When I was a little girl, one of the things my brother and I looked forward to the most at Christmas was the Advent Calendar. Each of us got our own paper calender, with the little  tab windows we pried open every morning on the countdown to Christmas.  As we got older, we had the special ones with chocolates behind each window – a big treat for us, raised to think raisins were candy until we were old enough to know better.

So this year, with our two oldest boys now almost 5 and almost 3, we started an Advent calendar. My mom, aka Nana, bought it for us and the boys take turns each alternating day, opening a window. My oldest searches to find the right date (great for number recognition and counting), and they open the little window to see the illustrations (wreathes, candles, Christmas trees etc.) No chocolates for my kids either (funny how we end up like our mothers), but this year we are trying a new addition and I’m hoping it will become an annual tradition for us.

Every day, as we open the calendar, we do a Christmas activity to help us get in the spirit. One day we sang Rudolph, the next we made paper snowflakes, one morning we chose two of my kids’ toys to give to charity. Today we wrote letters to Santa and one morning we made hot chocolate, a big treat in our home. I’ve made a list of activities (ranging from as simple as singing a carol to as involved as putting up the tree).  The kids are having a blast and are so excited each morning. I feel proud that we are doing something creative and Christmassy and hope that one day my kids will look back and remember these special times together.

And I must confess, this was not my brilliant idea. Oh how I love the Interent and Twitter and blogs – I find great parenting inspiration from other mothers online. I  saw a blog post on Canadian blogger bitofmomsense’s site. Turns out she found it at missfish in Ottawa. Then coolchillmom saw my tweet about it and so on. We are all attempting different versions of the same lovely idea. A quick Google search  on 25 Days of Christmas will reveal all kinds of sites and tips for creating your own reusable Advent calendars and coming up with wonderful activities for your family to count down the days.

As a bit of a busy slacker mom (got a baby, two preschoolers, a household and an online store to run), I’m taking a pretty simple approach with a storebought calendar and some simple, yet fun activities. But you can sew or create your own calendar, and lots of moms are journalling about each day’s event, or taking photos etc. There is even a Flicker page called Family Activity Advent Calendar.

Whatever you do, the important thing is spending some time with your kids and doing something special to gear up for the holidays. For us, it is really the first holiday tradition our young nuclear family can call our very own (not from my husband’s childhood and not from mine). I’m hoping our kids will one day carry it on.

Lately, my two older boys have been getting up earlier and earlier, despite the fact dawn breaks later and later these days. And my husband has a new job that takes him out of the house really early to commute to a nearby city. So I’m on my own from an early hour with two preschoolers (boys!) and a baby.

One morning last week, the baby was still sleeping, breakfast was long since over, I was still in my pjs, teeth unbrushed, eyes barely open, blearily wondering how to entertain my boys after the night I’d had with our teething little one.

We hit the couch, I stretched out and pulled our cozy throw over the three of us. It was time for their fave game, and mine: Baby Bird Hatches in the Nest. Basically, they burrow under the blanket and pretend they are an egg started to shake and crack and hatch. The babies emerge tweeting feebly and Mama Bird, aka me, the happily-still-horiztonal slacker mommy pretends to feed them worms and bugs, beak to beak.

Fortunately, you can play this over and over again, as my guys seem to have an almost endless appetite for it. Plus there are many variations: Baby Dinosaur, Baby Reptile (anything with an egg) or even Baby Bear (in the den) etc.

That morning, we lounged, warm under the blankets on our cushy old couch, for almost an hour!  We were all laughing and snuggling, the kids were stretching their imaginations with scenarios the baby birds got up to, and I was spending quality time with them – albeit from a horizontal postion, half asleep!

I highly recommend it!

What is your favourite slacker mom activity to do with the kids?  I’d love to hear it.

We recently had our third baby, another precious life to nurture, sustain and protect. Back when we had Kai, our first son, almost five years ago, I was just starting to become aware about the toxic load carried in most common paints and household building materials.

When my helpful mother-in-law painted Kai’s room for us, I bought her a low VOC, fairly non-toxic paint to use that wouldn’t off gas hazardous chemicals into the air my baby-to-be was about to breathe. I recall it was called Eco-Spec and I had to hunt high and low to find it. However, just a few years later,  there are now many easily available lines of chemical-free paint and greener reno supplies on the market.

If you are adding a new addition to your family of either sort – a beautiful baby or a new family room, there is a lot you need to know if you truly want to make an interior non-toxic and healthy for your family and the planet.

Over the next week, we will have a guest blogger writing about how to Design Healthy Rooms for Healthy Kids. Barbara Nyke of NIKKA DESIGN in Toronto is an interior decorator who specializes in eco-friendly design.

Barbara believes that incorporating green and healthy living into our lives on a daily basis affects every aspect of what we buy, the products we use, how we dispose of items and the air we breathe.

Check back, as she will be addressing:

•  
  

  What makes a healthy room?

• How do you know the products you’ve chosen are eco-friendly?

• What does eco-friendly mean?

• Can you have it all? What are your environmental priorities when selecting products for your children’s bedrooms?

• Are you finding the style of furniture you want that’s also eco-friendly?
  

Lately I’ve been trying to cook more with my two oldest boys (2.5 and 4.5). Not always together, mind you! But two days a week, my middle son is at home with me and Baby Boy, while my oldest is at JK. He has missed a lot of mummy-and-me time in his short life, always overshawdowed by his big brother who can do more, say more, jump higher, run faster etc. He probably doesn’t notice but now that Kai is in JK I’m trying to make up for it (while the baby sleeps ). So Fridays at our house have become Muffin Mornings.After JK dropoff, some playtime at the park or errands, we come home to bake muffins together while Baby Boy naps. Last week it was Cranberry Flax Muffins, the week before, Super Seedy Muffins, and today, with Thanksgiving this weekend and Halloween around the corner, we made Pumpkin Raisin Muffins.This recipe is quite healthy already, but I threw in 2 tbsp. of ground flax seed instead of a bit of the white flour, and it seemed to work well. There isn’t much sugar but they had a lovely flavour and the boys thought they tasted great! Making muffins at home saves money and packaging so it’s a win all around – fun time together, teaching skills like measuring and counting, being more frugal and consuming less packaging!If you have a suggestion for your fave healthy muffin recipe, I’d love to hear it!Pumpkin Raisin Muffins

I get all kinds of newsletters from various parenting and eco sites and blogs to try to stay up to date on new products, and to keep learning while I’m home with my kids. Some days I feel like they are just cluttering up my inbox, but other times I come across something that really hits home with me and makes me glad I didn’t just hit Delete.

Today was one of those days. I get an e-letter from a newish Canadian site called Everythingmom.com. It’s a gorgeously-designed, fun, useful social networking site for moms and bloggers featuring advice, reviews, product directories, community, blogs, printable meal planners etc. I haven’t spend enough time on there yet since giving birth has kept my focus away from my computer for the summer, but I keep meaning to add myself and Kai Kids to their directory of mom-owned businesses.

As I quickly scanned it my eyes tripped across their Mothercraft Tip of the Week, and it really hit home with me so I thought I’d share it:

 Moms are often praised for their multi-tasking abilities. But for all our “doing” throughout the day, many among us go to sleep feeling like we’ve accomplished nothing at all. More and more research shows that multi-tasking only gives the illusion of productivity and efficiency. Replace your multi-tasking with the discipline to return your wandering attention to what’s happening right now. Sometimes it’s not about what you’re getting done, but rather what you’re missing when you’re on the phone, folding the laundry, watching Oprah and checking email all at the same time. (HINT: Your present moment!)

As a mom of now three boys under 4.5 years old, like many mothers, I’m a whiz at multi-tasking!  Nurse the baby and read to my two-year-old while coaching my eldest to clean up his spilt milk . . . you’ve got the picture. Throw in housekeeping, trying to be a supportive/fun wife and run a successful online business, and it’s juggle, juggle, all the time.

But I realize I can get too caught up in trying to accomplish multiple tasks and crossing items off my endless list of daily to -do`s. I’m a do-er, and sometimes I try to do too much, and I think I miss out on a lot along the way. Having another baby has added to my load, but it’s also made me realize my limits. There is only so much I can do, if I want to do things well.

Plus, having a soft-cheeked, twinkly-eyed two-month-old who is fascinated by the wind rifling the leaves in the trees has made me stop and enjoy more moments, more often. It has slowed me down, and instead of letting that frustrate me, I`ve decided to try and embrace it! This is most-likely my last baby, and these special moments go by oh so quickly!

Check out the great Organic teething Bonbon review on Cool Mom Picks!

Cool Mom Picks – Bonbons for babies

To celebrate Earth Day today, I thought I’d share some excellent children’s books our family has read lately so you can try to make every day Earth Day in your household (we all know how little ones like to hear a story over and over again…).

One day earlier this spring I escaped for a bit of rare “me-time,” and headed to Chapters downtown, sans enfants. I scored several charming books for toddlers and preschoolers that I thought my two little green stars might like. Perhaps yours will, too.  Read the rest over at Canadian Family’s site, where I’m guest blogging this week!

Happy Earth Day everyone!

It’s only Tuesday, but it’s already been a busy week for Kai Kids. First we were featured in the Toronto Star’s Sunday edition, which brought us lots of online traffic and kept us busy shipping parcels off to new customers, yippee!

Plus,  I was invited to be the guest blogger over at Canadian Family’s blog for the week, in honour of Earth Day! My first post went up today: fun ways you can help your kids grow up green. Check it out, and if you haven’t already, spend some time on their site: it’s an excellent magazine and web resource for parents, full of Canadian content, and over the past few months, they’ve really beefed up their coverage of three of my favourite topics: the environment, mompreneurs and social media!

Ever since I found out that I was pregnant with my Big Boy about four years ago, we’ve had a ban on conventional cleaning products in our household. At the time, I did some homework and found out how most common, popular household cleaning products and detergents were filled with toxic chemicals, VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and carcinogens.

In hindsight, I should have wondered at the smell, and the fact I always had a nasty headache after a cleaning stint. But in Canada, manfucturer’s are not required by law to list the ingredients on the label! (although some companies now voluntarily list ingredients). This, despite the fact that studies show some chemicals used in cleaning products increase your risk of cancer and asthma, headaches and skin irritations. Plus, this stuff is also often going down the drain into our water system.

If you are wondering about some of the cleaners under your sink, a good rule of thumb is, if the bottle has any poisonous or explosive symbols, there are some toxic chemicals in the product, and I’d avoid it. Another hint is if it says to use the product in a well-ventilated area. You know it must be bad!

Some chemicals to watch out for : toulene, benzene, xylene, methanol, ethylbenzene, and formaldehyde.

The good news is that there are now plenty of effective, safe, non-toxic cleaners on the market, in your local health food, or grocery store. I wrote about some of my favourites last week.

But I’ve started to experiment with making homemade cleaners and hope to eventually wean myself of most store-bought ones to save on packaging and to save money. Not long ago I bought a great book that is a great resource: Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living. It is full of recipes for household cleaners, disinfectants, baby care, kids’ projects, art supplies, garden care etc.

Want to make your own exfoliating scrub, plant fertilizer, soap scum spray, antifreeze, or cradle cap cream for baby? This is your book. Over the next few months I’m going to have a crack at a few concoctions (I’ve already stocked up on washing soda, tea tree oil and Borax). I’ll let you know how it goes!

Over the past few years, we’ve tried to consume less in our household, in order to save money, divert waste from the landfill, and to do our tiny bit to help preserve the planet’s resources, but there are some things a family just can’t live without. So, we’ve tried to become more conscious consumers, and along the way have switched over to many organic, and more natural products in our household, from food to toothpaste to dishwashing liquid. Many of our customers at Kai Kids (our online store specializing in organic, eco-friendly products for babies, toddlers and preschoolers) are just starting out on their path to greener living, so I thought I’d write a series of posts about our family’s favourite earth-friendly products.

• I’m starting to experiment with making more of my own non-toxic cleaning supplies (watch for a post on that in the next few weeks), but for effective, fresh-smelling, and chemical-free household cleaning needs my favourite brand is Ecover. We’ve tried their dishwashing liquid, dishwasher powder, all purpose cleaner, and window cleaner, and I love them all, more than NatureClean or Citrasolve etc. They are a Belgian company, but now manufacture in the U.S., so although I wish their products were made here in Canada, at least they aren’t travelling to my local store all the way from Europe. My only gripe is that I can’t seem to find any of their products sold in bulk form, as I’d really like to reuse and refill my plastic bottles to save on money and packaging.
• for laundry detergent, we like Canadian-made Nature Clean’s liquid which we buy in bulk at Grassroots, which lucky for us, is in our neighbourhood. We also have recently tried Nellie’s Laundry Nuggets and Laundry Soap, also made in Canada. Both do a great job with no nasty chemical residues or perfumes, and no phosphates entering the water system! We may actually soon start carrying Nellie’s products in our eco-friendly online store !
• Merchants of Green Coffee: Peter has lately become a coffee fanatic (instead of opening Kai Kids, we almost went into the business of importing organic coffee beans!) and I must say, we now drink some pretty amazing Fair Trade, organic and shade-grown coffee chez nous. Peter roasts, grinds and brews our coffee so we rarely buy take-out coffee any more. We buy our beans from Toronto’s The Merchants of Green Coffee, who’ve been importing beans and supplying area restaurants and stores since 1994. Their vision is “To lead the evolution of the coffee industry to a sustainable state ‘from tree to cup’,” and their mantra is Fresh Coffee, Fair Trade, Green Business. We love their coffee, but we also like how they operate and what they stand for. In 1999 they established the Sustainable Coffee Program to pioneered sustainable coffee certification – it helps facilitate the production and sale of sustainable coffee – a direct link to farmers growing quality coffee. Sustainable coffee is defined as: purchased from the farmer at a fair price, grown organically in a biodiverse ecosystem, and processed with eco-friendly technologies and methods. You can buy green or roasted beans from them, roasters, visit their coffee shop, or take lessons on the Art of Roasting, or the Alchemy of Brewing!

Stay tuned, as next week I’m going to write about our favourite toothpaste, soap, shampoo and chocolate! Please join in and comment to let us know about your family’s favourite green products, we’d love to hear from you.