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Custom content created for the Playground Confidential blog between 2008 and 2017

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Grown-Up Meals

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The last post for The All Good Blog by McCain that came out of the conversation I had with Calgary radio host and DadCAMP blogger, Buzz Bishop, and Laura O’Rourke of Mommy Miracles is all about eating without kids. Now you’re talking!

Actually, as I read it over, I realized why my wedding anniversary just came and went without even the passing thought of dinner reservations.

A proper, adult night out is SO MUCH work. I have to start planning for it first thing in the morning, really. Isn’t that pathetic? I’ll have already lined up my mom to come sit, but I don’t want her to have to do anything besides hang with the kids. So I’ll try to get any deadlines met or loose ends taken care of in the morning and then spend toddler naptime showering and choosing an outfit, rushing around the house trying to tidy up and laying out the kids’ PJs on their beds. After school I rush whoever has homework up to take care of it, make them a light snack and then pop a frozen pizza or chicken fingers or whatever in the oven.

Inevitably, when my mom arrives I am still in the washroom putting the finishing touches on my makeup and hobbling around on one high-heeled shoe trying to figure out where one of my daughters made off with the other one.

Check out the rest to see how I stumbled on my new favourite pastime: date night in.

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The Best Little Laugh: Mary Edition

This adorableness has been generously sponsored by Fisher-Price.

“Where are your shoes, Mary?” I ask with an exaggerated lilt.

She looks around and spots one by front door. Putting a little hustle into her waddle, she rushes over to pick it up.

“Unn . . . sue!” she says and beams.

“That’s right, Mary!” I say, my voice registering an impossible level of excitement. “One shoe! But where is the other one? Where is your other shoe?”

That’s right. We are upping the ante now, people, and it’s going to be good.

She looks all around. She squats and tilts her head to one side. She stands up and holds her hands with palms upturned. Her face scrunches up in distress. “Ah gone. Gone!”

“What’s that, baby girl? Your shoe is gone?” I say and then scoop her up into my arms. “It’s all gone?!”

“Ah gone!”

She furrows her brow and looks at me.

“All gone!”

I smile. Then her scowl starts to crack and her little face erupts into a grin. Then she starts to giggle and so do I. She’s laughing now, a big, full-belly chuckle. And I’m laughing too, laughing so hard my heart hurts from the love.

* * *

It kills me sometimes to think how fleeting these moments are. When I think back to when Colum was a baby, I can remember times like these. I remember rolling around on my bed with him, laughing and laughing and laughing at nothing at all. Or I remember that it happened anyway. The sharpness is starting to blur in those older memories, the details of his face and how he sounded are badly faded.

So I’m really happy I managed to capture this video of Mary a couple months ago. (Sorry, Colum.)

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The Tech Timeout Challenge

Thank you to Foresters for sponsoring this post.

“Can I just watch Wild Kratts?” Colum said, already halfway to the TV.

“Dinner is going to be ready in, like, five minutes. So I don’t think —”

The TV was turned on and Irene instantly materialized to join him. Well, fine.

“Mary,” I called down to the playroom. “You want to watch TV with Colum? You want to see some animals on TV? Mary likes animals.”

She’s really too young to be downstairs by herself and I was trying to get dinner finished.I strained the pasta and then, just before adding the penne to the sauteed veggies, I picked up my phone and checked in with Twitter. I replied to a couple people and double checked that I hadn’t missed any important emails at the end of the business day.

“Guys, dinners ready.”

“…”

“Dinner’s ready! It’s served! Guys!”

“…”

“COLUM. COLUM. COLUM!”

“What?”

“Pause that show. Dinner is ready.”

“Oh.”

They all came tumbling into the kitchen and climbed onto their stools. Mary and Irene both ate the noodles and sausage, ignoring the perfectly seasoned Ontario asparagus, what is their problem, and red pepper. Then Irene was suddenly back in the living room with the TV and Colum was about to abandon his own meal half-eaten to join her.

“No,” I said and marched over to the TV. “Nobody gets to watch anything until everybody is finished eating. And then you can finish this episode and that is it.”

They watched the rest of the show and then an episode of Doc McStuffins, I think. I don’t know. I was on my phone.

Not pictured: The glow of the tablet streaming Netflix on Irene’s lap.

Continue reading “The Tech Timeout Challenge”

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Fun Mealtimes

Life with kids isn’t all bad. Shocker, I know! When we do manage to all finally sit down together as a family for a meal it’s often a great time to connect, have fun and make special memories.

The second post based on the conversation I had with Calgary radio host and DadCAMP blogger, Buzz Bishop, and Laura O’Rourke of Mommy Miracles focuses on those good times and is live at the The All Good Blog by McCain.

I’m so glad I was reminded of this family dinner moment:

Once my 4yo started launching into a story about an assembly at school and how she’d seen her brother there. He chimed in about how he’d seen her too and how they’d waved. It was this long winding narrative that they were telling together and they were both so happy about it and I felt like it was a pivotal moment for sibling bonding.

Seeing my kids develop their own special relationships with one another is possibly my favourite thing.

Go read the rest!

 

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Destination Unstoppable

This post is part of YummyMummyClub.ca‘s support of the Dove® Unstoppable Moms for Unstoppable Girls Contest. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. This post reflects my personal opinion about the information provided by the sponsors. Go to www.UnstoppableMoms.ca to enter by sharing how you inspire girls to reach their full potential.

I held the tray full of drinks up over my head and turned sideways. Gently laying a hand on the back in front of me — no sudden moves, please — I slid effortlessly through the crowded dance floor. Winding my way past tables and through the narrow crevices between one group of friends and another, I found my way to the right spot, traded my full glasses for empty ones, and turned back to do my server’s ballet once more.

Being thin was about more than just looks for me. It informed how I moved and how I experienced the world. It was simply how I was built and I never had to worry about it one way or the other.

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Stress-Free Family Dinners

So, family meals. Stressful or not? Ha!

I got to chat with Buzz Bishop, Calgary radio host and DadCAMP blogger, and Laura O’Rourke of Mommy Miracles about family meals the other day. It was a fun talk and I may have even picked up a few tips. 

Of course, you know me. No picture-perfect family dinners here.

There are days when we are all yelling at each other at the table and I find that if I just put everything into perspective and let the 4yo leave the table and not worry about the 6yo eating with his hands and let the 1.5yo eat off my plate, life is generally better.

Check out the rest at The All Good Blog by McCain!

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What Summertime Memories Are Made Of

This post is sponsored by Natrel Baboo. Thank you, Baboo!

The t-ball season is on. You know what that means.

It means untold hours upon hours of hanging out at the t-ball diamonds and the practice fields with two other kids in tow. It means that the most meaningful summertime memories my toddler is going to have won’t be of sitting in the sandbox with mom, splashing around in the wading pool, making chalk art on the patio stones, blowing bubbles or making daisy chains. We’ll do that stuff too, a little bit, but mostly we’ll be hanging out with the t-ball players.

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Friday Night Swimming and Mandarin Take-Out

A big, full-belly thank you to Mandarin Restaurant for sponsoring this post.

The season of swimming lessons is upon us. Man, do I ever hate swimming lessons. It’s essentially a solid hour of wrestling one kid and then another into and out of swim suits, combing out hair, drying bodies and picking up socks off wet change room floors while keeping tabs on a wriggly toddler at the same time. In the few minutes of downtime between their staggered class starts, I get to sweat my butt off in the five hundred degree pool room. This is the real reason for global warming, I tell you.

And yet I do it. Every spring and summer I enroll the kids in lessons hoping they will learn enough to keep from sinking like rocks in the event of some water emergency. Or I guess I hope they’ll learn to swim for exercise and fun and all that too. But we are not an aquatic people and they never do learn much at all and I am so exhausted by the effort that I take the winter off to recuperate.

So anyway, swimming happens on Friday evening between five and six and that means no time for cooking. (Stop it right there with your crock pot recipes! Can I not have an excuse for eating out?) When I found out my ad network was launching a blog campaign for Mandarin Restaurant, I immediately thought of how much Colum loves their all-you-can-eat buffet. Then I thought of three hungry and tired kids in a busy restaurant on a Friday night and just how many things could go wrong. Right.

But then! Then I found out you can do Mandarin take-out or delivery! Who knew?

We brought home more than we could eat for less money and when Mary started crying and trying to escape from her high chair five minutes into the meal, it wasn’t a big deal. And when Irene had to run to the bathroom, nobody had to go with her. And when Colum started falling out of his chair due to some seven-year-old boy-requisite mid-meal ninja moves, nobody glared at us from the next table. It was pretty fantastic.

Colum’s favourite dish was the Mandarin Combination fried rice and also the baby corns that came with the mixed vegetables. Irene ate only chicken and broccoli and Mary was a noodle gobbling monster. Ed was all about the lemon chicken and honey garlic spare ribs. That meant more pepper steak for me! There’s seriously, like, a hundred dishes to choose from and they’re all cooked fresh to order.

On the one hand, it’s too bad we are just outside their delivery zone. On the other, it’s 10% off pick-up orders over $20 when you pay with cash. So, you know, win-win.

And one day my kids will learn to swim, right? Then we’ll really go out celebrate.

This post is sponsored by Mandarin Restaurant. Opinions and words are still mine, of course.

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Some Things Should Stay The Same: Fisher-Price Favourites

Thanks to Fisher-Price for sponsoring this post.

I tapped lightly on the same knocker that has adorned my grandmother’s front door all my life. The kids kicked off their shoes and scampered up the same staircase I ran up as a child to the spare room with all the toys. I slid into the same built-in banquet and sat at the same Formica-topped table that my father was bathed on as a baby. We drank tea from the same teapot we always do.

There is such comfort and warmth in having these constants in my life. I can’t help but think that my Ikea furniture won’t make it another five years, let alone 50. And as I watch friends and family buy and sell houses, always angling for bigger, better, newer or nicer, I can’t help but wonder what we’re trading away. Nothing lasts forever, of course, but it’s nice to have a few important things last a really long time.

Now I know I’m laying it on a bit thick here because I’m about to start talking about Fisher-Price toys. But bear with me, please. I had just been assigned this campaign when I visited my Grandma. I went up to check on the kids and suddenly noticed they were playing with this:

I have vivid memories of playing with this toy at my grandparent’s house as a young child myself. A closer look confirmed that it is indeed a Fisher-Price toy and that the doorbell still works.

Fisher-Price doesn’t make that toy any longer, but they do still make products that last.

Looking through a list of Fisher-Price favourites, I saw a couple that my own kids have used and used over the year.

The My Little Snugabunny Cradle N Swing has actually served six or seven babies in our extended family. I borrowed it from Ed’s cousin for each of my newborns who used it for her own three babies and then passed it along to another family member as well. It feels like new every time I put a baby in it and is a total life saver for those first few weeks.

We all know this one, right? Even if you don’t have kids, you’ve seen the Brilliant Basics Rock a Stack kicking around. The reason is that there’s simply no improving on this simple stacking toy. All of my babies played with this intently for a solid six months and then I packed it up for next time. This time, alas, I shall be packing it up to give to someone else because there’s lots more life left in those plastic stacking rings yet.

If you’re shopping for baby gear for your own kids or anyone else’s, I’d definitely recommend starting with the Fisher-Price Favourites web page.

And, as if you needed another reason, use the coupon code FISHERPRICE20 to save 20% off Fisher-Price favourites at Toys ‘R Us by April 30.

Disclosure: I am part of the Fisher-Price Blogger Campaign with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

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This Is Not A Recipe: Kraft Pourables Tomato-Basil Chicken



Thanks to Kraft Pourables for sponsoring this post!

It’s a recurring theme in the conversations I have with my brother-in-law Sean who is a part-time chef and full-time dad: Where exactly do we draw the line between convenience food and healthy cooking? Because sometimes you just don’t have time to make everything from scratch, shuttle the kids to and from soccer practice, oversee the homework and get all the laundry done. Sometimes you just want to grab a bottle of store-bought salad dressing from the fridge and that’s all right.

He happened to be visiting the night I decided to crack open the new Kraft Fruit & Veg salad dressings that had been sent for this campaign. There was Berry Balsamic; Roasted Yellow Pepper, Garlic and Lime; Fire Roasted Tomato with Basil; and Garlic Parmesan with Roasted Cauliflower.

I poured a small amount of each into a small glass bowl and we took pinches of salad greens and dipped them in to taste. They all made tasty enough salad dressings, certainly, and the Kraft website is loaded with salad ideas I can’t wait to try out.  But when Sean tasted the Fire Roasted Tomato with Basil dressing he said, “Oh, that would make a great marinade.”

And thus the tomato-basil chicken seed was planted in my mind.

Here’s how to make it:

  • Put some chicken breasts in a dish and coat them with the Fire Roasted Tomato with Basil dressing. Or make your own marinade using oil and vinegar, basil and tomato paste and/or sun-dried tomatoes if you’d rather.
  •  Cover those and let them soak up all the flavour in the fridge while you prep the rest of the meal. I served the chicken with roasted sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli but whatever you have will work.
  •  Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them up into cube-ish kind of pieces and spread them out on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and salt and pepper and use your clean hands to toss the sweet potatoes so everything is properly coated. Pop them in a 400° oven for a good while. Like, pull them out and toss ’em around after 20 minutes or so and then put them back in for another 10 to 15 minutes. You want them to be nice and soft inside and, ideally, a little brown and crisp on the outside.
  • Then prep your broccoli and put it in a steamer over a little water and lightly salt them. But don’t turn on the stove yet! These will only take a few minutes, so wait until everything else is just about done.
  • As long as your chicken has had 20 minutes to a few hours to marinade, you’re good to start cooking it. I used a grill pan at first to get them started but soon realized the marinade would start to burn if I left them there to cook through. So I finished them in the oven next to my sweet potatoes. They were skinless and boneless and took about 25 minutes to cook. You could also do these on the barbecue if you’re lucky enough to have one that works. (Ours is more like an art installation on the idea of outdoor cooking. You can’t actually use it to cook with anymore.)
  • The last important step is to drizzle a bit of the dressing on the plate before you place the chicken on it. Not only does this make you look all professional-style in front of your family and friends, it also makes for a very nice, saucy compliment to the marinated meat.

I have to admit, this meal was delicious. Everyone loved it, even my picky four-year-old.

This post is sponsored by Kraft. Opinions and words are still mine, of course.