The other day my youngest came home from school with cold-like symptoms. Of course, I instantly wondered was this the beginning of the H1N1 attack on my home turf or was this just a common cold. I haven’t even had the chance to take a stand on whether or not, I should vaccinate my kids. I kept him home from school for a few days. After wading through a pile of information on the H1N1, I was able to conclude that he didn’t have H1N1 based on the following information published from the University of Calgary. It is the clearest explanation of exactly what constitutes symptoms of H1N1.
Archive for the ‘Seasonal’ Category
Halloween: Be Creative and Resourceful!
October 14th, 2009 by admin
It’s that time of year again, where the kids are planning their costumes and already making requests to have friends accompany us on our Trick or Treating adventures. I have developed a love/hate relationship with this holiday that is so beloved by the kids.
When our oldest son Jacob was one, my husband came home from work on Halloween night to proclaim that he was ready to partake in the festivities and bring Jake around the neighborhood to visit and enjoy his first foray into Trick or Treating. Secretly, I was horrified that my baby, who was still breast-feeding and just precariously walking, would be exposed to the Halloween horrors of candy. “Where’s his costume?” he said.
Supporting Your Kids In Sports
October 2nd, 2009 by admin
Sports teams and other activity groups depend largely on the support of parent volunteers. Besides acting as instructors and supervisors, parents can be team managers, coordinators, fundraisers, registration, event, promotion and communications volunteers. In our 14 years of parenting of 3 kids in a multitude of sports, my husband and I have filled many of these roles at various times. Most of these functions require little if any expertise in the sport or activity itself. Unfortunately, parents can get caught up in trying to help and end up doing more harm than good. The following may help:
Supporting Your Child
Kids Can Show School Spirit By Creating T-Shirts
September 28th, 2009 by admin
With preparing for back to school and all the routines one must re-adhere to once school is back in session, crafts may be the last thing on your mind. However, if your children need something creative to do, simple school related crafts may be just the thing you’re looking for.
If your child is a pre-teen or teenager, hanging out with their friends after school or on the weekend is what they like to do best, so why not give them something creative to do while they’re all together? T-shirts and fabric markers or paints are all you need to get their creative juices flowing and they’ll be guaranteed lots of fun in the process.
As a matter of fact, middle and high schools usually offer our children the opportunity to be a part of various clubs and committees, and what better way to show school spirit than to create matching t-shirts?
Of course, there’s nothing stopping your children from creating a t-shirt of their own for the joy of being creatively unique; and if this is the case, such a project will most certainly keep them entertained for hours. But if the t-shirts’ goal is to bring attention to a particular school club or extracurricular activity, it might be more fun to get all members involved. It could certainly make for a funtastic evening or afternoon.
Get Organized for University This Year.
August 20th, 2009 by admin
Many students on the doorstep to university wonder if they have the intellectual horsepower to succeed in first year. While having great academic skills certainly helps, the reality is that first year students struggle more with coping in a new and different environment than they do with lack of brainpower. This, in itself, is a valuable lesson learned – people with a wide range of intellectual ability can succeed, but no matter how capable you are, you must be organized and work smart.
The main reason the transition can be a challenge is that in addition to managing an academic workload – often one that is more demanding than in high school – some students find themselves solely responsible for the first time in their lives for daily life tasks like finances, health care, laundry and grocery shopping. If they aren’t prepared, this can be daunting or even worse – it can amount to an unwelcome drain on their time when they can afford it least. Distractions from academic work can put a student discouragingly behind in just a few short weeks. How can students reduce the risk of this happening? The easiest thing to do is to spend some time in August beefing up a few simple life skills. (more…)
Don’t hate me because I’m ready for Back-to-School: Confessions of a professional organizer.
August 7th, 2009 by admin
It is now the 1st week of August and I am sort of gloating when I write; I have most of my ‘Back-To-School’ shopping done! Please don’t hate me, I did say most of it, not all! Let’s not forget I still have to label everything and move on to the children’s possible clothing needs. I have to evaluate what the children will be doing as far as extracurricular activities, sports, music and plan the driving schedule, possible car pool scenarios, etc. What about doctors appointments, dental, eye appointments and whatever else I’ll try and cram in before school starts back up again.
I am a mom of 4 kids, Jonathan 19, Gregory 16, Rachelle 9 and Max 8. My husband François is on the road quite often for work leaving me to manage the household. A lot of pressure is on me not just because I have 4 children, husband, work in and out of the home, but because by trade I am a professional organizer! I am expected to be perfect! Guess what?….far from it. I have finally come to accept that it is ok to not be perfect….well sort of. Can any mom, whether you are at home or at the office relate? We are expected to be extraordinary multi-taskers and we try and keep trying until we find ourselves worn out, exhausted and forgetting to even look after ourselves. We beg for maids and nannies to drop out of the sky and save us. Not going to happen! So now we have to come up with some ideas to make life a little simpler, drop half of our to do lists (I’ll have a hard time with that one) and focus on enjoying time with our families more (that will be an easy thing to do).
Now that you know a little bit about me and my imperfections, here are a few tips to help us all get ready for the onslaught of September.
Back-To-School Tips From A Professional Organizer:
It’s a Staycation for us this year!
July 8th, 2009 by Trish
The home-based vacation — aka “staycation” — can be a great alternative to an expensive trip, assuming you plan it well and really treat it as a true vacation. This is our year for it with impending braces for our oldest, gas prices increasing and air travel costs rising. The falling dollar makes even cross-border travel less appealing.
The big savings from a Staycation are transportation costs and lodging, but there are others.
Even if you want to eat out every day, you can limit that to one meal and still save lots on the food budget. We like to eat out for brunch, it is often great value at many good restaurants and you usually eat so much that it carries you through to dinner.
The real obstacle is psychological. We have been conditioned to think a vacation means travel and expensive vacations help us keep up with the neighbors. Don’t get caught up in that and finish this summer without a pile of vacation debt, you’ll have peace of mind and a head start on great trip — next year.
The following staycation strategies can help make your Staycation a truly relaxing break rather than a wasted week. (more…)
More Time Moms is always looking for guest bloggers. 
