What should we watch on Netflix? A Family-friendly Reality Show Edition

I don't know about you, but I see many Facebook posts asking, "What should we watch next on Netflix?"

This month I thought I would save you the ask and share some of our favourite reality shows to watch as a family.

These are the shows that we watch when I don't want to watch any more Naruto or Dicky, Ricky, Nicky and Dawn (or whatever order their names go in), Victorious, and Richie Rich.

These reality shows are a good compromise for us because there isn't too much adult content for the kids, but still interesting enough that the adults don't want to immediately leave the room. :)

Note: My kids are almost 9 and 11 so some of these shows might not be appropriate for younger kids.

Reality TV Shows We Love

We've watched a lot of cooking shows lately and there are some really fun ones:

Zumbo's Just Desserts makes us all think we can become incredible pastry chefs, and we love the drama of the "mean guy" - because there's always a mean guy in a reality show with eliminations right? :)

The Big Family Cooking Showdown - Teams of three people, all family members, come together to compete against another family to create a meal for under $10, family favourites (made in their own kitchens) in under 90 minutes, and a meal to 'impress the neighbours' in an hour and 15 minutes. They may be good cooks, but are they good cooks under pressure and on a timeline?! Is Gramma helpful or just bossy? Was bringing the teenager to help you a good idea or should you have brought your cousin instead?!

Skin Wars - While there is a bit of nudity in this show, it is all very tasteful and the artistry is FANTASTIC. My only concern with the show is that the kids wanted to see RuPaul's other reality show, and RuPaul's Drag Race is not appropriate for my kids yet (though I watched it after Skin Wars and admit, it is totally fantastic).

Beastmaster - This is kind of like American Ninja Warrior. We love watching the competitors from different countries try to make it through this race that we couldn't make it through the first four feet of!

Are there any other family-friendly reality TV shows on Netflix that you watch that we should add to our list? Have you watched any of our favourites?

Disclosure: We are part of the Netflix Stream team and receive perks (like Netflix giveaways!), but all opinions are our own.

Easy Valentine Craft for Kids

Every year my daughter brings home creative homemade Valentines from other kids and I often think two things 1) Where do parents find the time to help their kids make these and 2) I should help my daughter do something like that next year.

So, this year, my daughter mentioned she wanted to make butterfly pencil holders for her classmates. She insisted it’s easy – and frugal (I think that’s my word for 2018), and she was right!

Butterfly Pencil Holder Valentine

What you need:

-       Construction paper - choose whatever colours of construction paper you want (my daughter is partial to blue).
-       Scissors
-       Pencils (you can get some really nice Valentine’s Day ones at the Dollar Store or, as my daughter chose, glittery ones that are good for any time of year.
-       Markers, stickers, pipe cleaner, etc. for decorating

Instructions

Fold the paper in half and then along the crease draw a butterfly wing shape (you may be able to fit two in one 8.5x11” sheet of construction paper. Cut along the line, careful not to cut along the crease.

Once the butterfly shape is cut out, make a 1” slit near the top and bottom along the crease to slip the pencil through.

Decorate the butterflies using whatever materials you have on hand: pipe cleaners, googly eyes, markers or stickers.

Stick the pencil through the slits and voila! Valentine done!

Do your kids make their own Valentines every year? If so, we’d love to hear what you create and how! Leave a comment and let us know.

Beat the February blues and join a class!

January is loooong. And although February is technically shorter, it can feel like eternity when we're stuck in a deep freeze.

It's so important in winter months to stay active (both physically and creatively!) and keep your spirits up, especially for those of you who are more affected by the lack of sunlight. Our fab blog sponsor Nepean Creative Arts Centre has provided us with an awesome list of classes for both adults and kids to help you lift your spirits!!

An old altered image

Altered Images: Photo Transfer Workshop

Image transfer techniques are an easy, modern and creative way to add dimension to any work! Create a unique family photo display on wood artists' panels to take home. The benefit of this class is that applications are endless. Supplies included.
When: Saturday February 3rd, 10 am-4 pm
Cost: $96.50

Canvas and Cocktails Workshop

(Misty here: I have personally taken this workshop and LOVED IT!!) Explore your artistic side with this night out! Learn the very basics of acrylic painting, completing a 16 x 20 canvas while exploring and savouring wines from around the world. Supplies and two glasses of wine included. Professional art instructor and wine sommelier guide you and answer questions.
When: Friday February 16th, 6:30-9:30 pm
Cost: $73.25

You Bet You Can Act!  Workshop

Learn effective stage presence. You can make 'em laugh and make 'em cry. Teachings include: acting skills and enunciation, projection, postures, and character development. In collaboration with Suzart Productions.
When: Saturday February 24th,  12:30-4 pm
Cost: 10-14 years                           $60.75
15-16 years (code 1109213)            $68.50

Belly Dance – Level 1

Explore fluidity, grace, and strength through this ancient and sensuous dance form developed in the Middle East. The fundamentals of posture, isolations, steps and accents of belly dance are stressed.

When: Tuesdays, February 7-28, 11 am-noon
Cost: $44.75     

Olympic themed crafts and activities for kids

The Winter Olympics are set to start on February 9th, which means our newsfeeds and televisions will once again be filled with stories of elite athletes from all over the world competing in everything from figure skating, curling, skiing, and more!

We love watching the Olympics in our house. I find the Olympics bring with it a natural excitement and a strong sense of national pride. It’s also a great opportunity to teach kids about sports and activities they may not otherwise be familiar with, such as bobsledding and luge.

If you watch the Olympics in your house, the following activities and craft ideas make help you make them even more fun:

1)    Make your own Olympic medals

Making Olympic medals is an easy and fun activity for kids of all ages. A few years ago, I helped a local Sparks group make these medals. We used a simple salt dough recipe to create ours, similar to this one from Living Well Mom: Salt Dough Olympic Medals. However, instead of stars, we used a smaller circular lid and had the kids create their own Olympic rings (they used marker to colour them in once they were out of the oven and completely cooled).

2)    Make your own Olympic torch

If you plan on watching the opening or closing ceremony with your kids then they need an Olympic torch! Making a torch is simple. The only supplies you need are brown construction paper as well as red, orange and yellow tissue paper (for the flames). You will also need scissors and glue (or tape). Momstown.ca shares an easy torch craft here.

3)    Visit CBC Kids Olympics online

CBC has created a fantastic Olympic website for kids that includes everything from a Mascot colouring book, quizzes, facts to instructions on how to make your own table-top curling rink. They also have a section that teaches kids all about Korean food and other interesting things about the 2018 Olympic games. It’s a must-visit website during the Olympics.

4)    Make Olympic bracelets

My daughter loves this Origami Olympic Bracelets craft – and it’s so easy! You can make them the colours of the Olympic rings or show your national pride and make them the colours of the Canadian flag!

5)    Host an Olympic-themed celebration or mini-Olympics

Now that you have all these fun Olympic-themed activities, why not host a super fan Olympic-themed get together for kids!? They can make their own torches, make Olympic inspired bracelets, participate in a torch relay, play table-top curling, compete in age-appropriate Olympic trivia (anything from what do hockey players wear on their feet during a game to what is the name of Canada’s torchbearers) and cheer on their favourite athlete competing that day.

There are many ways to celebrate the Olympics - and our athletes! Go Canada Go!

How do you get into the Olympic spirit? Share your ideas by leaving a comment.

When I just can't anymore...

There are days when I feel, as a parent, I can’t get a single thing right.

I can’t get my kids to school on a regular basis (and I so desperately wanted to help them have a better school experience than I did.)

I can’t stop other kids from being mean to my kids.

I can’t separate my own childhood experiences from theirs when they talk about being excluded, teased, or feeling unhappy and overwhelmed at school.

I can’t try to get one kid to feel more empathy for me and tell them how sad I am without making another super empathetic kid who happened to overhear spend the day worrying about how upset I am.

I can’t let one kid stay home from school because they’re having a really hard time and I don’t want to push them to breaking, without another kid realizing that mimicking very similar behaviour can get them the same results. And I don’t know how to have different consequences for different kids (that are blatantly unfair differences to me… ) even though in some cases I think it’s probably necessary.

I can’t feel good about not having juice in the house for the kids because the doctor thinks I’m letting them have too much milk.

I can't manage to keep screen time limited as all the experts recommend.

I can’t find the energy to do more fun things with the kids on a regular basis because I’m so emotionally tapped out by the hard stuff.

I can’t stick to my intentions to be the “because I said so” parent because there are so many other factors to consider with regards to their mental health (and mine.)

The irony is that I know there are other people out there who see the photos I post on Facebook of our cottage vacations and other trips we take and think “wow – how does she do it all?!” Meanwhile I know they’re taking their kids to weekly activities and helping them with their homework on a daily basis and I can’t even fathom managing that.

My kids are getting older so I can’t go into the nitty of what’s going on or how I’m dealing with it , but I felt compelled to share.

If you ever feel this way, you aren’t alone.

If you feel like you can’t do it alone, that’s totally normal. I can’t do it alone – I’m pulling in every resource I can figure out how. Assessments and doctors and parenting coaches, and the school resource teacher and social worker and my friends and my extended family. Without a support network I would be completely broken by now and knowing that it’s OK to need and ask for (and sometimes pay for) help has been key.

Asking for help is strong. Admitting things aren’t easy is strong. Finding people to lean on makes us all stronger.

Today is a hard day, but as one of my great supporters always reminds me, we can do hard things (originally said by Brene Brown I’m told). I’m keeping on keeping on, and grateful for the opportunity to keep doing so. If things are hard for you today, (or tomorrow, or next week) - reach out to someone. People truly want to help.