Money with Leo: Helping Kids Learn $$.

March 30, 2012

@just_d_world Giving Back, Marriage, Mommy minute, moms, Motherless Mama , , , 6 Comments

 

Teaching kids about money can never start too young. It is an important lesson that will last a lifetime. It got to me when my oldest was four years old and she presumed we could buy anything with our debit card. When she turned five we let her save up cold hard cash to spend on what she wanted. It was when she saw it with her own eyes, the money being handed over, she understood the value. The next time she wanted something she chose a cheaper item and loved storing the change in her piggy bank.

I am excited to tell you about a new app called Learning Money with Leo, brought to you by RBC Royal Bank. The app features a variety of kid-friendly and interactive games to teach your pre-school to kindergarten aged children everything from earning, to saving, to spending money. The application is free from iTunes in English and French! To find out more tips on teaching your kids about money check out: http://www.rbcadvicecentre.com.

My only drawback in my experience with the app is that I have a first generation 16mb ipad. I had to make updates to the ipad before being able to download it. Because my ipad is Wi-Fi only I was unable to use it on the road. It would be wonderful if RBC made this app available for smartphones. What a great experience to teach your kids while you are grocery shopping with Money with Leo right on your phone.

Having said that, the lessons in the games are valuable for kids. Gather the Coins and Spot the Differences were just two of my five-year-old daughter’s favorite games. For my three-year-old daughter I downloaded the printable version of the games:  http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/learning-money-with-leo/.  She loved being able to color Leo and the piggy banks. She might not be able to grasp the lessons at her tender age just yet, but by keeping it as a family lesson , she will learn  it.

GIVEAWAY: Feel free to leave a comment about why you feel it’s important to teach your kids how to understand and responsibly use money for a chance to win a RBC Visa Gift Card values at $50! Leave a comment by April 20, 2012 for your chance to win.

Disclosure: I am participating in the RBC Learning Money with Leo Program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of RBC Royal Bank. I received compensation as a thank you for participating and for sharing my honest opinion. The opinions on this blog are my own.

 

Sharing this Easter with Kinder Canada

March 21, 2012

@just_d_world #KinderMom, Giving Back, Marriage, moms , , , 2 Comments

I am sitting at the kitchen table with my five-year-old daughter. Together we are filling out March and April’s family schedule. With a squeal of delight my smart older daughter sees that Easter is coming. I tell her she is right. We begin to discuss ideas on how to spend Easter.

Our family traditions include:

  1. We visit the Easter Bunny! One of my favorite family photos is the four of us sitting with the Bunny. Slowly over the years you can see in the comfort level our daughter’s eyes with the big bunny growing stronger.
  2. We make plans with family to have them over for snacks and games. We do not have a traditional dinner. With young children, it is just smarter to host a carefree afternoon at our home.
  3. We spring clean our house of what we don’t use anymore. It feels great to donate unused items to those who might need them. Our daughters love the idea that a toy they don’t use anymore could make another child happy. We do this purge twice a year. Giving is not a reminder at Christmas.
  4. We participate in Easter school activities and community egg hunts. We love hanging out with friends in the town searching for eggs and doing crafts.
  5. When our young ones awake on Easter morning, we love to see them look for clues from the Easter Bunny. A scavenger hunt is placed through the house to a big gift for each child.

Thanks to Kinder Canada, for this year they have launched the Joy to Share campaign to bring happiness to families by partnering with the Children’s Miracle Network. This is a wonderful opportunity this spring to come together to reflect and teach your loved ones what it means to help each other. It is not about just donating, but supporting other families less fortunate.

Check out Hero Moms postings on Kinder Canada Facebook page. You will read stories that have been affected by, and benefitted from the work of the children’s Miracle Network. Contribute to the A Joy to Share campaign to share why you care and your stories and photos with other moms on the Kinder Canada page.

You can help support the Children’s Miracle Network and the a Joy To Share campaign by purchasing seasonal Kinder products donations are accepted online on the Children’s Miracle Network site.

Because of Kinder Canada, my family has had the opportunity to share Kinder eggs with our friends, my daughter’s kindergarten class and a community group for kids with special needs. The feeling of giving back prevails over taking from others.

My daughter and I finish our talk and put up the calendar. My heart is full with pride and joy about how my daughter has grown into a wonderful young lady at a tender age of five years old. I look forward to bonding together as a family to help others.

DISCLOSURE: I’m part of the Kinder Mom program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Post-Natal Purses: Size Matters

March 19, 2012

@just_d_world Marriage, Mommy minute, moms, Motherless Mama Leave a comment

 

As you prep for when baby arrives the one tool you need to leave the house with (after the car seat) is the diaper bag. When looking at the suggested checklist it seems that a new mom needs a large suitcase with heels just to leave the house. Your back groans at the thought of it.

When your baby arrives what you actually need varies to kid to kid. I went through several bags as often my kids outgrew their clothes. What I narrowed down to what to compile into one bag for us three: one errand, play dates or appointments that took all day. My biggest tip is that to put your wallet and essentials in a small clutch inside the diaper bag. It helps for when you need to find your wallet or lip balm. You will always pack too much or too little.

As your kids grow, they will have their own backpacks or bags for their own stuff. You will reclaim your purse once again. Your back will straighten while your heart is whimsical on how fast your kids are growing.

Size matters when it comes to packing what you may or actually need for your time outside the house. It also helps when you come to the rescue of a cranky toddler when you find goldfish in the black hole of your purse.

Just never forget your essentials. After all a happy mom is a happy life. :)

 

#50BookPledge Weekend Reads

March 16, 2012

@just_d_world Book reviews, Marriage, Mommy minute, moms, Motherless Mama , , Leave a comment

An Exclusive Love

A Memoir

By Johanna Adorjan

This is not a sugary romance novel.  It’s a memoir by the granddaughter of a couple who committed suicide together when the husband fell fatally ill. The couple married just before WWII and were Jewish. She, writer/granddaughter, tells their story through interviews with people who knew them and her memories of them. She pens trying to imagine what their last day was like. She tries to understand why they killed themselves, particularly Vera who was very healthy.
Love has so many meanings in this book.
It is a very sad yet thoughtfully deep book.

C’mon Papa

By Ryan Knighton
C’mon Papa is Ryan Knighton’s heartbreaking and hilarious voyage through the first year of fatherhood. Becoming a father is a stressful, daunting rite of passage to be sure, but for a blind father, the fears are unimaginably heightened. Ryan will have to find novel ways to adapt to nearly every aspect of parenting.
This is no pity party, and Ryan has no time for sentimentality. Tackling these hurdles with grace and humour, Ryan is determined to do his par.  In his struggle to “see” Tess, Ryan reimagines the relationship between father and child during that first chaotic year.

Wordless Wednesday March Break.

March 14, 2012

@just_d_world Marriage, Mommy minute, Motherless Mama Leave a comment

Making storybooks on a windy Spring Break.

20120312-101705.jpg

Wordless Wednesday with words from my night stand.

February 22, 2012

@just_d_world Marriage, Motherless Mama Leave a comment

Reflections

Bubbles

Balls

To-Be

Independent

Security Blanket Arms

Forgotten shadows

Dark niches

Bubble Thoughts

Slick love

Closed security

Crowded Alone

Maternal Calm

Lost dreams

Forgotten paths

Found amnesia

Maternal Happiness

Maternal Guilt

Restrained thoughts

Writer lost.

Maternal traitor

Daughter restraint

Marital Trite

Mama Dope

I wonder if it’s the right thing

I wonder if… it is today

I wonder if it was yesterday

I wonder if I am ever right

I wonder why?

I wonder why me

I wonder if?

I wonder if wasn’t right.

It’s done and over.

Do you have a journal? What would your nightstand say?

Hot New Reads for February

February 15, 2012

@just_d_world Book reviews, Marriage, moms Leave a comment

 

I’ve Got Your Number

By Sophie Kinsella

Author of the popular Shopaholic series brings us her latest story. Poppy is at a lovely function with friends when the fire alarm goes off. She realizes that she cannot find her engagement ring.  Considering the ring has been in her fiancée’s family for three generations, she panics.  Magnus’s parents are academic and intimidating. She knows they do not want him to marry her. And now the ring is gone. When she is outside during the fire alarm, she calls her friends who were trying on the ring before the alarm, to see if they saw it. Then her phone is stolen right from her hand.

Sitting five feet away from her in a trash bin is a cell phone. She grabs it and ends up getting involved in a whole new turn of events.  The owner of the phone, a business man named Sam, gets upset when Poppy will not give the phone back.  With the wedding angst, trying to help Sam and hide her hand from Magnus’s family, she is in for a big change.

The footnotes throughout the book are like Poppy’s inner monologue. Once again Sophie has penned a strong female driven entertaining tale. I found myself reading it in a day and a half.

An Exclusive Love

A Memoir

By Johanna Adorjan

This is not a sugary romance novel.  It’s a memoir by the granddaughter of a couple who committed suicide together when the husband fell fatally ill. The couple married just before WWII and were Jewish. She, writer/granddaughter, tells their story through interviews with people who knew them and her memories of them. She pens trying to imagine what their last day was like. She tries to understand why they killed themselves, particularly Vera who was very healthy.
Love has so many meanings in this book. It is the title but, is so much less characteristic than the title sounds. Vera never believed anyone, but her husband loved her and she couldn’t face life without him. Pista always honored and adored Vera. There’s a clear love of classical music throughout their lives, love of friends, love for their dog, all faced against this unspeakable act that seems so selfish and unloving to their granddaughter. Johanna tries to figure out what being Jewish meant to them, and what it means to her.

It is a very sad yet thoughtfully deep book.

 

The New Valentine’s Day

February 14, 2012

@just_d_world amotherworld.com, Marriage, Mommy minute, moms, Motherless Mama Leave a comment

as posted on www.amotherworld.com

I spy my husband’s truck pulling around to our home. I see the red balloons bopping up in the passenger’s seat. I do not tell our daughters that daddy will be home any minute. A smile reaches my lips when I recall the Valentine’s Days of our past, or rather before we had kids.

On our first Valentine’s Day we never saw each other. I had high school classes and he had to work. After Social Studies I went to my locker. I felt bummed that for the first time having a boyfriend on V Day  I will not see him. The previous year, my boyfriend had broken up with me the day before Valentine’s Day.  I turned my lock and unclicked it. As I swing open the door I got confused for a second. There was a white long box in my locker. Then I realised they were roses from him. I opened the box and smelled the fragrant flowers. I could not stop smiling all through the rest of the day. For years after we never went all out for Valentine’s Day. How could he top the one that meant so much, so I never expect it?

Since being parents, we stay in for February 14th. As our girls get older we have made the day more about family love. My husband brings home a small gift for each. Having girls, we desire to set the precedent that they are worth being acknowledged and loved. For dinner we either order out for a Boston Pizza heart shaped pizza or we cook favorite foods.  One year we ate all red foods like tomato sauce with pasta, cupcakes and, for us, red wine.

After the paper plates (no cleaning required) are cleared, we break out a game. Our favorite right now is playing Wii bowling. We cheer each other on as we take our turns. For bedtime story we read a special story like: Clifford We Love You.  We laugh and enjoy our special night. When they get even older, we probably will not see them for dinner on that day. Right now, I love that we make it about us being together.

 

Things I learned when I Took a Break from Blogging

February 6, 2012

@just_d_world Full Day Kindergartern, Marriage, Mommy minute, moms, Motherless Mama , 2 Comments

 

Over the Christmas holidays I retired my keyboard. The pressure to blog became a burden and not a fun thing to spend my time on. I enjoyed the time with my family and read over nine books. Over the month I learned many things:

  1. The best writers are readers. Stephen King said that. While I do not consider myself a great writer, I do respect that writers need to be readers. I love reading. It has been a passion of mine since I began a love of reading at the age of two. It is a great way to learn how to write.
  2. My daughters’ rock.  My oldest has begun to read a lot more. By taking my love of reading she has excelled at enjoying books. My youngest has begun her therapy to help her autistic behaviours. It has only been a week and she is rocking the play therapy.
  3. My husband got the household Apple TV. We have discovered a love via Netflix to catch up on series that we never caught the first time around. We are spending more time together hanging out. He is still handsome after all these years.
  4. I never left home without a journal. I wrote quick notes about ideas and what has been happening in my day.
  5. I no longer feel like writing is an obligation. I have been writing for over three years. A break can be very healthy for the soul. I took the time I didn’t blog to experience the above mentioned. Also, I stopped talking about writing a book and have actually started it. I am on the editing part of the first three chapters and am in love with the journey.

Have you taken a break for something? What was your experience?

Bringing Back The Break, My Way

December 27, 2011

@just_d_world Marriage, moms, Motherless Mama, Work-At-Home Moms, Yummy Mummy Club Leave a comment

 

This is an entry to the Yummy Mummy Club contest they held recently. Obviously, I lost. I wanted to share with you what I do to give myself a break. J

We are in the kitchen of one my mommy friends. I just took a bite of a canapé she ‘just whipped up.’ My mouth waters at the just-enough melted cheese on top. I spy lunch fixings near her stove. My inner-mind shakes at the amazing feast she has planned. She has a part-time job and cooks. I am amazed that we are friends.

Full confession: I am not a cook, nor a baker. I flunked Home Economics twice. The teacher took pity on me and gave me a pass finally. I grew up with TV dinners and packaged foods. I think I turned out okay.

When I became a mom twice over, I was scared. Visions of what Supermom means gripped my panic full blown. I tried to bake and cook every day. After many failed attempts, I am still getting the smoke stains out of the ceiling. What worried me most was that if I was spending so much time in the kitchen, I was not playing with my young children. Time is going too fast.

That realization hurt my mama heart. I let go of Supermom ideal that I thought I could be. I am me. I am their mom, flaws and all. So, I began to think of what I could do to provide meals for my family and still play with my kids. Below are my now-not-secrets on how I do it.

1. I began to resort to making big batches of my limited recipes and freezing extras for a later date. For example:  I would take a veggie chili from the freezer to put it on top of a pan of tortilla chips, spread grated cheese and viola, chili nachos.

2. We have themed food days. Macaroni Mondays. Waffle Weekends. French Fry Fridays. Our kids know they can have their favorite foods this time of the week.

3. When time is super-crunched or sicknesses have run through the house, I utilize a local speciality food store called M&M Meat shop. They have an extensive menu. You can order online and pick it up at the closest location. Quick and fresh appies, main entrees to desserts makes it worth the reasonable price. You can freeze what you do not need right away.

4. Every Friday we have pizza and a movie at dinner time. If we do not have a pizza ready to be made at home, we do order out. At the end-of-the-week, I am done.

5. I am not June Cleaver, and nor Kathy Buckworth. However, I shade on the side of Peggy Bundy and purchase fruit bowls and veggie plates at the grocery store to balance my family’s nutrition.

I do not use a microwave and I do not know how to bake or cook from scratch easily.  I love spending as much time as possible with my children.

We continue to enjoy the feast our friend has made. She is a natural in the kitchen.  I am not despairing that I cannot reciprocate the delectable lunch. I know it is not in my genes to be Supermom (whatever that is.) It is my mantra that we all deserve a break. We need to let go of what we think we “should” do and live in the moment.

 

 

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