Over 500,000 children’s head injuries are recorded each year!

The Thudguard hat is a revolutionary product from United Kingdom; an infant safety hat designed to help absorb and reduce the impact of falls from a child’s own height and lessen the chance of head injury.

It is suitable for tumbling tots aged 7-18 months.
[Babys First Headgear]

Jen’s not a fan, she says they’re a little dorky, and while a fine and cute accessory for kids with certain medical needs, she thinks it’s a bit over the top for your average rough and tumble toddler. After all, Jen says, aren’t scrapes and bumps part of being a kid?

I contacted Charlotte from Baby’s First Headgear after Z smacked himself 3 times in 4 days. I even had him wear it to daycare to see what the other kids had to say. He was the centre of attention, and a bit of a curiosity to say the least.

Now you’ll notice the biggest smile and not a care in the world on our little man. He wasn’t the least bit self conscious being totally safe. I mean, we wear helmets when we ride our bikes, why not one when we’re learning to walk? It can be just as bonky on the head.

Jen’s still not convinced. Z hasn’t worn it since that day last week.

Hey at least it wasnt the baby stripper pole, the baby cage or any of these other baby products that should be illegal.

How do you treat this request? Toss $10 or $15 or $20 into the kitty? I mean, we’re “supposed” to tip our garbage guys, hairdresser, grocery clerk, bank teller, mail person etc etc this time of year. Why not teachers?

Ruff Ruminations went and canvassed teachers in her area and this is what they said:

Often they do not use or like to receive the gift cards as they are for items like coffee or restaurants and one can only go to the same place so often or they might not even drink coffee or like to take luxurious bathes.

They prefer the gifts with meaning that are handmade

They feel uncomfortable receive expensive gifts [Ruff Ruminations]

$10 is no big deal, in the grand scheme of the excellent teaching and attention my son’s teachers give. It’s less than the tip I’ll give some bar star waitress to bring me a steak and a beer at a restaurant.

Still, we go the handmade route when it comes to gifts for our “support staff” (teachers, garbage, mail, neighbors etc) this time of year. Something the kids help make, something that has a personal effort put into it, something from the heart.

Superstore has bakeware that you can buy and then give away. They’re lined cardboard boxes that not only let you bake brownies or banana bread, but provide a cute box that you can giveaway. They come in packs of 4 squares or 6 loaves for $10 and also have red ribbons to tie a jaunty bow.

In the gift boxes, we bake Ghirardelli Brownies.

In 2010, Oprah named it one of her favorite things and The Today Show did a survey on best instant brownies and this won. They are fabulous. We bought a fleet of the instant mix at Costco last year when it was on sale.

If you prefer to go from scratch, here’s a knock off recipe that claims to be better if you can’t find the box. You could also fill the boxes with Christmas pastries, tarts or these simple peanut butter cookies.

We solved it simply by making some of the best brownies in the world.

What gifts do you give to your children’s teachers?

I run marathons for Team Diabetes.

I’m not a diabetic. I don’t have a direct connection to anyone with diabetes in my immediate life, but this is the cause I have chosen to support for selfish reasons – it makes me healthy.

Type 2 Diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions in our country. More than 9 million people are living with diabetes or prediabetes, an illness that is, mostly, preventable.

Recent estimates show 90-95% of those with diabetes in Canada have Type 2. That’s 8 million people, almost a quarter of our population, that are drawing on our health care system’s resources unnecessarily.

1 million Canadians don’t even know they have diabetes, the 7th leading cause of death in Canada.

Preventing Type 2 Diabetes is easy. Eat right. Get active. Care about your body.

That’s it. It’s that simple. So, by being a part of Team Diabetes, and setting annual goals of marathons, 10k races and half marathons around the world, I’m putting a finish line ahead of me and dangling a carrot to watch what I eat and keep active.

It’s that simple.

While doing that, I’m creating awareness about diabetes. I’m educating friends, colleagues, listeners and readers about how nasty this disease can be and how easy it is to prevent. Hopefully I inspire other people to get on board and join Team Diabetes to get their own health on track and keep themselves out of the system.

I’m also raising money as I train and prepare for the Team Diabetes raises (more than $20 000 so far) to help researchers find an end to this illness. While Type 2 Diabetes is largely preventable, there are still those who are Type 1 Diabetics, those who were “born with it” and didn’t have a choice in how their pancreas controls their blood sugars. Pregnant women are also susceptible to gestational diabetes and the money I raise helps fight that side effect some face while going through the miracle of life.

It’s important we all give back in some way in our lives. Scan the comments on Erica’s post and see if there’s something that inspires you.

I’d love it if you joined me on Team Diabetes.

I’m currently recruiting people to come on board for a 10k, half marathon or marathon in Reykjavik, Iceland in August 2012. You have more than 9 months to do the training and get the fundraising done. As you get on board, you’ll be putting you and your family on a healthier path, you’ll be raising money to help others living with diabetes and the carrot at the end of it all is a trip to the land of fire and ice (flights, accomodations, transfers, training are all covered by your fundraising with Team Diabetes).

I can’t think of a better day to join – today is World Diabetes Day, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, the Canadian who discovered insulin 90 years ago.

Join me and become a Diabetes Champion.

To monitor it you could do some fancy statistical analysis or you could just look at two hashtags on Twitter. #kidcount and #yyc are the tags people are using to track trick or treaters in their communities around Calgary.

Many are talking about few if any kids coming around.

@MalloryEvasiuk wonders where all the trick-or-treaters are in #yyc i remember as a kid mom would count 300+ kids per year i have had 10 #sad #morecandy4me

@TSG36 I had a total of 3 kids this year-3 more than last yr…where are all the trick or treaters in New Brighton?! #kidcount #Halloween2011 #yyc

@DarciBrianne Only 41 kids tonight. Thats depressing considering we used to get about 150-200. =( #yyc #kidcount #shawnessy

@JenFuchs Next kid that comes gets the rest of the bowl! #kidcount #yyc

I had a blast walking the 4 blocks around our neighborhood with my son tonight. I stood at the sidewalk chatting with other parents, laughing and smiling at the kids and their costumes.

I soaked in the enthusiasm of youth and bathed in the politeness of my boy saying “Thank you! Happy Halloween!” to each neighbour and then bounding down the driveway announcing “Daddy, I got more candy!” as if it was some biblical breaking of bread and fish that was producing his bounty.

@Pistachio we fell in with a crew of 5 neighbor kids and 2 other parents and our posse of 10 had a grand time going door-to-door and chatting.

That’s what this night is supposed to be about. The normal quiet streets of suburbia bursting at the seams with giggles, sharing and small talk.

Then you scroll the hashtags and you find that this neighborly enthusiasm wasn’t a city-wide event. Then you see what the schools are doing by discouraging kids to dress up and you see the spirit of the season start to fade. Not everyone was on the streets mingling.

Kiri W wrote a great post today with 7 reasons why you should take your kids out.

Halloween is one of the only times in the year that it’s normal to knock on the door of an unknown person, have that person happily open the door, have a bit of a conversation and leave with everyone feeling good about it.

Shopping centres host trick-or-treating events because it gets a prime demographic through the doors to spend a couple hours window-shopping. They’re billed as “safe” alternatives, giving the false impression that neighbourhood trick-or-treating somehow isn’t safe. Taking your kids to the mall instead of exploring your neighbourhood sends your kids the message that commercial entities are preferred (more trusted?) than people down your street. [source]

It’s all about breathing life into the community and sharing a festival with friends and strangers alike.

I wonder why the numbers are shrinking? Stats Canada says the population of trickers and treaters (5-14) is dwindling in the country, but I live in a community surrounded by 3 schools 5 playgrounds and the houses are less than 8 years old. This is a “young family community.”

If you took your kids to the mall for Halloween, you’re part of the problem. Stop being afraid that something bad is going to happen. There were dozens of us on the streets having fun tonight. It should have been hundreds.

What was your kid count? Who do you think is killing Halloween?

I went with my 3 yr old and 7 month old and they both LOVED it.

Okay, perhaps Charlie didn’t really understand what was going on, but there were enough bright colours to keep him entertained. Zacharie was equally thrilled, often jumping up to wave to the new dinosaurs when they entered the ring and even growling back at T Rex when the climax took place.

The show does have a bit of gore as 3 dinosaurs pick at the carcass of a dead dino, and there are confrontations throughout the show, but none leading to any big battles.

The big discussion in our house came about whether or not to disprove the mythology of the show. My son was excited to go see “Dinosaurs!” So do we tell him it’s a make-believe dinosaur show or there are real live dinos in the arena? We decided to tell him it was pretend to help allay any fears that might arise (He did, after all, get spooked by the conveyor belt to the melter scene in Toy Story 3).

Sitting down and watching some of the Walking With Dinosaurs videos on YouTube to get him prepared (and excited) for the event also eased him in to the experience.

Walking With Dinosaurs is just real enough to give you a sense of what life was like millions years ago and just fake enough not to totally spook the kids.

Have you ever wanted to explore your city? Go to new places? Have fun with your kids? Geocaching is for for you.

What is geocaching??

According to geocaching.com the definition of geocaching is…

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment

I just started caching a couple months ago, and my family loves it. What person doesn’t like hunting for treasure? My children eat it up, they love to find the cache and then argue over what they are going to trade for.

To get started with geocaching all you need is a GPS (preferably a handheld model) and a membership to geocaching.com. (It is free to join but can upgrade to a $30/year membership which has some “advanced” features that you might be interested in if/when you get addicted.) If you have a GPS enabled phone, like the iPhone, there are “apps for that.” We used a great geocaching app that can be downloaded here.

After you sign up for your account I would suggest entering your address in the “search for geocaches” section of the homepage. You would be amazed to see how many caches are within walking distance from your home.

Click on a few and read the description.

There is a difficulty and terrain levels that are something to consider, especially when caching with kids. I have never done anything harder than a difficulty 2 and a terrain 2 when caching with small children. Also take a look at the cache size which can sometimes increase the difficulty. There is sometimes a hint which can be very helpful. Reading through the recent logs section can sometimes help you along.

Ok so you have located a cache and you want to go find it. Now what do you do?

You can enter the coordinates in your GPS and off you go. With the geocaching iPhone app you can also “find nearby geocaches” or “search by GC code” which is also very handy. Once you get to the coordinates of the cache you usually have to search around. (Remember GPS can be out a few meters.) Search up, down and especially under. My kids especially like this part and I truly think they are better at it then I am. They have better “caching sense” than I do.

Don’t be disappointed if you don’t find the cache right away. Reread the description, read the hint, and read the recent logs. All of these will help you look in the right direction.

Ok I found the cache, now what???

The cache will usually be some type of plastic container of varying size and will contain at minimum a log book. First things first, sign the log book. And then, this is the fun part, you can trade for whats in the cache with something of equal or greater value.

My kids love to trade stuff. We have a cache box that we bring along that has little toys and such that we scrounged from the house. Somehow there is a lot of McDonalds toys in that box

Now all the trading is done and the log book is signed, you need to put the cache back in the same spot for the next geocacher to find.

Remember to watch out for “muggles” while caching.

These are non-geocachers who may not understand why you are looking under stumps and such. The last thing anyone wants is for a cache to be stolen or destroyed by a muggle. So be secretive, the kids also like this. Our family was once searching for a cache in a playground, there happened to be another family playing there. My children weren’t so secretive as our oldest decided to scream across the playground “Did you find the cache yet?”. Kids will be kids.

When you get home you can log your find on geocaching.com if you haven’t done so already on your GPS enabled phone.

Some things to help you along.

The forums on geocaching.com are awesome and there are many fellow cachers just waiting to help.

Also if you arrive at a cache site and there is someone else staring at a GPS, say HI, we are mostly friendly. I have met lots of awesome people while caching.

I have had many unique experiences while caching. As a father it is always a quick way to get the kids out of the house and away from the TV. When ever we see or receive a small toy the children always say “hey we can put that in the cache box” . It is great to see them excited about something that everyone in the family enjoys. We once ran into a fellow caching couple and they said one of my favorite quotes “if we weren’t caching we would just be sitting in front of the TV”.

Caching also brings families together that have similar interests. Once when caching with another family we found a very interesting cache. It was a empty 3ft. long artillery shell that was wrapped in tree bark and then was leaning against a tree. It was just a couple feet from the trail but you would have never noticed it unless you were looking for it. There are many caches in the city hidden in obvious places like under bus stops in a small magnetic micro container. No bigger then your thumbnail.

No matter how young or old you are, geocaching is a awesome way to explore your city or others. On our first caching experience I discovered a huge duck pond at a park I had been to a thousand times. Remember you never know what is in you own backyard. As a parent I find that when geocaching there are many opportunities to teach my children. Whether it is about local plants or wildlife or how to deal with personal interactions with people we see on our day.

Have fun caching. See you on the trail.

Sean is a busy dad to two girls aged 7 and 6 and a very active 2 ½ year old boy. Sean’s day are spent changing the big tires for Fountain Tire while nights are spent along side his wife Sarah as a super-parenting duo, chauffeuring kids, making school lunches and conquering the bed time routine. Sean’s love for gadgets, technology and Geocaching can be followed on his twitter feed @seanfunk.

Photo by BobnRenee on Flickr

Imagine what they do to the car seats.

In 2008, we dragged a Britax Marathon across Paris through the subways and up and down stairs all so we could have it for our week long drive through the Loire Valley.

We thought it made sense at the time. We were new parents with a 10 month old and were still paranoid about everyone else’s responsibility. How could we be certain a euro carseat would be safe? What are their standards? etc.

So we dragged it up and down stairs, on the metro, through the streets and into airports. It was a gong show, but we did it.


This weekend I’m on a quick getaway to Toronto, just me and Z. I was going to bring the seat, but for $25 I could rent one for the weekend. Since I’m one parent with one roaming toddler, I thought it best to limit the baggage and decided to rent.

I admit I was a little testy on Twitter when I was faced with having to install the seat on my own, despite having pre-booked it in my rental requirements.

Twitter responded swiftly.

@stv be thankful. Avis once preinstalled a seat upside down for me.

@LeftCoastMama would you trust anyone else to install the carseats? At least you know you installed it correctly.

@Edmonton_eh by law, they can not install it and the parent is required only. It a liability and insurance issue

Okay, so car rental companies won’t pre-install car seats. It’s a liability issue. That’s a reasonable argument and I must admit I’m disappointed the policy seems to extend to inspecting car seats.

I’ve rented from Hertz this weekend. My first car seat came with no instructions or strap to tighten the shoulder harness. The second seat had instructions but was still musty, twisted, knotted and a beast to install. My parents also rented a car and seat for my niece and also had one missing straps and harnesses.

I’ve been asking myself all weekend – I dragged it across Paris, why couldn’t I have done the same in Toronto?

@AkashSablok Take ur seat with you or at least lots of sanitizing wipes & extra straps!

Well, that works until something like this happens:

@b_energy we took ours to Italy and the airline lost our luggage, lucky THAT rental place had an excellent car seat.

So what do you do when you rent a car? Bring your car seat or rent one?

There are 2 keys for families buying a new home: proximity to schools and parks. Our new home is close to 3 schools and what I thought was 2 parks. Then I found another one. And another one. And another one.

We have the yellow park, the green park, the brown park and the list goes on and on and on.

Yesterday we took Zacharie to Prince’s Island Park in the heart of downtown Calgary and we had a wild day playing on the train, going down slides and climbing around. And when I say “we,” I mean all of us. Zacharie, me, Jen – we all had fun climbing and running all around. That’s the best part of playgrounds, the chance to get out and climb and run and race with the little one. You couldnt pay for this kind of cross training.

Prince’s Island’s playground has a great layout too, the benches for supervising are in the centre and the play area circles it. Parents can sit in the middle and see their kids playing right in front instead of trying to peek around apparatus to see their children.

Another day this past weekend we went to check out Telus World of Science – we never made it in. There are two big slides outside and Zacharie had enough of a blast that we just stayed outside. A family membership to Telus World of Science is $120, to play at a playground is free. Which do you think he has more fun at?

It was a luxury we couldn’t afford in Vancouver, but in Calgary we were going to try and make it work. However something has happened in the past month we’ve been here. Zacharie has gotten bored. With Jen wrapped up in the second to second care of a newborn, our toddler has probably watched a little too much tv and his socialization has slipped.

Sure it’s great to have a parent at home, but the thing we noticed about Zacharie being in daycare, versus our friends who stayed home to raise their children, was that Zacharie was much better adjusted to playing with other kids. He’s great at sharing. He’s eager to meet new friends and he plays really well with others. And now that he’,home with his parents, he’s missing out.

A new season at your local community centre has arrived and the program guides are being mailed out. If you didn’t notice it in the mail, call them up and find out what’s coming up in the spring. We’ve registered Zacharie for gym classes, sing-a-longs, tumble time and arts and crafts. The classes run for 90 minutes in the morning and it’s a chance for Z to get back and hang with his peeps. And they’re not expensive. $60 for 6 weeks of classes and we’ve got him in 2 different ones each week.

Just because you’ve chosen to be a stay at home parent, doesn’t mean your children should be stay at home too. Get them out, make some friends and change up their routine.

When I first told some non-parent friends about Tractorland, they assumed it was an amusement park like Disneyland or Legoland. And it is – in the mind of a toddler.

Tractorland is a Kubota dealership just outside of Calgary. We passed it on the way in to town and I made a mental note to bring Zacharie back. After all, when we took him to Hastings Park in Vancouver, he was most excited about the tractors grooming the track in between races instead of the horses in the paddock.

My son loves tractors. His favourite episode of Mighty Machines is the farm episode. He can name them all: combine harvester, plow, spreader, tractor, backhoe, baler, etc.

So can you imagine the thrill he gets when he goes to a parking lot filled with tractors?

“Daddy, I wanna drive this one!” He would scream before spotting a different one across the lot and waving “Hi Tractor Tom!”

For 30 minutes he scurried from rig to rig. Waving, giggling, explaining, naming and having a blast. You can spend whatever to get in to an amusement park for a day, but the smile wouldn’t have been bigger than the one my son had for free at a tractor dealership.

Got a Mighty Machines thrilled toddler?

Take a weekend day trip to your city works yard to see all the garbage trucks parked in a row. Get outside the city and find your neighborhood “tractorland” where the farmers go to get their machines. Heck, just go to your local pickup truck dealer and let him point and drool. It’s free to look around, the propreitors are used to the toddler attention and are friendly and your son will swear it was the best day ever.