All posts filed under: Helpful Parenting Tips

back to school supplies

Back-to-School Tips for Anxious Kids!

Published by

Are your kids feeling anxious about going back to school? Perhaps they’re starting school for the first time this year or returning to in-person after doing virtual. Here are some tips to help them ease their worries and transition into the new school year. Establish and practice a back-to-school routine: If you’ve been enjoying the summer and the late sunsets then most likely your kids have been going to bed late. Don’t wait until the Sunday before school starts to establish new bedtimes. Start pushing bedtime earlier and earlier, a little each day, starting around the week before school starts. Help your kids with the school morning routine by giving them a checklist, for young kids, a visual checklist of what needs to be done can be helpful. For older children, try using a wipe board checklist that can be reused. The dollar store has great supplies for this. Keep it simple; Get dressed, eat breakfast, brush your teeth, and pack a bag. Completing the list before school sets your kids up for success, by …

A Guide to Screen Time for Parents

Published by

Screens are everywhere in our modern world, but spending too much time looking at screens can be harmful for children. Setting limits on screen time can protect your child’s health, with many tools available to limit what types of content your child can access online and for how long. To help parents, MyVision, an organization of expert ophthalmologists and optometrists who aim to provide trusted information on eye health and vision, created a guide on Screen Time for Parents, reviewed by Dr. Carli Bunn, a board-certified optometrist at Eye Care Associates. This guide features information on how to develop screen time rules and enforcing them, teaching digital literacy and additional resources for parents. Click here to read the Screen Time Guide

#COVID19JEDI

Published by

It’s ok to go dark sometimes…it’s totally ok to NOT BE OK right now. Say this sometimes to yourself, it can be helpful. “I AM NOT OK RIGHT NOW”. I took a class recently – on Mindful Self-Compassion and there’s a theory about self-compassion being composed of 3 basic things – mindfulness, self-kindness and common humanity. I took this class with the amazing Dr.Heidi Walk and it uses the Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook. I’ll break down the 3 parts, if you’re new to this theory.  Kindness:  So be “NOT OK” and give yourself a fucking hug. Tell yourself what a friend would tell you. Pretend you live on another planet (which would actually be really cool right now, you wouldn’t have to deal with any of this craziness, there’s no COVID-19 on Mars…or isssss there? Ok sorry…so you’re on Mars and your friend calls you and says, listen to what happened on earth today. Would you believe it? Would you feel like you were listening to a movie plot? Maybe, but either way bet you wouldn’t be …

Back-to-School Jitters – Tips for Parents by Caron Irwin from Roo Parenting

Published by

Back-to-School Jitters – Tips for Parents from Caron Irwin from Roo Parenting The long days of summer are coming to an end and back-to-school reality is upon us. This time of year is full of excitement in anticipation of seeing old and new school friends and picking out the best back-to-school gear but it can also be full of nerves and jitters as the first day approaches. How Do You Prepare Your Kids? It is important to prepare your children for the upcoming school year. Children who are prepared and know what to expect feel in control and when they feel in control they are better able to manage change successfully. Start to prepare about a week before the first day of school. Starting too early can cause kids to fret for too long creating more anxiety, and starting too late can make children feel rushed and overwhelmed. Take your child to visit the school. Take your child to their school – if possible have them visit their classroom, walk the halls, check out the …

The Truth About Travelling with Kids

Published by

Here are the details: we took our 4 year old son (Ollie) and our 15 month old daughter (Jaime) to Europe for two weeks. We flew from Toronto to Paris to Stockholm, stayed for a week and then flew from Stockholm to Paris, to Bordeaux. Yes, there are hundreds of posts out there about “the truth” about traveling with kids, so I’ll do my best to not be repetitive and really just lay out the facts. If you want the cole’s notes, read right below, if you want the long version, keep reading. Don’t expect anything. Give up on following any kind of routine. Even the crappy moments have silver lining. Don’t Expect Anything Prior to leaving I had all these silly expectations about how I would keep my children on Canadian time, we could go out for late dinners, not be on the bedtime clock, blah, blah. You just can’t have any expectations about what it will be like, not one. There were moments when I thought what are we doing? Traveling around Europe with …

Small and big choices

Published by

Bed time routine is starting and your child needs a bath, they’re oozing dirt out of their little fingernails and you can smell the summer dust all over them. You’re having a super, hard time getting them to get into the bath. You’ve tried your whole arsenal of tricks and nothing is working, so now what? We like to call this, “the small and big choices”. Getting into the bath is a small choice, choosing to sleep at grandma’s house (big choice), picking pj’s (small choice), picking skating over swimming for Fall (big choice). Each choice, big or small has a result. Learning about “choices and results” is a very important step some of us sometimes leap past.  The other night Ollie wanted to sleep at his grandmother’s house (she had given the ok, the ball was left in our court). We passed the choice onto the O-man, and told him that’s an example of a big choice he got to make. Essentially the little choices we make easily, without whining, complaining, crying, swearing (oh yes, the O-man …

Popsicle

Published by

I’m sure there could be plenty of puns I could have used for the title, but I’m pretty tired in all honesty and my writing fingers are sleeping at the keys. It would have been really easy if Oliver’s name was Peter instead. I think I had a pretty decent capacity for intelligence until I got pregnant with my first child. Currently, this first child of mine, is really into Popsicles. We got a Popsicle maker as a gift last Christmas and upgraded the model this past summer to a larger one. It comes from a company called Zoku, they make some pretty cool gadgets, worth checking out. The whole popsicle making experience buys you about 20 minutes of entertainment, to me, that makes it a worthwhile endeavor. Even better is that we can sneak in one of those baby squeeze pouches made out of veggies. Oliver will have two Popsicles in a row, without a doubt, think about all those little veggies that are sneaking into his mouth and he doesn’t even know. This …

Seasons Newest Client!!

Published by

I had my second c-section on May 11th at 12:45, it was a scheduled c-section. I’ve learned a lot of new facts about second c-sections and I think it may be worthwhile to share with moms who are anticipating going under the big knife again. Please note that all facts are based on my personal experience and every woman’s birth story is different….so use my knowledge but don’t hold me to it. Here are 3 facts I now know about second time c-sections: Having a scheduled c-section is probably one of the most civilized way to give birth. The recovery time on your second c-section is definitely easier than the first time. It really sucks not being able to lift your first-born child, like really sucks. Here are 3 facts I now know about second babies Second babies are easier, they themselves may not be an easy baby, but the shock of what has happened to your life is eliminated, it’s like riding a bicycle, you never forget. The hormonal roller coaster still climbs up …

Valentines Day Crafts

Published by

We’re prepping for a few events where we’ll be sharing some valentines day crafts, so thought we would share them here too! They’re not only easy but also very budget friendly! All supplies we’re purchased at the dollar store (minus the cardboard, which was rescued from our recycling bin). Valentines Day Wreath   Materials Mason Jar Lid Various Heart Decorations Twine Red Ribbon Hot Glue Directions Wrap the twine around the Mason Jar lid, very tightly and hot glue both the starting point and the end point. Use whatever heart decorations you like and tie a ribbon at the top. Although this is so perfect for Valentines Day you could definitely use it as a Holiday Ornament too!   Valentines Day Love Sign Materials Needle and red yarn Square of burlap red ribbon or rope Felt Scissors Hot Glue Directions You can get as creative as you like with your little burlap square. We kept it simple but would encourage those creativity juices to flow! We simply cut a heart out of felt and hot …