McDonalds does a lot right. After my boys' hockey game last night in Vaughan, they were starving so our family stopped in at McDonalds on our way home. I could not help but notice how well McDonalds targets families with children. My kids aged 1 to 8 always always order a Happy Meal and always look forward to receiving the toy. Last night it was the book by Laura Numeroff "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie", a series that my children enjoy, along with a simple game related to t

I am a dreadful cook. Truly dreadful, not just kind of dreadful. Yet every day I need to feed my four children three healthy meals. I am skilled at heating things up in the microwave. Hence it would be easy to shop at Pusateri's and McEwan's all the time and buy their prepared foods but the cost is prohibitive. My mom, God Bless Her, makes the kids a casserole or meatloaf each week which covers two meals. My three older children were enjoying The Lunch Lady which provide

My kids love to play shinny. No matter the weather, my kids love to play hockey outdoors. Three of my children had a hockey clinic with Power Hockey this morning. When they arrived home, my two boys asked my husband if they could go play shinny at Riverdale Park in the afternoon. After two hours of hockey they wanted more. Even though he was suffering from the flu, he was also game to go again. Die-hard hockey dad, die-hard hockey kids... They all donned long johns beca

My baby is a faster runner than me. Yesterday morning I was trying to change my 1 ½ year old from her pink flannel pajamas into her pink fleece sweats. Diaper and pants went smoothly but she scrambled away once I took off her pajama top. I was teasing her that mommy was going to catch her and started chuckling when she took off at a run. She went from the hallway through her big sister’s room through their bathroom into her room back to the hallway and around again. She w

All four of my children are ticklish. I love to make my kids laugh. They love it when I make them laugh. And they are so quick to laugh it is wonderful. All four of my children are ticklish. My youngest son is the most ticklish. Just pretend you are going to tickle him and he starts laughing. All three love to be tackled and tickled. Their laughter is such a beautiful sound. I try to make them laugh at least once a day. Sometimes they laugh at me, which is fine. Some

A good cut and colour is worth $300. Our family lives on a budget. I shop at No Frills, Costco and Walmart. My kids count their quarters and our clothes are generally second hand. We vacation on points. My family knows the value of a dollar and I pay my kids to help around the house. I even sell some of my kids’ stuff to Once Upon a Child when they are done with it. But I never scrimp or try to save money on my hair. I have been going to Fiorio on Cumberland in Toronto

When I was in primary school, my mom and dad gave me an allowance if I completed certain chores around the house. Although I did not necessarily relish doing the chores themselves, I liked the program as it provided me with money for work completed. By age 12 I was babysitting for cash and by age 13 I was working at the local library. All this work was helpful in teaching me the value of money and in being able to calculate how many hours I needed to work (at $3.75 per hour

'Tis the season for Christmas Church Sales I was in our F150 truck with my four children by 9:45 am this morning, heading to not one but two Christmas Craft and Bake Sales. The three older children each had $7 to spend and they were busy planning their purchases. The first sale was at St. Luke the Church of Lutheran at 3200 Bayview Avenue. In the church basement were about 10 very friendly older women manning tables with garage sale type items, baked goods and some crafts.

Yesterday was the first snowfall of the season: fluffy, white, still above freezing, blanketing the leaves on the ground with a clean carpet. In Canada, we marvel at the first snowfall of the season while concurrently dreading the bulky winter coats, freezing skin, and never being able to completely warm up that we know is coming. Wintering in Canada requires tough stuff. You have to be able to navigate black ice on the 401 with one hand while holding your Tim Hortons coff