Where Moms Connect ~ Mommy Connections

 

 

Are you looking for a way to meet other new moms in your neighbourhood, while also participating in some of the best mom and baby programs in the West End?

Then Check out Mommy Connections West Toronto, a Post-Natal Program and New Moms Social Network! This eight-week program features expert presenters who will enlighten, support and educate moms – as well as provide an opportunity to socialize with their babies. Each registrant will also receive a free swag bag full of samples and discounts from local businesses!

This eight-week program is geared toward the needs and interests of today’s modern mother. The program highlights fitness, nutrition, safety, infant communication, and more! Mommy Connections gives moms the information they need to make decisions that are right for them and their family. It’s also a fantastic venue to connect with other moms in your community to share stories, solicit advice, and laugh!

Mommy Connections West Toronto is revolutionizing the idea of connecting and educating new moms. With fun and educational presenters, local moms from your area and lots of time to socialize with your babies, Mommy Connections is an excellent choice for mums and little ones.

The next class starts May 17^th, 11-12:30 at Swansea Town Hall and costs $120 for 8 weeks.  To register, or for more details please visit www.mommyconnections.ca/west-toronto or contact Karen at Karen@mommyconnection.ca

 

xo

The leaves are changing & so are the trends!

The leaves are changing & so are the trends!
(written by Alexandria Durrell of Clippo.ca)

 

It’s Fall and we all know what that means – time to put away the flip-flops folks, and break out those comfy, cozy fall fashions. If you’re anything like me, your kids might be the ones sporting the most stylish gear – isn’t it so much easier to dress the peeps than ourselves? Want to have a look at what my kids will be sporting this season? My four-year old daughter is very much into what I call Pink Comfort Chic – meaning, if it’s pink and comfy, she’s sold. We’ve managed to accommodate her wishes by finding the best styles of the season. Thankfully, our little baby boy is still too young to protest much – though, oh, how I wish he’d wear a cool hat like the ones Chill Monkeys recently released!

Here are a few cool trends I’ve noticed for Fall 2010 that I think you’ll just love, too.

 

Houndstooth Swing Coat – Crazy Baby Accessories

Handmade gear for the win!

Everywhere we look, we’re seeing a return to the wholesome, handmade fashion front. With Etsy storming the shopping scene, everyone’s clamouring for charming, unique pieces. Our favourite (Canadian!) shops include Butterflies & Bees and Crazy Baby Accessories .

Classic Bucket Hat with an Haute Twist – Butterflies & Bees

Just Like Dad!

Glow Magazine’s most recent issue featured a men’s spotlight that included the most darling accessory for boys big and small: the bowtie!  As always, Clippo hit the fashion mark with the recent release of the Clippo Bow Ties, available in various designer prints, and the classic black.

Grace MacCall of TykeThreads (the incomparable shopping site for the little men in our lives) tells us, “The top three trends for  boyswear this fall/winter are: plaid power, hybrid hoodies, and skinny jeans. We’re also delighted to see interesting colours (at last!) for our little guys. I love the backcountry plaid shirt by Knuckleheads in turquoise. Contrast is also noteworthy this season — the grey fleece hood sewn onto plaid red lumberjack shirt by Ben Sherman is a favourite and one my own son will be wearing. And in the skinny jeans department, we love the Appaman black jeans that have a little bit of a give. Also, another popular item that we love is the hat: fedora, cap or beanie, these accessories fly off my virtual shelves.”

 

Comfort reigns, hoorah!

We’re seeing comfy jeggings and leggings paired with layered cotton tops and cozy sweaters for little girls – love it! For boys we’re seeing cool screen-printed tees with comfy jeans for a preppy, casual look. While we think it’s super cute for little ones to dress up like their parents, we want them to embrace childhood, and we’re happy this year’s Fall trends reflect that kind of fun!

Clockwise from top-left: Knuckleheads shirt, Sherman lumberjack shirt, Appaman fedora (tykeThreads.ca)

A Barbie-licious Party

Biz Spotlight : Glow Baby

 

 

 

We believe that every mom can use a little bit of help when it comes to organizing the chaos    

around her, especially when a new baby arrives.

Lindsay Harris founder of Glow Baby is here to lend a helping hand!

 

How was Glow Baby conceived? 

My Business is called Glow Baby.  The first inkling I had for my business was when I had just given birth to my youngest and had difficulty with breastfeeding.  I ended up writing all the details down on pieces of scrap paper and thought there must be a better way!  When I was brainstorming about this idea, I started to think about the lack of chic and thoughtful organizational products in the market geared towards families and decided that as organization was my strength that this was a niche I was to fill.

What do you love about being an entrepreneur? 

What I love most about being an entrepreneur is the creative side.  It’s being able to create a unique product and follow the creation process from idea to actuality.  Being able to hang out with my girls and be there for their various special events is also great.

 

What fabulous products do you carry & where can we buy them?

Our product line includes “Baby’s First Journal” to track your newborns feeding, sleeping, diapering, vitamins, baths and milestones; “Baby’s First Foods” for tracking the introduction of new foods and menu planning; The Organized Family Calendar to keep on top of your busy family’s schedules; and our notepad series (Babysitter Notes, Medicine Pad, Shopping List, To Do List).  Our products can be bought online at www.glowbaby.ca or at various retailers across North America.

Why do moms love you?

Moms love Glow Baby because we design for the busy mom and help make their lives easier.

 

Sneaky Mom Meals

 

How to Get Your Toddler to Eat Chickpeas without even Knowing It!

I heard once that what you eat while pregnant can greatly influence your future child’s palate. I remember the evening we found out we were pregnant – we were spending the weekend in a small Ontario lakeside town celebrating our first anniversary. Our inn package included a meal at its attached and highly-renowned restaurant. I started the meal with foie gras, my first time ever eating it, and my husband and I discussed our hopes and dreams for our unborn child that spanned the range of his future occupation, to what a good eater he would be. How could he not, with his pregnant mom’s conscientious efforts to maintain a steady diet that would include a wide variety of nutritious foods. 

Fast-forward 3.5 years to one 3-year-old boy…  

These days it’s a major chore trying to get my son to eat a healthy, balanced diet, and he’s not even that bad from what I hear. He’ll eat most vegetables (he prefers them raw) and fruits, meats and dairy products. And with a little inventiveness (i.e. sneak in some hummus or blended tuna into a pasta dish), he’s unknowingly and quite happily eating a decent meal that I can feel comfortable about.  

Snacks are a great time to get the non-adventurous to try eat a variety of foods; food is typically served in smaller quantities than mealtime so there’s no commitment issues, and it’s usually in a less formal environment (i.e. give them a plate of apples and cheese and nuts during playtime and they’ll mindlessly much until it’s all gone!). And if they only end up eating half a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner, you can relax a bit, knowing they’ve gotten the majority of their nutrients from their snacks throughout the day. 

Tips:

• Keep and eat a variety of foods at home (make fruits accessible at all times by keeping on the counter within reach).
•  Snacking in between meals is healthy – it keeps energy and blood sugar levels up (and parents will be less likely to overindulge at mealtimes). Moderation is key!  Try a handful nuts, crackers, or dried fruits. 
• To get kids interested in the foods they eat, have them help you prepare their meals and snacks. They’ll be much more likely to eat food they’ve had a hand in putting together. Living proof: my son ate scrambled eggs last night after a year-imposed hiatus because I let him crack the eggs and guided his hand stirring in the frying pan.

 

For recipes please visit Barb’s website:  http://foodfortot.tumblr.com

 

Bio:

Barbara McKechnie is 34 years old and didn’t cook a thing until she moved away from home at 22.   Her combined love of food (except for beans and peas), kids, and writing proved it was only a matter of time before she found a blog subject and stuck with it. Barb’s current role as stay-at-home mom to a 3-year-old boy is the hardest job she’s ever done. She also works as a freelance marketing communications writer.

 

xo

A Busy Mom’s Solution to Reigning in the Chaos

A Busy Mom’s Solution to Reigning in the Chaos

I have never been busier than I have been lately.  With my household and business to run, two kids and my husband’s schedules to remember, my brain was starting to hurt.  I have always been a punctual person and have never missed a deadline or appointment until recently.  For the first time in my history (all 33 years) I forgot one of Juliet’s doctor’s appointments.  I remembered about an hour after we were supposed to be there.  I left a very apologetic message and then had to remember to reschedule. 

I was mortified by my forgetfulness which sparked a memory of my mom forgetting to pick me up from camp.  I remember vividly waiting for her on the steps of the school, alone.  My mom had three or four kids to keep track of at that time and I don’t know how late she actually was, I just remember getting worried.  I felt like I was on the verge of forgetting more than an appointment and I did not want to forget to pick the girls up from an activity.  I started thinking about ways I could get a better hold on all our schedules so this would not happen.  At the time, I had a standard day planner with the month-at-a-glance preceding the daily schedules.  I also had a fridge calendar I had to reference before making plans for our family as that was where my husband would write his schedule. 

Having to check three different places was clearly not working for me and so I came up with The Organized Family Calendar to take care of our family’s scheduling needs.  I designed it so that the month-at-a-glance would always face the week-at-a-glance schedule.  It can be used as a wall or fridge calendar or on a desk.  It has become our family’s master calendar and I love it.  Instead of having an extremely busy looking monthly calendar, I am able to write down each of our schedules and have lots of space to do it.  This is the easiest way to keep track of everything and the bonus is that my husband can write in his own schedule and see what each of us are doing without having to ask me!!

The calendar also has space to write notes, To-Dos and chores.  This calendar has become our family’s central vehicle for ensuring things get done and noting who needs to do what.  Everything is now in one place and so there is no excuse for us to miss anything.  I look forward to being a more organized family and never missing an appointment again! 

The 2011 Organized Family Calendar is available at http://www.glowbaby.ca/calendardetail.html.

Editorial provided by Lindsay Harris.  Lindsay is the Owner of Glow Baby – For the Organized Family www.glowbaby.ca.  Glow Baby products are designed to help parents stay organized through all stages of parenthood to help make life easier after baby.  She is also the proud mom of two beautiful daughters ages 3 1/2 and 20 months.

 

Back to School: From the Other Side of the Fence

Back to School:  From the Other Side of the Fence

 

 

By Kim Ramsay Gorny

For a decade I taught in the private school system.  I loved my job and took it seriously.  So seriously that in my early years of teaching, my husband referred to the school I taught at as ‘the happiest place on earth’.   I worked with young children and let’s face it, I worked with their parents too.  I considered a big part of my job to be the parent education nights, the time spent reassuring them, and giving up-dates at drop off, pick up, at parent conferences, and during phone calls.

The hardest time of year was always the beginning.  I spent every year tearing sobbing children out of the clutches of nervous parents, while reassuring them that their children would be fine and then quickly distracting the kids with a cool puzzle or animals to put on the map of the world.  I had the drill down, but I was tested over the years.  Like one September when two Moms took turns hiding behind a massive tree on school property, each alternating between hiding and running up to my classroom window to peak in.  Or the woman who stood sobbing outside the classroom’s glass door while her young son stood sobbing on the other side.  As I watched these Moms shimmying across the grass ‘James Bond’ style and the Mom with her nose pressed to the glass, I smiled reassuringly – but silently vowed to never be ‘that Mom’.

What do they say about not judging someone until you’ve walked in their shoes?  

Flash forward:  It is now days before I send my second born – my baby – off to Junior Kindergarten and I am officially on the ‘other side of the fence’.   After my first born, I took my mat leave and went back to teaching just before my son’s first birthday.  Since my daughter’s birth, I have been working from home and have been with her every single day for the last 4 years.  Needless to say, she’s a little attached!   Lots of kids are attached.   Sure, I know that once she gets in the door she will love it, but she’s the kid who needs coaxing at every program she’s tried; and usually needs a bit of cheerleading to keep her there too!  Now it’s time for the big leagues…Kindergarten.  There’s no going back after that first day as she’s got a full school career ahead of her.

In my head I know I need to smile, wish her a great day, kiss her good bye, and walk away quickly before she can cling to me; and most importantly before she can see me cry.  But will I be able to?  …Or will I be ‘that Mom’? 

About the Author

Kim Ramsay Gorny is a multi-tasking Mama of two amazing kids, one super supportive husband and two crazy dogs. When she isn’t obsessively planning the next family trip to Disney, she’s the Co-founder and Creative Director of Kathy and Kim Originals.   http://www.kathyandkimoriginals.com  

Spending way too much time on the computer these days has even driven her love for shopping – sometimes online; but this family first Mama feels the best part of any day is being surrounded by family and her fantastic friends.  In her past life Kim was a passionate Montessori teacher which inspired a self published children’s book.

xo