a peek inside the fishbowl

Two things! Three things!

I’m a featured speaker at an upcoming MomCafe Ottawa event. The topic is Content Counts: Media Mamas Spreading the Word. It’s coming up on Friday November 12 at the GCTC (a bee-you-tee-ful venue!) and childcare is provided onsite. I’m not sure how many tickets are left (!) but it’s worth looking into if you’re interested. Deets are here!

Also, my post at the UsedEverywhere blog today is about a lost toy that broke my four year-old heart. Click over and share your story too, I’d love to hear it. :)

Edited to add: I’ve also added a link to an experimental Facebook page. Scroll down to see it. Here’s the rub: I get a lot of requests to promote local events for kids and families and I just can’t squeeze them all in here. I don’t know if it’s going to work yet, but I’d like to get event organizers to post their own events on the wall. What do you think? Will it work or am I just opening myself up to kooks? ;)

I’m looking ahead to Christmas. This is rare for me, but 8-12 can be a tough age to buy for and I want to file away some gift ideas for reference. So why not do it here!

It’s easy to succumb to electronic gadgetry (remember this post?) but as much as I love gadgets of all kinds I don’t think my kids are old enough. Besides, they’re still happy with traditional toys, so why rush it?

I like traditional and retro toys. It’s funny how they’re making a big comeback. For example, Monchichi. Do you remember (here’s a YouTube video in case you’ve blocked them from your memory). I used to COVET Monchichi. Never got one though. Boo.

Before I launch into the list I want to mention that although shopping for toys and games online makes Christmas shopping very easy I do encourage you to support your local neighborhood toy stores. There are a LOT of them in Ottawa, right across the city. And they need our support! For example:

• Tag Along Toys (a blog patron) is one-stop toy shopping in Kanata. They carry many incredibly thoughtful and lovely toys for boys and girls of all ages. Note! The folks at Tag Along are hosting a private shopping evening on Tuesday November 16 between 6-8 p.m. … and you will receive 20% off your purchases! Woot! Clear your calendars because you will want to be there! Please tell them I sent you, ok? :)

Other local toys stores in Ottawa include:

• Mrs. Tiggywinkle’s, with locations in Westboro, Rideau Centre, and Bayshore S.C.
• PlayValue is on Carling near Kirkwood and has a great assortment of puzzles and Playmobil. And a giant trampoline in the back. You may never leave.
• 3 Little Monkeys on Bank St. (Remember them?)
• Any others?

Without further ado… here are a few of my personal faves from around the interwebs that I’ve scoped out for Christmas 2010. I’m going to keep adding to this list. It’s just a starting point, so let me know what you’d add.

Active play

• Ogo Super Sports Disk pack
• Metal bike bell
• Wrist shooters
• Zipfy mini luge
• A skipper – just like mum had!
• This might be the year we pick up snowshoes. Here are a few from MEC. But I wonder if it’d be easier to rent from Trailhead? Or maybe cross-country skiis? Am undecided.

Games

• Bananagrams
• Minotaurus
• Pocket-sized 20 Questions. We have an older version of this 20 questions game. It’s great. We all play!

Crafty stuff

• Knot-a-Quilt: We have this, I totally recommend it.
• Also, from the same company, Make a Ruffle Rug
• Michael’s has a sale on knitting supplies right now. They have lovely needles just for kids and lots of chunky yarns.
• Paints, watercolour pencils, journals, sketch pads (we love EcoJot!) are all great gifts for this age too.
• Tag Along carries a series of Djeco art sets. Finished projects are stunning, and framable! Emma is really interested in fashion design – and Djeco carries a few kits that lean in that direction.

I asked the question about gift ideas for kids age 8-12 on Twitter the other day and got some great suggestions. Here are a few:

“Drawing has been huge for my kids in those ages so lots of sketch pads, pencils, pastels, etc. Also Magnetx or Lego sets. Favorite books for mine are Gordon Korman books, Dear Canada Books,and Geronimo Stilton” – Luvschweetheart

“board games like stratego” – Lavender_Salts

“my 12 loves to read. I will send u some book titles.” – AnnBac9

“movie passes, wimpy kid book (new one is out!), museum passes, lego/construction pieces, sports equipment” – bitofmomsense

“UNO cards! Cranium for kids (Cadoo?). A cribbage board (for the upper age). Cool fact books.” – GaryChampagne

“my 8 & 11 y.o.s like LEGO (of course) and those big art kits from Michaels and sketch books” – hotelqueen

“I’m pretty sure I was about that age when I got my first “real” set of paints. also, we love experiential gifts” – hellokaitlin

“just found out about the Klutz books – what a neat idea!” – withthesuper8

“… I cannot say enough good things about Lego all around. Sadly, MegaBlocks not as good.” – fritzmel 

“My 8yo loves Little Pets, fairy books by Daisy Meadows, craft supplies, and board games” – theblogmother 

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Lots of great ideas there eh? I suspect that a lot of these toys and will be making appearances on many lists across Canada this year.

What  kind of toys are you considering? And where do you go to buy them? Help a fellow parent and let us know.

Coming up in this series of gift planning posts: (1) books and (2) Etsy and handmade holidays. Stay tuned!

Let’s cut to the chase. I LOVED this recipe. The girls definitely did not. Gah.

And like an 11-year old who’s just had his water pistol confiscated, a certain husband said: “How could you do this to one of my favourite dishes?” He looked very sad indeed.

“Why did you put cauliflower in the macaroni mummy?” came the question (asked carefully lest I explode and mar the dining room floor).
“Well, I thought you’d all like it this way…!”

Lame, I know. But I thought that cheese would be the great equalizer here.

Here’s the thing I hate about cooking: I research, shop for, spend time and energy making a particular dish and when the family doesn’t eat it I sometimes feel like (a) yelling (b) pouring myself a giant glass of wine and bringing my plate into the other room and (c) eating ALONE IN FRONT OF THE TELEVISION. Ingrates.

I want my family to be healthy, to know what a good meal is, and to show the girls that home cooking is good. Is that so terrible?

I now understand how some parents make their kids sit at the table until their meal is finished because DANGNABBIT, I WORKED HARD TO MAKE THAT SO YOU ARE GOING TO WORK HARD AND CHOKE IT DOWN. (Not that I would ever do that of course.) :)

As I mentioned, this recipe is good. Very good! But then again I love my veggies. I accidentally made too much and gave half of it to my neighbours. They have little kids – a toddler and 9 month old – and apparently it was all gobbled up. So there. Not so bad!

I used this recipe from Epicurious: Multigrain macaroni and cheese with cauliflower.

My recipe notes:

• I didn’t measure out the macaroni and just dumped in a 375g box. (This proved to be too much macaroni, but on the flipside it made more, which you could probably freeze if you weren’t giving it away to a neighbor.) If there is ever a next time I will make sure to weigh it out first.
• I dispensed with the crumb topping. It’s just not my thing.
• I really recommend you use sharp cheese. It gives this dish a really nice zing.
• A note about sour cream. Use the real stuff. None of this fat-reduced krrrrep. Read the label. ISour cream should not contain corn starch or things you don’t recognize. My fave brand right now is regular Western. Soooo good. Life is too short, so use superior sour cream.
• I served it with Caesar salad, and for the girls, raw red pepper rings.

If you make this let me know! I’m dying to know if other families liked it.