a peek inside the fishbowl

It’s Wednesday and we’re up to day three of March Break already. I can hardly believe it.

Day two was spent thusly:

  • lolling around in PJs watching Ruby Gloom
  • playing outside
  • eating breakfast for lunch
  • poking around the Experimental Farm with friends
  • walking down to Westboro Village for coffee and cookies
  • visiting the candy store
  • walking to the grocery store for dinner and cupcake ingredients
  • checking out a new Mediterranean pastry shop after dinner

Today, so far, we:

  • drove daddy to work (the girls wore their PJs in the car. They were thrilled.)

The girls are watching (more) Ruby Gloom at the moment. Plans are rather loosey goosey because I have some work to finish up this morning, but that’s okay. Our day may or may not include cupcake making, crafting, and a movie. It will include laundry whether we like it or not.

The superlovely producer at CBC emailed me a copy of my interview for posting here at the Fishbowl.

I won’t be listening to it. I just can’t, even though I can’t remember what it is that I said exactly and want to double-check to make sure I sounded okay. (Related: I also cannot read an article I’ve written for any newspaper or magazine after it’s been published. It hurts me to do so.) I guess I invest so much into these things that it pains me to revisit them. I know that makes me sound totally neurotic, but there it is. :)

The thing I’ve learned about radio/tv interviews is that the the time allotted goes by extremely quickly.

By the way, Adrian Harewood is just as nice as you probably think he is, and a lot shorter. :)

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I had a very nice chat with a CBC radio producer yesterday about fun, family-friendly March Break activities for Ottawa children. I gave her all ideas I had (many of which were from a recent Savvy Mom article) and she invited me to come to the studio to talk about it Monday afternoon on All in a Day. I am thrilled about this (not just because I’m a big fan of Adrian Harewood), but because I think that there is a huge shortage of good resources for Ottawa-area families and I’m glad CBC is reaching out to the idea-starved among us. :)

I think it’s really easy for parents to burn out over March Break. The trick to surviving it with our sanity intact is to find a good balance of activities – big and small, home and away, free and not-so-free – but not overdo it so we’re feeling wrung out by the end of the week.

As we all know, if mummy’s not happy, NO ONE IS HAPPY. :)

I do like planning a little something every day. Some idea of things we might do:

  • Visit daddy at work and take him out to lunch
  • Design some invites, bake some cupcakes, and host a tea party with neighboring children
  • Invite a little friend over for make-your-own-pizza and a movie
  • Host a sleepover party without the actual sleeping. (Canadian Family mag called it a “Sleepunder party” … love that term for it!) Invite kids to come over in their jammies (with teddy bears of course) eat popcorn and watch a movie, then send them home.
  • Take in a movie at Rainbow Cinema
  • Baking and crafting … OF COURSE (this will be a whole separate post)
  • Road trip … where, I don’t know yet. (ETA: maybe the sugarbush? We went to Fulton’s last year and it was a pretty goo.)

I would love to hear your thoughts about what you’re planning for March Break 2009 (or Spring Break as some call it). Are you like many working parents and sending your kids to camp for the week? Are you forgoing a holiday because of the economy? Do you do the museums or avoid them completely during this time of year? Are you an over-planner or under-planner? (i.e. do you find yourself scheduling every minute of every day or are you the type who chills at home?

Is it March Break for you, or March Breakdown? ;)

Anyway, I’m at the point where I have enough ideas to bring to the table, but if you have a stand-out idea that other Ottawa parents would appreciate … please share! (And I can try and give a shout out on the radio too!) Thank you!

Archives


  • Jeanie Maennling: I spent many wonderful days visiting my cousins and Uncle Herb and aunt Eleanor at the Farm in the 1950's. Mycousin Skippy (Sharon) and I got into l
  • alex: For a classic Canadian treat for valentine day , try a BeaverTail (a fried dough pastry) there its yummy
  • Juliet Luiz: I was at this park today and saw the foundation and historical sign which got me curious and let me to your blog post! Great information:) too bad t
  • Rowyn Tape: Hello, I was sitting at Easter dinner with my grandmother and she was telling me this story. She is Herbert Lytles daughter who eventually bought the
  • Bernie: I freeze ball sizes of bread dough for beavertails each winter season.Easy to thaw, roll out and fry. Best winter treat!
  • Jen_nifer: I feel very much the same about my SUP. Floating with snacks is fantastic! When I go on water with some current, I make sure that I paddle into the cu
  • sam: Great article. This is very insightful. Thanks for sharing

The Obligatory Blurb

My name is Andrea and I live in Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Sunny who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. During the day I work as a freelance writer. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.

If you're so inclined, you can read more about me here.

I've deactivated the commenting function as well as my contact form so if you want to get in touch, please drop me a line at quietfish@gmail.com. Thank you!

 


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