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October 08, 2010

Kid Activities for Thanksgiving

In preparation for Thanksgiving this weekend (Canadian - that is)...I have made a few suggestions over at my Yummy Mummy Club column for...

Activities for kids - while you're busy with the bird

Some of the ideas include having the kids make decorate the table with fall multi-coloured leaves, making menus, folding napkins.

Whether you are cooking the turkey yourself, contributing to a pot luck or going to someone's house for dinner...I'm sure we could all use some activities this weekend to keep the kids busy.

Share you Thanksgiving kids' activities with Parent Club in the comments below!

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October 06, 2010

More on Silly Bandz


Recently, I was quoted in a Toronto Star article "Silly Bandz frenzy invades Canadian schoolyards" by Kristin Rushowy.

Do you know about Silly Bandz? They are basically silicone braclets - in various shapes (flowers, microphones, Justin Bieber - yes really, etc...) and they are THE fad de jour.

My quotes reads as:

Caroline Fernandez first heard of Silly Bandz in August when her kids were at summer camp and a counsellor gave them out. Now, they’re everywhere.

Just last week, one daughter was late for the morning bus while she searched for her bands “because she had to take them to school,” said Fernandez, blogger and founder of parentclub.ca.

At their school, kids wear the Silly Bandz in bunches on a metal ring, hung on their belt loops.

“I have taken a stance on this one . . . all of their Silly Bandz have been paid directly from their tooth fairy bank,” said the mother of two children.


(Forgive me re-quoting myself here - just providing reference for those who didn't see the article)

Do you know about Silly Bandz? Do you have an opinion? There is an interesting article in Businessweek about The Man Behind the Bandz that may be of interest to you.

In my opinion, Silly Bandz is a silly fad...like Pokémon cards, go-gos, Tamagotchis and scratch-n'-sniff stickers (ok - perhaps I'm dating myself with scratch-n'-stiff stickers). And like all kid-powered-fads, I doubt the Silly Bandz life will be too long.

[And may I point out an aside: have you ever seen a commercial or print ad for Silly Bandz? I haven't. This "fad" seems to have blown in on the same magical wind used by Mary Poppins - unknown yet powerful]

As stated in my quote: my kids' Silly Bandz are purchased from their Tooth Fairy bank (not my wallet). Should they chose to spend their money on Silly Bandz -- well that's a decision. An informed decision. Because before we're at the check-out, you can be sure I have brought up the fact that their money could be used for a movie or something else kid-friendly (to widen their consumer view of the world). They chose to buy Silly Bandz - and I chose not to micro-manage this choice.

I do think fads like these can be a distraction in the classroom. Teachers - confiscate away should they be disrupting! There's a life-lesson there too - there is a time and place for everything.

What do YOU think of Silly Bandz and kid fads?

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October 04, 2010

Dear Tooth Fairy: WHERE ARE YOU?

Last week, over in my Yummy Mummy Club column I wrote about When an activity goes bad...fib which sparked many a comment on YMC's Facebook page.

Specifically, the section that read:

La petite souris was supposed to come. (La petite souris* = the tooth fairy). Tooth fell out at school. Tooth went under pillow. Some magical creature should come get that tooth right? Except the magical creature in our house...well...fell asleep. Upon seeing the tooth, still under the pillow the next morning, the toothless child cried. And I fibbed.

"Honey, la petite souris gets teeth in tooth order. This is the 10th tooth you've lost - so you are number 10 on her pick-up list. When it's your 1st tooth - she comes first to your house because the first tooth is really something! But by the time you lose your 10th tooth, she knows you understand she will come (because she always comes right?!) so she does the other's kids first and then comes for your tooth. You're probably next on her pick up list."


The Facebook and blog comments all shared various stories of how the tooth fairy forgot to come...and how parent's dealt, explained and fibbed their way out of it. You just can't trust fairies!

So, all this Tooth Fairy business led me to dig up a letter I, myself, wrote to said fairy - when I was a child.



Raise your hand if the Tooth Fairy forgot to visit your house...perhaps we could get a group therapy rate...

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