Camping with kids

by Julie Did you give up your camping adventures the minute diapers entered your home? Ya, me too.

I had never camped as a child, only as an adult. I fell in love with camping for:

•    The satisfying feeling that would come over me from having pushed my body hard from the hiking, canoeing or portaging to get to the site. •    The heavenly feeling of being in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do but read my book or take a nap. •    The romantic nights, sitting around a campfire sipping red wine.

Now, review that list again and imagine putting children in the picture. Doesn’t work, does it? All the reasons I loved camping … *poof* … gone.

But recently, my husband and I have headed back into the outdoors – two kids in tow. Although our much-loved list is now adapted, we haven’t had to give it all up entirely.

•    If you’ve been a hard core camper, the notion of “car camping” is depressing indeed! But rather than throw in the towel, seek out quiet, more rustic sites (hint: look for sites that don’t offer facilities like showers). These will have far few people and don’t line up camping sites in a parking-lot style. Instead, each site has been carefully developed for some privacy and remains treed. (You can see photos of a camping site we recently stayed at in Algonquin Park here.) •    Take turns with your spouse to allow for some quiet time. One parent takes the kids for a hike or simply stays as the alert and awake supervisor, while the other is free to doze off or get completely absorbed in a book. •    After all that time in the fresh air, your children will be tired and ready to drop into bed! But, unfortunately, so are you. Try hard to stay up for at least 15 minutes of time together – alone – cuddling and staring at the camp fire, before you join the kids in sleepy-land.

There are plenty of great tip-lists available via a simple google search on camping with kids, so I won’t even try to replicate them.

Instead, I will share with you a list of tips directly from my seven-year-old daughter.

•    Go for hikes! Go on an animal safari and look for garden snakes. •    If not in public, let your kids swim nudie! •    Let the kids get as dirty as they want. •    Collect sticks and make a tipi or a fort. •    Let the kids read as late as they want! •    Bring your two-wheeler bike. •    Make s’mores after dinner.

And, last but not least, she offered these wise words of wisdom to camping parents:

•    Don’t be worry warts!

Julie is an Ottawa local and mother of two. Her personal blog is Coffee with Julie.

Being prepared: having a family emergency plan

by Brie I am a pretty cautious parent. I always have to walk down the steep staircase first in case my 3.5 year old or nineteen month old slips. I am always checking to make sure the park gates are closed and no kids can escape onto the busy streets. I always check both ways, and then check again, before we cross the street. That's just me. I feel better when I feel like I am being careful, or as I like to jokingly say, paranoid.

One thing I haven't done, and now plan to, is make a family emergency plan.  This is right up my alley.

I have been thinking about this because May 2 to 8 is Emergency Preparedness Week. I watched a short video made by Public Safety Canada that discusses what to do in different scenarios to make actual situations less stressful and save time during an emergency. The video had a number of good suggestions. I liked the idea of having copies of important documents and photos of the kids kept somewhere other than the house in case of an evacuation.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFZzuPe6QAc&feature=player_embedded]

Now I just need to sit down and write out the plan. Thankfully there is an easy online tool on the  GetPrepared.ca website that will walk you through the things you should include in your plan. The website also provides tips on how to talk to kids about emergencies, how to prepare if you or a family member has special needs and what you should do for your pets.

They also talk about having an emergency kit. Reviewing the list posted online I can see that there are some items that we need to add to the kit we already have in our cupboard. My mother-in-law, who is maybe even more cautious than I am, made up kits for us with emergency supplies of food and water. I need to add copies of important documents, an extra set of keys and a copy of our soon to be created emergency plan.

What about you? Do any of you have family emergency plans? Do you have any tips to share?

Brie is the mom of a 3.5 year old daughter “the girl” and eighteen month old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.

The secrets to successfully clipping babies' nails

by Eric

Nail clipping can be an arduous event. Babies wiggle, whine, squirm away. and twenty minutes later you still have the other hand to do. The toes come next, can't forget the- come on, just let me clip your - okay, forget this, we'll do toes later. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe when you realize how hard it is to crawl when your talons are catching in the carpet. You just enjoy your mismatched pedicure, okay?

My secret to getting through this twenty-digit Lernæan task is distraction: Hello, internet flash videos!

Space is Fun Level 1 distraction (3 to 5 nails*)

If I had a nickel for every person who didn't love space worms harmonizing on a spinning meteor, I would owe money. This one gets kids from other rooms rushing in to get their nails clipped too.

A Lost Dog Finds his Way Home Level 2 distraction (4-10 nails)

This cute tale can usually get you through both hands on a sedate baby, but let's be realistic. Contains fun for the whole family! Also includes a demonic duck and an anthropomorphic cigarette, which my 3 year old calls the "funny stick with a face".

Ninja Level 3 distraction (9-18 nails)

This video is so awesome an Argentinian ad agency plagiarized the music and design to advertise for Coca Cola.

Mango! Level ∞ (20+ nails)

That's right, that plus is not a typo - since Mango is on a loop, you can get a lot out of it - especially if you're looking to get the song "Sugar Sugar" by the Archies out of your head (sorry about that).

* Please note that these are rough estimates of babies who don't decide the music means it's DANCING TIME!

Eric is dad to 3.5 year old Kiernan and 11 month old twins Quinn and Juliette. 

My Kids Funky Closet

by Brie While I am not as frugal as I would always like to be, I do love a good deal. I will always buy from the sale rack if possible. I love garage sale shopping (I think that has to do with being an ex-Winnipeger). When possible I will always buy clothes second-hand, especially for my kids.

My kids wear their clothes hard. The pieces they wear regularly get dirty, stained and ripped. I like to think of the clothes as lived in. In fact, I like to think that my kids move into their clothes and squat there until they are evicted.

All this to say I am reluctant to pay full price for clothes. Luckily, I discovered My Kids Funky Closet three years ago and I have been supplying their closet from there ever since.

My Kids Funky Closet is a twice a year consignment sale at the Glebe Community Centre. The next sale is Sunday, April 25th. The doors open at 10 am and it is worth getting there on time because the place quickly fills up. They have clothes for all ages, but the largest selection is usually for kids two and under. They also sell toys, books, shoes, outerwear, high chairs and strollers. Basically anything you could possibility think a baby or kid would need.

One thing I like about this sale is that the items are priced by the sellers. What this means is that you can often get great deals as people look to sell off clothes for a few dollars apiece. It also means that somethings can be over priced, but I have always walked away with at least a bag full of goodies.

Last fall I decided to consign some clothes for the first time, mostly the clothes that the kids never wore or somehow ended up only fitting off-season. It took some work to price and tag everything but in the end I was happy. I managed to sell more than I bought. I would consider that a success!

I will be there again on the 25th looking for t-shirts and dresses for my almost 4-year-old. When I am done I will go for coffee with friends on Bank Street and we will compare our purchases. It sounds like the perfect Sunday to me.

Brie is the mom of a 3.5 year daughter "the girl" and eighteen month old son "the boy". You can read her blog at Capital Mom.

Have a Mommy's Night In!

by Jenn One great way of having fun with Freezer Cooking is to get together with a few friends and make a bunch of meals together.  You can each choose a recipe, agree on how many each person will make, then get together at someone house and each make your own recipe. 

 If you have 4 people who each make just 8 meals of their recipe, then each person will go home with 8 meals, 2 of each recipe!  This is a great way to try 4 new recipes without have to make all 4 recipes.  You can also just do a swap if nobody has the time to get together.  Kind of like a cookie exchange - a frozen meal exchange! 

Get the dads to get the kids out of the house on a Saturday afternoon and have fun!  Maybe even some wine for those who can!  :)

Jenn is mom to five-year old Jacob and two and a half year old Zachary. You can find her at Invitations by Jenn.