At kindergarten drop off this morning, my daughter went into her classroom happily and as I was halfway down the hall, her and two friends called out for me. We’ll call them Sarah & Martha.

Martha: “Sandy! Come back!”

I looked back and saw that Martha was holding up my daughter’s Hello Kitty sweater, which I guess had been at the school for a while. Assuming that they wanted me to take the sweater home I started to walk back towards them.

Martha: “This sweater smells like rotten eggs. That’s what Sarah said.”

My daughter at this point is not looking too impressed. She is very fussy about her clothes and I can just imagine the horror that is going on inside her head.

Sarah is now giggling.

Me: “Let me smell that. [sniff] It doesn’t smell like rotten eggs.”

I now have the sweater in my hands and it doesn’t actually smell of anything but Bounce mixed with a little school… so I followed them back into the classroom to actually check if my daughter left anything else.

Another girl comes into the scene. Let’s call her Debbie.

Martha: “Debbie! Alexandra’s mom says that the sweater doesn’t smell like rotten eggs!”

Debbie: “Yes it does.”

At this point I’m standing right in front of this ring of little girls. My daughter quiet.

Me: “Ladies have any of you actually smelled the sweater?”

The group: “No.”

I let them each smell the sweater. My daughter included. And we all came to the conclusion that the sweater did not smell of rotten eggs.

Debbie: “Well, the boys in that room said that it did.”

Me: “Well it doesn’t. So lets stop saying that ok?”

And off they ran. Sweat dripping off my brow. I had sort of forgotten how little girls can be. They can be mean and they can tease and most of the time it’s for no good reason – not that there is ever a good reason, but I guess if the sweater had smelled of rotten eggs, she would have been right (but not nice) to state that.

Little boys don’t really do these things. I haven’t witnessed it yet with my older son. I don’t think they rally up their little armies and go against one person the way that I know girls do.

I’m glad I was there for this little rotten egg drama. But what if I wasn’t there? Would it have escalated? Would they have teased my daughter without reason for the remainder of the day? Would she have been ok to stand up for her non-rotten-egg-smelling sweater?

I left the school hoping that she would have been ok. I’ve taught my kids to stand up for themselves and their friends always – non-violently of course. But my heart felt a little sad to think that my daughter would feel any pain or embarrassment caused by her own friends.

I remember being a little girl. I remember being teased. I also remember doing a bit of teasing. It’s times like these when I want to bring my daughter home and swaddle her in a (giant) receiving blanket and rock her to sleep, in our custom made bubble room.

The reality is that more of this is going to happen. Sometimes it will be worse. Sometimes not. I just hope that she’s ok. Confident, strong and kind.

Have you encountered any ‘mean’ girl behaviour yet? How did you deal with it?

My daughter on the other hand… she loves applying it. Spray, cream, mousse (sometimes all three) she loves to put it on herself and she really doesn’t miss a spot.  It’s cute, and, if I’m to be honest, sometimes annoying because she will often apply it on a rainy day just because, well, she has to wear sunscreen.

It still shocks me when I hear that not everyone wears sunscreen. Obviously we spend more time outdoors in the summer months, and more of our skin is exposed so we should use more sunscreen, but really you should wear it all year.

We are diligent about reapplying sunscreen after swimming or any kind of excessive sweating caused by outdoor fun. I also follow a general rule to apply sunscreen every two hours when outdoors. I often look for shade and always make my kids wear a hat. That – like sunscreen application – is not an option.

Now that my kids are in school full time, I’m happy to pack a bottle of sunscreen in their backpacks and I know that they are putting it on before they go outside. Get your little ones used to protecting themselves early in life and make sunscreen application a part of your everyday routine. Before you know it your baby will be slathering on the sunscreen just like my daughter does. (Stock up in the sales!)

I was pretty happy to have received a nice little package from Coppertone — because, as you’ve probably figured out, we go through a lot of sunscreen around here.

My daughter’s newest favourite sunscreen: Coppertone Kids Sunscreen Mousse in an SPF 60. The high SPF part is my favourite. She likes that it’s a mousse and it’s fun to put on.

Do you make sunscreen application part of your daily routine? Coppertone is my brand of choice, what is the brand that you like to use?

Disclaimer: I have not been paid by Coppertone to write this. While I did receive a package from them, and I am often sent sunscreens made by different manufacturers to sample, it has remained my brand of choice.

List six random facts about yourself.

1)   I’ve always been afraid of the dark – it’s one of the reasons I am compassionate and understanding when my kids tell me they are scared.

2)   I’ve donated my hair to Angel Hair for Kids twice.

3)   I wanted to name my daughter Clementine but didn’t because of the mockery that my husband felt that she would have to endure growing up. I guess he didn’t want her theme song to be “Oh my darling…”

4)   I will dance at any opportunity. I love music. All genres and I try to have it playing at all times. This results in chair dancing, dancing while driving and bopping around my house. I am the person who, with ear buds in, dances while she walks… it’s not an easy thing to do, it looks really awkward, but it’s oh so fun.

5)   I have ZERO grey hair. The phrase, “You may be thin, but I don’t have grey hair.” has become a running joke. This is my thing… Don’t take it away from me — I don’t know how much longer I can hang on to it.

6)   I don’t wear suits or blazers because I ALWAYS feel like a child in dress up clothes when I wear them.

I’d love to read six random things about you.

The cottage I’m referring to is my cousin’s cottage about a two-hour drive from Toronto. My kids really love being there. I love being there too, but I haven’t always loved it. You see when you have babies sometimes you’re a super relaxed parent and you just take your kids everywhere without batting an eye… or sometimes you’re like me.

Sometimes when your husband wants to go to the cottage or camping, you say, “Sure! That will be fun!” but then you stress about packing the million things that you need for a measly two nights. You stress out the days leading up to your “mini-break” and wonder how you’re ever going to make it. You hate the drive up there because one of your kids will most likely puke and cry the entire drive. Once you’re up there, you lose even more sleep because your baby is not in his/her regular surroundings and then you have a pretty miserable time. You’re hot. You’re tired. And you will likely do it again the following weekend — because, you’re either a martyr, trooper or an idiot. The three can be synonymous.

I did eventually see the light and started to say no. Sometimes it’s ok to just stay at home for the weekend in the summer and enjoy your neighbourhood. But now that the kids have grown a bit I don’t mind these trips as much. Sure I still don’t like packing, but it’s not so bad…

Truth be known: I have a little bit of OCD. Just a little. I don’t like sitting on couches that are not mine. Really. This is crazy I know, but I don’t. I don’t like sleeping on beds that are not mine. I don’t like bugs. I don’t like living out of a suitcase. I don’t like mosquitos. I don’t like the idea that the place is empty all week. See where I’m going with this? So you’re probably wondering why I’m going to the cottage… Well, I love my family and my friends. I also rarely turn down even a little bit of fun and spending time with my people trumps my issues. Thank God. Otherwise, I would never go anywhere.

So I’ve done something this year to lessen my load.

I’ve purchased some plastic storage bins. One for under the bed that we sleep in, and one huge one for the foot of the bed. I used to be super OCD and basically NEVER left anything up there… I think it was that deep down inside I was hoping that I wouldn’t return with my kids until they were older. But the frequency of my trips has increased and it’s annoying to have to bring these things up EVERY weekend, so I’m going to bite the bullet and leave some stuff up there in my pretty storage containers.

The under bed storage will be used for storing all of our sweaters and sweat pants. We always bring them up with us EVERY time we go up. We don’t always wear them as lately our summers have been so hot that they haven’t been necessary. My plan will eliminate a lot of back and forth of the same stuff.

My giant storage container will hold our four sleeping bags and extra bath towels. I still have to figure out what to do for my pillows… (Stella if you’re reading this I LOVE YOU and the bin is not actually that big! Oops.)

It makes sense to leave things up there. It will ultimately give me less stress when I’m packing and that’s the goal since we’ll likely be going up almost every weekend this year.

Here’s my list of what I’ll be leaving there this year:

Extra towels
Sunscreen
Hats
Sneakers
Hooded sweaters
Long sweat pants
Socks
Flip flops
All toiletries
Spare clothes
Sleeping Bags
Pillows (don’t know where yet…)

The cottage is perfect for the kids. It’s across the street from the beach — which they love and I love because the water is shallow for what seems like miles so I don’t really have to worry about them going too deep. This year we’ll be brining up all of our bikes — as both kids enjoy riding and we’ll make sure to explore the surrounding area… something that I really never wanted to do while they were babies.

Serenity now.

We are very lucky and blessed to have a relative who enjoys our company so much that she doesn’t mind having us with her every weekend. And this plan is to make it as enjoyable as possible for all of us (ahem, ahem… me). Really? A happy Sandy is a guaranteed happy weekend.

Do you frequent a cottage in the summer time? Is there anything that annoys you about going?

I’m a huge fan of Club Med and one of my favourite things to eat while I’m there (they have it at every village) is the chocolate bread that is baked fresh and available at every meal.

It’s the perfect marriage for me: bread and chocolate. Heavenly. They make white chocolate and a regular chocolate one and surprisingly I prefer the white chocolate variety which is strange for me because I generally don’t like white chocolate. Both are delicious.

The good news here is that you don’t have to take my word for it. Club Med produced this video so you can make some at home and dream about vacations while you eat it… that’s what I do anyway… so here it is:

You’re welcome.

Both kids have been to Club Med resorts — in utero… Club Med is perfect for a babymoon and we enjoyed relaxing vacations both pregnancies. My son visited the Cancun village when he was just two years old, but this was their first experience with Mini Club Med. And what an experience it was, for the entire family.

I can honestly say that it was the first vacation that my husband and I have taken with the kids where we came home relaxed. Usually when we vacation with the kids we feel like we need another vacation when we get back. Not this time.

I’m not used to being with my kids 24/7. I work, they go to school, they go to bed around eight. So a full day (or two) with the kids is nice, but seven days with the kids all day and all night can be super exhausting and at this age not much of a vacation for us tired parents.

My kids are now five and seven. This means that travelling with them is much easier than it used to be. No diapers. They carry their own stuff. No crying — well, that still happens sometimes, but I think it’s been replaced with a cross between crying and whining — “cryning” if you will.

The weather in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic was PERFECT. We had beautiful weather consistently for the entire week. The food at every Club Med village is mouth-wateringly delicious. The beach was glorious, the sand was soft and the sea was refreshing. The resort was perfect and the service was fantastic.

We arrived at the resort on a Sunday afternoon. It was beautiful, our room was ready so we were able to unpack right away — this was easy and I loved that our room had a walk-in closet with more than enough hangers and shelves. We quickly put on our swimsuits and sat by the pool for the rest of the afternoon (the pool is beautifully located right by the beach). We enjoyed the sunshine and tropical surroundings while the kids jumped in and out of the pool… it was a nice change to be in the Caribbean rather than back at home fighting about wearing hats and mittens.

Oh to be there again!

Mini Club… Oh Mini Club, I will never vacation the same way again.

I told the kids that there was a really cool kids club here called the Mini Club where they could hang out with other kids and try out new activities. They immediately said that they didn’t want to go. Of course that’s what they said. To them the alternative was them jumping in and out of the pool all day and eating French fries with Mom and Dad. (There is a grill on the beach that’s open all day and well into the night that serves yummy fries and so many other options including fresh fruit if you choose to continue to eat healthy while on vacation… I mostly ate the fries.)

Anyway, they were not too keen on the idea of hanging out at a kids club when they could be splashing around with us… so I made a deal:

“You have to go to Mini Club one day. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to go back again.” We shook on it and Monday morning off they went.

What you need:

- Some sort of backpack or bag for your child’s belongings. I was lucky enough to have gotten one on our flight from the lovely flight attendants on our Sun Wing flight.

- Sunscreen (one for each of them as they are split up by age group.)

- Sun Hat

- Swim suit

- Change of clothing

- Running shoes & socks

- Flip flops or sandals

They went back every day after that. And my son is still telling me that he misses Mini Club.

Here’s why I loved it:

They had a different activity every hour. They never got bored!

I could drop them off or pick them up at any time.

My five year old went on a trapeze, did arts and crafts, played in the playground, in the kids’ pool and had fun on the beach.

A very brave Alexandra!

My seven year old fell in love with archery, kayaking and enjoyed playing basketball, soccer and tennis.

Andreas’ bullseye!!!

They both got to be a part of a special show at the end of the week that the GOs (Gracious Organizers — what the resort staff are called) put on with all of the kids in the different age groups at the Mini Club. They wore cute costumes and had their makeup done. They loved it and we — the proud parents — loved it too!

They had a blast on a slip and slide on the beach and they both met new friends that they haven’t stopped talking about since we’ve been home.

The GOs were patient, enthusiastic, accommodating, friendly, multilingual and fun. With the kids and us! The fresh fruit that they served on the beach and by the pool every afternoon was perfect. The coffee was just right and the chocolate bread was divine.

What I loved most about Mini Club: I read three books on my vacation. I was truly relaxed. I knew that my kids were being taken care of and well. (They didn’t get sunburned!) I could see that they were really enjoying themselves. It wasn’t just about dumping the kids off at the club… they were loving it! Meeting new kids, being exposed to different languages and people from all over the world, it was wonderful.

My husband and I enjoyed lunches together and even a couple of dinners alone. The Mini Club also has a dinner and a show experience for your kids. If you keep them in all day, you must pick them up at 5:30pm and then drop them off again at 7pm for dinner. They then have a show that the GOs put on — specifically for the kids and then you pick them up at 9pm. On the nights that we did have dinner with the kids, we dropped them off — at their request — to watch the show at 8:15pm and had until 9pm to enjoy a child-free, after-dinner drink. Bliss.

Two very relaxed parents.

It really was the best vacation I’ve had with my kids. We were well rested, we met some fantastic people and we had a whole lot of fun. All of us did.

Club Med, Punta Cana 2013

If you’re thinking of booking an all-inclusive holiday for your entire family visit www.clubmed.ca you won’t regret it.

Let me present to you: Easter Egg Rice Krispies Treats

Easy but messy.

Here goes…

Shopping List:

Rice Krispies (6 cups)
Mini Marshmallows (5 cups)
Butter (1/4 cup & extra)
Vanilla Extract (½ teaspoon)
Plastic Easter eggs (the ones that open so you can fill them with goodies – I bought a pack for $1.)
Cake decorating icing tubes (I suggest the little ones, I tried using the big tubes and the icing just looked like big blobs.)
Any kind of sprinkles or sugar decorations that you’d like to use.

Wash and dry your plastic eggs and set aside. The ones that I bought were attached by a little piece of plastic. I broke them apart to make it easier for removing the gooey sweetness.

*Melt your butter over low heat.

Add in the marshmallows and stir until they melt. (I am an over-stirrer… I don’t want it to stick to the bottom of my pan.)

Add the vanilla. Turn off the heat.

Next add in the Rice Krispies and stir until it’s all coated. You’re looking for yummy and gooey.

This is where the ‘fun’ starts.

I basically used butter like hand cream and coated my hands in it because handling this is super sticky.

Take the bottom half of a plastic egg and fill it. Take the top part of the egg and fill that. Squish the two parts together and set aside. Do this for all of your eggs. Be patient, the mixture is so sticky and the eggs can be slippery (I credit this to my buttery hands). My daughter didn’t really enjoy touching the mixture, but she did enjoy handing me the eggs and putting them together after I filled them.

I left the filled plastic eggs while I made mini chocolate chip muffins (also for the bake sale) and cleaned up the mess in my kitchen. I don’t know how long it actually takes for the treat to mold to the shape of the egg, but I would imagine that it could happen quite quickly.

Now it’s time to separate the eggs to remove the treat. The technique that worked for me was removing the top of the eggs and twisting the bottom with one hand while holding the treat with the other until it was loose.

With a serrated knife, slice the egg-shaped treat in half from top to bottom. Then lay the “egg” cut side down on a tray and they are ready for decorating. Once the icing is dry store them in an airtight container.

We decorated these as a family and it was a lot of fun. Decorating them was definitely my daughter’s favourite part. She was really proud of them when we brought them to the bake sale table at school this morning and she even used her 50cents to buy the one decorated like a bunny.

Do you have a favourite and fun treat that your kids love helping with?

*This recipe is taken from the back of the Rice Krispies cereal box! Fun right? And this is in no way sponsored by Kellogg’s, it’s a classic!

You know the ones:

“Little Johnny fell asleep in his exersaucer today! So cute!”

“Hazel was eating and just feel asleep in her peas! And she love peas!”

“Bella was building a tower and I found her asleep in all the blocks! What an angel!”

“I can’t believe that every day like clockwork, Ben falls asleep at 10am for three hours no matter where he is! Yesterday I found him asleep while crawling up the stairs!”

You know the stories. You may even have some yourself. You’re lucky.

Believe me when I say that my babies NEVER did this. Sleep was always planned and always took a lot of effort. Save for stroller walks with my son — those usually had him asleep in minutes. We did not experience spontaneous napping.

Until this one time, at dad camp… I was out grocery shopping alone and received a text (no smart phones back then) with a, “You’re never going to believe what just happened…” from my husband.

This is what happens when I’m alone with daddy.

Lucky bastard.

This year all four of us have been wearing Bogs boots. Initially, I thought that they wouldn’t be warm enough but I’m happy to say that we all have dry and warm feet. They have been fantastic!

That same day while we were driving to gymnastics this is what I heard from the backseat:

“Mom, thanks for these boots. They are my favourite. They keep my feet dry. They are warm. They are comfortable and they are light. I love these!”

There you have it Bogs Footwear: The best testimonial ever.