Toddler Trials

Kat is mama to two wild boys, wife to one wild husband and owner of one lazy dog. When she’s not freelance writing, she writes her own blog This Is The Place. She lives near the lake in the west end and wears strange clothes. She’s also trying to see how abstract she can get her bio.

My kids are picky eaters at home. By all accounts, at daycare and after school club, they will shovel anything and everything placed in front of them in their mouths. This gives me great comfort because at home, they sing (almost to the tune of any song in Moana) “I tried it and I don’t like it!” One of the things that I have always struggled with is finding bang-for-your-buck foods that my nose-turned-up kids will eat. One likes chicken,...

I’m going to just come out and say it: I absolutely am not a fan of arts and crafts. In fact, I am so not artsy and crafty, that I tend to steer my kids away from anything that might involve markers, glue, sparkles, popsicle sticks, anything. I hate it. I loathe it. My kids, on the other hand, absolutely love it and I constantly feel terrible for not letting them stretch their artistic muscles at home.     This...

Knowing that we weren’t having any more kids after our third has always been bittersweet for me. When we had our first, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have another baby or how to even keep TWO kids alive. Since having our third, I wish we could just have more, but city living is expensive, as is daycare, so our family of five is complete. Working from home with a baby in the house has had its own unique challenges. While we...

With three kids all two years apart, I haven’t had a lot of time for reflection over the last few years. As many moms and dads can agree, the early years are such a blur that by the time your kids walk into the doors of their first day of kindergarten, we’re all wondering how it all happened. Now, with all three of my kids out of the house full time, either in school or daycare, I’ve got a bit of time to breathe and look back on the...

As the parent of three small children, I have been working under the assumption that easy to prepare meals were things like pasta dishes, slow cooker meals and breakfast for dinner. My whole meal repertoire has become very lazy in the last few years with my picky eaters, work/life imbalance, and just exhaustion. Before kids, I would spend hours pouring over cook books, carefully planning luxurious meals and spending loads of time just prepping....

As the mum of three small boys, an expert in baby products and a no-nonsense parent, resident blogger Kat Armstrong always seems to be called upon by friends, family and strangers to answer tough parenting questions. We thought it was high time she shared this knowledge with you, and her series Ask Kat was born. If you have questions for Kat, you can email her at askkat@ohbabymagazine.com.   Kat, How do you convince yourself to...

Our not-so-small family is one of renters. In order for us to stay in the city, we decided to forgo buying a home and focus on staying in a community we like, even if it means being renters. This has given us the freedom to change our space as needed over the last few years, and with the boys getting a bit older, we realized we needed a better outdoor space for them. Our current home is a bright and functional two story apartment above a shop...

I’m always on the hunt for awesome winter stuff for the kids. When I was pregnant with our first little guy 5 whole years ago, I purchased a Baby Parka from the ladies at a baby show and haven’t looked back. Since those early days, I’ve learned so much about safety and what works for us and what doesn’t. We’ve finally been able to buy a new car (ahem, a minivan), and just in time for winter, I’ve been able to get my hands on the...

I have two very active and non-stop boys, and one baby heading the same way. I talk about them a lot. Their energy baffles me. Even when Henry is sick, he goes at Mach 3, so it’s hard for us to actually get a read on him. Lauchie, on the other hand, tends to cry wolf a whole lot so we’re never sure just how serious his bad-feelings are. And the baby? He’s just a baby, so it’s hard for us to actually know how poorly he’s...

My kids are not the best at sleeping. They generally constantly want to nurse, or just wake frequently at night. My first born is the best of the bunch – once he’s asleep, he’s out for 12 hours – but getting him to fall asleep and stay asleep in early days was tough. Our second still wakes at least once a night, and, of course, we have a five month old to contend with. In my time as a parent, I’ve tried all sorts of sleep methods...

I know that the general consensus is to not hide healthier foods in less healthy foods as it doesn’t teach kids to enjoy their veggies. But, I have two boys who are very finicky eaters at home and sometimes I want to make sure they’re getting some green veggies in their diet of mostly bread and fruit and yogurt. To resolve their issues (for me), and to use up some fresh-from-the-garden zucchini before it went bad, I concocted what we now...

Since having kids, we haven’t really been able to take any trips as a family. Finances, work and the like have precluded us from the few trips a year we used to take. So, when one of my best friends informed me that she was getting married this year, I immediately started planning our trip. Yep, that’s right, a trip with a 4 year old, a 2 year old and a 3 month old. In a car. For a day. When we first started planning our family,...