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Women’s History Month

2007-04-02T05:48:00.001-07:00

by Kittenpie

Did you know March was Women’s History Month? I think it’s interesting to use these opportunities to remind us to talk with our kids, but I will say right up front that I find a lot of the books related to topics like this are more factual than fun, more history than story. And while there are biographies and stories talking about hundreds of important and interesting women, I’m not sure this what parents are looking for as shared reading with our kids. Instead, we as parents can teach more gently, reading books that open discussion and lead to questions, rather than providing a straight history, per se. To that end, here are just a few books that I particularly like for just opening a topic or approaching women’s history obliquely. These are told in fun picture book form, though they are sophisticated enough to appeal to older kids, too. They are, rather than non-fiction, stories built upon events or people in history, sometimes embellished for effect, to help make them a good read. Who says history has to be dull?

Amelia and Eleanor Go For A Ride
Pam Munoz Ryan, ill. Brian Selznick
This gorgeous book is based on a night when Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt dined together, and takes off with the possibility of what two such daring women might get up to together. It’s lovely, and a nice way to introduce these women without being too information-heavy. Instead, they are real, fun people who are a little less demure than their age expected of them.
You should also take a look at the same duo’s breathtaking tribute to Marian Anderson, When Marian Sang, which I neglected when I posted for Black History Month.

She’s Wearing a Dead Bird On Her Head!
Kathryn Lasky, ill. David Catrow
Two well-heeled Boston women star in this look at the way a woman can make a change when she perceives something wrong. Appalled at the trend in hats that was endangering birds, Harriet Hemenway and Minna Hall rounded up the women of society, as well as a good number of men, and began the Audubon Society. They not only made their voices heard, but got laws passed and enforced through their determination, even at a time when, as the book notes, women had little voice and power. This story includes a little more context about the time, but not enough to drag it down, especially with Catrow’s amusing illustrations to brighten things up.

You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer!
Shana Corey and Chesley McLaren
A silly look at the stir caused by the arrival of bloomers and the shedding of massive underpinnings. More symbolic of a sweeping change than being one itself, this is a cute way to talk about how much life has changed for women in the past century or so.

Moms of girls might also want to make this month a chance to take a look at one of the many bibliographies of great books for kids featuring girl-power-friendly characters. The library carries a few of these:

Once Upon a Heroine
Alison Cooper-Mullin and Jennifer Marmaduke Coye

100 Books For Girls To Grow On
Shireen Dodson

Let’s Hear It For The Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14
Erica Bauermeister and Holly Smith

These and other great books for boys and girls can be found at your local public library!

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A career Children’s Librarian, kittenpie has worked in library systems in both New York and Toronto, and delights in sharing favourite books with kids of all ages. Settled back in Toronto, she now brings work home to read to her own little Pumpkinpie.

Lost: One AC adapter

2007-03-22T06:23:00.000-07:00

by MotherBumper

If you are anything like me, you go through many, many batteries with all the devices in the home. All of our remotes burn through them at an alarming rate, especially the Wii. The Wii paddles eat AA size batteries like I eat all chocolate in my path: FAST. One of my digital cameras uses six and my beloved label maker (how I love you label maker) takes four AA size.

To counteract and relieve my guilt in throwing out caustic substances, we use rechargables. We have tried a variety of different brands and charger combinations but recently we misplaced the AC adapter for our largest multi-size/multi-brand charging unit. This is so frustrating because we have a good supply of rechargables and no way to charge them. To add to the annoyance (beside the fact that I KNOW the charger is somewhere in our home), the company that made the charger is no longer available at the chain where we purchased it and we haven’t been able to locate an alternative supplier. We will end up buying a new charging unit so we won’t waste our batteries but based on our track record and pack-rat tendencies, I think we should look for an alternative solution.

This week I found out about an alternative to our charger woes; a cool rechargeable battery that has a convenient twist on existing chargers is on the market. The USBCELL can be plugged into any powered USB port to recharge. Think about it: no need to search for the charger device, no pesky cables hanging around, and no need to locate a free wall power outlet. We have a computer with powered USB ports available for charging. It seems like a perfect solution for us.

I love the fact that the batteries are NiMH so I can use them in the digital camera without any fear of over heating. They also can be charged in approved NiMH Chargers (great for doing bulk charging). A set of two AA size are reasonably priced at approximately 20.00 CAD.

The company also makes AAA, 9 volt and phone sizes in addition to some other battery sizes and they ship to Canada.

I can’t wait to try them out and I’ll update you on how they worked for me.

To find out more about rechargeable NiHM and Li-ion batteries, check out Green Batteries website.

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I’ve lived in Toronto for six years and in that time I’ve married, become a mom and tried to improve my impact on the planet by living a more sustainable lifestyle, all done with some success. My background is in IT and I have a degree in Psychology. That either tells you everything or nothing at all.

Celebrity Authors! Who’s Hot! Who’s Not!

2007-03-15T17:40:00.000-07:00

by Kittenpie

It is often remarked in children’s literature circles that everyone thinks they can write books for kids. They’re shorter, they’re for kids, it must be easy, right? No. Really, there’s a knack and a sensibility that is not possessed by everyone – even people who know and love children. And the proliferation of books for kids published by celebrities in recent years only goes to prove it. There are hits, a couple of people who get it right, and there are most certainly misses – those who are clearly riding on star power alone. So unless you are willing to preview every one, what to do? Avoid them altogether? Take your chances? Read on, I’ll give you the goods on a few of the famous to avoid, and a few who are worth a try.

Katie Couric
The Brand-New Kid
The Blue-Ribbon Day
She’s peppy and earnest on television. She’s peppy and earnest on paper. But way more annoying, too. Yes, the situations she takes on are worth talking about. But she’s not subtle. And yes, it’s nice to try to talk about things like ostracized classmates and not making the team without being a total downer. But I’m not sure bouncy verse is the way to go, either. Especially when the rhymes and meter are a mite strained. I don’t dislike Katie (although her makeup artist pisses me off with the dark lipstick he keeps unsuccessfully putting on her). I think she’s got a great heart and wants to do good things. I just think well-meaning does not translate into well-executed in this case.

Madonna
The English Roses
Lotsa de Casha
Yakov and the Seven Thieves
Mr. Peabody’s Apples
Let me put it this way: these books are designed to teach five key lessons of Kabbalah to children through stories. Yup. It is rare that a book can survive such intent without being crippled under the weight of the message – and these ones don’t manage it (hell, Madonna never made a name for herself being subtle, now, did she?). To be fair, the artist do their level best to add charm, with gorgeous nostalgic Americana for the small-town story (Peabody’s Apples), jaunty, sassy sketches for the sassy girls (The English Roses), lovely Eastern-European-influenced paintings for Yakov, and a renaissance feel for the tale of a rich merchant (Lotsa de Casha, which, to be honest, I couldn’t even finish, it was so bad and even further mutilated by a hideous attempt at an Italian accent applieda throughouta). I think it’s lovely and softening that The Big M is all maternal and spiritual and stuff now, but this should not be the result. A children’s album, perhaps? Madge knows from music, after all, but a writer she is not.

Jamie Lee Curtis
When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old’s Memoir of Her Youth
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born
Today I Feel Silly: & Other Moods That Make My Day
Where Do Balloons Go?: An Uplifting Mystery
I’m Gonna Like Me: Letting Off a Little Self-Esteem
It’s Hard To Be Five: Learning to Work My Control Panel
Is There Really a Human Race?
To put it up front: I like a few of these, while a few are middling. Her first outing was a fun and slightly silly look at the ways in which you’ve grown up by the time you are four. Next came Tell Me Again, a sweet and sometimes funny remembrance of the excitement adoptive parents feel about the birth of their long-awaited child. This one particularly has a warm and familiar feel without straying into the sappy – it’s clear from the telling that the tale is well-worn and much told. I also enjoyed the imaginative questions of Where Do Balloons Go? and found Curtis in tune with the sort of things that might make a child happy or grumpy in Today I Feel Silly. I’m Gonna Like Me does avoid the trap of being earnest and instructive when tackling self-esteem, although it is a hard subject to make a great book about, so my reaction is pretty much, “Enh.” I’m less impressed with Hard to Be Five and last fall’s Human Race, but will cut her some slack and hope it’s just a little slump given that she seems, for the most part, to be on a good wavelength for this.

Billy Crystal
I Already Know I Love You
Grandpa’s Little One
I would love for Billy Crystal to be a great entry. He’s funny, I like goofy kids’ books, maybe it could work… Or not so much. Problem is, Billy’s tuning into his sappy side and while this might appeal to some parents and grandparents (but not me – I like to keep my blood sugar balanced), it’s really not for kids. (Also the metre in the second one doesn’t really work, which annoys me.)

John Lithgow
The Remarkable Farkle McBride
Marsupial Sue
I’m a Manatee
Micawber
One of the less splashy and publicized authors in the group is turning out to be one of the few who really do it well. It may be a distinct advantage that he is a comedian, and a particularly goofy one at that. It certainly helps that he started out singing for kids and writing his own songs. This sideline of his was well-received even before he started turning to books, so his ability to connect with kids was pretty clear. Indeed, two of the books are songs, and include musical scores and CDs of him singing them. These are both cute and well-orchestrated– particularly Marsupial Sue, which has a slight and rather amusing oom-pah sound to it. I’m a Manatee is really fun on CD, too, but it doesn’t seem to translate onto paper quite as well. I am also fond of the story of Farkle McBride, which has a quick rhythm and reminds me somewhat of one of my old favourites, The Fabulous Song, by Don Gilmore (out of print, but available at the library), though far more hyperactive.

Jay Leno
If Roast Beef Could Fly
Please don’t make me write about this. Let me just say that the library didn’t even buy it, and if you want to see it, go look in a remainders store, where they all live now.

These books and more are available through your local Toronto Public Library!

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A career Children’s Librarian, kittenpie has worked in library systems in both New York and Toronto, and delights in sharing favourite books with kids of all ages. Settled back in Toronto, she now brings work home to read to her own little Pumpkinpie.

Metro Reco: Inside

2007-03-12T11:11:00.000-07:00

by Julie

I read Inside, Kenneth J. Harvey’s newest novel, in a 24-hour period. I felt like I’d been punched in the gut when I was finished.

Wrongfully convicted Myrden has just been released after spending 14 years in prison. He returns to his tough neighbourhood in St. John’s, Newfoundland; awaiting him is an unfaithful, money-hungry wife, a daughter in an abusive relationship, a grandchild he has never met, former drinking buddies who helped get him convicted and sons who live hard and die young (the one who made good hasn’t spoken to him in years). He finds refuge in the arms of Ruth, a former lover he doesn’t think he’s good enough for.

A tragedy, the story is about redemption, friendship, loyalty, addiction, rage, fate, hope and the vicious cycle of poverty.

The novel is cleverly narrated in short, abrupt sentences; the effect on the reader is an underlying sense of anxiety, similar to the one always present in the man trying to adjust to the world outside prison walls. I was nervous about the technique when I started the book, but it works. Inside is an emotional, gripping read.

Inside has been nominated for the 2006 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. The winner, to be selected in March, will receive $15,000, with $2,000 presented to each of the finalists. Harvey’s novel, The Town That Forgot How to Breathe won the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award in Canada. His works have also been nominated for the Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize. Harvey lives with his family in a Newfoundland outport.

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Julie has a baby girl and is currently working in the home. She keeps busy finishing her undergrad (English), caring for her family, reading lots of books, writing, and trying to figure out what the heck to do next.

Contact Julie at metro_mama@hotmail.com.

Welcome a New Blogger to MommyBlogsToronto!

2007-03-04T04:05:00.000-08:00

Bonjour, Allo, Sault... Hello works too.

Some of you may know me (from me stalking your blogs) and to others I may be a complete stranger. So, an introduction!

I am Samantha; though I tend to use my screen name - s@m. So clever, I know. It’s in the genes. *ahem*
My stats; 26 years old this May, Married to my college sweetheart – together for 7 years, married for 2 of those, mama to Carter (18 months). I also have a full time career.

I started blogging 8 months ago when my 4 year love affair with message boards came to an end. I needed an outlet while I was home full time on Maternity Leave. My contact with the outside world had dwindled to a pathetic couple hours a week at a playgroup and swimming, leaving little to no time to socialize with adults aside from when my husband returned from work and I talked his ear off like I’d been in solitary confinement for a year.
I was invited to view a friend's family blog that she had set up for loved ones who weren't able to visit often; to see her son develop into the bright and gorgeous little man that he is today. I started a blog as well for my family; plain and simple - a brag blog about my kid is all. Then, I wanted something for me and temporarily me was born.... which brings us to today.

I have since returned to work trying to squeeze about 60 hours of work into a 40 hour work week all the while raising a healthy and (hopefully) well rounded son. Carter is now 18 months and FULL of energy. He's rambunctious, energetic, affectionate, and time consuming; thank heavens for early bedtimes or I’d never have a chance to blog!

I work in the construction industry; for a construction monitoring firm and subcontract to a geo-structural engineering firm. I spend about 80 percent of my work days on construction sites inspecting the works of construction crews. When there’s a HUGE hole, I’m there – before the actual building construction, I’m down in the dirt while they’re digging.
This line of work is very consuming and in the past 5 months, since returning, I’ve been struggling to re-learn my job at a much different pace. My main focus has changed from being available to my job to being available for my family.

Viable Vixen is about working mom struggles and sharing our stories; how we are affected and how we cope. It’s a look into the life of a working mama! Enjoy!

Cleansing Thy Conscience

2007-02-23T14:52:00.000-08:00

by Motherbumper

I think one of the hardest things about trying to be more earth-friendly has been cleaning – specifically, everyday household chores. In my endeavours, I have tried many commercial products and some home made solutions. Here are two of my favourites:

Counter top and Cutting Board Cleaner
This is a recipe I found* for a cleaner that is comprised of two simple ingredients: vinegar (white or apple cider) and 3% hydrogen peroxide, each in individual spray bottles. Simply spray the counter surface, first with the vinegar and then with the hydrogen peroxide. Finish by wiping the surface like any other cleaner.

Apparently, using these two sprays (vinegar and hydrogen peroxide) helps destroy virtually all salmonella and shigella (E.coli) bacteria. I wasn’t able to confirm the actual research that supports this claim but vinegar is a fantastic cleaner and hydrogen peroxide is an antiseptic so it doesn’t seem too surprising.

I used it on the counters and it performed just like the commercial brands. Even though there was no residue and little smell, I treated it like regular store-bought cleaner and wiped down the counters and cutting board with a wet cloth. I liked using something without heavy scents and I usually have those two items on hand. I’ll be keeping this one in my cleaning routine. Gag, I have a cleaning routine. I never thought those words would cross my lips.

General Purpose Cleaning Wipes
The second cleaner I like is nowhere near perfect when it comes to being a clean-conscience slash earth-friendly product but for me it’s a keeper. Method brand makes disposable cleaning wipes in three scents: lavender, cucumber, and grapefruit.

Before you ask “OMG why even bother using something disposable and scented?” I will come to my own defence by saying sometimes a mess is so yucky (think cat puke) that using a rag means that I'm probably just going to throw it out. Let’s face it, in gross situations I'm lazy and I do not have a laundry room which means I don't get to clean my rags often enough. I'll strive for less disposable when I've got more resources and time.

One thing I have to ask Method is I have is why don’t they produce non-scented wipes? I'm not a huge fan of scents in anything except candles, yet I must admit the scents in the wipes weren't too overpowering and I've smelled worse. Also, why not make the plastic dispenser refillable? I’m sending them an email.

Those questions aside, I do feel better using them as compared to the other commercial disposable cleaning wipes because Method’s are biodegradable and non-toxic. They work well for those gross jobs (hairballs and the like) and I'm a sucker for packaging that looks good (Yes, I can admit it I'm so lazy AND superficial sometimes). The wipes are easily found at most Shoppers Drug Mart outlets I’ve visited and I can fall out the door and hit three of those in under ten minutes so score one for availability.

So this is a step in the right direction (I hope) at being more earth-friendly. I really do try to use the disposable wipes only for yucky stuff but I must confess that doesn’t always happen. I’m happy with the home-made recipe and it makes me feel a whole lot better using vinegar than whipping out the commercial brand. And the hydrogen peroxide? Well if I ever get the hankering to streak my hair a la 1984, I’ve already got the supplies on hand.

I’d love to hear about any of your “greener” cleaning and household tips - send them my way!

* Source: Make It Yourself (2005) p. 170 "Green Living: The E Magazine Handbook for Living Lightly on the Earth", author: Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

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I’ve lived in Toronto for six years and in that time I’ve married, become a mom and tried to improve my impact on the planet by living a more sustainable lifestyle, all done with some success. My background is in IT and I have a degree in Psychology. That either tells you everything or nothing at all.

Shopping About Town: Bloor West Village

2007-02-20T08:39:00.000-08:00

by Julie

I loathe malls and find shopping in them a chore. They're so stuffy and crowded. Each mall is the same as the next--I’d much rather shop in one of the city’s many neighbourhoods and make it a fun outing.

Bloor West Village is a great place to spend an afternoon. It is definitely a baby friendly neighbourhood (you will be negotiating your stroller around many others) and most of the shops are family friendly.

Start at Bloor and Jane at Smart Kids Toybox. Brands carried include Lamaze, Manhattan, Brio and Tiny Love. Let the kids play while the friendly staff help you find what you’re looking for.

Head East to Diaper-eez. More than cloth diapers, they have many useful items, clothing, and toys. In addition to everything you need for baby, they’ve started to stock items for older children too, including toys from Doug and Melissa (love them). They also have the hippest diaper bags for mom, including Skip Hop. The staff here are amazing and knowledgeable, and the store so welcoming: there is a comfy rocking chair provided for breastfeeding; a washroom; a change area. They have a promotion right now-if you bring in a picture of your child wearing or using something you purchased there, you’ll receive 10% off your next purchase.

Need some new duds? Stop at Trixie. With fashions from Guess, JLo, Jessie May, Dex, and House of Spy among others, the clothes are fun, wearable, and au courant. The prices are reasonable for the quality and the salespeople are helpful without being pushy.

Stop for lunch at Queen’s Pasta Café (east of Bloor and Jane). Tuck into a bowl of delicious fresh pasta and relax with a glass of wine. Or, pick up some crepes and fresh salads to take home at Max’s Market’s huge prepared foods counter.

I never visit Bloor West Village without stopping at the Green Thumb fruit market and stocking up on fruits and veggies at fabulous prices. Don’t be daunted by the long line—they are super-efficient and it moves very fast. Don’t mess with their system by fumbling around counting change.

There are many florists in Bloor West Village—pick up a sprig of something for your table. There is also an abundance of bakeries—I always pick up some Portuguese custard tarts when I’m there. They all have their windows filled with lovely treats to tempt you.

Finish your shopping at Write Impressions (Bloor and Runnymede) for beautiful gift-wrap and unique cards. They also carry lots of Umbra photo albums and frames (great gifts) as well as a wonderful selection of journals and fountain pens.

Happy Shopping!

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Julie has a baby girl and is currently working in the home. She keeps busy finishing her undergrad (English), caring for her family, reading lots of books, writing, and trying to figure out what the heck to do next.

Contact Julie at metro_mama@hotmail.com.

Books for Accessing Black History

2007-02-14T05:29:00.000-08:00

by Kittenpie

February, as you may be aware, is Black History Month. There are a lot of ways to celebrate this with children and books, depending on the age of the child and your own comfort level and interest in wading into the topic.

One nice, simple, low-key and apolitical way to bring black history and culture into your child’s world is to read some African folk tales. There is a wealth of these at every library, and many are great stories with gorgeous illustrations. You could also find books with black characters. I particularly like to focus on Ezra Jack Keats, who created the first picture books to focus on a main character of colour, in an urban setting. I point out to them that these were an important step in representing children who had never before seen themselves in the books that they read. (Plus, Snowy Day, the very first, also won a Caldecott and is the perfect winter book!)

For older kids, though, I think it is important to begin talking about the struggle for civil rights. It’s a tricky topic. I am uncomfortable focussing on hateful people, it makes me upset and I find it hard to talk then, yet I think it’s important for people to understand history and know that these are things to watch for so they don’t creep back. To that end, I like to focus on a few key figures in the civil rights movement, as well as some people who made contributions in other areas but happen to be black. Here are a few books that take on aspects of the civil rights movement, but keep it gentle enough to be accessible for kids.

Goin’ Someplace Special
Patricia C. McKissack, ill. Jerry Pinkney
This book follows a young girl on her first solo trip downtown, as she encounters Jim Crow laws and becomes discouraged. The voices of her elders urge her to stand tall and remember that she was no better or worse than anyone else, and she swallows her frustration in time to make it to one place where everyone was welcome: the public library. Features Pinkney’s beautiful signature watercolours.

A Picture Book of Rosa Parks
David A. Adler, ill. Robert Casilla
Adler has a series of these junior biographies, including many figures in black history (Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson, etc.). This is my favourite on Rosa Parks thus far, a fairly straightforward account made ready for children with clear language and lovely images.

Martin’s Big Words
Doreen Rappaport, ill. Bryan Collier
This multi-award winner (Coretta Scott King Award, Caldecott Honour, NY Times Book Review) is a large-format picture book much lauded for its gorgeous, textured paint-and-collage illustrations. I also love it for its treatment of a very difficult subject, though. As the book walks through his life and work, it focuses on his positive messages and the powerful words that made him a leader in the civil rights movement. It’s a great introduction for younger people for it is short and written to be accessible and easy to understand.

I Have A Dream
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., ill. By various artists
Martin Luther King’s most famous speech has been stirringly illustrated by a host of artists for this gorgeous illustrated edition.

The Story of Ruby Bridges
Robert Coles, ill. George Ford
Ruby Bridges was the first black children to attend an all-white school in Mississipi, and she faced fierce opposition, ultimately taking her lessons alone as the white children were withdrawn from her class. This story and its images strikes me as especially powerful for the hatred displayed on the faces of June Cleaver housewives hollering at a tiny young girl on her way to school – it is a shock to consider how threatening she was to them. This is another moment in the civil rights movement that I think really speaks to children for being about one of them, and being so dissonant with their own experiences. It is also one episode that does not end in violence, so it, along with Rosa Parks, are great places to start talking about this time in history.

Bessie Smith and the Night Riders
Sue Stauffacher, ill. John Holyfield
There are lots of great books about jazz and blues figures – a list for another time – but this one specifically focuses on a factual confrontation between the Empress of the Blues and a group of KKK “nightriders.” Told by a young girl, it partially fictionalizes the encounter for better effect, but adds a note at the back explaining what was known about that night. So what happened? A handful of KKK members were found to be approaching a tent where Bessie was singing and were pulling up tent pegs. Because they were stopped by Bessie and her prop boys, it isn’t certain what they intended to do, but this makes for a gentler way to talk about things that were done to blacks in the south and even about the KKK without getting too gory. (On a side note, it also doesn’t address her death, which many have said would have been preventable if she had been able to get the kind of care a white person would have, another example of how blacks were treated that could be addressed as an extension of this story.)

Let’s Talk About Race
Julius Lester, ill. Karen Barbour

Julius Lester takes the question of race and what it says about someone head on in this book. He asks questions: What race are you? How does your story begin? He talks about how everyone has the same insides, everyone has their own story, their own personality, regardless of colour. This is the frankest book I’ve seen, yet it emphasizes the positive and focuses on belief in yourself. It’s a kind of conversation, with the author asking about the reader’s experiences and talking about his own. I really quite like it, though I think it’s more appropriate for a one-on-one discussion than the kind of group use I’d need it for at the library. I might just be perfect for you.

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A career Children’s Librarian, kittenpie has worked in library systems in both New York and Toronto, and delights in sharing favourite books with kids of all ages. Settled back in Toronto, she now brings work home to read to her own little Pumpkinpie.

Your Hot Body

2007-02-10T13:08:00.000-08:00

by Sandra

That’s right, your body is hot. H-O-T. Even after a couple of kids with sagging parts and stretchmarky parts and parts that have generally re-distributed themselves, it is a hot commodity. In both the traditional sense of: I-love-my-curves-or-lack-of-curves-and-that-self-confidencs-makes-me-sexy kind of way. But also in the: my-body-is-hot-because-it-can-do-a lot-of- good kind of way.

That’s right girlfriend, use that body of yours.

We’ve all heard those “it’s in you to give” commercials and the 1-888-2-DONATE number that I know almost as well as Pizza Pizza’s. Those ads play constantly because our blood banks need blood. They really, really do. In fact, their website reports that every minute of every day, someone in Canada needs blood. A cancer patient requires roughly 8 units of blood every week. A car accident victim could need as much as 50 units of blood. A liver transplant recipient often must receive up to 100 units of blood.

It doesn’t cost you any money and doesn’t take a ton of time. But it is one of the most tangible ways you can help people. It is literally life saving. And there are blood donor clinics happening all over the city. Basically if you are between 17 and 71, haven’t donated in the past 56 days, weigh at least 110 lbs, and are in good health then they want you. If you have had a pregnancy within the last 6 months you need to wait but otherwise, most mamas are absolutely great candidates

And its not just blood you can donate through Canadian Blood Services. They are also urging people to consider donating plasma, and platelets and become part of a bone marrow registry. I didn’t know you could be part of the “Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry” until today. I also didn’t know that fewer than 30 percent of patients who need bone marrow transplants are able to find a compatible donor within their own family. Fewer than 30 percent. I am going to register. Today. Now if only someone could use my wrinkles, I’d gladly donate those too.

But what if you faint at the sight of a needle? Your body is still hot, hot, hot. I wish I could suggest you can donate breast milk, but at present there is only 1 clinic in Canada and that is in Vancouver (there used to be 23 in total before cut backs and the tainted blood scandal). But there are some good people working very hard to try and get one going here in T.O. I’ll keep you posted.

We can’t forget about your gorgeous hair. This one is a win-win. You get a fabulous new look by cutting 10 inches off your long tresses and someone in need receives an equally fabulous wig when you donate to a great organization like Locks of Love or the local Angel Hair for Kids.

And then there are organ donations. Here is where I get down on bended knee with that look you can’t avert your eyes from and I urge that you to really, really think about what I am about to ask you to do. It doesn’t involve a needle or an extreme haircut. It just involves signing your name to a card and communicating your wishes to your family. Become an organ donor. You can download a cute card to fill out and keep in your wallet and give to your family here or here.

Did you know that there are over 4000 people waiting to receive an organ transplant in Canada? Or that five people die each week waiting for transplants that can’t take place because of the shortage of donated organs. Those numbers might feel abstract, but for many of us they are painful reminders.

One of my best friends in the world fell madly in love with an incredible man. They had one of those epic romances that rival the greatest of movies. The look in her eyes was the epitome of true happiness. Shortly after they were married, he was admitted to the hospital to treat his Cystic Fibrosis and this time they were told that he’d have to stay and wait for a double lung transplant. So my friend left her job and sold her house and spent every waking moment by his side in the hospital. Loving him. And Waiting. Waiting for the lungs that would give him new life so they could start theirs together. They waited for more than a year and those lungs never came. He died, in her arms, in his 30’s in November of 1999. It was the single most heart breaking memorial service I have ever attended. His passing touched hundreds of people. And it was that day that I am ashamed to say I only signed my organ donor card for the very first time. And it was that day that I became an advocate for organ donation.

We don’t want to think of the idea of what happens to our parts when we are gone. We don’t want to think about going. We figure our family will just do the right thing and know that organ donation would be what we want. But sometimes, when you are sad with loss the idea of letting the doctors remove organs isn’t where their head is at. So sign the card. Tell your family. Make it really clear. Because that solitary act can save a life. A life like my friend lost.

And what’s the point of having a hot body if you can’t share it?

___________________________________________

When she is not raising her 5-year-old-boy-genius, Sandra is an ex-advertising exec who spends her days working with a grassroots feminist charity. She is also an aspiring writer, chocolate-loving vegetarian … and a blogger.

Solicitation

2007-02-08T04:33:00.000-08:00

by Mouse

After spending several months obsessing about trying to become pregnant, my mind has reached a saturation point in thinking about the actual process. I’ve moved on to how I’ll be getting to point B (as in baby).

In my first pregnancy, I used an obstetrician recommended by a colleague. The obstetrician participated in a group practice, so I also got to know some of the other obstetricians since there was no telling who would be on call when I finally went into labor. Although the appointments were not incredibly long, I was encouraged to ask any question I had and never felt rushed. Other than a minor scare at 6th week, I had no complications and my pregnancy proceeded within all normal ranges.

This practice’s office delivered at one particular hospital in the nearby city, perhaps the nicest one there. Each woman had a private labor and delivery room with attached bathroom, TV, adjustable bed, and a reclining chair. I won’t go into the details here—that would fill a whole other post—but my delivery was more complicated than we were expecting and ended in a forceps delivery.

For the two days my insurance required I stay in the hospital, I shared a room with a woman who was spending four days in the maternity ward after a Caesarean delivery of twins. We had our own bathroom and a shower down the hall (walk right in, no edge to step over). I had a choice of keeping Scooter with me in a portable bassinet or leaving him in the nursery for a while. The nurses knew I wanted to breastfeed and were very helpful with that—there was even a special lactation session given every day or two for mothers to attend with baby and partner. Before leaving, there was a short care session to answer questions and remind us about things like caring for the umbilical stump.

Besides all of the above, Trillian and I were both impressed by the security procedures. Scooter had both a bracelet and anklet that matched mine. Each time a nurse brought Scooter in, we checked my bracelet against his. Trillian also had a matching bracelet. To enter the maternity ward, she had to stop at the locked doors, display the bracelet, and wait for someone to let her in. Anyone leaving with a child was similarly checked.

And while not a necessity, Trillian and I also appreciated the freebies. I’m not referring to the free bag from a formula company (which, yes, we did get, but I don’t want to step into that mess right now). We were encouraged to take anything we wanted from the drawer of the bassinet: extra disposable diapers (which we left because (a) we were going to use cloth at home and (b) the newborn size didn’t provide adequate coverage for our long and skinny guy), the very soft hairbrush, extra alcohol pads for stump care, the small plastic basin for sponge bathing, and probably a couple other little things.

Now I come to my point. Or rather, my plea for help.

Since we no longer live near our old city, we can’t just use our previous experience as a guide for the second pregnancy. We’ve started looking into options here and are trying to figure out our options. Of course, right now, our reading raises as many questions as it answers.

So this is where you come in

Midwife or obstetrician? Where we were in the states, midwives were most often used when one expected to deliver at home or at a birthing center. Because I knew that at least some women in my family had difficult deliveries, I went with an obstetrician and hospital. But from the explanations we’ve had, a midwife seems like a real possibility in Toronto.

Which hospital? I know that the privileges held by my obstetrician or midwife will largely determine this, but I’d like to know some specifics about the downtown hospitals—which will, in turn, influence the first decision.

Share a little or a lot. Just the bare bones or your entire birth story. In the comments or via email (mousenest at gmail dot com). It’s your chance to offer advice to a (hopefully) pregnant woman and actually have it heeded!

__________________________________________________

Mouse is: a mother, a lesbian, a graduate student in the Humanities, an American in self-imposed exile, an observer, an introvert, and an expert in Thomas the Tank Engine and Mighty Machines.

Midtown Hot Spots

2007-01-29T05:45:00.000-08:00

by Naomi (Urban Mummy)

There are lots of places that make raising your children just a little bit easier around here, so I'd like to share a few of them with you. I apologize for those of you that aren't local!

Getting Gear

There are a lot of baby stores in and around the Greater Toronto Area. One of my favourite, however, is just down the street. Lil Niblets & Baby Sprouts is a full service store, with almost all the gear you'll need (and a lot you won't!) in one place. Staff is helpful, and they are quite open to product suggestions. Let's face it - most of the baby stores carry the same stuff, with similar prices. So I look at the service I receive at the store, and this one is great!

Cutting Hair

First there was Melonhead. I'll admit, I've taken my son there. Twice, actually. And while the first time he was okay while getting his hair cut, the second time he was a nightmare. Tired, cranky, crying. And he insisted on getting his hair cut while sitting on my lap, which resulted in the world's worst haircut. Add to that his father's attempt at fixing it, and you end up with one raggedy little boy.

So I figured that poor haircuts were just part of the territory. Not so! A new children's haircutting salon has opened up in Midtown...Cuttie Cut Salon, located on Avenue Road, north of Lawrence, across from the No Frills grocery store. The stylist was professional, took time to talk to my son (and get to know his name), let him see what she was doing. She was patient, and did a fabulous job. Highly recommended!

Stuff to Do

This is the hardest part of parenting, I think...finding things to do with your children. If you work and have a nanny, what is she to do with your child? An ongoing process around here, but I've found a few programs that seem worthwhile to all, so I'd like to share them!

The Drama Mamas

I signed up my son for one of The Drama Mamas programs this winter. Only two sessions have passed, but, so far, we like it. My nanny took him to the first class, and I took him to the second, and we both agree. A nice mix of singing, reading, crafts and games. I like that each week has a different theme, and the activities reflect that theme. The programs run in a nice clean studio in the owner's basement. The price is a about the same as you would pay for a comparable class at a private location (out of home), but it seems well organized and fun. The 45 minute program does seem a bit rushed (I think an hour would be better) but toddlers do have short attention spans! Check them out!

Sportball

I cannot rave about Sportball enough! My son adores it, talks about it, and practically runs out the door when it's time to go there. He sings the songs (Engine Engine number nine...going down the sportball line...), he plays the games on his own (popcorn!! Spike!!) and has developed a love for sports that does his father proud. It is, by far, the most well organized program I have attended for or with my son.

We attend at a local synagogue, but they have locations all around the GTA. PS - it's not just for boys!!

For Moms

There's a new place in town:The Orange Dot. They have some wonderful programs for moms and kids. I'm taking the postnatal yoga with Baby Boy number 2, and the instructor is lovely. (The class is very small right now - come and join! It's Friday mornings!!) She tailors the class to the moms in it, and crying babies are always welcomed. It's a nice alternative to some of the other fitness programs out there.

Formerly run out of a studio in the owner's basement, they now have a beautiful new studio right on Avenue Road. Lucy, the owner, does things right, with all the personal touches you'd want.

Offered are fitness and other classes for pregnant women, fitness classes for moms both with and without babies, and some classes for the children. It's still very new (she only opened the studio this month), but I can see it going somewhere!

Hanging Out

Sometimes you just want to kick back and relax, have a coffee and read a book. Meet a friend and have a chat. One of our favourite places to go is the Second Cup / Great Canadian Bagel location on Avenue Road, north of Lawrence. A pleasant alternative to Starbucks, they welcome strollers and babies with open arms. Some of the staff even know my son, and love to chat with him when he goes in.

============

I hope these suggestions are useful to you! I have more suggestions and a running list on my website, so have a look, and email me (urbanmummy at gmail.com) if you have anything you can add!

__________________________________________

Urban Mummy is a thirty-something mother of 2 young boys. In her various incarnations she’s a schoolteacher, an artist, an entrepreneur, and a mom.

The ABC’s

2007-01-23T07:06:00.000-08:00

by Kittenpie

ABC books are a great tool for introducing the alphabet, which is in itself a rather self-evident part of pre-literacy skills. There is available an abundance of ABC books, each more arsty than the next. So how to get a few in your collection without going crazy? Here are a few of my favourites and some things to look for.

I find alphabets most useful when they are clear. By that I mean the letters are clearly identified in large and simple font. Stephen Johnson’s Caldecott Honour book Alphabet City and Kjell Bloch Sandved’s Butterfly Alphabet are gorgeous, but prime examples of alphabet books that have become too focused on their own concept to be useful as alphabet books for younger kids (though they are fun for see-if-you-can-find-it games with kids who are already comfy and confident with their ABCs). I also sometimes find the choice of items to illustrate the letters are very busy being clever or artsy or esoteric, and ignore the fact that their target audience is pretty young, with a relatively limited vocabulary and knowledge base. The Metropolitan Museum’s out-of-print ABC book, for example, is a lovely idea, and many of the items are very appropriate, but some are not words of a child’s vocabulary or are not obvious from the accompanying art. The Tiffany vase illustrating V doesn’t look much like one likely to be found in an average child’s home, for example. A few I find clear and yet lovely or interesting or fun enough to keep parents happy?

The New Alphabet of Animals
Christopher Wormell
Wormell’s signature bold woodcuts and gorgeous colouration are at work on ivory pages here, giving the piece an heirloom feel. Each spread features a very large letter (both upper and lower cases) and the animal’s name in a bold serifed font on the left, with a large framed image on the right. The animals are a nice mix of the obvious (Horse, Sheep, Lion, etc.) and the unusual (Armadillo, Ibex, Zorilla). It passes my “What are the Q, X, and Z?” test with style, and even has a page with short descriptions of the “less familiar” animals at the back, should you be interested.
Unfortunately, this lovely is only available for purchase in paperback now (0762418478).

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, ill. Lois Ehlert
A modern classic – and I say that as someone who hates it when publishers say new stuff has “the makings of a classic.” Clear, bold, brightly coloured, boasting a fun rhythm and enough storyline to keep it moving, this is also one of the few books that really focuses on the lower case in the illustrations, though the text shows the upper case. (067167979X, also available with just the first half as an abbreviated board book: Chicka Chicka ABC: 067187893X)

Flora McDonnell’s ABC
Flora McDonnell
This quirky painter brings her smiling animals to pages featuring colourful backgrounds and bright, bold letters in upper and lower case. Most pages have two articles that begin with the letter, and they are also spelled out. Her paintings are very slightly offbeat, but I quite like them. (0763601187 also available in board book: 0763613991)

Dr. Seuss’s ABC
Dr. Seuss
Need I explain this one? I like that there are several words for each letter, even if a few of them are purely Seussian. And … well, it’s Seuss. Duh. (03948100303 or in board 0679882812) (Oh, and it’s in Beginning Readers, not Picture Books, at the library.

The Hidden Alphabet
Laura Vaccaro Seeger
This one is more artsy than any of the others on this list, but so interesting and lovely, I couldn’t help myself. It’s a big, thick book with hinged cardstock pages, each with a die-cut frame that lifts to reveal the letter beneath. I will confess that I have included this one despite my usual constraints against anything that sacrifices clear fonts for artsiness, but I do so because it’s gorgeous and unusual, although I’m not entirely sure it’s for kids. (0761319417)

And one CD:
Sesame Street: Sing the Alphabet
This is packed with great stuff, beginning with Big Bird’s classic song about finding a word that turns out to be the alphabet, and moving through a song for every letter. No, I’m not kidding. Bert contributes a few great ones – La La La La and The National Association of W Lovers. And of course, C is for Cookie reps the third letter. Genius.

A few Out of Print lovelies worth borrowing from the library or buying used:

The ABC Exhibit
Leonard Everett Fisher
Lovely paintings illustrate each word, one per letter. So gorgeous it’s tempting to frame them, and the object is clear in each, each thing being accessible to a child. Just beautiful.

A, B, See!
Tana Hoban
Photographer Tana Hoban turns to the little-used technique of photograms for her alphabet book, and includes several different items in each black-and-white image. The letter is shown in the context of the full alphabet on each page in clear sans serif. Lovely and unusual, this is a favourite choice of mine.

ABC Pop!
Rachel Isadora
This out-of-print treasure is worth going to the library for. In the comic pop-art style of Lichtenstein, Rachel Isadora illustrates the alphabet in a decidedly urban setting. The choices are familiar and recognizable on every page but perhaps one or two (my only real complaint is with Z = comic book sounds Zing! Zoom! Zap!), the font is a large clear sans-serif, and the illustrations are fantastic and fun.

Ah! Belle Cité! / A Beautiful City
Stéphane Poulin
I was so shocked to find this was out of print – it’s one that should be a Canadian classic. It is seriously one of my faves and especially brilliant because he has, for each letter, found something that starts with the same letter in both official languages. The lovely scenes are from in and around Montreal, representing urban life with loving detail and plenty of humour.

Find these and other alphabet books at your local library!

_________________________________________

A career Children’s Librarian, kittenpie has worked in library systems in both New York and Toronto, and delights in sharing favourite books with kids of all ages. Settled back in Toronto, she now brings work home to read to her own little Pumpkinpie.

Metro Reco: Mary Lawson

2007-01-17T06:46:00.000-08:00

by Julie

The Other Side of the Bridge is Mary Lawson’s second novel (her first is the enormously successful Crow Lake). I hadn’t read Crow Lake when I picked this book up, so I had no idea what a treat I was in for (I remedied that very quickly once I finished this read).

The Other Side of the Bridge is a compelling story I greedily consumed in 100 page sittings. It takes place in Struan, a fictional farming community in Northern Ontario. The central characters are two brothers: Arthur is honest, hardworking and shy, his younger brother Jake cunning and impetuous, yet charming. The narrative alternates between the account of the brothers’ adolescence during World War Two, and the story of Ian, son of the town doctor who takes a job on Arthur’s farm twenty years later. The past and the present, and lives of the three men, are fatefully intersected by Laura, the Reverend’s daughter.

Lawson’s voice is sure, her prose taut. She deftly handles her narrative; the story captivates from the foretelling first pages until the gut-wrenching climax.

Crow Lake was also a riveting read, if not quite as powerful as The Other Side of the Bridge. It takes place in another farming community, near Struan. The story centres around the Morrison children, who have lost their parents in a car accident: Luke (19), Matt (17), Katie (7) and toddler Bo. Luke sacrifices his parents’ dream for him to be the first in the family to go to university to keep the siblings together and allow his brilliant brother Matt to stay in school. The characters are well drawn-I particularly enjoyed the wilful Bo (the same age as Cakes), modelled after Lawson’s younger sister, Eleanor. Lawson’s thoughtful exploration of family dynamics had me thinking about my relationship with my brother and how the things I want for him are not necessarily what he wants (or needs) for himself.

Mary Lawson was born and raised in a farming community in Ontario and attended McGill University. She is a distant relative of L. M. Montgomery. Lawson lives in Kingston-upon-Thames, England and is married with two sons. The Other Side of the Bridge was nominated for the 2006 Booker Prize.
________________________________________

Julie has a baby girl and is currently working in the home. She keeps busy finishing her undergrad (English), caring for her family, reading lots of books, writing, and trying to figure out what the heck to do next.

Contact Julie at metro_mama@hotmail.com.

TTC

2007-01-15T08:01:00.000-08:00

by Mouse

As my wife and I work on giving our son a sibling, all things pregnancy are very much on my mind. One evening as I walked back from Shoppers and a streetcar sped past me, it hit me that two very different things share an acronym: “trying to conceive” and the Toronto Transit Commission. But the further I walked, the more similarities I found between the two.

Timing is out of your control.

Sure, I have a basic idea of when I need to leave the house and when I’ll arrive at school, but I build in a cushion of time. If Scooter and I manage to catch a streetcar just as it arrives, we make it to campus as much as fifteen minutes early. But if we just miss a streetcar, we could be waiting anywhere from three to ten minutes and may have to hurry to stay on schedule.

Similarly, when I’m ready for another cycle, I can figure out a rough schedule of when I’ll ovulate (and, therefore, need to head over to Buffalo). But I have to be flexible. So I begin to look at a window of time: I’ll surge between Monday and Wednesday, which means insemination between Tuesday and Thursday, and then I figure out what appointment times might work on those days. Even then, I can’t make any definite plans until the surge decides to come.

Sometimes the best route is not the most direct one.

When I’m traveling downtown on the subway, I usually decide to go a few extra stops by way of Union Station instead of transferring at Bloor. While I can’t know for sure how long the other route would take, the few extra stops make sense to me.

My first child was born in the States, using a US donor; we are using the same donor for our second baby. Due to Canadian regulations, it is not a straight-forward task to have ‘pop’ sent to us here. We would be able to get an exemption since we already have a child by this donor, but it would require paperwork and waiting for bureaucratic approval. Add to that the waiting time for getting into a fertility clinic up here. So we decided to use a clinic over in Buffalo. It means more driving time, but has probably allowed us to get an earlier start.

When you stop and add it up, it costs more than you think.

Once a month, I go buy my monthly TTC pass. Twice a month, I buy twenty child TTC tickets. And then we pick up the odd batch of ten adult TTC tickets for my wife to use when I can’t get the pass to her. Even without including the per ride cost of my pass and even with using the discounted ticket price, the cost of a round trip for the three of us is $5.14. And our cost per month? Not doing that math. It’s a budget item and we stay within our limits.

The cost of insemination is pretty much the same. We purchased several of the donor’s ‘deposits’ before we started the insemination and are now paying for ‘banking.’ Each time I go to the clinic, I hand them my credit card at the end. Yes, I am aware of how much each item and procedure costs, I’ve got the receipts. I just don’t look at them all together. This, too, is a budget item, though we’re hoping to remove it soon!

“surge” links to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luteinizing_hormone
__________________________________________________

Mouse is: a mother, a lesbian, a graduate student in the Humanities, an American in self-imposed exile, an observer, an introvert, and an expert in Thomas the Tank Engine and Mighty Machines.

Good Preschool = Good Future

2007-01-10T07:49:00.000-08:00

by Naomi (Urban Mummy)

...or so some people believe. Personally, I think it's a big joke!

The other morning my husband went to line up to enrol our 4 week old son
in a mom & tot program, for next year. That's October 2007. He will be
1. Just.

At the same time, people were lining up to enrol their children in
preschool for the same year. Unfortunately for the, the preschool was
full, and they were lining up to get on the waiting list. Did I mention
that the first person in line had been there since 4:30 am?

What is up with that?

Am I the only one who thinks it is absurd to have to line up 11 months
ahead at 5 am to get my child into preschool? These are 3 year olds,
people! What is the urgency? I don't understand it.

Do people really think that it makes such a big difference? What is the
deal with the competitiveness to get into preschool around here? It's
PREschool! Not even REAL school! Do people really think this is going to
affect their child's life?

As a teacher, here's my perspective. You can agree or not, either is
okay, and I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Preschool is about socialization. Teaching children how to behave around
other children. That is all. It's all about learning not to throw toys
at the other kid's head. Not to bite, poke, hit, kick, take toys, et
cetera.

Preschool is not about academics. It isn't important that they learn how
to read, or do math, or build bridges. Really, by the end of first
grade, (almost) all children will know how to read. What is the rush?

Preschool is about having fun.

Okay, so learning about colours, how to count, and perhaps even the
alphabet? A bonus. Not required, but nice. In my opinion, these things
can, and should, be taught at home, by the parents. Parents need to be
involved in their child's education from the start.

*****

What do you think? Do you think the "right" preschool is necessary for
your child's future? Do you think preschool itself is even necessary? Is
it difficult to find/get into good (any?) preschools in your
neighbourhood? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

__________________________________________

Urban Mummy is a thirty-something mother of 2 young boys. In her various incarnations she’s a schoolteacher, an artist, an entrepreneur, and a mom.

Buzz Off

2007-01-08T09:23:00.000-08:00

by Something Blue

If you want free advice, have a child. Out of the woodwork, childless experts start popping up. “You need to say ‘No’ with more authority.” “You should be putting your children to bed earlier.” “All television will permanently harm your child’s development.”

I nod and smile politely while I internally visualize myself scratching their eyeballs out. When did they become a Pediatric Specialist? Did their cousin Sally-Lou with her fourteen children share this great piece of advice over tea and biscuits? Have they been devouring parenting advice books to provide an air of superiority whenever my child has a tantrum? Maybe I should chalk it up to one too many episodes of Dr. Phil.

From what I recall of life pre-children, I offered tips on the hottest new albums, not whether my friend’s child should be wearing Pampers or Huggies.

The media dishes up big servings of parenting propaganda. Before we embark on parenthood, we make observations to prepare ourselves for when tiny bundles of joy grace our lives. Well-intended advice givers forget to take into account that every child is different. What works for some, doesn’t work for others. Having a child does not mean that a strict regime is mandatory to achieve success in becoming a future -insert parent’s dream here-. They believe that if little Emma doesn’t go to bed at 7 P.M. every night, she will never become a doctor. If Connor watches “Blues Clues” he will never become CEO of a leading corporation. They are doomed to become delinquents, destined for a life of crime.

Once a Childless Commanding Wonder breeds, do they follow their own advice or do they forget their ideals that they shoved down my throat? I have a sneaking suspicion that these people have a harder time adjusting to their new lifestyle. It can be hard to rid yourself of preconceived notions. Rules were made to be broken.

That’s why, when the moon is blue, I will allow my children to fly high on a sugar buzz. I’ll even let them have an extra sweet treat right before bedtime. This rare occasion only transpires when I have invited an Expert over. The look of horror in their eyes is completely worth it.
_________________________________________

Jana is a Prairie Girl turned City Mommy. She lives among dust bunnies in an under renovation house with her two daughters, senile cat and Peter Pan syndrome inflicted husband, Colin. She escapes her chores by dashing to the office to do behind the scene things in the music industry.

Great Winter Boots Are Just a Stonz Throw Away

2007-01-05T07:42:00.000-08:00

by Karen

If you are anything like me, than the task of having to find winter boots for your toddler is met with about the same amount of enthusiasm (and pain) as getting a bikini wax. Thing is, you can always pass on the bikini wax. Pass on winter boots for a kid being raised in Toronto? Not so much.

Finding the right boots for your child’s first winter of mobility can be daunting, so as we neared the end of September and I still had not found the right boots for my now-18 month old daughter (I like to call her Bee), I began to get concerned. I had 3 criteria for boots for Bee, and so far I had not found any that were the right fit. I wanted boots were a) soft-soled, b) durable and c) warm. Oh, and they had to be easy for me to put on, but tough for Bee to take off.

We all know how fast winter can arrive in Toronto, so I was relieved and excited to find Stonz.

Stonz were developed by two Canadian moms in BC, who were looking for exactly what I was, and couldn’t find it. I worried and complained; they developed a fantastic product for Canadian babies.

Essentially, Stonz are water-proof, fleece bags for your baby’s feet, and they are pure genius. Oh, and did I mention that they are cute as hell?

But of course, there is much more to them: Stonz are a fleece-lined, soft-soled, machine washable, slip-proof bootie that are adjusted and secured by elasticized toggles at the calf and ankle. The sole is waterproof and the upper is water and wind resistant. They are lightweight and can be worn on their own, or over slippers, shoes or anything else your baby might be wearing.

At $44.95 + GST, you get your money’s worth with Stonz. And, listen up: If you say no thanks to packaging, you get free shipping. Seriously, how can you pass on that offer? This green mama is pleased. (You can find Stonz at a few stores in the t-dot, but I’d recommend ordering on-line. The price is the same and you can ditch the packaging.)

Bee has been wearing hers (Flowers) since it got really cold, even though as I write this, we have yet to have seen snow (knock wood). Once the snow falls, I look forward to being able to put shoes or slippers on underneath, and easily taking her booties off in the car, or anywhere else I’d rather melting snow not drip.

Good for your wallet, good the earth, and most of all, good for your babe. Almost makes me excited for winter. Almost.

------------------------------------------

Karen is a T.O. copywriter, blogger, crafter, wife and mother to the lovely and clever Bumblebee, 18 months. While not busy with any of the above, she enjoys coffee with friends and friends with coffee.

Mom-Friendly Volunteering: January Edition

2007-01-02T06:02:00.000-08:00

by Sandra

Volunteering…

Maybe it’s on that long list of ambitious New Year’s resolutions. Maybe it was on last year’s list too. Maybe it was part of your life before kids and now you are just not sure how to squeeze it back in.

Pulling together this first installment of parent-friendly volunteer opportunities, (that take into account a mama’s schedule or welcome our children), hasn’t been as easy as I’d hoped. One organization actually told me, “Our volunteer roles are very mom-friendly. They are anybody-friendly. You just need to hire a babysitter.”

I absolutely get there are many roles that, for lots of valid and practical reasons, are more suited to us at other times in our lives. Tutoring teens, sitting on a board, answering the phone at a suicide line, helping at a fundraiser, or doing advocacy work can be tough if you don’t have childcare support. Because, let’s face it, sometimes just getting your haircut is tough to do with a child.

But it can be done. Well, (examining roots) maybe not always the haircut … but the volunteering … it can.

The most important factor in finding a meaningful volunteer experience is to identify a cause you are passionate about. Start by calling your favourite charity and telling them what you hope to get out of volunteering and the time you have to commit. Consider inquiring about becoming a virtual volunteer or writing for a newsletter. You can ask for flexible roles or ones that welcome your child or that can even involve your older kids. A good volunteer manager will work with you to find the right fit.

To save you some time, here are a few current local volunteer openings that are uber mom-friendly…

Roots of Empathy

The fabulous west-coast Canadian blogger, Mother-Woman, recently wrote about, Roots of Empathy. This is a remarkable initiative where babies become part of a classroom learning program to help develop empathy in children. One of my friends has volunteered in a Toronto school with her baby and raves about the experience. If your baby is between 2-4 months old, you should check out their site to become an ROE family. If your baby is not so little anymore, contact your principal or teacher about getting this program in your children’s curriculum. I wrote an email to my son’s school last week.

Visiting Seniors

The West Toronto Support Services, (and other similar organizations that work with seniors) are looking for volunteers for their friendly visiting program. They welcome children to come on the visit with an older person who could benefit from the company and many of the seniors love to meet the wee ones. To learn more, contact: rdin@wtss.org.

Blog for Good

Want to take those blogging skills and help a fairly new charity? The Children’s AIDS Health Program, has an opening for a blogger to write about their programs and the issue of children living with AIDS. Started by some very remarkable youth, you can reach them at: volunteer@letsstopaids.org.

Volunteering Outside a Specific Charity

If volunteering for a specific charity doesn’t work for you, there are lots of ways you can make a meaningful difference outside of the structures of a formalized non-profit volunteer program. Perhaps you know a neighbour who has trouble getting around – you could offer to help them with their grocery shopping. Or, do what we did one year, and form a family assembly line in your kitchen to pack a few dozen nutritious brown-bag meals. Then tour around the city and deliver dinner to those weathering the elements and living on our streets.

The options are endless. Really endless.

And it feels good. As good as a new hair cut … or even better.

___________________________________________

When she is not raising her 5-year-old-boy-genius, Sandra is an ex-advertising exec who spends her days working with a grassroots feminist charity. She is also an aspiring writer, chocolate-loving vegetarian … and a blogger.

Two Posts Today!

2006-12-28T09:04:00.000-08:00

Be sure to read both of the new posts up today. If I were a better administrator (and not on vacation) I would have planned better. I'm learning....

Celebrate Surviving Another Year of Parenthood

2006-12-28T09:00:00.000-08:00

by Julie

New Year’s Eve has changed for me over the years. Ten years ago, it meant a big house party, copious amounts of booze, and getting home at 4 a.m. after waiting two hours for a cab. Five years ago, it meant a two hundred dollar dinner, copious amounts of wine, and walking home in stilettos because we could not get a cab. I’m not interested in doing either of those things anymore, even if I could; however, I’m not ready to spend the evening watching the ball drop on my television. You see, my birthday is New Year’s Eve, so I’m extra celebratory that day. I feel compelled to do something special.

So, what’s a parent to do on New Year’s Eve (besides get a babysitter). If you want to make it a family event, you can go to Nathan Phillips Square, or the Toronto Zoo. Or, you can do what we did last year and have a sleepover party.

We invited Penelope (whose birthday is January 2nd by the way), Chris and Bee (who is the same age as Cakes). The plan was to get the girls down early and have an adult evening (the plan worked on one girl). We had a nice dinner, wine, good conversation, and actually managed to stay up until midnight to toast the new year with champagne. Nobody needed to try to hunt down a cab. We didn’t pay double the usual price for dinner. The next morning we went for brunch. You would think the restaurants would be packed New Years Day, but only the families are there first thing in the morning – all of the hungover childless people don’t start to roll in until after 10.

Even if it’s just the two of you, put on something sexy, light the candles, treat yourself to something decadent to eat and drink and celebrate surviving another year of parenthood.

This year we will again be celebrating New Year’s Eve adult-style. We hope dinner will be memorable. I’ll be shaking up some pomegranate martinis*. With any luck, Cakes will be asleep by 7. There will be no Dick Clark in sight.

Happy New Year everyone!

* Pomegranate Martini

1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice (the PC juice blend is delish in this recipe)
2 oz. vodka
1 oz. Cointreau
ice

Shake ingredients in a shaker and pour in martini glasses. Garnish with pomegranate fruit.

________________________________________

Julie has a baby girl and is currently working in the home. She keeps busy finishing her undergrad (English), caring for her family, reading lots of books, writing, and trying to figure out what the heck to do next.

Contact Julie at metro_mama@hotmail.com.

Great Books of the Year

2006-12-28T06:33:00.000-08:00

by Kittenpie

It’s the end of the year, and all the great wrap-up, best-of lists are flying fast and furious.
The problem with this that I haven’t even seen some of these yet! But I will only review books I have read, so it does help me narrow things down. Here are some of the most fun or interesting books I’ve read this year.

A note about ages: I do hate putting ages on book reviews because kids are all different, and some kids are ahead or behind the curve in emotional development or reading level. If you know the child, you can take that into consideration. If not, I suppose guidelines are helpful… It’s also worth noting that children are found to read at a much higher level in books of high interest, so if you know a little one who has a real passion, it’s worth tapping into it even if the book is a smidge advanced for the child’s age.

Mrs. Crump’s Cat
Linda Smith, ill. David Roberts
Mrs. Crump had no use for a cat. But somehow it found its way in and then it was one thing after another and it was the strangest thing, but she never quite managed to turn it out as she had planned, until one night she found herself, as the grocer had predicted, sitting with the cat on her lap and wondering how she ever got along without it. The woman’s slyly amusing resistance to her own gradual warming will appeal to some kids and be missed by others. For the right kid, this book is cute and funny in a wry, winking kind of way. The illustrations, too, are lovely, with a funky modern/retro feel and a comic slant that is as subtle as the text. Ages might range from 3 to 9 on this one because I think it reveals itself slowly. It will really depend on the kid, though, as it requires a little sophistication. (0060283025)

Duck & Goose
Tad Hills
When Duck and Goose both stumble on a large, round, spotted object in the park and decide it’s an egg, each becomes instantly possessive. The squabbling that ensues is funny and spot on, and gradually a friendship forms as they find common ground. By the time they discover their mistake, they are feeling downright cooperative. Sweet without a trace of saccharine, every moment is perfectly matched to the bright, fun, deceptively simple illustrations. A current favourite chez ‘pie, I’d suggest this for ages roughly 2-6. (037583611X)

Clip-Clop
Nicola Smee
A great choice for a young child who loves playing horsey, this one just begs to be read aloud with knee bounces. Bold, simple drawings and text keep it just right for the preschool set (0-5 years would be a good range here). (1905417098)

Did You Say Pears?
Arlene Alda
Fun photographs illustrate this book of homophones, pairing (heh heh) them to amusing and philosophical effect. No range on this one, they’ll get more from it as they get older, but it’s great at any age, and I know all of us grammar-freaks and word-lovers will adore sharing it. (0887767397)

Lilly’s Big Day
Kevin Henkes
I’m a huge fan of Kevin Henkes, and have made an ass of myself in front of him to prove it. Lilly is my diva of choice, cute as Olivia might be. So you know she’s convinced she’ll be the centre of everything at her teacher’s wedding… but he has a niece. Lilly las to be the bigger mouse in this story, and she comes through with flying colours. Because you know, it’s just not fabulous to sulk. For the boa-obssessed 3-7 year old in your life. (0060742372)

Ugly Fish
Karen LaReau, ill. Scott Magoon
Ugly fish is indeed ugly. He is also mean and doesn’t want to share his home, so when a smaller fish shows up… it’s not around for long. Neither is the next intruder. But one day the new interloper is bigger than him, at least as ugly, and most certainly as mean. Gulp. What’s an Ugly Fish to do now? Funny and slightly twisted, this would appeal to a kid who is a little bit older, so that they are beyond the point of being really fearful and could get the humour in it, maybe 4-9 years old. (0152050825)

Once Upon a Banana
Jennifer Armstrong, ill. David Small
The slapstick comedy in this book starts with an old classic – the banana peel. The action doesn’t stop there, though, and the simple slip is elevated to a crazy rollicking trip right around the block, following the chaos as one mishap begets another. The book is nearly wordless, but the sharp-eyed will note the added jokes tucked on the signs that are more than just background. Great for older kids who can get it alone as well as ones who love to seek and discuss small details. The humour in it gives it a pretty wide-ranging a-peel (hyuk hyuk), from ages 3 to 9 or so. (0689842511)

The Cow Who Clucked
Denise Fleming
One of the very few authors who I would recommend without even seeing her new books, Denise Fleming almost never misses the mark. Her trademark vibrant pictures and simple, preschool-friendly text make for perfect read-alouds for ages 0-5. (08050726590

Owen and Mzee
Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff, and Paula Kahumbu, photos by Peter Greste
The only non-fiction on this list, this longer and more difficult picture book tells the story of the hippo and tortoise who became fast friends – even family, some say – after the baby hippo lost his mother in the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. This is, in the name of fair warning, a story that may well require being prepared to talk about disaster and death, but it’s also a lovely, poignant tale of starting over. Ages 4-10 would enjoy this, I think. (0439829739).

Wolves
Emily Gravett
One of a pair of strange but really fun and interesting picture books that I’m including. This is for a somewhat older kid with a slightly dark sense of humour (maybe 6-9 years). It sees a rabbit reading a book about wolves from the library and encountering a less-than-comfy truth about their eating habits when the wolf comes right out of the pages. (There’s an alternate ending for the squeamish, though…) (1405050829)

Flotsam
David Wiesner
David Wiesner is a master of fantastical, wordless, and utterly stunning picture books, garnering multiple Caldecott medals and honours and making even Chris van Allsburg look tame. His latest is one of my favourites (along with Sector 7). A young boy finds an underwater camera at the beach containing images of amazing worlds under the sea, and one that shows child after child through the years holding photos from the camera. He keeps the chain going by taking his own picture and tossing the camera back to the sea, where it once again finds unseen and unimagined things to photograph. A wide range of ages can enjoy this one because it has so much to find in it and, being wordless, kids of different stages can impose on it what they want (0-10, perhaps?). (0618194576)

Houndsley and Catina
James Howe, ill. Marie-Louise Gay
An early chapter book, this one is contains three sweet stories of two friends on their search for their niche and perhaps even a little fame. I am a sucker for friend stories, especially for the young, and these are particularly good in that they avoid the trap of being too sweet but are warm and fuzzy, too. Gay’s illustration add to everything she touches, too, and this is no exception. (She has a book out this year that sounds hilarious for middle grades: Travels With My Family, about childhood road trips, but I have yet to see it, so won’t review it. I love her sense of humour though, so it’s a good bet nevertheless.) This is a book aimed at grade 2/3, though there is room for it up or down a grade depending on the reading level. (0763624047)

Me and the Blondes
Teresa Toten
Having a murderer for a father has driven Sophia out of school after school, but she has learned along the way, and at her new school, she’s got a plan. First and most important is to get in with the Blondes. But the Blondes aren’t as “blonde” as she thought. Turns out they have problems too, and the friendships are solid, cemented by secrets and support. Reads like chicklit with a heart and a brain. Good stuff! It’s in the teen section in Toronto’s libraries, but could be read by a grade 6 or possibly even a very mature grade 5, while I think a kid over grade 9 might find it too young. Nominated for the Governor General’s Award for literature. (0143053078)

Friendships: Stories
Budge Wilson
Wilson sets out by telling us that the friendships in these are not all regular friendships, some are not even between people. I wasn’t impressed by the first story, but it is I think the weakest, for I quite enjoyed most of the others. I am a sucker for a tale of friendship, but these are not, as he forewarns, your typical sappy stuff, and there is indeed a nice variety here. Another Governor General’s Award nominee for literature. I think a more mature grade 5 would be okay with this, but for most kids, grade 6-9 or 10 seems a better range. (0143017667)

Casey At The Bat
Ernest L. Thayer, ill. Joe Morse
Another in Kids Can Press’s Visions In Poetry series, which has been garnering so much acclaim for making some classics new and accessible. I think that’s particularly the case with this one, made edgy and current with the simple devices of font and illustration. Instead of going Rockwellian as so many do with this poem, Morse has made it into a multicultural, tough, urban showdown, and it really works. Even the text is not set in neat poetical lines, but encircled in speech bubbles and made forceful with two different very modern fonts. It really takes the whole thing from sweet nostalgic tale to the kind of inner city grittiness that could hold appeal for even those too enamoured of thug culture to read much else. A Governor General’s Award nominee for illustration. The text is accessible to younger kids, but this setting really puts this book in a wide range, say grades 5-12. (155337827X)

Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow
Faiza Guene
and
Ask Me No Questions
Marina Budhos
These books both feature teenaged muslim girls as main characters, and each grows and comes into her own over the course of the novel. In Kiffe Kiffe, a poor girl in the projects outside of Paris is beginning to shut out hope of anything better until people around her – her mother and an older friend - start to find ways of improving their situation and their outlook, and she too starts to see things looking up. (0156030489) The beautifully written Ask Me No Questions is centred around a family of Bangladeshi illegal aliens living in Queens. When the climate changes after 9/11, the father panics, and the family flees to seek asylum in Canada, and are turned away by immigration officials who are swamped with applicants, her father detained. As her older sister sinks into despair, the younger daughter finds her voice, and becomes the hero of the family. (1416903518)
I would suggest both of these as teen titles for high schoolers.

We All Fall Down
Eric Walters
This is one of the first books to deal directly with 9/11 for kids and teens, and does so quite well. The story is told realistically, and really gives a sense of what it must have been like to be in the midst of it. I also liked the way the boy’s relationship with his father changes over the course of just a couple of extraordinary hours. My only beef was that the ending was a bit false, but I think even for a teen book, the author really wanted to put one happy ending on this day, and I can certainly understand that impulse. Grades 6-11.
(0385661924)

Half Moon Investigations
Eoin Colfer
Colfer (author of the fantastic Artemis Fowl series) is a master of writing the kind of action that you can see playing out on the big screen. Here he turns to a young boy who finds himself in hot water when his detective career goes awry and he becomes a suspect himself. Fast, brilliant fun for grades 4/5 to 9.
(0786849576)

My Childhood Under Fire: A Sarajevo Diary
Nadja Halilbegovich
This book has been described as a modern Anne Frank for the war in Bosnia-Herzigovina, with its diary format. The young girl in hiding is indeed poignant in many of the same ways, but I found this interesting for two important differences. This girl had a fair bit of information about what was going on due to the radio and newspapers, so her writing is surprisingly informed for a young girl. I find her more mature than the older Anne, in fact. Secondly, this girl survives. This does change how you read the diary, of course, and has also allowed her to intersperse her diary entries with remembrances, giving it further context and the perspective of an adult looking back on her experiences. A vivid and important reminder about the horrors of war, and a rare look at that particular conflict, this is a strong book for an older child or a teen grade 6 and up.
(1553377974)
_________________________________________

A career Children’s Librarian, kittenpie has worked in library systems in both New York and Toronto, and delights in sharing favourite books with kids of all ages. Settled back in Toronto, she now brings work home to read to her own little Pumpkinpie.

Some Unique Decorating Ideas for Next Year

2006-12-26T06:13:00.000-08:00

It can be easy to create the Christmas ambiance without spending days decorating. My Dad reminded me this week by sending me some pictures of the decorations from around my childhood home.

I love it when you just take a few found items from the woods or gardening supplier, add some fruit and candles and voila! You have a unique Advent wreath.

How about something tropical to create a British colonial look for your holiday table? So easy and edible.

Don't forget the outside of the house. Even if there's no snow, you can still feel the festive vibe from a hibernating summer planter.

Besides the visual decorations, I like to create the whole ambiance and experience. I love a fireplace (though that burning Yule log is fine with me since I'm apartment bound) and I have many fond memories of sitting by the glow of the tree lights (easy to do) but it isn't complete without those holiday scents.

I love to smell gingerbread, peppermint, fresh baking, oranges and honey baked ham. I use two simple tricks to recreate these fragrances since I don't have time to bake and lack the coordination to cook a holiday ham.

The first way produces the same results as those chemical-made plug-ins and candles. All you need is vodka, a simple spray bottle, and some essential oils. I know, it seems wasteful to use vodka for a non-drink related item like an atomizer but it really does work and you can reward yourself with a screwdriver afterwards. Fill the atomizer spray bottle with vodka and add a few drops of essential oil (all you need is 6 to 12 drops depending on how strong a scent you want). This is something you can use all year round to replace those chemical sprays. But remember, vodka will yellow fabric over time so spray responsibly.

The other method involves putting a simmering pot* on the stove with a few cups of water, some whole cloves (6-10) and one whole cinnamon stick. I set it on low for about 15-20 minutes and it fills the house with the most wonderful holiday aroma. To insure that I don't forget that it's on the stovetop, I set a timer.

All of these holiday ideas are very easy to fashion and have worked for me continually over the years. Add family and friends to the mix and you're bound to have a wonderful holiday.

Casa Bump wishes you all happy holidays and a successful 2007.

* translation: an old pot that hasn't been retired to camping status just yet

Now a question for you:

Back on the East Coast I would have ordered a chemical-free tree from the ecology action centre so I’ve tried to find the same up here. Is anyone aware of a place where we can get a chemical free tree in the Toronto area?

__________________________________________________

I’ve lived in Toronto for six years and in that time I’ve married, become a mom and tried to improve my impact on the planet by living a more sustainable lifestyle, all done with some success. My background is in IT and I have a degree in Psychology. That either tells you everything or nothing at all.

What We Did Today

2006-12-22T06:05:00.000-08:00

by Naomi (Urban Mummy)

We don't celebrate Christmas. We celebrate Chanukah. However, Chanukah is not a major Jewish holiday. It's a minor festival in the Jewish tradition. Running over 8 days, we light candles (adding one each night), sing songs, and play games. Gifts are generally small, a dreidel or two, perhaps a small toy, and some gelt*. We eat fried foods, mainly latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiot (jelly donuts).

Today, the fifth day of Chanukah, I taught my son something about giving. I don't know if he understood, and I know it was difficult for him, but it was a lesson that is very important to us.

Today we donated 2 brand new toys to the toy drive at the local fire station.

When we arrived, I knocked on the door and the friendly firefighter invited us in. We gave him the toys (2 toy fire trucks, ironically), and The Happy Boy showed him that one of them made music.

Then the firefighter invited The Happy Boy to come and see the real fire trucks. He was thrilled. He looked at the brand new truck, pointed, and exclaimed "fire twuck!" When the firefighter asked him if he wanted to sit in the truck, he got a bit scared, and said no...but we could see he really wanted to. Eventually he acquiesced (like he was doing US a favour!!) and sat in the truck, and then pretended to drive. Pointed out the buttons ("buttons down there"). Came down, told us that there were "two fire twucks" and asked a few questions (whatsat? Whatsat?).

The hard part, however, was when we left. Walking out, he saw the toys that had been donated, and his two fire trucks were sitting on the top. He wanted to take them home, which, of course, was not possible.

So I picked him up, wiped his tears, told him how proud I was that he shared his toys with other boys and girls who don't have toys, and took him home, to play with one of his own fire trucks.

He is learning to give, and that sometimes it's difficult. But hopefully he will learn that it is all worthwhile.

In the spirit of the season, Happy Holidays everyone!

--

*Gelt - Yiddish for Money, generally coins, often chocolate, given to children on Chanukah.

__________________________________________

Urban Mummy is a thirty-something mother of 2 young boys. In her various incarnations she’s a schoolteacher, an artist, an entrepreneur, and a mom.

A Very Merry Little Christmas

2006-12-19T05:26:00.001-08:00

by Jana

Most of the time, I am one of those people that starts singing "Silver Bells" long before the first snowfall. I will meticulously string strands of popcorn and cranberries for the tree. I stay up late addressing cards to be sent out to friends and family.

I haven't been hit by the happiness of the season yet. I can't help but struggle with the commercialism. As we celebrate the 75th year with our Coca Cola designed Santa, sip our Gingerbread Lattes and decorate our upside-down Christmas trees, it feels like the festivities have lost their meaning. It seems that many shoppers are budgeting so that they will have enough left over for the big Boxing Day sales.

My lack of glee might have been caused by a store that outright refused to sell me an item that I wanted to purchase as a gift. Don't mention shopping online as the solution because when I tried that, my husband almost got arrested.

It could be that I have heard one too many people say that Christmas is for the children as a lame excuse so that the adults stop buying presents for each other. I can't help but think that these people would rather save their money to spend it on themselves. It is the time of year that I delight in finding something special to give because I truly love giving.

It could be the result of past years where I worked myself up into a frenzy of spirit to quickly settle into the post holiday blues. I think I have come to expect too much from this one day of the year.

Of course the holidays are not the same if I don't get to see the rowdy bunch of relatives on my side that are all out west. I will miss eating too much of my Mom's, Aunts' and Baba's delicious traditional staples. I will miss laughing at my brother's jokes and watching my daughter play shuffleboard with my cousin's son.

I haven't found our new family holiday groove yet. I don't know what will be the treasured things that my children look forward to each year. We are still sorting out the different rituals that my husband and I both have. The big issue being that in his family he did not get presents from his parents. They all came from the jolly man in red. In my family we asked Santa to bring the one hot ticket item plus he filled our stockings with little goodies.

I want to spread good tidings and peace. I want to merrily wave to my neighbours and smile at strangers as they pass me on the street. I want my house, all decorated with a sparkle and glow, to be filled with laughter and love and the sweet scent of goodies baking in the oven. I want my heart to expand and grow twice its regular size. I desperately need to know the secret in how to make the transition into new family traditions.

The one thing that I do have is the twinkle of anticipation and excitement in my children's eyes. That is precisely enough for a merry little Christmas.

_________________________________________

Jana is a Prairie Girl turned City Mommy. She lives among dust bunnies in an under renovation house with her two daughters, senile cat and Peter Pan syndrome inflicted husband, Colin. She escapes her chores by dashing to the office to do behind the scene things in the music industry.

Dreaming of a Green Christmas?

2006-12-15T07:38:00.000-08:00

by Karen

Stuff your stockings with these 10 under $10 good-for-the-earth must-haves:

1) Burt’s Bee’s Lip Shimmers - $5.49

Every mama on your list deserves at least one of these little tubes of happiness. With sparkle enough for the office or the playgroup, and a delicious peppermint undertone, Lip Shimmers delight in any shade (though, if you are olive-y, or over 12, like me, I recommend staying away from the kinda tarty – I mean frosty – opal shade.
Available at drugstores and natural food stores all over the t-dot.

2) Easy-Grow Organic Window Garden - $9.99
I pretty much like any task that begins with ‘easy,’ and this cute mini-garden that you grow yourself is no exception. Housed in a colourful little tin pail, your little seedling just needs a sunny nook and a bit of water before it rewards you with sweet-smelling blooms, herbs or greenery. I got mint bergamot and seriously, I'm huffing the darn thing, it smells so good.
Grassroots, various locations including 372 Danforth Ave.

3) Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? – Bill Martin/Eric Carle – $9.86
Ok, who doesn’t love Eric Carle? You might be sick of the construct that this book follows (it is the third in the What Do You See/Hear/See series), but chances are, your kid isn’t. This time around we are spying endangered species, like the panda and whooping crane, all presented in Carle’s engaging, impressionistic illustrations. and while some of the text doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue (though that macaroni penguin is darn cute), it offers a great opportunity to introduce your little one to creatures who, unless we do what we need to do, are likely soon doomed to exist only on the pages of books like this one.
Amazon.ca

4) Cocoa Camino Hot Chocolate Packets - $ .75
Hot Chocolate? Good. Fair trade, organic hot chocolate from Ten Thousand Villages? Even Better. Fair trade, organic hot chocolate from Ten Thousand Villages at $.75/package? The Best.
Buy lots - many won't make it to Christmas.
Ten Thousand Villages, various locations including 362 Danforth Ave.

5) Travel Mug - $7.50

No excuse for disposable: every coffee drinker should have a great travel mug. This stainless steel version is one of my favourites, from one of my favourite places, Mountain Equipment Co-Op. It sits snugly in most car or stroller cup-holder, has a closed handle so you can easily secure it to a strap or a handle (get a cute little purple mini-carabiner to make this all possible), and most importantly, accommodates a grande bevvy. Hey, stick a Cocoa Camino Hot Chocolate Packet in it, and you’re still under budget!
Mountain Equipment Co-Op, 400 King St. W.

6) Wooden Corker - $10
Oh the wonderful things my corker can do – it can cork a pot holder, or a sock for a shoe. It can cork a face cloth, or a doilie, y’know? It can cork a cute rug – how my corker can go!
Ok, that’s enough of that. If you know any crafty mamas (and I know you do), every one of them would love one of these in their stocking – in fact, give it to them early, and they can make their own! I love my corker because it is a no-brainer craft, and I can do it in front of the t.v. Also great for kids from about age 5 or so. Pick it up from Lettuce Knit in Kensington – I dare you to leave there without a skein of something awesome.
Lettuce Knit, 70 Nassau St.

7) Good Clean Fun Placemats - $9.99 http://www.freshbaby.com/buy_our_products/placemats.cfm
Inspire creativity, foster healthy eating habits and help keep things neat and tidy with this gift set, including 2 colour on/wipe off placemats made of ‘plastic’ from corn, 10 disposable placemats, also for colouring and also 100% petroleum free, biodegradable and compostable, and 4 soy crayons to create masterpieces with. So cool!
Kol Kid, 670 Queen St. W.

8) Beer Cozie - $8.00
Seriously, you need one of these. My talented, lovely friend Knitrovert will make one just for you. How is this a green product, you ask? Well, it is handmade, so you are not supporting any big bad corporation, there is no packaging involved, and it keeps your beer nice and cold and cozy, so you know, you save on cooling costs. I have bought one of these for pretty much everyone I know. Just waiting for someone to get me one, so my beer can be nice and cozy too.
etsy, or talk to me and I’ll hook you up.

9) Audubon Singing Plush Birds - $9.99
I’m not a huge fan of stuffed animals, but these are cool. Sweet plush beanbag birds sing their authentic song when gently (or, in Bee’s case, not so gently) squeezed. We have the white-breasted nuthatch (obviously), but the new northern owls are pretty darn cute, so Bee might find one of those hoot hooting to her Christmas morning.
Treasure Island Toys, 581 Danforth Ave.

10) Give back.
Make a donation in your favourite person’s name to a charity of your choice.. $10 might not seem like a lot, but every penny helps. Here are a few green suggestions:
The Toronto Humane Society
Sierra Club of Canada – Ontario Chapter
Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation
Earthroots

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Karen is a T.O. copywriter, blogger, crafter, wife and mother to the lovely and clever Bumblebee, 18 months. While not busy with any of the above, she enjoys coffee with friends and friends with coffee.

A special post today, for a very special event

2006-12-13T04:37:00.000-08:00

by Sandra

‘Tis is the season when everyone is giving. People are embracing the holiday spirit, remembering others and supporting charities more than at any other time. You can just feel it in the air. It is something I wish I could bottle up and sprinkle around town all year long.

As we remember the "gift of giving" for the holidays, the mommy blogosphere is uniting in support of a very deserving cause. And not just in any old way either. In a pretty spectacular (and fun) way. Lead by Motherhood Uncensored and MotherGooseMouse, a number of bloggers have come together in record numbers (including all the writers here at MommyBlogsToronto). We've rallied our holiday giving spirit behind an important cause in honour of a much loved woman and her beautiful nephew, Tanner.

Her Bad Mother is one of the creative minds behind the inception of MommyBlogsToronto and is a great champion of the mommy blogosphere. To know her is to know that she has a big heart, fascinating mind and a fierce love for her daughter. And that love it is strong and it extends to so many others in her life. One of the most important people is her nephew who lives with Muscular Dystrophy. Through is aunt’s poignant words, those who read her blog have grown to love and know him as well.

It is with all that overflowing of love and hope, especially when it is easy to get swept up with everything else on our holiday to do list, that we remember to take the time to do something to make a difference.

Starting today you are invited to join mommy (and daddy) bloggers from Toronto (and all over) to participate in Her Bad Auction, a raffle-style auction in support of Muscular Dystrophy research.

You can get involved by bidding with raffle tickets on a list of amazing items just in time for the holiday gifting season. You'll find baby stuff, mommy stuff, hand-made stuff, blogger stuff ... some very, verrrrry good stuff! There are many fabulous gift ideas and, best of all, 100% of the proceeds go directly to support the work of MD Canada. All the details can be found here and the more tickets you buy, the more chances you have to win your favourite items.

You can also help out by spreading the word. Tell everyone you know that all they need to do to participate in our bloggy fundraiser is have an easy-to-set-up paypal account (and a penchant for raffles).

Most of all, you can participate in a meaningful way by getting your child(ren) involved to help make Tanner's holiday season extra special. Fill it with letters and pictures and cards from kids letting him know how cool he his. They can tell him about their life and world. It is a wonderful way for our children to be part of making someone's holiday's great. They are already writing to Santa ... and this is even better. You can send your letters here:
"Letters for Tanner"
1518 Queen Street West,
Toronto, ON,
M6R 1A4

So stop reading this. Go and bid on lots of tickets for the raffle. Write some letters and spread the word. 'Tis the season!

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When she is not raising her 5-year-old-boy-genius, Sandra is an ex-advertising exec who spends her days working with a grassroots feminist charity. She is also an aspiring writer, chocolate-loving vegetarian … and a blogger.

Winter Break

2006-12-11T05:58:00.000-08:00

by Mouse

For every year but one,* I have lived on an academic schedule. Even before I started school, both of my parents worked at the university, so our vacation times were determined by dates of finals and the start of a new semester. Until our family grew to a point where it became too expensive to fly to visit out extended family,** Winter Break was our chance to go see everyone. Since one side of the family is Jewish, the other Christian, we never had to worry about conflicting dates.

By the time I got into junior high, Winter Break often meant having some work to do, maybe a book to finish, a rough draft of a paper to write, a double set of math problems to complete. High school was similar, though the expectations grew: entire books to read, papers to write, projects to do. But I never really minded. Winter Break meant having the siblings and parents home most of the time; it was good to have an excuse to retreat to my room for some quiet. Plus, being the big nerd that I am, I actually enjoyed the work.

When I went to University and during my first graduate school experiences, I gained some freedom during the holidays. Since our final exams took place in the second and third weeks of December, my semester obligations were over by the time residence closed for a month. Sometimes there was some independent work I could work on, but mostly I devoured books of the non-required sort. The one exception occurred the year I had a professor who did us the “favor” of setting the research paper’s deadline after the holidays; as a result, it became the focus of much of that time.

As a teacher, I continued to have a good amount of time for myself during Winter Break. Where I taught, exams were set for the week before vacation, and I would almost always grade them that same day. I would bring the raw data from my gradebook with me so that I could start figuring grades—which wouldn’t be due until mid-January anyway—but I didn’t have to do that work. Since we weren’t allowed to assign work for our students over the break, I didn’t have to worry about a backlog of work after break, so I could afford a little fun time.

All of this is a long-winded way of saying that now, as a graduate student again, I find myself with work that will hang over my head for the next few weeks, occupying a corner of my mind in the midst of the festivities. If I get myself organized before we head back to the States, I may be able to take care of two of the three major items that come due in early January. But the exam scheduled for January won’t budge. And so I will need to find a balance over the next few weeks—taking moments to enjoy my family and our traditions while remaining disciplined enough that I get to work when less important things are happening, e.g. putting things down for the menorah lighting, but finding a quiet place to study when A Christmas Story comes on.

It hit me towards the beginning of this holiday season that I have little recollection of holiday preparations in Toronto from last year—I had a similar schedule, plus we were looking for a new place to live. I must have been walking around with blinders on. I haven’t had a chance to be much more observant this year. But next year. Hopefully next year, when I’ll be well into a new stage of my program and when we may host the in-laws up here, I will finally get a chance to discover Toronto’s holiday spirit. I’m storing up all the good suggestions and will join the holiday celebrations with abandon.

*The one year I worked in the corporate world. And I was hyper-aware that entire year of what I was missing.

**We then switched to three weeks in August so that we could drive to see everyone.

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Mouse is: a mother, a lesbian, a graduate student in the Humanities, an American in self-imposed exile, an observer, an introvert, and an expert in Thomas the Tank Engine and Mighty Machines.

Letters to Santa

2006-12-08T05:49:00.000-08:00

by Anne

Dear Santa,
How are you? How are the reindeer?
This Christmas I would like a giant pack of Pokemon cards.
Could you also bring a toy to a little child who does not have lots of toys?
Thank you, biggirl.

We wrote and sent our letters to Santa today, and in the spirit of teaching my girls about giving I encouraged them to ask for two other children as well. It is a heady idea for our little ones, the fact that there are families out there who struggle to make ends meet. Families who have so very little when we have so very much. But they need to learn because this is the world that they will inherit and they have to find a way to change it.

***************************************************

I am not a Merry Christmas ho ho ho type of gal.

gee. (Bet you were surprised.)

My history with Christmas is…. sigh…what else is new…. complicated.
Family stuff you know. Alcohol, extramarital affairs. Etcetera. I am totally Grinchy-poo when it comes to this season of giving. I resent having to buy gifts for people because the holiday says we must. I hate the irony of so many hungry and homeless and sad and lonely, and here we all are gaily jingle belling along. That said, I of course love giving to my children and my husband. I love the smell of the tree. I love the time off as we all get to sit around and play, read, talk and of course eat. I love Christmas lights. I love it when it is snowing.

And there are some magical Christmas moments, I am not all doom and gloom.
When I was little, we would leave out cookies and milk for the Jolly Old Man, and carrots for the reindeer. And in the morning there would be nothing left….maybe some crumbs. And, a letter of thanks would be left from Santa. I loved those letters, the best ones had been written by my brother as he ate the cookies, drank the milk and crunched the carrots after I had gone to bed.

So one tradition I have brought to this house is the snack for Santa. And every year he leaves his note of thanks to my girls for the little meal. Last year he even left a ‘bootprint’ on his letter, made by Mr. Crazymumma from the soot in our fireplace and an old workboot. And this year the letter from Santa will also tell them that he brought two toys to two other children. It is a new tradition for our family and I hope that the girls learn the joy of giving and not just receiving. I hope that they learn how blessed they are to have parents who love them beyond comprehension. A warm home, full tummies, toys, and laughter.

Happy Season to everyone. May your holidays, however you celebrate them, be filled with joy and laughter.

---------------------------------------------

Anne is a self-described obsessive, fairly high strung 40-something, rock and roll wannabe, art making, grilled cheese mummy queen. Born and raised in Toronto, married with two children. Been through hell and back, and lives to tell the tale.

The Gift of Giving

2006-12-06T05:44:00.000-08:00

by Sandra

With the holiday season upon us, we find ourselves in the throws of Christmas and Hanukah gift shopping. I'd be lying if I didn't admit it is one of my very favourite times of the year.

When we first began celebrating our holidays with a child, suddenly we're thrust into the coveted role of "tradition creators". Many of us adopt magic making rituals from when we were children and marry them with new ideas of our own.

One of the things that I grapple with is the commercialism of the holidays and all the excess. I want to add a new dimension for my son and find ways to make it meaningful. Most often people are able to do this through their own religious traditions. But for many of us, that isn't an option. Yet, it is still so very possible to keep the spirit of giving and goodwill at the centre of the season.

I love giving gifts. But I don't want this time of year to be just about acquiring stuff. One thoughtful alternative to commercial gifts is to make a donation to your favourite charity in the name of a loved one. Instead of receiving yet another gift basket or scarf, they'll know that they are doing good. Or if you want to put the charity choosing in their hands, then you can even give someone a gift card from CanadaHelps.org. Then they can go online and choose from thousands of Canadian charities to direct their donation to. It's like double dipping (the good kind) in the giving department and spreading the love around. (And for my family and friends reading ... this kind of gift would be on the top of my own wish list. hint. hint.)

Understandably, this kind of gift isn't for everyone on your list. If you are looking for a more tangible way to include causes in your holiday giving, there are still endless options. Some of my personal fav holiday gift ideas come from charities. Last season we "adopted" a polar bear for my son and this year his unwrapping will include saving an Orca. We are buying school supplies in Africa on behalf of his teacher instead of the standard issue “World’s Best Teacher” mug. There are so many cool ways to donate in someone's name. You can buy a goat for a family in a developing country or adopt an owl or purchase any number of interesting presents whose proceeds go to help charity. Some fabulous and meaningful holiday giving programs can be found at any of the following (to name just a few):

World Wildlife Fund

World Vision

Foster Parents Plan

Free the Children

Unicef

Sick Kids Hospital

Children's Wish

Or you can check out dozens more here:

Charity Village Market Place Listings

If you haven't already picked up your holiday cards, some great ones can be found at many of the above. Last year we sent one from the Breast Cancer Foundation and the year before from the World Wildlife Fund. This year we are helping children around the world with one of Unicef's trendy designs. It makes those hours of writing the same greeting over and over feel more meaningful as we are helping raise awareness for an issue and contributing a little at the same time. And they are super easy to order online so you don't even have to brave the manic frenzy in the malls.

Aside from giving gifts to those we know and love that have the added benefit of also helping a deserving cause, what about gifts directly to people we don't know? Here is one powerfully written suggestion that I could not say any better - and that I enthusiastically second.

We are excited about another tradition of participating in one of the many local toy drives. My five year old will be the one to choose a toy for a child in need. It is fun to do and a stellar opportunity for him to actively participate in our charitable giving in a way he can relate to and understand the most. You can donate unwrapped toys to the Chum City Christmas Wish until December 22nd at any Royal Bank, Chum at 1331 Yonge or the Much Store at 777 Queen St w. Or you could give to the Mix FM Holiday Toy Drive, which runs until Dec 16 at Real Canadian Superstores. The Sick Kids Hospital main information desk is accepting toys for children until December 20th. And the hunky Toronto Fire Fighters have a Toy Drive until December 24th at all 81 Toronto Fire stations.

We also plan to bring some bags of good eats to the food drive for Daily Bread Food bank at fire halls, Real Canadian Superstores or any of their ongoing drop off locations. I always sit staring at the excess of leftovers that remain after our holiday feast and wish there were a way I could share more. I want my son to understand that and be a part of sharing and giving and not just getting and consuming.

So go forth and shop my friends. Shop for a cause. Shop for a thoughtful alternative to commercial holiday giving. Shop for kids and families who need it more than your own. Consider thinking of those not on your normal shopping list as a part of your annual family traditions.

For it is true that this season is most certainly a time "when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices" ~Charles Dickens (A Christmas Carol).
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When she is not raising her 5-year-old-boy-genius, Sandra is an ex-advertising exec who spends her days working with a grassroots feminist charity. She is also an aspiring writer, chocolate-loving vegetarian … and a blogger.

For the Bookworm on Your List

2006-12-04T05:12:00.001-08:00

by Metro Mama

Dr. Vincent Lam’s Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, winner of the 2006 Giller Prize, is the perfect stocking-stuffer. The connected short stories follow the intersecting lives of four doctors, from pre-med to their careers as physicians. The stories are narrated from various perspectives, including the doctors as well as the supporting characters: a psychiatric patient becoming increasingly paranoid; a women undergoing an emergency c-section; a nurse during the SARS crisis.

Unaffected and honest, the collection is an arresting glimpse into the world of medicine. The stories are unflinching—Lam doesn’t shrink away from the dark side of the medical profession. His characters are fallible, human, and real.

32-year old Lam is a Toronto emergency room physician. He was a ship doctor on an Arctic cruise where he met Margaret Atwood who became his mentor. Atwood introduced the book at the Giller ceremony and told the audience, "doctors and fiction-writers both deal in extreme events, both have their fingers on the pulse of life and death, and neither is squeamish about gore on the floor." Squeamish, Lam is not.

The $40,000 Giller prize is Canada’s most prestigious literary award. Last year's winner was Winnipeg novelist David Bergen for The Time in Between, the story of a haunted man who returns to Vietnam where he fought in the war 28 years earlier (read my review here). Alice Munro, who sat on this year’s jury, won the award in 2004 for Runaway.

Vincent Lam is married and the father of a two-year old son. He lives in Toronto and is working on his first novel, due out in 2007.

He’s inspired me—if a doctor and father of a toddler can find the time to write a book, maybe I can too.

Don’t you love a success story!

________________________________________

Julie has a baby girl and is currently working in the home. She keeps busy finishing her undergrad (English), caring for her family, reading lots of books, writing, and trying to figure out what the heck to do next.

Contact Julie at metro_mama@hotmail.com.

Books for Discussing Bereavement with Children

2006-12-01T07:49:00.000-08:00

by Kittenpie

It seems odd to start with books on endings…
I’ve been reading a few stories of loss recently, though, and my immediate reaction is to recommend a book or two for the young ones. It is often said in library services to children that we need to have books about things like this to show our children that they are not alone, help them understand, and provide jumping-off points for discussion. And so I share with you a few books on bereavement that I have found especially sensitive, beautiful in execution and sentiment, and open-minded in terms of religion or traditions surrounding death. In choosing these two titles, I have avoided the many books on the death of a father, for example, in favour of one on the death of a pet that could be applied more generally and one that takes a wider view. I think these titles are also appropriate for a wide age range, perhaps 2 to 10 years old, as they are gentle, but not simplistic in a way that would make them too young for older children.

The Tenth Good Thing About Barney
By Judith Viorst, ill. Erik Blegvad.
ISBN: 0689206887

A small picture book with simple black-and-white line drawings, this book is the classic, go-to picture book about bereavement for children. Centred around the death of a cat, the young narrator is encouraged to think of ten good things to say at a simple backyard funeral. The child (sex unclear?) argues with a sister about whether Barney is in heaven or in the ground, a debate that is left open by the intervening father, who tells them that we don’t really know about heaven. I like that this leaves the subject open for valuable discussion between parent and child, allowing for use by people of many faiths or none at all. The father then talks, as he and the child garden, about how things change in the ground and how Barney will help grow flowers. That, he says, is a pretty nice job for a cat, and the boy agrees. So do I, for that matter. I also like the simplicity of this book, the way the ten good things are ones a child might think of. I think it really talks on a child’s level, not down to them.

Lifetimes
By Bryan Mellonie
ISBN: 0553344021

This gorgeously illustrated book is described as “a beautiful way to explain death to children,” and so it is. Poetic, repetitious language depicts death as part of life for all beings, plant, animal, or person. We all share, as the book puts it, “beginnings and endings, with lifetimes in between.” It discusses some of the reasons for death, some of the responses to death, and the rituals we observe after death in broad, general terms that allow room for discussion and various different traditions while remaining straight-forward. This is my favourite book on the topic for its wonderful combination of soothing rhythm and direct answers to many of the questions a child might have.

For these and other books on the loss of a loved one, visit your public library!

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A career Children’s Librarian, kittenpie has worked in library systems in both New York and Toronto, and delights in sharing favourite books with kids of all ages. Settled back in Toronto, she now brings work home to read to her own little Pumpkinpie.

Write What You Know

2006-11-29T06:03:00.000-08:00

by Mother Bumper

The saying goes “write what you know” and that little nugget has been spinning around in my head for days now. When I decided to blog about my spastic attempts at adopting a greener lifestyle, I developed a strange writer’s block centred on what topic to write about in my first post, which is never good. I debated what was the most important topic, which topic did I have the most to write about or what would be the most interesting. It was so confusing. So I stepped back and asked myself “What do I know?” After listening to the crickets for a while, I figured it out. Why don’t I start with explaining where the inspiration to live a greener lifestyle came from? Well that’s easy. My own family of course!

When I was a youngun, my parents set a wonderful example and planted many ideas in my head without being too preachy or too hippy-dippy, not that there is anything wrong with hippies. Anyhow, back in the seventies, curbside recycling wasn’t the norm and the era of mass consumption was going strong (as it still is today). In my house, the seventies were in full effect as demonstrated by our wood paneled, orange, red and yellow rec room décor, blue shag carpets and polyester playsuits but my parents were doing things that are only recently being implemented in some Canadian cities.

As far back as I can remember my Dad composted all our food scraps and other compostables like leaves, garden, and grass clippings. He showed me how to build a composter and turn it so that you get the rich, dark soil that will make your garden look absolutely glorious (like my Dad’s does, year after year). My Mom made it easy by putting the collector in the kitchen and it was emptied outside each night. It became second nature and when I moved into my own apartment, years before composting became a city collection service, I often felt guilty throwing food in the garbage.

We also recycled newspapers by making them into kindling logs. We had two fireplaces and there was nothing better than hanging out in front of the fireplace on a cold winter night.

My parents often bought local produce from the farmer’s markets before it became the hip thing to do in town. Back in those days it was in a dingy hockey rink instead of a trendy downtown location like it is today (not that I don’t enjoy going). They still buy as much local product as possible and know many of the local suppliers by name.

They never preached to us about doing these more earth-friendly actions, instead they demonstrated how easy it is to live that way with little effort. This is exactly what I want to do for Bumper and any future siblings. Husband is of like mind and together we are doing our best to get off our lazy butts and leave a smaller footprint.

With this blog, I want to write posts about the choices I’ve made to make my life greener and cleaner. I’ll discuss such topics as cloth diapers and diaper services, food choices, organics, where I shop, and gardening tips, amongst others. I’m also going to write about the things that don’t go so well and maybe even get some suggestions on how to do things better from you. But I’m warning you: I’m lazy sometimes and time is never on my side but this is important to me so I’m going to do my darn-diddly darndest.

__________________________________________________

I’ve lived in Toronto for six years and in that time I’ve married, become a mom and tried to improve my impact on the planet by living a more sustainable lifestyle, all done with some success. My background is in IT and I have a degree in Psychology. That either tells you everything or nothing at all.

Introductions

2006-11-27T08:01:00.000-08:00

by Mouse

My wife tells me I’m lousy at introductions. She comes to various functions with me—at the school where I used to teach and now in my department—and I often forget to do the whole “RandomPerson, this is Trillian, my wife. Trillian, this is RandomPerson. S/he’s in my class/ a senior graduate student/ my professor/ a thorn in my side.” When I have forgotten and we have parted company, she will whisper in my ear, “And that was...?”

I have two primary reasons (read, desperate excuses) for my lapses.

1. I tend to think she already knows most of these people. She hears me talk about them a lot and they can easily figure out who she is since I have only the one wife. Sometimes she has met them before, but when she’s around these people for only a couple hours a few times a year, it is a bit much to expect her to know them all. For those, I quickly whisper back a name and description.
2. I don’t know their names. I’m actually pretty good with names; as a teacher, I could learn my students’ names in a very short time. But there are a lot of people in my department with a lot of significant others and friends, many of whom I don’t see much more often than my wife does. For those, a shoulder shrug is the best I can manage.

Now all of this is my long-winded way of saying, let me introduce myself and my family.

Mouse—That’s me. It’s a nickname I carried for several years when I was younger; I think it stuck because I can be quiet, introverted, and skittish. I’m a doctoral graduate student in the Humanities, currently finishing up coursework and teaching a course. Before this, I taught at a private school in a large, US metropolitan area.

Trillian—My wife. The name is an homage to Douglas Adams and his Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, in which Arthur Dent finds himself on a spaceship with a woman he had once chatted up at a party, a statistically improbable event. I sometimes find it a statistically improbable event that we found each other given all of the decisions we each made before that point. We’ve been together since we were undergraduates and got married about two years ago on a visit to Toronto.

Scooter—Our son. Most of his nicknames play on his real name or are less complimentary than I would want to immortalize here (Stinker being the nicest of those). Scooter (and its variant Scooter-Pie) comes from the early days of crawling and still pops up from time to time. He’s 3 _ and a perpetual motion machine.

And the title? “It is what it is” summarizes a philosophy that I try to put to practical use. I am a worrier and have the ability to work myself up over things that may never happen or over which I have no control. And so I take a deep breath and try to take things as they come. Can’t say I’m always successful, but it’s worth a try, right?

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Mouse is: a mother, a lesbian, a graduate student in the Humanities, an American in self-imposed exile, an observer, an introvert, and an expert in Thomas the Tank Engine and Mighty Machines.

Humble Pie

2006-11-23T07:54:00.000-08:00

by Crazymumma

When I was pregnant with Big Girl I was full of high ideals. My child would never watch TV, never eat anything but organic food, snacks would always be healthy and wholesome. I too would be purrrfect. A smug smile of satisfaction would be on my face as I floated, effortlessly through every day reading books, making crafts, playing and interacting in only the best ways. Our house would be full of light, music, and giggles of joy from all who entered.

Ya right. Then I had my baby. And I started to bake my own Humble Pie.

As I nursed my new baby, I would watch dustballs roll across the floor, and then stick to something on the way. Laundry and cleaning the bathroom became impossible tasks. And although I felt a deeper than deep love for my child, I did not feel the radiating joy and perfection I thought I would. And lets not even get started on the impact a child can had on my relationship with Mr TransAm.

I can say that my food ideals I stuck to for the first two years. But TV crept in by year three, as did sugary treats. And organics are very expensive. I am proud to say that there was lots of reading and crafting. And it was great. Really, I am not being sarcastic.

Then along came Little Girl. She probably had her first lollipop soon after her first spoon of rice cereal. She watches way too much TV with Big Girl. I did and do not read to her as much as I would like, I do not make crafts with her as much as I did with my first child. Lots of ideals slid. My expectations of personal perfection lowered themselves without any trying on my part. My perfect little dream world slowly slid away. The Humble Pie was now fully baked.

We can create a private hell for ourselves when we do not meet our personal expectations as parents in today's society. One can only do so much and these days the pressure to do things correctly is huge, and I am prompted to wonder if it was always like this. I had to let go of so many ideas of how I was going to parent, as well as embrace the lack of control I had over who my children are and how they make me react.

There was a relief in letting go of the impossible standards I had and accepting that I could not control every moment. It has made parenting more enjoyable, certainly easier. And I enjoy my children more, because I worry less about the small things, and can focus on the bigger picture.

But I had to eat alot of that pie, and I think I will always have one baking in the oven.

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Anne is a self-described obsessive, fairly high strung 40-something, rock and roll wannabe, art making, grilled cheese mummy queen. Born and raised in Toronto, married with two children. Been through hell and back, and lives to tell the tale.

Changin’ the World One Mommy Blog At A Time

2006-11-20T07:36:00.000-08:00

by Sandra

"Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." ~ Margaret Mead

Now, that quote is just a bit overwhelming. Change the world? How small of a group? What exactly do you expect me to do? If you are gonna give me a weekly guilt trip, Sandra, I am so outta here.

I get it. No guilt and no unreasonable expectations either. I promise. But maybe once in a while, we can come up with something that may give you a reason feel pretty good or to even reward yourself with a pair of cute new shoes. Or a decadent flourless chocolate cake. Whatever your poison, I am not above bribery and incentives. Hell, I am a mother.

I am also a mother who is a lot like you. I care about issues. Ever since I became a parent, I cannot watch the news the same way. I know from talking to other moms, that our social awareness and primal concern for the world that our children are growing up in, has been intensified after childbirth. Just another one of the many secrets no one warns us about pre-conception. That, and the saggy boobs were two of my biggest surprises.

The ironic challenge is that at a time when we are most affected by issues and have such a desire to make a difference, we have NO time. Make that less than no time. Seriously. How am I supposed to sit on a volunteer board, or lobby the government or spend time helping street youth when I barely can fit a shower into my mommy-fied schedule? Charity begins at home, sister. And if you've seen my laundry pile or watched me reduced to tears along with my child in the throws of a tantrum, you'd know that saying was never truer of me.

So it’s tough. But it is not impossible. And I hope to try to make it easier. My idealistic pipe dream is to find a way for us socially conscious mamas to be part of making change in the world. In small, reasonable, mother-scheduling-challenged ways. I look forward to digging up issues to discuss, flexible volunteer opportunities, family friendly fundraising events and even things that just require you signing your name to a worthy petition. No guilt. No need to hire a nanny to find the time. Because every little bit helps. It does.

So where to begin on this naive quest of mine? Why not right here in the blogosphere. Most of you reading this are bloggers so you already find time for your site. Let's start with that. And I know you know how because when Her Bad Mother issued a recent call to action, well, we bloggers responded. In impressive numbers! And it felt damn good.

So why stop there? Maybe you can resolve to write a post about a charity or issue that is close to your heart each month (I know you NaBloPoMo folks must be looking for content by now). Or if that is too much, then try each quarter or even each year. You can find ideas for some stellar non-profits at sites like Charity Village. I think it makes for some interesting reading and certainly challenges the narrow-minded mommy-blog critics who say we only write about poopy diapers and post cute kid pics.

Writer's block? Not to worry. One of the most important things that Canadian charities need is awareness. They need people talking and thinking about their issue and you can help. With your blog, you have a very public voice. Whether your readership is a dozen or hundreds of visitors daily, you have the ability to spread awareness. Many of you are already doing it, but lets all consider adding a short list of links on our sidebar spotlighting some charities that you think are worthy of your readers checking out. You can put one or two or ten. There are more than 78,000 charities registered in Canada alone so there's got to be one in there that resonates with you. And with that many needy charities out there, it doesn't take a statistician to realize that the competition for share of heart and wallet is fierce. Help them out by spreading the word.

Every little bit counts. It does. It really, really does. So what are you waiting for? The offer of bribes and incentives won't last forever ...
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When she is not raising her 5-year-old-boy-genius, Sandra is an ex-advertising exec who spends her days working with a grassroots feminist charity. She is also an aspiring writer, chocolate-loving vegetarian … and a blogger.

Brunching With Baby

2006-11-16T07:45:00.000-08:00

by Metro Mama

One of life’s great pleasures is the Sunday brunch. Remember the pre-baby days, when brunch was late and leisurely? You'd meet up with the friends you parted from only hours before to debrief and replace lost fluids with countless cups of coffee?

Sorry, those days are (probably) over. However, post-baby Sunday brunch, though different, can be just as enjoyable. Having a baby doesn’t mean you have to resign yourself to Golden Griddle: there are hip, baby-friendly restaurants with great food, and Leslieville has more than its share.

Make your way to Queen and Logan and you'll find several choices in one block. Try Joy Bistro for a great patio and seven different kinds of eggs benny, including my favourite, the Eggs Norwentine (Norwegian Salmon, sautéed spinach, two poached eggs and hollandaise on a toasted English muffin).

If you like eighties music, check out Kubo Radio's brunch. If you’re really hungry, order the Big Boi, which includes scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, French toast, potato rosti, fresh juice and coffee or tea. They have television to distract the babes, and the sweet bartender made Cakes a diluted fresh fruit drink in her own little shot glass.

For something a little more upscale, head to Verveine at Queen and Pape. The service is incredible and your little darling will be treated well too. Have a mimosa with your brunch.

Wherever you go, make sure you order something for the little one. I still recall with horror, the time Cakes ignored her cheerios and ate half of my scrambled eggs and smoked salmon at Bonjour Brioche.

If you brunch often, a bumbo seat is a handy thing to have (not cheap though). If your baby likes to feed herself, a dish with a suction-cup base is a big help. Most importantly, don’t forget lots of toys (if you do forget, duck into Value Village and pick up a bagful for 5 bucks).

Before you head home, reward the munchkin with a treat for allowing you some adult time: head to Lumiere at Queen and Broadview for beautiful handcrafted baby decor. Then, reward yourself: stop at The Leslieville Cheese Market and pick out a delicious selection of fine cheeses to enjoy with a glass of wine after dinner. Brunch is one thing. Taking baby out to dinner is another-it’s not for the faint of heart. But that’s a post for next time.

‘Til then, bon appetite!

What are your best baby-friendly brunch spots in Toronto? Please, share!
________________________________________

Julie has a baby girl and is currently working in the home. She keeps busy finishing her undergrad (English), caring for her family, reading lots of books, writing, and trying to figure out what the heck to do next.

Contact Julie at metro_mama@hotmail.com.

Our Regular Columns

2006-11-02T18:52:00.000-08:00

by Mother Bumper

Follow one mother’s attempt to lessen her impact on the planet

Do you try your best to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle but never feel like you are doing enough? Confounded by the new fashion of organic everything? I know I am. This city has many sustainable alternatives to offer and I’ll help navigate through the myriad of information out there.
If we are going to make this planet a better place to live we need to share ideas about how we are doing it. Some of the best advice I received is “teach don’t preach”. I’m not a radical environmentalist, I don’t have a background in sustainable living, heck – I’m actually quite lazy. My lifestyle is nowhere near perfect but I’m doing the best with the resources I’ve got (well, kind of). Through my posts I’d like to share my new knowledge and research and I’d love to hear from others on how they are doing it. Mahatma Gandhi said it best: “We must become the change we want to see.”
_______________________________________

Comfort Zone by Something Blue (and daddy blogger guest, Niloc)

Dig into your goodie bag for something to ponder.

Comfort Zone offers another perspective to popular culture, current issues and parenting. I will expose my perspective on a variety of hot topics. I would like to encourage every viewpoint and hopefully readers will be stirred to share their own experiences and ideas.

Monthly, this column occassionally features "Another Angle" segment with a male standpoint given by my husband, Niloc. At parties he's had to wear the nametag Mr. Opinionated. We will offer blog debate as we often share opposing ideas. Working out our issues should provide humor. Our intention is not to create the same vibe as finding yourself in the middle of a public row but we will accept free marriage counseling.
_______________________________________

It is what it is by Mouse

How does an American lesbian in Toronto balance graduate school and motherhood?

The idea: Mouse and her wife move themselves and their preschooler North to a country where they can avoid the increasingly nasty politics back home, be recognized as a legally married couple with all attendant rights and responsibilities, and Mouse can take another stab at that PhD she’s been eyeing. It’ll be easy.
The reality: Life doesn’t get any easier. New scenery, new routines, new challenges. Nothing earth-shattering, but it sure can test Mouse’s attempts to be level-headed and calm. Which is why she must frequently remind herself, “It is what it is.”
_______________________________________

Mom About Town by Metro Mama

As moms, we have precious little me-time. Let’s use it well.

Tuck in the little ones, pour yourself a cocktail and join Metro Mama as she savors good books, movies, theatre, and wine. Together we’ll explore our great city’s many cultural offerings; we’ll figure out what works with babe and when it’s best to fly solo. Let’s resolve to watch more foreign films, turn up our noses at Dan Brown, and read more Can Lit. Housework can wait. Forget the laundry. This is mommy time.
_______________________________________

Mothering In Midtown by Naomi (Urban Mummy)

Mom of two boys in midtown Toronto. Part time teacher, part time
student, part time entrepreneur, full time mom...figuring out how to fit
it all in!

Not the grit of downtown, nor the expanse of the suburbs, midtown
Toronto has a character all its own. Find the fun, navigate the angst
with me, as I look for new places to go, things to do, and people to
meet. This teacher & mum is trying to find the balance we all
crave...with mixed results. Join me along my road to mother two...it's
sure to be an interesting ride!
_______________________________________

Pick of the Litter by Kittenpie

MommyBlogsToronto’s own Children’s Librarian lets you in on some great stuff for kids

Do you sometimes find yourself in a library or bookstore, standing in front of a dizzying array of colourful titles and feeling a bit lost?
Pick of the Litter is here to recommend favourites old and new.
Occasional author spotlights will point the way to a whole shelf full of greatness to read through, a wonderful way to introduce children to the idea of favourite writers.
I will also post periodic shortlists of titles on hot topics for parent-child discussion – if there’s a topic you’d like to see covered, feel free to ask.
The librarian is in!
_______________________________________

The Bee’s Knees by Penelope

Great products that are good for the wallet and the earth.

I will search out unique products for moms and babes with a special emphasis on earth-friendly, reasonably-priced fare. Each of these products will be tested and reviewed fairly.
_______________________________________

Toronto Mamas Give Good Karma by Sandra

For GTA moms who want to take action. Kid-friendly volunteering, charity events, and social activism you even can do from your couch!

Looking for some good Karma to make up for cutting off that SUV last week? How about to counter-balance those fantasies of running away with Dr. McDreamy? Toronto Mamas Give Good Karma is guide for local moms who want to take action to make our city, and our children’s world, a better place. Becoming a mom can make watching all the bad news stories unbearable … this is our chance to do something about it.Sandra will take you on a virtual tour of GTA kid-friendly volunteer opportunities and charitable events for moms. Not enough hours in the day? No problem. We’ll also share lots of social activism you can do right from your couch.

Toronto Mamas making a difference.
_______________________________________

by Crazymumma

Trans Am-driving mama trying to strike a balance between family, making art and getting back into shape.

Crazymumma has been doing the Stay at Home mummy thing for almost ten years, and is only making art again after a long hiatus. She is also packing a few extra pounds.
Add to the mix two extremely talkative girls, one a tween and one a five year old. As well as a husband who likes a lot of loving, a fish that will not die, a hamster, a cat, and a big old dusty house and you have one busy woman.

Mothering in Midtown

2006-11-01T08:24:00.000-08:00

by Naomi (Urban Mummy)

Mom of two boys in midtown Toronto. Part time teacher, part time
student, part time entrepreneur, full time mom...figuring out how to fit
it all in!

Not the grit of downtown, nor the expanse of the suburbs, midtown
Toronto has a character all its own. Find the fun, navigate the angst
with me, as I look for new places to go, things to do, and people to
meet. This teacher & mum is trying to find the balance we all
crave...with mixed results. Join me along my road to mother two...it's
sure to be an interesting ride!

We Like to Party

2006-11-01T06:36:00.000-08:00

Occassionally, we Toronto Mommy BLoggers like to get together in the real world. Here is where such events will be posted.
We also like to give shout outs to good events that we think are worth checking. These sorts of events will also be posted here.

Toronto Mamas Give Good Karma

2006-11-01T06:32:00.001-08:00

by Sandra

For GTA moms who want to take action. Kid-friendly volunteering, charity events, and social activism you even can do from your couch!

Looking for some good Karma to make up for cutting off that SUV last week? How about to counter-balance those fantasies of running away with Dr. McDreamy? Toronto Mamas Give Good Karma is guide for local moms who want to take action to make our city, and our children’s world, a better place. Becoming a mom can make watching all the bad news stories unbearable … this is our chance to do something about it.Sandra will take you on a virtual tour of GTA kid-friendly volunteer opportunities and charitable events for moms. Not enough hours in the day? No problem. We’ll also share lots of social activism you can do right from your couch.

Toronto Mamas making a difference.

Mom About Town

2006-11-01T06:32:00.000-08:00

by Metro Mama

As moms, we have precious little me-time. Let’s use it well.

Tuck in the little ones, pour yourself a cocktail and join Metro Mama as she savors good books, movies, theatre, and wine. Together we’ll explore our great city’s many cultural offerings; we’ll figure out what works with babe and when it’s best to fly solo. Let’s resolve to watch more foreign films, turn up our noses at Dan Brown, and read more Can Lit. Housework can wait. Forget the laundry. This is mommy time.

The Bee's Knees

2006-11-01T06:31:00.000-08:00

by Penelope

Great products that are good for the wallet and the earth.

I will search out unique products for moms and babes with a special emphasis on earth-friendly, reasonably-priced fare. Each of these products will be tested and reviewed fairly.

It Is What It Is

2006-11-01T06:30:00.000-08:00

by Mouse

How does an American lesbian in Toronto balance graduate school and motherhood?

The idea: Mouse and her wife move themselves and their preschooler North to a country where they can avoid the increasingly nasty politics back home, be recognized as a legally married couple with all attendant rights and responsibilities, and Mouse can take another stab at that PhD she’s been eyeing. It’ll be easy.
The reality: Life doesn’t get any easier. New scenery, new routines, new challenges. Nothing earth-shattering, but it sure can test Mouse’s attempts to be level-headed and calm. Which is why she must frequently remind herself, “It is what it is.”

Trans Am Love

2006-11-01T06:27:00.000-08:00

by Crazymumma

Trans Am-driving mama trying to strike a balance between family, making art and getting back into shape.

Crazymumma has been doing the Stay at Home mummy thing for almost ten years, and is only making art again after a long hiatus. She is also packing a few extra pounds.
Add to the mix two extremely talkative girls, one a tween and one a five year old. As well as a husband who likes a lot of loving, a fish that will not die, a hamster, a cat, and a big old dusty house and you have one busy woman.

Bumper's Green

2006-11-01T06:18:00.000-08:00

Comfort Zone

2006-11-01T05:49:00.000-08:00

by Something Blue (and daddy blogger guest, Niloc)

Dig into your goodie bag for something to ponder.

Comfort Zone offers another perspective to popular culture, current issues and parenting. I will expose my perspective on a variety of hot topics. I would like to encourage every viewpoint and hopefully readers will be stirred to share their own experiences and ideas.

Monthly, this column occassionally features "Another Angle" segment with a male standpoint given by my husband, Niloc. At parties he's had to wear the nametag Mr. Opinionated. We will offer blog debate as we often share opposing ideas. Working out our issues should provide humor. Our intention is not to create the same vibe as finding yourself in the middle of a public row but we will accept free marriage counseling.

Pick of the Litter

2006-11-01T04:25:00.000-08:00

by Kittenpie

MommyBlogsToronto’s own Children’s Librarian lets you in on some great stuff for kids

Do you sometimes find yourself in a library or bookstore, standing in front of a dizzying array of colourful titles and feeling a bit lost?
Pick of the Litter is here to recommend favourites old and new.
Occasional author spotlights will point the way to a whole shelf full of greatness to read through, a wonderful way to introduce children to the idea of favourite writers.
I will also post periodic shortlists of titles on hot topics for parent-child discussion – if there’s a topic you’d like to see covered, feel free to ask.
The librarian is in!