Insider's Guide to St. John's - Part Deux

It's summer in Sin Jawn's. What to do? Everything! Here's a list of my favourite spots!

Sweet Relic (42 Powers Court). Literally steps from the Fairmont Hotel, this place has great coffee and even better baked goods. Sweet! Grab a few treats and then hike up Signal Hill.

North Head Hike you can either take the road to the top and the 750 stairs down or do it in reverse. Either way its amazing! Check out this You Tube video

Coffee Matters With two locations on Military Rd and Water St., this place has great lunch (Thai curry and crab soup!) and brunch (try the croissant omelet sandwich). And yes, the coffee!

Atlantica One of the best dining experiences. Period (NYC, San Fran, Montreal included). Enroute's Best New Restaurant 2007.

Travel Bug If you left home without it, you'll find it here. Tell Peg & Gerry, I sent you!

WAM Want to know about our "galoot of a culture" or what the word galoot means, listen to CBC 640 AM on Saturday & Sunday morning, 6-9:30. Angela Antle will let you know what's showing where and who's playing what. Also check out The Scope.

Road Trip Survival

When I was a kid summer vacation meant one thing - road trips!

We'd pile in the station wagon or better yet, the top bunk of the truck camper and my parents would head west. Jack's Pond, Terra Nova, Eastport, Stephenville, Codroy Valley.

No portable DVD players for my sister and me. So, on a Canada Day road trip to Fogo Island, PL and I did as our parents did. Here's a few must haves for pre-schoolers.

Make a mixed tape er... CD -- ours was called "Wake me you before you Fogo" and included some of our favourites and a few new ones. Check out They Might be Giants "Alphabet of Nations" Memorizing this kept them busy from Clarenville to Gambo.

Sticker & colouring books - always a hit. We also picked up kids magazines like Chirp and Nick Jr. I added new markers with attached caps to boot.

Snack bags - a few Smarties (thank you Hodgie) never hurt anyone.

Games - I Spy, 20 questions, Quand je vais au marche..., name that tune work well for pre-schoolers.

Sing a song - or two, or three.

New toy - for FG it was Belle Polly Pocket. For Ben it was Spiderman. Leave it in the packaging and let them open it. That's half the fun.

Life is a highway. Have fun on the road this summer.

No more Green Guilt

It's not east being green...but we're trying. And when I don't I do feel guilty for not doing enough.
Trying to change the world for ten bucks or less?

Here's a few things we do at our house to save the blue planet...

- Give up Walmart. As a New Year's Eve resolution, I stopped going. Not because of the fluorescent light and that smell, but in an effort to force me to buy local.

- Park it. If you need a double double, stay out of the drive through. The less idling the better.

- Buy bulk. I buy bigger containers of hand soap and laundry detergent and fill up the dispensers around the house.

- Make your own cleaners. I don't do this for everything but here are some great recipes for non-toxic cleaners.

- Give it away. Call Diabetes Clothesline, drop off at Value Village, try freecyle or kijiji - but never throw away clothes. Just give it away.

- Organic once a week. Take one thing you use regularly and switch to organic. Of course, along with that shop local -- Lester's Farm here we come.

- Use paper again and again. We have a recycling bin under the kid's craft table. You'd be surprised how often they reuse with the scraps.

- Buy fair trade coffee beans. They are slightly more expensive but taste way better. There's my favourite Hava Java, Jumping Bean, and the newly opened Sweetrelic in St. John's now carries Birds & Beans.

If you need more reading, I love Change the World for ten bucks or less (thank you Paul!!) and also Gill Deacon's Green for Life

Fists of Fury

I don't think either of mine had colic. At least not like how it sounded on Sounds Like Canada (March 26).

But that's because they are grown now with new and increasingly less frequent (thank gawd!) tantrums to throw.

But that said, Ben did have a period around 6-7pm we called the "Witching Hour" where he would get so frustrated that there was little we could do to calm him. We'd walk around with him in a Baby Bjorn to dancing Nancy Griffiths album "Other Voices, Other Rooms" or go for a spin around the block.

When it really got nasty, he'd turn red as a beet, clenching his hands in "fists of fury".

One evening -- a fists of fury evening -- I just took him and put him in the bath. The crying immediately stopped. Not sure if was the shock of sitting in the water or playing with his water Whoozit , but the crying stopped.

From then on, I started bedtime for Benjo at 5:30 to ward off the witching hour.

March Madness

My kids are still in daycare but I'm already wondering what we'll do next year for March Break. If you're like me and have a limited number of vacation days and don't have a lot of family close by, you have to be pretty creative.

Here's a few tips I've tried on snow days, sick days and other school vacation days that might work for March Break too.
- Sitter Share with a neighbour, family member, co-worker, friend. You know "I take your kids, you take mine..."
- Book it as vacation days.
- If your employer agrees, consider Flex-time (he works the morning, you take the afternoon).
- Consider enrolling them in a camp. YMCA St. John's and Camp Whatchamacalit are popular.
- If you are at home, consider planning the week with fun activities. Check out Canadian Family's website for some great ideas you can do inside and outside the house. I like this web site because it breaks things down by age group and can work whether you live in a major centre or smaller town.

And most importantly, have FUN. Little ones are only little once...Enjoy the time.

Disney for Free

Want a travel tip when travelling to Flordia with toddlers and preschoolers? Check out Downtown Disney. It's the shopping area outside the theme parks geared to get you spending. If you can hold back from buying Mickey & Minnie Salt and Pepper Shakers and Buzz Lightyear for eveyone you know back home, it can be an affordable and fun way to spend the afternoon.

This year, we skipped the Magic Kingdom and went to Downtown Disney. There, you park and enter, play at the make-your-own-Mr. Potato Head bar, rake through bins of blocks at Lego land for FREE!

The carousel and Winnie the Pooh train are $2 and the water park is (you guessed it!) free. A perfect afternoon for preschoolers, toddlers and parents who get fussy in the afternoon sun.

Trick or Treat?

Let's get this straight -- I'm not anti-sugar. Everything in moderation. But if you've seen my (or your own) kids wigs out from too much chocolate, then you're probably also looking for a treat alternative this weekend.

Here's a few things to offer the smaller ghouls at your door.
- Playdoh. They make smaller tins. You can buy the Halloween-branded bag or just smaller containers.
- Dollar Store trinkets. They may only have the life-span of a McDonald's Happy Meal toy, but the Dollar Stores have everything from plastic skeletons on parachutes, sticky rubber eye balls, pumpkin-shaped bubble blowers, pencils and toothbrushes.
- Even though Unicef ended its Halloween oragne box program last year, you can still give gift certificates to close kids to McDonald's or Tim Horton's.
- Or you could do what Vimmy did and send us a box of 12 gourmet cupcakes from CupcakeLaine. What was I saying about sugar highs!

I remember at Halloween when people gave you apples. Then everyone got freaked out about people sliding razor blades in them so everyone switched to candy. I'm not suggesting that we get rid of those little packages of Rockets (PL would never forgive me), I'm just saying a little variety is good.

A shril child's cry pierces the gray early morning air...

When I got them home from daycare yesterday, they were wild! Hitting, squealing, dumping of toys, demanding I make chocolate chip cookies -- I felt like a bullied mom.

No, they are not always like that. But sometimes they come home from daycare/pre-school so exhausted that there's no reasoning with them. And when I heard this old CBC Radio piece, I laughed out loud (LOL?). Not much has changed in 50+ years!

All I can do, is have a snack ready -- grapes, apples, raisins boxes-- and get supper on as quick as I can. Then clean that up, pull out the Playdoh or markers and construction paper; get them in the tub and in pajamas, read some stories, sing Mockingbird and them tuck them the bed. Oh yes, and in between, smother them in grand bizous...

Working Mom's Guide to the 100 Mile (a minute) Diet

Think local, act global.

When you're running a 100 miles a minute, its not eay to pass Dominion and head to the farm (not to mention the farm isn't open on Sunday night's at 9pm when I realize we're out of milk!). Might be easier in Toronto or Montreal where Keningston or Atwater Market is lined off with "grown right here" greens. But what do you do when you live in Newfoundland?

Here's a few places to consider if you and your kids are trying to make a smaller footprint on the planet.

Grandpa's Garden. (for us, that's Placentia Junction)
If you are lucky enough to have grandparents around, you know they love gardening. My parents have been growing root vegetables for years. Put in a little sweat equity on the weekend and enjoy some of Poppy's potatoes, carrots, onions. Kids love pulling them up too!

Lester's Farm. (Brookfield Rd.)
We love this place. They have great local produce, a petting farm, local baked goods and even ice cream. In the Fall there's a corn maze and a Pumpkinfest.

NL Organics. The idea of food co-ops delivering green boxes to your door is popular in Ontario & BC but is just coming to NL. I haven't ordered yet but plan to. I know, I might end up wit a lot of kale in July but its worth it for the Fall goodies.

Windy Meadows Farm & Market. (1 Lundrigan's Rd, Kilbride). Where's the beef? Organic meat, chicken and sausage all at Windy Meadows. Great burgers for summer too.

Moo Moo's Ice Cream.
Local ice cream made right here!

Radio Noon Cross Talk

I'm no parenting "expert". All I have is 4 years of sleep deprivation. Ok, that's a small badge of honour I suppose. Strangely, the week Benjo turned 4 and FG turned 2, I landed a spot on Radio Noon Cross Talk.

Michelle Lester, owner of Coo Chi Coo (LOVE that store) and 2 1/2 year-old, Max chatted about tantrums, fussy eating (alright, I'm an expert there) and nighttime routines.

Thanks to Ramona & Gerry for the oppportunity.

Easter Egg Hunt

Looking for an alternative to hiding eggs? Every year we hide plastic eggs filled with riddles

eg.
I'm a place to bake and a place to cook
Come in the kitchen and take a look

FG & Me, Easter 2006

That takes them to the stove where they find the next riddle. It all leads to a little chocolate and a present. Very Blue's Clues/Dora. Last year Ben got a toy skateboard and FG got a rag doll. Simple a (nearly) sugar-free.

Favourite (and Not So) Favourite Things

When Benjo was just 3 months old, my brain was brimming with things I had learned as truths by the 4th trimester. Yesterday, I found an email I had sent out to a friend with my favourite and not so favourite things. Funny, not much has changed. Since those first days can be so overwhelming, I thought I'd post that email here. Here it is:
Hi Friend, Here are a list of some things that Pierre-Luc and found that made our first few months a little easier and some things we never needed so much. Who knows? You may or may not find the same works for you. But as you surely know by now, being pregnant and being a mom is an open call for advice! The best I was given after we came home with Ben was simple: "Why stand when you can sit? Why sit when you can lie down? Why lie down when you can sleep?"

Anyway, here's the shopping list in no particular order:

Breastfeeding: If you decide to breastfeed, get yourself a couple of good nursing bras and some breast pads because in the first few days while your milk is coming in, you'll leak like crazy (this might be too much information, but get yourself a mattress cover if you don't already have one). After that, things regulate themselves out with the "supply and demand" ;) For a pump, I use the AVENT system. Most everyone says its the best one. All the bottles fit the pump and when you're ready, you can change the nipple on the bottle for a sippy cup. Saves you from buying a whack of stuff you don't need. Others, however, swear by the electric pump which you can rent from the hospital or from a drug store. My opinion on this is use whatever works for you. I didn't use a breastfeeding pillow because my torso's so short. I tried one and it didn't work for me, but you might want to check one out.

Receiving Blankets and other Linens: People generally give you a lot of this stuff but have plenty (i.e. 10-12) on hand to start. You'll be surprised how many you'll go through in the first few weeks. Down the road when you're little person starts to move a lot in the crib, you might want to consider an infant sleeping bag. This is like a little bunting bag to sleep in where there arms stick out. It prevents them from kicking off all their blankets when they get out of the "swaddle me" stage. I picked mine up at Diaper-Eze (address below) but I'm sure you can get it at baby stores out your way.

Clothes: It has only been in the last month that Benjamin has been wearing real clothes. Before that it was sleepers and those little T-Shirts that snap on the bottom. Baby Bjorn: We really like this. It's likely the $$ of the carriers but Ben really enjoys it and now that he's older and can face outward its fun to use on Saturday's when the sidewalks are busy and too crowded for a stroller. The only down side is - as he gets heavier they become less comfortable. Since you're little peanut is coming in the Fall/Winter - you might pass on this and look to one of those Mountain Equipment Co-op backpacks to use in the spring. A friend of mine has one and loves it. Some people also swear by the slings. Ben never much cared for this but others love it.

Stroller Accessories: I have a few things I really like. It'll depend on how much you will use your stroller. I have the Jolly Jumper Plastic Weather Guard ($15-ish @ Zellers/Walmart) and the UV Screen. Both are pretty awesome.

Bath Tub: Never really used ours much past the first month. Now, PL baths with Benjamin. It's great Dad and Son time and it gives Ben more room to splash around.

Bassinets, Cribs, Pack & Plays: I think from what you said today, your nursery is all set. That's awesome (I believe we were doing our after Ben was home since we only moved in 2 weeks before my due date!). A couple of things on sleeping arrangements. Because his nursery was on the 2nd floor and our bedroom on the 3rd (and because the little people like tighter sleeping quarters), Ben slept in a bassinet in our room for the first few month of so. This made nursing in the night a lot easier. If you want/need a bassinet, feel free to come by and borrow ours. Seriously. We're not using it. If the nursery is close by, don't bother with one. Pack and Plays (those travel cribs) are also great. We have a Graco one. They are heavy as old hell to lug around but very convenient if you plan on visiting. Boy, gone are the days of our parents when they put the baby in the box the radio came in.

A Comfortable Nursing Chair for Mom: Of all the things you can do without, this isn't one of them. While nursing will get easier (I know, it will not feel like it on Day 2-3, but TRUST me on this one, it will) you should get a really comfy chair because you'll be spending a ton of time in it!! I didn't get a fancy rocker or anything although those are neat. Instead, I bought one of those Piong Chairs from IKEA (you know the ones that they have on display being tested this the machine pressing against it the back).

Bouncy Chair for Baby: Or as we call if in our house, the "Magic Chair" ("Chaise Magique" en francais). There's a number of different models that vibrate. We have the Kick & Play from Fisher Price, but there are others that will also do the trick. For a few weeks, this was the only way I could eat breakfast or PL and I could eat dinner. Now, he likes to sit in it and watch me unload the dishwasher.

Monitors: you likely already have one. But just in case, we really like the Fisher Price Sounds & Lights. Sometimes we do pick up our neighbour's baby on it (they have the same monitor) but for the most part we like it.

Blinds: Underneath Benjamin's beautiful roman blinds we installed those old fashioned roller blinds to block out all the light. It really helped in the summer to put him down for naps.

Diapers: Not sure if your going cloth or disposable but if you're considering disposable, check out www.smallplanetinc.com. They are a recycling program for disposable diapers. Several of us in the neighbourhood use them.

CDs: WARNING: There is a ton of really cheesy children's CDs out there. And while its not a priority to run out and get any (Tell your husband to start singing - Benjamin prefers that over anything), we have found a few that he enjoys and we can tolerate.

Check out Amazon for:
Golden Slumbers: A Father's Lullaby
For The Kids
Also, Play Time: Pottery Barn Kids Jazz CD is pretty good.

Ocean Wonders Aquarium: This thing is something else. I'm sure you've heard all the theories about hushing sounds and waves to soothe a baby, well this thing (you can see it on the Fisher Price site) is something else. Benjamin really enjoys it. The wave sounds and bubbling water can send him right to sleep in a few minutes. A great suggestion for a gift if the in-laws are asking!

Mobile: Benjamin also loves his mobile and his Gym. These are great, particularly when he could start to see things better and when I need to have him entertained so I could go to the washroom or answer the phone. We have the Tiny Love Symphony-In-Motion Mobile and the Gymini. Outside of that, we don't really have any "toys" yet except for a few stuffed animals which he is more or less interested in. Again, good grandparent things to ask for later on.

High Chair: We haven't bought one yet. Still doing my research on this one. Stroller: You may already have one. If not, there is a fantastic store in Roncesvalles Village called Macklem's. They have a ton of baby stuff but the most knowledgeable staff and best selection of baby strollers/car seats in the city.

Diaper Bags: Never had one of these. I have a little knapsack that works way better than one of these shoulder strap bags and can hold a ton more if I need to. Diaper Pail: We have a Safety 1st one not the Diaper Genie. The Diaper Genie is a little more $$ and takes special bags with the Safety 1st one we just use long Kitchen Catchers.

Change Table: You might already have one, but just in case - here's a suggestion. We just bought a chest of drawers from IKEA painted it up and bought a change pad for the top. Once they get really active, you end up changing them on the floor and besides. Also when your done with diapers you just remove the change pad and Bob's your uncle.

Other little tidbits - not necessarily product related but that might help make your first few weeks a bit easier:

1. Change your voice mail message to say, we can't come to the phone but our little one is all good. Then turn off your ringers and check messages once or twice a day.
2. Have your husband be the master scheduler for visitors. When they do come and they ask can they bring anything - say sure breakfast, lunch or dinner.
3. Don't let the nurses scare you about breastfeeding. Yes, it is tough starting out, but at the end of the day its all about healthy mom, healthy baby.
4. Keep laughing and sleep as much as you can. Well, this is a start of the new knowledge we've amassed in 4 short months.

I hope this helps. Call my anytime if you have any questions or want to know more about anything. I'm only happy to help. And of course, as Benjamin grows we'll learn more. :) At the end of the day, the most important thing we've figured out is all your little person needs is love, sweet love. And I know you and your husband have that to give him/her in spades. Congratulations my dear. Can't wait to hear your news... Take Care Sweetie and Enjoy the Ride! It's Amazing!!!! Deb

Canada Reads - Preschool Edition

CBC Radio recently wrapped up the All Star Edition. When I get time to read again, I'll weigh in on whether Heather O'Neill's Lullabies for Little Criminals was the best choice.

Until then, I'll have to stick with the short list at our house.
The Night Pirates by Peter Harris and Deborah Allwright
I Know a Rhino by Charles Fuge
Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months by Maurice Sendak
Russell the Sheep by Rob Scotton
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson