VarageSale all that extra stuff out of your house

by Lara

I've been purging a lot lately. The kids are getting older (9 and 6) and we still have so many things in the house from when they were younger!

Backyard playhouse? All they do is stand on the top of it and act like it's a trampoline!

Cloth diapers and crib bedding? Why on earth do I still have those when I knew I was done having babies 6 years ago and haven't needed either for ages?

When VarageSale approached us for a partnership I was keen to try out their service and hoped it would prompt me to get rid of some of that stuff!

Today I'm going to share some of the things I really like about VarageSale:

1) The app

It's easy to use and I like being able to easily list my items from my phone, since that's the device I use to take photos of the items. 

It's easy to find all my items in one place or be able to get to the different areas of the apps - such as items I might be wanting to keep an eye on, or discussions I might be having in the communities.

2) Bumping

One of the things that frustrates me when I put my items online is how quickly they get dropped so far down the list of items for sale that almost nobody will see what I'm selling. You can bump your items back up the list, which is great. To make sure people don't just sit there bumping their stuff up constantly, you get a limited amount of bumps per hour. Genius.

3) Threaded conversations (with push notifications)

When people have questions on your item, they can comment right there and you get a notification right on your phone. I loved that I could reply to people's questions quickly because of them.

I also love how easy it is to push out the listing to your own friends on Facebook.

4) Local

VarageSale has all kind of local options. You can post by community, but there are also options for having discussions right within their platform as well. They are trying to create a space where we can share, sell, and talk about events they have coming up and get beyond just listing items for sale.

It's a cool app and web site and I'm all for getting some of the extra junk out of my house. Check it out and if you list anything, share your listing in the comments here or on Facebook!

*This is a sponsored post but all thoughts are straight from my brain :) 

Concerts: A Family Activity?

By Angèle Alain

Recently, One Direction made a tour stop in Ottawa. It was the second of two shows at the Canadian Tire Centre. This was quite an event for many reasons, as fans will understand!

One Direction in Ottawa

One Direction doesn’t always come to Ottawa. Last year, we had to go to the Rogers Centre in Toronto to see them live. They even played two shows here, which is rare in itself. They are only playing stadiums now, so Ottawa got a treat. A stadium show is more impressive, but there are never any good seats. An arena feels intimate by comparison.  AND, this might be One Direction’s last tour! We hope not, but they are taking a break next year and who knows what will happen after that.

As I was dancing around with my eleven year old, I thought of all the concerts we’ve been to together over the years. It’s a great family activity. We’ve seen 1D, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran just this summer. Last year, it was Katy Perry and One Direction. The year before that, it was Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber. Spoiled, you say? The way I see it, music is an interest I share with my daughter and therefore, I set concerts as a priority, like other parents might for sports or theatre.

Concert tickets can be expensive and hard to get, but there are a few tricks for saving money and making it easier  

• If you have an American Express card, you have access to presales on Capital Tickets.
• Always buy tickets off Capital Tickets. You are paying the real price, not inflated middle-man prices. Even on Stub Hub, which is legitimate, the tickets are more expensive.
• Tickets usually go on sale before Christmas, which helps you or Santa figure out gifts for your children.
• Only one parent needs to go with the kids, and consider only bringing the one who is the real fan. You can do something special with the whole family another time.
• Look for tickets on Capital Tickets on the day of the concert. It is surprising what you can get, as tickets are often released late. 
• Any ticket is a good ticket. Kids don’t care if you’re on the floor or in the nose bleeds. In fact, some of the best, less expensive tickets for kids are in row A in the 300 level. That way, no one can stand in front of them. We saw Taylor Swift that way and we were able to take in the whole production, with a great view.    

Of course, concerts are loud and can be intimidating. My daughter didn’t want to go until she was 8 years old. We started with a quiet concert in a small venue; I brought her to see Coeur de Pirate at the Canadian Museum of History concert hall. She wore headphones and fell asleep before the end, but it was worth it. There’s nothing like the experience of live music.  

Now that she’s a tween, she’s a seasoned concert goer. She still wears her pink headphones to protect her ears, and she’s willing to go see artists I like with me. When she was seven, I felt I had five years left of her wanting to spend time with me. As this time is expiring shortly, I realize music is one of the many activities we enjoy together. I hope it’s something that will keep her coming for more. In fact, there’s something to be said about listening to music on the radio, or watching a video of a band you’ve seen live. It’s a bonding experience; an event to be remembered and cherished. I’m sure my eleven year old will never forget the “hello!” she got from Katy Perry and Harry Styles  --yes, it does happen, especially to children. I’m also sure that little old boy in front of us we saw dancing out a storm to What Makes You Beautiful won’t forget either. Concerts, big or small, are very much a family activity.

Popcorn: You've been doing it all wrong!

Whenever I see those "you've been doing it all wrong" posts, I'm a little skeptical. Really? Have I really been doing it wrong? Or have I just been doing it MY way?

Then I started clicking on certain links, and I've realized what a wonderful resource these types of posts can be! Usually they save me time and money, or at least they make my kids totally excited.

Popcorn

If you're like me, you grew up with Orville's Bags of Toxins (I'm kidding, love you Orville). Many radical health food nuts have denounced microwave popcorn as "dangerous" and "cancer-causing." Everything we do and eat pretty much causes cancer, so you won't get any judgement from me if you want to fill your face with perfluorooctanoic (PFOA) - a chemical coating on the bags that breaks down when heated. Or diacetyl, the stuff that makes the popcorn taste like butter.

But what if I told you there was a better way, that's just as easy?

What's awesome about microwave popcorn is that it's an easy snack. Throw it in the microwave, beep, beep, beep, and out comes a steamy bag of delicious popcorn for movie night.

Our family version of popcorn is almost exactly the same, but leaves out the chemicals and additives. Here's how you can do it:

1. Go out and buy a package of brown paper bags ($2)
2. Go to your bulk food store and buy plain popping corn (we like the white-ish variety, as the yellow variety has a hard outer shell that sticks in your teeth). If you want to get really consumer-conscious here, find some non-GMO organic popping corn (I bought some last year at Picard's but I'm sure you could find a local source)
   
3. Place 1/4 cup of popping corn in the brown paper bag, and fold over the top of the bag 2-3 times (don't fold too much - your popcorn needs some space)
   
4. Place in microwave, and cook on High for 2 minutes (warning!! This will be different for every microwave. You might find you need more or less time. Apologies if you have a couple of burnt bags of popcorn before you figure it out)
   
5. Take the popcorn out, and place a small bowl with 2 tsps butter back in. Cook just until melted.
   
6. Pour the butter over your popcorn, and salt to taste
   

And voila! Super yummy popcorn at a fraction of the cost and 10x the healthiness. Dress it up with whatever spices you'd like (or maybe one night you'll get really daring and make caramel sauce!)

Do kids need "mental health" days?

by Misty Pratt

When I was in Grade 10, I decided to volunteer to work on our school's fashion show committee. The event was a hoot (the fact that I've called it a "hoot" may indicate how long ago I was in high school). Local clothing stores sponsored us, and hyped-up teenagers took to the stage with music pumping and lights flashing. In a school with a large music and arts program, it was an amazing event.

But let's count how many other activities I was involved in that year: school orchestra, city-wide orchestra, choir, cheerleading, and piano lessons...with the occasional art class thrown in just for fun.

To say my schedule was packed is an understatement. I remember trying to finish math homework in the auditorium one afternoon, while waiting for my turn on the catwalk (because of course, I had to maintain my straight A's during this busy time of my life!) A friend made a joke, and I started to giggle. The giggle quickly turned to tears, but not the good kind of tears - this was a big ol' sob fest that lasted ten minutes. My friend shot me a strange look and left me alone to sniffle into my tissue. 

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I read a comment the other day that took me right back to that day in my school auditorium. The parent who was writing did not agree with children taking time off school for no reason (other than true physical or mental illness). The parent's argument was that teachers have enough to deal with, without having to catch up the kids who decide that school just doesn't suit them that particular day.

Are mental health days appropriate, even for children with no diagnosed mental health issue?

When I go back to that younger version of me in the auditorium, I wonder what might have happened if someone had told me to take a day off. Honestly, I probably would have said "no way, no time." High-achieving kids with anxiety have a wonderful knack for working themselves up into full-on breakdown mode. But a community that's supportive of taking time when it's needed might have prevented some more serious issues down the road.

Let's look at some mental health facts (source - CAMH):

• 70% of mental health problems have their onset during childhood or adolescence

• Young people aged 15 to 24 are more likely to experience mental illness and/or substance use disorders than any other age group

• The economic burden of mental illness in Canada is estimated at $51 billion per year. This includes health care costs, lost productivity, and reductions in health-related quality of life

• In Ontario the annual cost of alcohol-related health care, law enforcement, corrections, lost productivity, and other problems is estimated to be $5.3 billion.

• A growing body of international evidence demonstrates that promotion, prevention, and early intervention initiatives show positive returns on investment.

Based on these statistics, should we not be taking mental health days more seriously? In the long run, I wonder if children who truly need to step back and take a breather should be encouraged to do so, BEFORE a "true" mental health issue develops.

But how many days? Will children abuse the privilege of taking mental health days?

To answer my second question, yes they will. Some kids would certainly take the opportunity to take time off school, just as there are adults all over the world doing the same thing at work. It's a fine line to walk - when does your child truly need a break, and when should they be encouraged to suck it up?

To determine what might work best for your family, here are some questions to consider: 

1. How many days has your child been away from school in the past month? The occasional day off will not have an effect on your child's academic achievement, but frequent absences can certainly impact grades.
2. Is the desire for a mental health day coming from the child, or from the parent or teacher? Often children who are struggling have difficulty with self-regulation - they don't really know it's time for a break.
3. What's going on in the child's life? If a child is frequently needing time off school, are there underlying issues that need to be addressed? A busy schedule that could be pared down? Bullying? A learning disability?
4. Do you need to consider alternative forms of education for your child? It's possible they are not being challenged enough in their school, or struggle in a traditional education setting.
5. How has your past relationship with school informed your current view? Maybe you were forced to go to school every day by your parents, even when deathly ill - you feel strongly that your child should do the same. Or maybe you were allowed to stay home from school anytime you wanted, and your academic performance suffered. You need to take into account your own biases towards schooling and mental health when making a decision.

In a country where 1 in 5 people struggle with mental health illnesses, we need to be looking a the heart of the issue.  So many factors are at play - genetic, environmental, and societal issues - that determine why one child will develop a mental health illness and another will not. It's complicated, but early prevention and intervention can be key.

I'm not arguing that the solution is as simple as taking the occasional break. But it's certainly an easy way to educate children on the importance of self-care and down time. Our world may operate at lightening speed, but our children don't have to.

Do you let your children take mental health days? Why or why not?

Make-a-Wish: Four Wishes Event

I've been a huge fan of Tysen's Mission to a Million, ever since I read about Tysen getting to meet Adam Sandler. The meeting was his wish, granted through the Make-a-Wish Eastern Ontario foundation. Adam Sandler inspired Tysen to pay it back.

This kid is incredible - not only is he dealing with his own health issues (Tysen was born with Pfeiffer Syndrome Type 2), but now he is on a mission to grant 100 wishes to other children facing life-threatening medical conditions. I follow him on Facebook and Twitter, and love to see the posts about children getting their wish.

On Saturday October 3rd, Make-a-Wish is hosting a Four Wishes event, showing the public the four types of wishes they grant to children - I wish to HAVE, I wish to BE, I wish to MEET and I wish to GO. Attendees will be able to check out examples of these wishes, by going to an ultimate dance party with Hot 89.9, being a paleontologist, meeting superheroes and having a new playroom to check out.

The event takes place at the Aberdeen Pavillion, from 10am - 4pm. Tickets are $35 and ALL proceeds go to Tysen's Mission to a Million. Click here to reserve your tickets today!!