Minimalist Parenting

January is a messy time of year. And no, it's not just the slush, ice or freezing rain. And it's not the leftover boxes or bags from Christmas presents. It's all the STUFF. With resolutions in the forefront of my mind, I tend to see my house through the eyes of a minimalist. And let me tell ya, we're not doing too well.

Minimalist parents suggest we simplify our lives. Kids don't need a lot of toys; they don't need constant stimulation; and we all know they're much happier just playing with a cardboard box. Too many toys = mess = disorganization = unhappiness (a totally unscientific theory, but that's my reasoning).

And so, as we head into February, I'm taking the cardboard box away from the toddler, and I'm filling it with toys we no longer use. My goal is to get rid of half of the "stuff" our girls own (by recycling or donating - let's be environmental about it).

Anyone want to join me in this challenge?

Misty Pratt is a mother of two girls, 1 and 4 years old. In her spare time she is a doula and childbirth educator. Follow her on Facebook or find out about her services here.

Easy Peasy Sufganyiyot for Chanukah

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of lights.  Chanukah commemorates the victory of a small band of Jews called Maccabees over the pagan Syrian-Greeks who ruled over Israel. After regaining control of their temple, the Jews went inside to find it dirty and destroyed so the began to to clean it and rededicate it to G-d (in Hebrew, Chanukah means to dedicate). In the Temple, there was an eternal flame that had to stay lit all the time. But when the Jews came into the Temple to light the flame, there was only enough oil to keep it burning for one day. After they lit it, however, a second miracle occurred — the lamp remained lit for eight days until the new oil arrived. This is how Hanukkah became known as the "Festival of Lights." To commemorate this miracle, during Hanukkah Jews light the menorah. We light one candle each night of Hanukkah and give thanks for the miracle of the oil. And we also eat lots of stuff fried in oil.

One of my favorite things to eat are little fried donuts called Sufganyiot. They're yummy to eat but can be tricky to make. I found an easy recipe that's great to do with kids.

Ingredients

• One roll of store-bought biscuit dough
• Canola oil for frying
• A small bowl of sugar, white or powdered
• About 1/2 cup of any red jam 

Step-by-step:

1. Let dough sit at room temperature for 20 minutes so that it's easy to roll out.
2. On a floured surface, roll out dough until it's 1/2-inch thick. Cut out 2 1/2- or 3-inch circles.
3. Fill a pot with 2 inches of oil and heat it to 360-375 degrees so it's nice and hot.
4. Fry the dough until each side is a deep brown. test one to make sure they're not doughy in the middle.
5. Transfer donuts to a paper towel, pat off any excess grease, and then coat with sugar.
6. Fill with jam using a squeeze bottle. If the jam is being difficult, warm it for 30 seconds in the microwave.

That's it. Eat up and Happy Chanukah!

Talking to Your Kids About Death

This past week was a tough one for my family. Just after we celebrated her 90th birthday, my grandmother passed away. While she was elderly, it was a bit unexpected to loose her so fast. and of course, as with any similar situation, there were lots of arrangements that had to be made in a short time. This was the first time that my girls had experienced the death of  a close relative. I'm not sure what they expected but they did have lots of questions. At 11 and 13, they were able to understand the concept of death and they were both affected in different ways and had lots of questions. My niece and nephew are younger, 3 and 6, and while they also had lots of questions, I'm not sure they fully understood what was going on.

After the initial shock, there was the question of the funeral. My family had decided on a small graveside service. Then there was the question of having the kids at the service. Both my girls wanted to be there to say good-bye and after much discussion,  it was decided that my nice and nephew would attend too.

In the course of the discussions, I did a bit of research about the different ways young kids understand death. Here's what I found out:

• Young kids are very literal in their understanding of death so it's important to talk about death in very concrete terms, like the body wasn't working anymore and the doctors couldn't fix it.
• Kids may need lots of reminders that death is permanent and that the person won't be coming back.
• Avoid using euphemisms like passed away or "lost" - kids won't understand and may fear getting "lost" themselves.
• Remember that kids have magical thinking and may need lots or reminders that the death wasn't their fault.
• Children process grief in bite-sized chunks, not all at once. And many delay grieving until they feel it's safe to let those feelings out — a process that could take months or even years, depending on how close they were to the one who died.
• Reassure your child that they are safe and talk about ways to stay safe.
• The best way to answer questions to give accurate, simple, clear, and honest explanations about what happened.

In the end, it was helpful, both for the kids in our family and for my parents to have all the kids at the graveside, both young and old. It was a good reminder of the circle of life and it was helpful for my girls to be able to say good-bye. And while my nice and nephew didn't fully understand everything that was going on, they were able to be their typical joyful selves and help those in mourning grieve.

Have you talked to your kids about death? What helped them understand what was going on?

Frogs – A Chorus of Colour

By Tracy Bigelow My son and I recently had the opportunity to preview the newest exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Nature called Frogs - A Chorus of Colour, thanks to Kids in the Capital!! The exhibit officially opened today, September 25th, however we had the chance to see it a day ahead of schedule!

I'll be upfront and say that our review is probably biased - my son (Luke, age 7) adores frogs and so no matter what, he would have given this exhibit two thumbs up. I, on the other hand, am a little harder to please. Yet, I too give this exhibit very high scores!

The most engaging parts of the exhibit were actually the frogs themselves - with almost 80 live frogs to view in very natural, native habitats! Most of them are species that we'd never get the chance to view in the wild. There were colorful dart poisonous frogs, tomato frogs and my son's personal favorite: Jabba the African bullfrog! They were, in every sense, the stars of the show!

As the mom of a home-schooled child, I appreciated all of the educational elements within this exhibit. The virtual dissection really brought back memories of my junior high biology class and my 7 year old son really played around with that feature for a while. He recently learned that humans have four heart chambers and so it was neat for him to learn that frogs have three.

There are recordings of various species of frogs for the kids to listen to; and my son especially appreciated the mini putt game where you need to dodge frog predators. Luke also loved the art station, and I was reminded of yet another school day memory - do you remember the paper origami frogs from grade school?! There are instructions to make one!

This exhibit totally captured my son's interest and engaged him from start to finish. It’s quite rare for us to say this - but there were no parts of the exhibit that we wanted to 'gloss' over! It is obvious that it was designed with children in mind, and yet all of the adults in the exhibit with us were just as equally enthralled as the children were. A definite winner!

I'm glad that this exhibit will be here till May 2014 - because we already have at least one more visit planned before it ends.

The Colour Run: Adventures in Technicolor

By Andrea Lie

What's better than signing up for a race with your children to promote healthy living and spend quality time with them? Doing it with a splash of colour, a rocking dance party and some fantastic photo opportunities!

The Colour Run was in Ottawa for the first time this past Sunday at the Canadian Tire Centre. It's a 5K route with colour stations along the way. You start off wearing white and finish covered with colour from head to toe. It is billed as the “Happiest 5K on the planet”! My daughter (8) and I had the pleasure of participating together.

On the morning of the event, I will have to admit, I was nervous. I have never run in a race but my daughter has. I greatly admire runners who actively compete in races and train up to the big date. The website specifically said it was for runners of all abilities so we pushed forward. Besides, it looked like a lot of fun!

To my delight, parking was free! We headed to the check-in table and collected our packages which included white t-shirts, race bibs, white headbands and tattoos. We were ready to race and lined up with the masses.

My running anxiety eased when I noticed the runners were starting in waves. There really were no winners. While in line an emcee had us exercise, stretch, dance and cheer for prizes. I was standing beside an awesomely cool Dad in a tutu that matched his daughters, behind a little 3-year-old in a t-shirt that nearly touched her shoes and in front of two moms with children in jogging strollers.

We left in wave number 9 and headed for the first colour station about one kilometre away. When we arrived we ran through a cloud of pink and were squirted with the powder for extra measure. There were even runners rolling in the colour!

We continued on the rest of the 5K passing through a purple, yellow and orange station with a water station at the halfway mark. There were moms pulling wagons, kids on shoulders and those who chose to walk the entire way. This race really was for anyone and everyone.

It felt great to cross the finish line with my girl. We were given water, an energy bar (with nuts) and colour packs for the dance party!

To the left of the finish line was a place to dance and throw your own colour. It was led by an energetic crew with dance music and a countdown to launch the colour packets.

The Colour Run website has a great FAQ section. I have a few tips of my own pertaining to bringing children to this event.

Tip #1 - The race can be left if need be.

I was considering bringing my 5-year-old but he is hot and cold with these kinds of things. I imagined myself 3 kilometres out only to have him put on the brakes. Because the route weaves in an around the parking lot, there were many places he could have been handed off to my husband on the sidelines.

Tip #2 - The facilities are portable toilets.

Not always an issue but it is for some little ones. Or maybe just mine. They were perfectly clean and acceptable, don't get me wrong! There may have been facilities open inside but I didn't try.

Tip #3 - Accessorize with bright colour!

My daughter wishes we had joined the ranks of tutus, rainbow stockings and coloured hair. We'll be prepared next year!

Tip #4 - Healthier options.

There is a food truck at the finish line that offers some healthier options. Nothing prevents you from packing your own goods too!

Tip #5 - Bring old towels.

While you can line up to have the colour blown off your clothes for the ride home, my daughter didn't want to. Instead, we brought old towels to cover the seats of the van.

Tip #6 - Save the colour.

The colour came out of my daughter's shirt much to her dismay. I should have done the ironing tip they suggested.

It's safe to say we'll be doing this running party again next year with the family. I think we'll even try to get a team together and make a morning of it. I'm personally using this event as a kick-start to running!