Question of the month #4 : Back to school

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 in a future question, leave it in the comments too! Question of the month #4:

It's hard to believe the summer is almost done and that it's time for back to school!

Many kids have a hard time with transition and back to school is a BIG transition.  Do you have any tips on how to ease kids back into school?

And there are many Kids in the Capital readers who have kids starting school for the first time this year. Do any of you veteran parents have tips on how both kids AND parents can get through this emotional and big milestone?

Lastly - do you have any favourite backpacks, lunchbags, school supplies, shopping tips, etc?  We' love to hear them!

Staying in touch through Skype

by Brie We live in Ottawa, but our family doesn't. Our extended family is scattered across three provinces. While that means lots of people to go and visit, I am not eager to undertake long car rides or plane rides with two kids four years old and under very often. At the same time, we want our kids to know their aunt and grandparents. Our solution is not only a great way for the kids to keep in touch with family but also a great distraction/ time waster/ thing to do when you want to load the dishwasher without kids underfoot.

Skype is a free program that you can download from the Internet that allows you to make free video and audio calls from your computer. The first few times I used it I felt a bit like Jane Jetson, but without the cool hair. Now I am used to it and so are my kids. Whenever we make an actual phone call to a family member my four-year old girl always asks Can we Skype? right away.

Skyping will keep your kids amused for much longer than a phone call will, but I would still recommend some props. To keep my young kids interested for a good period of time, my family relies of books. A big pile of books. Grandma reads a lot of Maisy. My dad pulls out a book about cats. My sister once tried to read an art history book, but that didn't go over well so she quickly stocked up on some kids books from the library. And if you don't have books on hand, an impromptu puppet show with socks always works.

The only hard park about Skype is that it seems like the people on the other end are really just in the other room. When we recently Skyped with friends who moved to London this past month, I had to explain why the girl couldn't go over to visit her little friend at his new house. Thankfully his dad then turned the computer around so she could watch the television with them and all was forgotten!

Do you Skype? Do your kids love it as much as mine do?

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.

Audio stories: my secret weapon

by  Brie There are times when I want to get something done. Okay, there are lots of times when I want to get stuff done. Most of the time I am unsuccessful for various reason, but the main reason is that I live with two kids four years old and under. Sure, I can steal some time if I put on a video but I don't always want to give them some (read: more). That is when I pull out my secret weapon. Audio stories.

I remember when I was a kid we used to listen to stories on records. So one day I went looking for some great stories for my kids to listen to. My recommendations are ones that I have bought, grandma has kindly bought or I have found online. Often you can buy the stories on CD with an accompanying book. I like that, but in our house the books get tossed aside quickly in favour of sitting on the couch reading other books while listening to the story play.

My favorites are:

- Free to be You and Me takes me back to the days of lying on the floor listening to a scratchy record. We have the CD and it plays the same great  stories, poems and songs that I remember. We also have the book, which I read almost every day for six months when the girl was two. Except for the fact that it is a very big and very long book I loved reading it to her. I would even sing the songs and I try to avoid singing. You can check out the CD, book and video and also download some of my favorite songs to your MP3 player on the website.

- We have a number of classic stories on CD from Puffin Storytime. These include Madeline, Corduroy and Curious George. All of these are books that I had read the kids already so they  knew the story before I put the CD on. Once the stories are done, there are songs and poems. I think the girl likes those just as much as the stories!

- Robert Munsch is one of my favorite storytellers. And lucky for us he shares his stories online! His fabulous website lets you choose a book to listen to online. Let's face it, he tells the stories much better then I do. The girl is enraptured when I put his stories on (we also own one of his CDs) and will happily sit for a record amount of time. Another reason to love Robert Munsch.

Do your kids listen to stories on records, tapes, CDs or online? Please share your favorite audio stories.

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.

Planning a Fairy Party

by Brie Do you have any little fairies living in your garden? Perhaps some gnomes hiding behind a tree stump? Elves frolicking in your bird bath?

Then I think it is time to invite them all to a party!

Recently the girl and I went to a wonderful fairy garden party at the Children's Garden located at Main Street and Clegg in Old Ottawa East. In amongst the trees and tomato plants roamed every colour of fairy, gnomes and elf you could possibly imagine. It was an explosion of gold, pink and blue. And fun!

I was completely blown away by the attention to detail at the party. The organizers did a great job in creating a non-commercial environment that stayed true to the spirit of a fairy party. They also said I could share their secrets with you.

So here is some great ideas and tips if you are interested in planning a fairy garden party:

1. Face painting. The girl headed straight for the face painting as soon as we got there. She was delighted with the simple pink and purple design that was painted on her forehead.

2. Magic wands. The first of the two crafts the girl made was a magic wand. The wands were already cut out of a firm cardboard. The kids were able to decorate them with peel-off stickers, little jewels, glitter glue and ribbon.

With #1 and #2 done the girl was ready to party!

3. Little fairy friends. The second craft on hand, which I had to help her with but would have been great for older kids to do one their own, was to make fairy friends. The fairies had pipe cleaner arms, legs and bodies and little wood bead heads with faces already painted on. Kids could add fake flower petal wings and skirts.

4. A troll pinata. What kid doesn't like whacking a troll. especially if he has goodies inside! This troll was handmade and painted a vibrant green. He really wasn't that scary though. The girl was about third in line, so eager was she to take a stick to him.

5. Magic beans. What could possibly be inside the troll's head? Why magic beans of course! Inside a blue velvet bag that the girl rushed quickly to grab from the ground once his head burst open, she found a little clear plastic bag. Inside that bag was a dozen or so magic beans mixed in with glitter and sparkles. As soon as I told her they were magic beans she headed straight for the bean tent to plant them.

6. Cupcakes and iced tea. No party is complete without cupcakes and on this day all the little woodland creatures were offered mini cupcakes topped with candies pansies. The girl ate her's right away. None was left for me. She even drank a full cup of chilled tea. And then she asked for more tea please.

7. Storytime. With so many great fairy tales out there it isn't hard to pick one to share with the kids. I found myself smiling as I watch about twenty little girls sit on the ground and listen eagerly to the story of Cinderella. In this case, a non-trademarked version. It was a great way to end a fabulous party.

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.

Question of the month #3

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 in a future question, leave it in the comments too! Question of the month #3:

At the last Kids in the Capital night-time meet up their was a great discussion about soothers and how to help your kids let go of them as they get older. Neither of my kids were ever very interested in soothers so I was fascinated by some of the creative ways that parents transitioned kids out of using a soother.

Did your kids use a soother? How did you transition them out of using one? What tips and strategies do you wish you had know at the time? What advice would you give to other parents?