Summer footwear

By Vicky Let's talk about feet for a minute. Kids' feet. Kids' feet in the summer. It's so hard to get it right. It's too hot for socks with running shoes. Crocs are a good option, but not great for running in. Some summer camps require closed toed shoes so flip flops are out of the question, not to mention they hurt little toes.  And what if it rains? Again too hot for rainboots, but sandles can get slippery.

I have a solution. The Keen. (No, not as in Capital Keen). A cool name, for a cool shoe.

I first heard of Keens last summer when I saw them on Lara's feet. (Yes! They make adult sizes too!) Then I saw them on her son Kiernan's feet. I would have bought some for Joel but we had already bought his summer sandals.

So what are they? Footwear that offers the support and protection of a shoe, with the breathability of a sandal. They have a rubber toe guard, and an antibacterial lining. No laces or buckles, they have a quick-lock toggle system (much like a bungee cord). They have excellent traction on wet surfaces, and can even be worn in the water!

Why did we buy them? I liked the fact that they were easy to put on (like Crocs) but more sturdy and durable. I liked that Joel could wear them to run around at the park like a running shoe, but that they would also work while playing at a splash pad. Also, I asked him what kind of shoe he would like, and he picked the Keens!

They retail for around $59.99, but are well worth the money. We got our Keens at Kiddy Kobbler Place D'Orleans (follow them on Twitter @KKPlacedOrleans)

Vicky is the mom to 4.5 year old son named Joel and 2 year old daughter named Mieka. You can read her blog at blog Some Kind of Mom. She is also an Independent Stylist with Peekaboo Beans. Visit her on Facebook for more information, www.facebook.com/ottawabeans

Potty training. Cold turkey.

by Brigitte There’s lots of ways around it, there’s a lot of different methods and tools– it can be fancy, but really it’s a human necessity and I don’t try to glamourize it with fancy potty’s or themed underpants or even absorbent pull-ups that look like jeans. I take it for what it is: the human need to eliminate. I’m not saying my way is the right way, the best way or the way that’s going to work for you – but hopefully it’ll give you a perspective and maybe even a method to try for yourselves.

I’m currently in the process of potty training triplets. My trio is 20 months old and 2 of them are just about fully potty trained. The first question I always get asked is “how did you know they were ready”.

You can go ahead and Google the signs of readiness, but I don’t really believe in them. My kiddos never held their bladder for more than 2 hours ( before being potty trained), they couldn’t sit still for 5 minutes and they certainly cannot pull their own pants and underpants down – but that didn’t discourage me, I just “knew” they were ready – I guess it was an intuitive mother thing, and maybe the fact that I was tired of changing diapers lol!

Before potty training and for their entire lives we’ve always been an “open door family” I don’t think I’ve ever closed the door while going to the washroom and the kiddos come in and out freely as I explain what’s going on and what you do – so they had been introduced to the concepts from early on.

When we decided it was time to train it was cold turkey. We used the same method that the Montessori school used for our oldest son (sometimes I joke that the tuition itself made up for the ease in potty training). Initially we wanted to just use the toilet (with a child size ring inside, not a fancy Dora one with handles and padding – just a plain $4.00 one from Walmart, this is peeing and pooping here folks not a birthday party) but because we have triplets this was almost impossible because they all wanted on the toilet at the same time, so we bought them each their own potty, again from Walmart for $12.00.

First things first. Get the diapers off. Gone Garbage forget about them ( except for naps) only underpants from here on in, no “well it’s just for a car ride” no “well we just have to go to the grocery store” get them off! Once you’re ready for that commitment for the first 3 days you bring the child to the potty every 15 minutes, you sit them down you say pee pee and you wait a minute or so – if they pee you say “yes, you went pee good job” and that’s it – if they don’t pee you say “OK, you don’t need to pee now, we’ll come back soon” – this takes commitment from you as a parent – you need 3 days at home, consistency is key. After the first 3 days increase the time to every 25 minutes for 2 days, and continue gradually increasing the time between potty breaks.

It will work. But you cannot go back. You cannot use pull-ups. Keep the diapers off for good ( except naps and nighttime when they are not conscious that they’re peeing…for now) Potty training I think is 80% adult commitment and 20% child readiness. You need to learn your child’s cues, you need to take the time to bring your child to the potty and you need to be consistent! It will work – and when it doesn’t you just need to say “oh dear, that pee-pee was supposed to go on the potty” sit them on the potty and say “Is there anymore pee” and finish off like that. During the first week I leave the potty somewhere visible and the babes naked so they can go and use it as they wish – and it works!

The hardest thing for me has just been preparing – keeping lots of back up clothing, change of underwear, pants - even shoes for any “on the go accidents” I’ve found that my wetbag from Spoiled Sugar has come in even more handy now than when I was doing cloth diapers!

What’s you’re biggest fear about potty training? Mine is bringing the trio into the bathroom while one pees and the others are touching everything in sight in the bathroom –ohhh that just makes my skin crawl! Whatever your obstacles are share it here – maybe we can come up with some awesome recommendations and help each other say bye bye to diapers!

Thanks for reading!

Brigitte is a stay at home mom to 20 month old triplets and a 5 year old boy and owner of www.spoiledsugar.ca

Flash back: Surviving the Cottage with kids

We have so many great posts from last year that are still very relevant so we're going to bring some back from time to time.  Here's one Vicky wrote last year about going to the cottage with kids. by Vicky

On a bit of a whim, I booked a week’s holiday at a cottage with a friend and her family. I found it on www.cottagelink.com, and it looked beautiful. One of the features that sold me instantly was that it was owned by a family with young children, so everything we needed was already provided: highchair, crib, change table, toys, toys and more toys, picnic table, wagon, playstructure etc. Also the water was only a foot deep off the dock, so despite not having a beach, it was shallow enough to enjoy with my 1 year old.

This was my first experience renting a cottage with kids. I’ve been lucky to have friends with cottages and have enjoyed many summer holidays by the lake since I was a teenager. But this time was different. It was great to see the kids enjoying the water and playing outside, but it wasn’t what I would call a relaxation vacation. Someone still has to cook, clean and get the kids in bed so it’s not exactly a break for the parents.

That being said, I definitely think I’ll try it again next summer, and I’ll be better prepared for it with this list of tips on how to survive a week at the cottage with kids.

1. Portable DVD player – your best friend. If you don’t have a built in DVD player in your car, this is the next best thing. Throw a movie on, with headphones, and you’re guaranteed a quiet trip. Also this is great for a bit of quiet time in the afternoon if the cottage has no TV or cable.
2. Plan your meals ahead of time. Make a quick menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and pack food items you already have at home. Make a grocery list and pick up what you need before you go or in the closest town if that’s possible (or if space in your car is limited). You don’t need to stick to the menu per say, but when kids are hungry you won’t be running around trying to figure out what to cook for lunch.
3. Do not over pack clothes. I brought WAY too much for the kids – a different outfit for every day, plus extras. What happened was that my son stayed in his bathing suit all day long with a pair of crocs. Shirts can be rung out and hung to dry, and most cottage towns have a Laundromat for emergencies (like being thrown up on, twice!)
4. Bring long-legged PJs for evenings. Cottages can be sweltering during the day, but get cool at night.
5. Swimming tires kids out! If you are trying to get a nap out of your kids, get them into the lake just before nap or bed time. If you can also give them a bath in the lake, you’ll speed up the bedtime process (speaking of which can anyone recommend a good biodegradable baby shampoo or soap?)
6. Bring a box of activities to keep them busy. I brought colouring books, activity books and paints which were all used. Why not try making a nature scavenger hunt that you can work on during the week?
7. If you are cottaging with friends, it helps to have similar aged kids so they can play together. My 3 year old got bored quickly with the 3 babies he had as playmates.
8. Explore the nature! There are so many learning opportunities around that will keep kids busy - go for nature walks, look for frogs, or feed the fish bread off the dock.
9. Expect that normal routines may not be easy to follow when you're away. Bed times may be later in a new environment, middle of the night wake ups will happen, and all this can make for cranky kids during the day. I would say try to go with the flow, and once the kids are in bed crack open a beer or a cooler and relax.
10. One more thing, if you are going to a cottage this summer with your kids, or thinking about it, please be water wise!

What are your tips for an enjoyable cottage vacation?

Vicky is the mom to 4.5 year old son named Joel and 2 year old daughter named Mieka. You can read her blog at blog Some Kind of Wondermom.

Moving and Grooving on a Rainy Day

by Ezmy After a few rainy days in the row, I began to feel as though Budsie might be getting bored with the usual chilling out on the family room floor, reading and playing with puzzles and his musical fridge. Frankly, I was pretty stir crazy myself. One can only play so much ‘Pull The Laundry Out Of The Basket’ or ‘Let’s Count The DVDs’ before one starts to feel a little nutty.

But what to do? I tried a rainy walk but while the kid loved it, I came home covered in mud and feeling icky. Hmpf. Then, one particularly gloomy morning, I gave Budsie some Os and threw on some music while I unloaded the dishwasher. When I turned around to show Budsie how to put away cutlery, I was rewarded with the best sight: my little man just rocking out to Simon and Garfunkel. He’s always been a big fan of music - I think most babies are. But this was the first morning he really went all out, swaying back and forth in his highchair, laughing and bobbing his head.

Well.

New rainy day activity for me and Budsie? Moving and Grooving. I set up our laptop in the family room and popped on CD after CD of music that A. and I both enjoy. Some of it worked (Amy Winehouse and Queen) and some did not (Tool and The White Stripes). But boy, when it worked it was so much fun!

So if you’re feeling icky and the rain is bringing you down, Moving and Grooving is a sure fire way to pick up the spirits and make a rainy day seem less doom and gloom. It might even wake you up a bit, which is handy particularly if like me, you're getting less sleep because somebody (I'm not naming names) seems to think that 2:30am is a perfectly reasonable time to start playing with toys.

Here are a few of Budsie’s suggestions for a rockin’ good rainy day:

*Queen - “Another One Bites The Dust” *The Foundations - “Build Me Up Buttercup” *Simon and Garfunkel - “Cecilia” (this was a HUGE hit)

Have a happy dancing day!

Ezmy is a new mum to son Ewan (aka Budsie). When she isn’t working on her master’s thesis, or playing games with her boy, she’s blogging furiously about life as a stay-at-home mum in our nation’s capital. Follow Ezmy on Twitter (@ezmytweets) where she posts daily resolutions and updates on life with an active and very vocal baby.

Summertime at the park

by Brie

Our family spends a lot of time at our neighbourhood park. And I mean a lot. We are there once, usually twice a day. Sometimes the only reason we leave the park is because I need a break from all the activity and fresh air. The kids would be happy to never leave!

 Ottawa has some great city parks. Some of them have pools and splash pads, which are perfect for this warm weather (and look for pools to be opening in the next week!). Some parks are best for toddlers and some have great climbing structures for older kids.

What I love best about spending time at our park is that it is free, we meet some great kids and parents and it is about as free-range as my two and four year old kids can get living in the city. When they are playing with their friends they feel like they are off on their own, but I am still there to keep an eye on them.

Here are some of my tips for making the most of summer at the park:

1. Bring lots of water: on hot days my kids get so thirsty running around and they end up drinking a lot of water. Some parks have water fountains but it is good to pack extra just in case.
2. Pack snacks to share: Nothing tastes as good as other kids' snacks. My four year old is a snack scammer and wants to try everyone else's snacks but her own. But that is okay, because we end up sharing all of our snacks too.
3. Watch out for the sun: I have a hard time keeping hats on my kids' heads. They always get thrown off eventually and, a couple of times when it was really hot, I had to take them off myself because the kids were overheating. I try to combine hats with some sunscreen and encouraging the kids to play in the shade when possible. I am also planning to get some long sleeve swim shirts once the pool opens.
4. Go over the rules of the park: At the start of park season every year I go over the rules with the kids. Rules for us include always being able to see each other at the park, not talking to strangers and not going to the bathroom without a parent. As the kids get older the rules are getting more detailed (I can't wait for the day when no hitting doesn't have to be included as a rule anymore) and I am talking to them more about strangers.
5. Become a regular: One of the reasons that our park means so much to me is because of the people. I have met a lot of great parents at the park and consider a lot of them to be my friends. Part of the reason for this is that we are regulars. We visit the park at the same time every day, the same days every week. Because of this we see the same people and get to know them. I also try to talk to anyone that comes within five feet of me! I remember what it was like not to have a lot of adult conversation in a day and so I always try to connect with other parents I meet.

 Do you have any tips for making the most of summer at the park?

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