hunting for bugs (ick) and building a den (with a two-year-old, that has frustration and disaster written all over it).

I’ve started putting together my summer adventure kit, though, with some help from Boiron. They gave me a travel kit that includes a bunch of stuff that I’m sure will come in handy. This goofball here is especially excited about the insect bite cream (he’s not a fan of mosquito bites).

The kit includes other stuff too – all homeopathic remedies for the kinds of ailments that might come from from doing the kinds of things any good, modern boy should do before he’s 11 3/4.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

***

This post was generously sponsored by Boiron (and they’re older than 11 3/4 so they know their stuff).

Filed Under: Motherhood · Tagged With: family, favourite activities, I was paid for this but it doesn't mean I'm not genuinely interested

A summertime emergency kit

April 29, 2015 by Farewell Stranger ·

You know what’s fun? Shopping for crayons. You know what’s especially fun? Shopping for crayons you don’t plan on letting your kids use.

Staples is doing a promotion with Visa Checkout and I was offered the chance to build a summertime emergency kit. If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you’ll know that when it comes to this whole parenting thing, I’m pretty much always game for an emergency kit that will make this gig easier.

I’m a little anxious about school ending for Connor. He does better when he’s busy and active and challenged, and I’m concerned about what our days might be like when he’s not at school all day. Or more specifically what my evenings might be like, because I already get him at his most excitable and there are times I can barely get through dinner without eyeing the garage and wondering if anyone would notice if I duct taped him to his chair. With some stuff to keep him occupied, and some activities we can do on weekends when our time together is more, shall we say, in need of help, I’m feeling a little better.

So I went shopping on the Staples website. For starters, when I searched “Crayola” I got a ton of results. I had no idea.

I bought art supplies and paper and craft kits and paint and finger-painting kits. (I know. Paint. The whole idea of an emergency kit making me a fantastic mom might have gone to my head.)

I bought sketchbooks and glue sticks and construction paper. I might also have bought the 64-pack of crayons with a built-in sharpener and I might not let the kids use it. (Oh, who am I kidding? Connor claimed that one right away.)

But I did get them a crayon meltdown art set, so maybe they won’t notice.

Connor loves it when boxes are delivered and loves opening them, especially when he can get his hands on the goods, so this is a hit already.

Ethan likes to make stuff. He also likes to write on things like walls and floors, so I’m hoping the plethora of paper options will keep him from causing an emergency of another sort (the kind involving a Magic Eraser and mama saying some bad words).

I like to colour, so I figure the contents of the emergency kit will set us up for some good summer days. And if the finger-painting goes sideways, well, at least there might be a Mother of the Year award in it for me. Even if it’s just the E for Effort category.

***

I shopped online at Staples.ca and bought the supplies using Visa Checkout and a Visa gift card that was given to me. I’ll admit to being a bit wary about how easy it would be to use, but I needn’t have been. It was super easy.

It’s not finicky like other pre-paid cards I’ve tried, and Visa Checkout makes it especially easy because you can create a single account sign-in that can be used across all devices (and no need to keep re-entering the card number or address either).

Here’s a quick how-to for all you Canadians out there. There are just three steps on http://checkout.visa.com:

Step one: Create a username and password.
Step two: Enter your payment and shipping information. (You only have to do this once)
Step three: Look for the Visa Checkout button when you’re shopping online, enter your username and password, and go!

That’s it. Seriously. It’s secure and Visa’s Zero Liability policy applies in case of fraud.

You can use Visa Checkout at many of your favourite Canadian online stores, with many more joining each month. For a full list, visit https://checkout.visa.com/shopping.

And bonus! If you want to create your own summertime emergency kit, there’s a way to stock it extra full. From now through May 12, 2015, Canadians who use Visa Checkout on Staples.ca will receive $20 off when they spend $100! More info at http://www.staples.ca/VisaCheckout.

Giveaway

Want to start stocking up with a Visa gift card of your own? Enter to win one here. (Just promise to keep some unbroken crayons for me.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed Under: Motherhood, Stuff I like · Tagged With: family, favourite activities, I was paid for this but it doesn't mean I'm not genuinely interested, weekends