October Moms Meetup

We have had some great family meetups lately, but it has been much too long since we have had a moms only meetup! We figured it was definitely time to change that.

Given the busyness of Fall we wanted to plan a meetup that would help us all relax. And nothing says relaxation like a trip to Le Nordik!

So write this in your calendars: A Kids in the Capital meetup at Le Nordik on October 14th. We will plan to meet in the lobby around 7:30 pm. Don’t worry if you are late. Just wander around and look for some very relaxed looking moms. That will be us.

Nervous about coming because you won’t know anyone? Don’t be! We are all very friendly. We promise a great time with Kids in the Capital bloggers and readers.

Will we see you there? Leave us a comment  if we can expect you.

Sunday October 17th 10am- 3pm
The Glebe Community Center
175 Third Ave @ Lyon St in The Glebe

Kids in Cowtown

As the song says, Go West!

We are very excited/ thrilled/ giddy to be launching Kids in Cowtown with a fabulous Calgary mom! Danielle loved the great ideas and parenting community she saw here at Kids in the Capital and wanted to see the same resource in her own city. So working together, Kids in Cowtown was born!

Danielle has already started sharing some of the great ideas she has for kids and parents at Kids in Cowtown.  Just like at Kids in the Capital, Kids in Cowtown will be drawing on the great parent blogging community in Calgary.

We hope you will let any friends and family living in Calgary know about this awesome new blog. And don’t forget to visit yourself or follow Kids in Cowtown on Facebook and Twitter!

Eko Bear

We have the pleasure of welcoming a new sponsor to Kids in the Capital, Eko Bear! A local online store selling eco-friendly toys , Eko Bear was started by Linda Peters out of desire to find environmentally friendly toys for her son.  

Every product offered by Eko Bear is eco-friendly. This includes biodegradable toys, toys made from recycled materials and toys made with sustainability in mind. Eko Bear provides a summary of what makes each product eco-friendly in the shop by brand page.

You’ll recognize a lot of the great brands offered by Eko Bear, like Plan Toys, Sprig and Clementine Art. If you are looking for something in particular and didn’t find it on Eko Bear, you can contact  Linda and she will try to find it for you.

We are excited by the upcoming giveaway being hosted by Eko Bear! We are very excited that Eko Bear is offering Kids in the Capital readers 15% off all purchases with the coupon code Capital15 until December 31st, 2010.

Make sure you take a look at Eko Bear website, check them out on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Welcome Linda!

Social Media Monday: Why blog?

by Brie

If you told me two years ago I would one day come to define myself as blogger I would have laughed in your face. Politely of course. At the time  I was technologically challenged and nervous about having any digital footprint out in the wide world of the internet. Plus, why would I write about my life online? It would be totally self-indulgent. And besides, no one would read it.

How wrong I was. I fell into blogging and bit by bit I have been “coming out” as a blogger. Part of the reason is that my online world and the real world have come to intersect so much as friends in one world become friends in another.

Why blog? There are as many different reasons for blogging as there are types of bloggers. In Ottawa alone you will see bloggers that run the spectrum. People blog about what they love, whether it be food, photography, crafting, weight lose or geekdom.  Many of us blog about our lives.  

For a mom with young kids reading about the struggles and joys of other moms with young kids changed my life. During those first few winter months after I discovered blogging  it made me feel less alone even as I spent day in and day out with a baby and toddler. It was a blog  post that convinced me to have my kids share a room. It was blog posts that  comforted me that other moms lived lives as busy and crazy as mine.

No matter why you chose to start blogging, one of the main reasons we all continue is for the connections. The connections we build with our readers and the authors of blogs we read. For parents these connections are so valuable. We can learn from people who have already lived through our stage of life and we can share with each other the struggles and successes of our kids.

Do you blog? What do you love about it? Do you want to blog? Tell us what scares you most about starting and we will try to address that it a future post!

Brie is the mom of a 4-year-old daughter “the girl” and 2 old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.

Musicals for kids

by Brie 

I am not a big concert goer. If you ask me if I want to see some live music, I will probably shrug. Whatever. However, if you ask me if I want to see a musical I will stop you in mid sentence and race you to the door. 

I like the spectacle of it all. The costumes. The songs tied into a story. The dancing. I think this is why I have been so interested in taking the girl to see kid friendly musicals when they come through town. 

The first one my now 4-year-old saw was a Dora show when she was 2. Friends had some extra tickets and after a serious discussion it was decided that the husband would go with her. I was okay with that. I’m not the biggest Dora fan. However the girl was thrilled and kept referring to the “Dora party” she was going to. 

The husband enjoyed the show just as much as the girl did. One highlight for him was the intense screaming that started as soon as Dora appeared, and then again for Boots. He said the production value was high and the  performers all did a great job. He was particularly impressed with Boots, speculating that the actor must have been a gymnast to be able to do all the  hunched up monkey swinging moves for minutes at a time.  The girl was was less impressed with the strange-looking orangutan, and freaked out every time it took the stage.   

When the girl was 3 we bought tickets for her to see the Backyardigans show coming through town. I claimed that show before the husband even had a chance to open his mouth. I have a deep love of the Backyardigans. In fact, I have had lengthy conversations with friends about how they could possibly not love the Backyardigans. They sing! They dance! Pablo wears a beanie! 

The girl got into the spirit of it all and dressed up for the show. I thought she looked quite fetching in her red patent shoes and fairy costume. The girl enjoyed the show, although she did sit on my lap when the scary crab (or was it an octopus?) appeared. Unfortunately, the show did not live up to my expectations. I was expecting better production values and costumes. I mean, Pablo even looked fake to me and I was all ready to believe! 

The latest spectacle we went to was Yo Gabba Gabba when it came through town recently. Or Gabba Go Gabba as the girl calls it. I wasn’t that familiar with the television show but I had won tickets on Twitter and thought it would be fun. We went to the show with Lara and her son and just the kids’ excitment and anticipation was worth it. 

Me, the girl who looks terrified but was really quite happy, Kiernan and Lara

It was also a good show. The songs and dancing and energy all kept the crowd happy. The girl even abandoned her seat to run up to the stage. We spent the last few minutes of the concert sitting at the foot of the stage watching the performers. All I could think as I sat there watching her was that in ten years she will probably be trying to mosh where we are now quietly sitting. 

There are a number of kid and family shows planned in Ottawa in the next few months, like the Wiggles, The Wind in the Willows, Trick or Treat to a Wicked Beat,  Toopy and Binoo – Live and the Nutcracker. 

Have you taken your kids to any musicals or spectacles?  And really, are they always better on ice? 

Brie is the mom of a 4-year-old daughter “the girl” and 2 old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.

Question of the month #5: Favorite books

Kids in the Capital is all about parents in Ottawa helping each other out by sharing tips and advice. Each month we ask a parenting question and we want to hear all the gems of advice you have to share. Just leave your answers in the comments! And if you have a question you’d like to see be a future question, leave it in the comments too!

Question of the month #5: Favorite books

Now that kids are back in school it is all about reading, writing and arithmetic! As a family that loves to read, our house is filled with books. Some we’ve bought, some are gifts, some I need to return to the library before I get a fine. Despite all the books we have I am always on the look out for a great new book.

Do you have a favorite kids book? Do your kids have a favorite book that they want you to read over and over? We want to hear your recommendations for great books for kids of all ages!

Salon Mom: Cutting your own kids hair

by Brie

It was time. I really couldn’t put it off any longer. I needed to face facts. My son needed a haircut.

My two-year boy’s long white blond hair was cute. He looks like a little surfer one of the moms’ at the park told me. It was true. He did. But he also was starting to have trouble seeing with his bangs covering his eyes. This was great for playing hide-and-seek but not so great for walking.

Why yes that discolouration on his neck is a large dolphin tatto. What else could it be?

I tried to put off the haircut. I brushed his hair to the side. I grabbed the hair at the front of his head and pulled it up into a top ponytail. Now he looked like a rocker dude. A cute rocker dude, but still, I wondered how long it was going to be before people asked me if he was a girl.

He really does rock this look!

Still I resisted. The first and only time I took him and his sister to the hairdressers was not a success. We drove all the way out to Melonhead in Orleans and I had to watch while he sobbed the entire haircut. He even sobbed while clutching a lollipop.

One day a friend suggested I cut his hair myself. I agreed, while still trying hard to think of a place I could take him for a hair cut that wouldn’t result in tears. Then one day when we were over visiting she told me she had bought me a nice pair of scissors for $2 at the grocery. Sized by what I can only describe as some force beyond my control, I decided then and there to cut the boy’s hair.

I sat him in his friend’s booster seat and started to cut. I will admit to being a little nervous. I was worried that he would end up looking stupid, but I figured if it turned out badly I could always take him to a real hairdresser to have it fixed. Plus, once I started I just couldn’t stop. I was having too much fun! It was like playing with the Barbie hair salon set I had as a kid. But with real hair!

So I cut and cut and it turned out great. I gave him a “boy cut”, which involved holding up pieces of hair and cutting it diagonally. Halfway through I was tempted to just leave him with the mullet I had unintentionally created, but then decided against it. In the end the haircut turned about great, I saved $20 and, best of all, no tears.

Proof that I should be allowed to cut hair again

The girl noticed her brother’s haircut as soon as she got home from school and asked me to cut her hair too. Salon Mom is open for business!

What about you? Have you ever cut your kid’s hair? Do you run a Salon Mom? Any tips and tricks to share for giving a great haircut?

Brie is the mom of a 4-year-old daughter “the girl” and 2 old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.

Yoga for youngins at Rama Lotus

by Brie

My four-year old daughter loves to do yoga. Probably because it is so easy for her. She has a flexibility that I will never have again. Ever. The girl will happily drop to the living room floor and get into cobra and then stretch up into downward facing dog. In fact, even my two old son can do a better downward facing dog than I can!

I figured if it was this easy for them they would love an actual yoga class. And they did. For the most part.

The girl and I have been four times now to the preschool yoga class at Rama Lotus on Monday mornings at 10am. I have taken the boy twice.

They liked a lot of things about it. She liked learning some new poses. She is quite happy to make up her own poses, and my favorite is always astronaut pose, but she liked having the teacher show her. They both liked the singing and chanting. And to my surprise the girl really liked the affirmations we learnt. At the time I didn’t think she was listening, but the day after our first class she jumped up in front of me yelling “I am strong!”.

The only drawback I found with this class is that there is a fair bit of sitting on the mat involved. My kids are not sitters. Nor have they ever been. I don’t know if this is a function of the fact that it is a Kundalini yoga class or not, but if some more movement or actions were added the attention spans would be longer.

Thankfully the yoga teacher is excellent. I found her to be very patient and understanding. She kept right on teaching while my boy stacked high and long the yoga blocks into train tracks and towers. Meanwhile I took deep, prana restoring breaths while all the other kids, except mine sat quietly on their mats. Look at that! I managed to get some practice in too.

Brie is the mom of a 4 year old daughter “the girl” and 2 old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.

Their own library card

by Brie

The library has a special place in my heart. My mom worked for a long time for the Winnipeg Public Library and so I spent many, many hours over the years sitting in a corner of which ever library she was working at with a big pile of books.

Even after my mom no longer worked in the Children’s section she would still bring home her favorite kids books for us to read. Part of the excitement I had when I first started going to the library with my now 4-year-old girl, I first took her to story time at 5 weeks even though she had no idea what was going on, was being able to find the kids books I used to love to share with her.

Now we have hit another exciting milestone. The girl and her two-year old brother got their very own library cards! I even took pictures. For those of you that know me, you know this is a big deal because I never carry my camera with me.

This is the girl with her library card. She was very excited to finally get it in her hands. She even tried to write her name on the back. Unfortunately the space is pretty small and so she had some trouble fitting her larger letters on. So I helped. I also helped the boy by signing his card. He didn’t appreciate that very much and insisted on signing it himself.

I had kind of assumed that my kids were too young for a library card, then I heard about Every Kid a Card. This campaign is encouraging kids to sign up for library cards. Until September 24th any kids 12 and under that sign up for a library card also get a City of Ottawa pool pass, a Every Kid a Card zipper pull, an invitation to the Big Wheels wrap-up event, a Ottawa Senators hockey card and a ballot to win fabulous prizes including a laptop, two Ottawa Senators tickets or a Sparty’s Kids Club membership. My kids had to rip the envelope open as soon as they got it and deposit the ballet right away. I tucked the rest of the goodies in my diaper bag for later. And by later I mean a time where I can look at them quietly by myself.

Getting the kids their library cards was quick and easy. The hard part came when we went to leave. There was a serious of unfortunate events evolving too many books, my forgetting to bring a bag, the girl’s determination to carry her books herself, the elevator being out of service and a steep flight of stairs. Finally the three of us and our books managed to leave the building but not before I cursed the architect for designing a library with such excellent acoustics.

Do your kids have a library card? How old were they when they got their first card? And most importantly, do you make them pay their own fines? 🙂

Brie is the mom of a 4 year old daughter “the girl” and 2 old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.

The Sunnyside Library

by Brie

We live not too far from the Sunnyside Library and yet I had never been with the kids. When I heard they had reopened after a period of renovation it seemed like a perfect time to throw the kids in the stroller and go.

Was I ever glad I did! The new space is fabulous.

The kids section is in the basement. As my friend pointed out “It’s great because the kids can’t get in or out!”. The door to the stairs is too heavy for my young kids to open and as long as they don’t sneak into the elevator, they have free range of the floor. Which means I can slack off for a bit. Or as much as you can slack off in a room full of books with two kids that want to be read to.

The space is well laid out with a little nook with board books and picture books for the younger kids. The nook area also had a table and chairs, some colourful cubes to sit on and a magnetic story wall. Bliss!

It looks like they are still settling into the space, but with the addition of some more seating it will be perfect. I was happy to see an automatic book check out right there in the kids area so I don’t have to lug everything upstairs and then try to check out the books while also stopping my kids from running off and exploring a new part of the library.

We were there on a Monday morning and it was packed. And understandably so. We will be back!

Brie is the mom of a 4 year old daughter “the girl” and 2 old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.