An honest product review

By mistake I grabbed a box of Kraft *Smart* Mac & Cheese out of the pantry instead of the regular Annie's that we usually use.

I cooked it up, set it in front of my darling children and Mister-almost-four (MAF) pipes up and asks: "Is this a different kind?"

Being honest, I reply "Yes"

MAF responds with: "it smells like pee"

Again, being honest, I reply: "there is no pee in it so shouldn't smell like pee"

MAF comes back with: "it still smells like pee"

And, well, he's kinda right. The Smart in the pasta is cauliflower. Cauliflower on the best days, while tastes yummy, doesn't always smell that great.

Couldn't have been all that bad though, as both kids ate said mac & cheese, but I think I'll stick to giving them their 1/2 serving of veg the old fashioned way. And when I buy KD, I'll stick to the original, because frankly, the nutritional value of KD & Annie's is probably about the same. Ah, and here's someone who's done the work and, well it is!

Of course, if I was a really good mom I would make them mac & cheese from scratch, I know...but i'm not and i don't ;-p

growling = rain; nose picking = fight picking

My son growls. He growls at me. He growls at his Dad. He growls at his sister. He growls at strangers.

Strangers don't really know what to do when he growls. Sometimes they keep on walking, pretending that the half pint next to them on the sidewalk did not just growl.

Others laugh and try and make him smile. This usually results in more growls and sometimes a bit of air punching (which is followed by more laughs from strangers)...

Today however a woman asked him please do not growl because she didn't want it to rain. I've heard that if you kill a spider it'll rain, I've never heard that if a kid growls it'll rain. So Vancouverites, be forewarned that the rain will probably never stop, because my son likes to growl.

Keeping in line with advice from strangers:

My son picks his nose. Incessantly. He will sometimes have both nostrils occupied at the same time. He also really likes to eat what he finds. Oh please, before you "oh gross"-me and close the browser, check your own kid, I"m sure they have the same predilection. So the other day, while waiting for our 'treats' and caffeine from from the drive-thru Starbucks (bless North America!) the window barrista told my DS that it was gross to pick your nose, followed by: "where I come from, if you pick your nose, it means you want to fight. And I've never lost a fight". This of course was rebutted by: "Batman will come and he'll eat you up. Batman is the fastest. You can't beat batman. Nope. He's the strooongest."

ah, the wisdom of strangers....

Happy 2011

OK, so I know, you probably thought I dropped off the face of the earth. Well, if the world was flat, that's actually what would've happened ;-)

Late August we moved from beautiful, sunny & lovely Sydney, Australia back to beautiful, not so sunny, but also lovely Vancouver, Canada. So, I've been a little busy. Yes, I know, not a valid reason for not updating my blog. I know and I'm sorry. I will work on doing a better job this year. Although, consistency has never been my forte and this year looks to be freaking busy.

Again, I know, this is my problem, not yours ;-)

OK, enough of the apologies.

Hope 2011 is being good do you. If it hasn't, it's still early enough, you do a start-over and ta-da, 'what a year'!

So far it's been great to me!!

- We hosted a New Year's Day Open house and had a blast! Even though I spent 6 hours in the kitchen prepping, I managed to remain ALMOST stress free and the kids even behaved (most of the time) and got to see some friends I haven't seen in over 4 years!

- Kids are still playing with new Xmas toys - Hooray, the novelty has NOT worn off!

- Started running and am REALLY freakin' enjoying it. Gotta love endorphins ;-)

- Hubby went back to work for 2 days and boom we're off on a holiday tomorrow. Going skiing for an extended long weekend. So, the holidays aren't over in our house!!

- Little Miss is talking up a storm and I'm slowly learning her language. Technically this should result in a lot less screaming in my house!!

- Little Mr. Man, has for the most part, realized that it's really just not cool to pee in your pants. Today, is not a good example (2 accidents - but I'm PMSing and this is no fun for anyone in the house!!)

- Still liking the sound of the rain

Did I mention I started running? All this 'happy shiny outlook" crap is a result of the endorphins. See if you can spot the the upcoming posts that are post-run and those that aren't ;-)

Wishing you all the very best in 2011!!

How do you teach social values?

I just read an interesting post on Everything Mom questioning about when and how to introduce your children to volunteering and what I would call being a good citizen.

I have wondered the same thing myself, especially when our days are so busy that it is so hard to find the time to volunteer myself - makes setting a good example a bit difficult.

Of course, I believe that setting a good example is best way to communicate any value to your children. When Little Mr. Man was a bit younger we did an activity in a local church. They had a food drop off box there and I would try and pick something up at the grocery store and drop it in the box, all the while talking to him about it and explaining why were doing it. Not sure if any of it stuck, but I suppose there was no harm in trying.

Since we just did a huge move we had a lot of trips to goodwill. Again, I would try and bring him and his sister along and explain what we were doing and why. Again, not sure what stuck, but I hope that through exposure both children will get a better sense of the world around them and learn how they can help make a difference.

My next attempt to instill this knowledge in them will be to ask them to give up a few toys before each Christmas and Birthday and donate it to a charity. I may wait until they're around five though so they can have a better understanding of what is going on.

These are just some ways I can think of getting the kids directly involved in the community and learning about being a good citizen.

Wordless Wednesday - things we don't need

In a time where we debate cloth nappies vs. disposable, do we *really* need disposable hand towels? I didn't think so.

Road tripping

So, what's your take on DVDs in cars?

If you know me you probably won't be surprised to hear (read) that I am not a fan. When I was a kid we did a lot of driving and, seeing as I'm near ancient, we did not have DVDs (or even CDs). We did have a tape deck, but I really don't recall ever getting to listen to 'my music' in the car. Of course that's because 'my music' was on records and those didn't work in the car ;-p

But I digress. When I was little my brother and I learned to amuse ourselves, beat each other up while strapped in, and continuously invent new ways to drive our parents crazy! The joys of the road trip!

Now I just got back from a 4 hour road trip (each way) with my 16 month and 3.5 year old, solo. That's right, Mighty Lungs, her big brother and I braved the roads on our own. And lived to tell about it!

The ride up was a bit more 'difficult' than the ride home. On the way up, Mighty Lungs thought it was great fun to scream. I don't call her Mighty Lungs for nothing. I did learn that if I passed back a toy she'd stop screaming. So i had an ample supply of toys up front and kept on passing them back. Sadly she'd burn them in no time. Food also helped. Suffice to say, that by the time we arrived at our destination she nearly had enough food and toys piled up below her to make a comfy ottoman.

Little Mr. Man didn't like the screaming either. Unfortunately, he thought she would stop if he screamed too...I stopped him in his tracks though, because 1) his screaming had no effect on hers and 2) I told him if he didn't stop, I'd pull the car over and leave his cars on the side of the road.

Of course it should come as no surprise that the next time Mighty Lungs screamed the little guy asked me to pull over. His answer, when I asked why was "Pull over so we can leave Miss Moo (AKA, Mighty Lungs) on the side of the road". Much to his dismay I explained that was not an option.

Little Mr. Man did manage to quell her screeches by pulling his boot off and on, putting his foot up and yelling out "Woody" (he was wearing Toy Story socks with Woody on them). Might not work on Saturday Night Live, but Missy Mood (that was a typo, but I think it might be her new nickname!) sure loved it!!

Little Mr. Man and I played a bit of I spy and talked about all the cool things we could see (in between Might Lung's screeching sessions). We talked about what we would do when we got to our destination. He amused himself with his toys and played nicely with his sister (again, in between her screeching & screaming).

On the way back there was little screaming and much more sleeping. No need for "woody", food or toys really. Both kids fell asleep for a good hour and I got to enjoy driving my new super duper car. I even listened to one of my CDs.

Much to my husband's dismay, this road trip did not convert me into believing that DVDs are needed in the car.

What are your thoughts?

Sibling Love