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Everything you ever wanted to know about my cleaning habits and more

Thanks to Oxiclean for sponsoring this post and keeping my kids in clean shirts.

How to keep uniform shirts white?

 So how do I keep those shirts looking this good at the end of the year?

Let me tell you a story about the day I found out my son’s school was introducing a uniform. Oh, it was quite the day. I laughed, I cried, I wondered how in the world am I going to keep a four-year-old boy’s white shirt white?

I wasn’t going to, was the answer. I didn’t even come close. The uniform calls for either white or navy tops and after all the white shirts came out of the dryer with faded stains and a general dinginess, I wound up replacing most of them with navy blue ones. It was just a safer bet.

Then my daughter started school and a friend passed down some uniform clothes her girls had outgrown. There were sharp navy jumpers, nice cardigans, and BRIGHT, WHITE shirts.

“How on earth did you keep the white shirts so crisp and white?” I asked.

“OxiClean,” she said.

“Oh,” I said.

And then I went out and bought some.

It’s kind of like magic. I just toss a scoop or two into the barrel of the front-loading washing machine before adding a load of white, then add detergent and launder the clothes as usual. Okay, fine, I usually forget to add the scoop first and then wind up crouched down on the floor with half a load of dirty clothes on my lap while I scoop the OxiClean Versatile Stain Remover Powder under the remaining clothes and that method ALSO WORKS.

I have begun buying white shirts to add a little variety to my children’s navy on navy wardrobe and, thanks to the wonder of OxiClean, I even have some to hand down to my baby who is starting kindergarten next year. (How did that happen?!) White shirts, worn by actual children, are good enough to hand down. Can you even believe it?

But that is not all. No, that is not all.

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I didn’t know holiday shopping could be this good

RBC Avion Holiday Boutique

Happy to be part of the RBC Avion Holiday Boutique Blogger Campaign with Mom Central Canada. This one’s sponsored.

What if I told you holiday shopping didn’t have to involve sweating half to death in your winter coat while you fight your way through crowds? Imagine if you didn’t have to lug all your purchases around the mall and across a vast frozen expanse of parking lot. And then picture arriving home with all of your gifts already wrapped.

No, I have not completely lost my mind. Nor am I trying to sell you on some sort of crazy expensive, luxury shopping experience enjoyed by Jennifer Lopez and Reese Witherspoon. I am talking about a holiday shopping service that is FREE to all RBC Avion Visa card holders.

I went to Yorkdale Shopping Centre last week for the opening of the RBC Avion Holiday Boutique and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. An exclusive lounge just for Avioners? Why? Am I too good for the food court? The short answer is yes. NOBODY wants to deal with mad holiday crowds in the food court or anywhere else.

My experience began with me circling around a full parking lot, dreading the unavoidable trek to the mall through bitter winter winds. Except, no! If you have an Avion card, you get valet parking. All you have to do is drive over to the Holt Renfrew side of Yorkdale Shopping Centre and show the valet your Avion card and your parking will be taken care of just like that. I have never, ever, had valet parking before in my life and, let me tell you, a girl could get used to that kind of service.

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Can we all breathe a great big FINALLY for our health care going digital?

Big thanks to the Canada Health Infoway for sponsoring this post and, more importantly, bringing digital health technology to our health care.

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If there’s one place we don’t want cutting edge technology, it’s in our doctor’s offices. Wait. What?

That doesn’t make any sense. And yet all the tech does seem a little weird at first, right? I remember the first time I brought my son in for his regular check-up and the doctor sat down in front of a laptop. She weighed him and measured his height. She listened to his breathing and looked into his eyes and ears. She asked if we had any concerns and then she sat down and started typing. It seemed strange.

It only took that one visit, though, for me to make the adjustment. Entering information into a computer isn’t really any different from making notes with a pen and paper once you get used to it. And it has already managed to save my behind!

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Learning to drive took me forever

This post is brought to you by the Sign the Pledge campaign hosted by g1.ca.

Remember the first time you tried to drive?

Image source.

The first time I held the steering wheel of a moving vehicle, I couldn’t have been more than five or six. I sat on my dad’s lap and helped him steer while we made lazy turns around the residential side streets near our house. It was the early 80s and we weren’t overly concerned with seatbelts. Air bags weren’t even a thing yet.

There were also countless miles logged on family road trips that kept us driving into the wee hours of the night before pulling over to sleep at the side of the road, to occasionally pitch a tent in a camp site and to sometimes even check into a lonely motel. My dad to taught my brother and I to read all the highway signs, keep our eyes alert to changes in the road markings and know exactly what they meant.

So by the time I had my first driving lesson as a teen, I was pretty sure I had this driving thing in the bag. Seriously, have you even seen me on the bumper cars? I’m amazing. My dad took me down to Cherry Beach and had me drive the old Chevy Malibu (or was it the Buick Skylark?) around the old industrial streets and over the rickety drawbridges. The car was so old and the power steering so far gone that I had to use some muscle to keep the car on course. I still remember the thrill of steering a newer car years later for the first time. So this is how easy it could be!

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It’s Never Just A Pimple

This post is part of a campaign for Oxy Canada for which I’ve been compensated.

lockersMother nature can be a cruel prankster. As if it’s not enough for teenagers to deal with the awkward, smelly, drippy reality of their new adult bodies. She also throws in a hormonal cocktail that unleashes raw emotional torrents without warning. She cuts their confidence off at their knees and makes them negotiate all kinds of new territory with no experience to guide them. She gives them adult bodies and the impulse control of toddlers.

And then she gives them zits.

I’ve struggled with bad skin for almost as long as I can remember. Teenage acne has given way to adult rosacea and managing flare ups will be my  life-long cross to bear. But at least I know what I’m doing now. I have a dermatologist and prescription creams and I know my triggers and I know how to apply make up (if I can find the time). Most important, though, is that a red bump on my face doesn’t make me want to crawl under the bedsheets and never come out.

I can still remember the sting of walking through the halls of my high school, convinced others were laughing at me and my acne. (And some of them totally were. Don’t doubt it for a minute.) The state of my skin undermined my social confidence across the board and fed a sense of desperation which was followed by full on rebellion. And desperation and defiance don’t lead to the most mature and responsible decisions. Trust me.

So a product like Oxy that actually works to clear up most cases of teenage  acne can be a godsend. There is a whole range of products to choose from and they can make a huge impact on the day-to-day stresses of teenage life. Hey, they can make a difference even if you’ve already graduated high school … and university and have a career and a couple kids under your belt. Postpartum pimples anyone? You’re so not alone.

And while we’re gushing about Oxy, you might as well head over to the Oxy Canada Facebook page and “Like” it. Then you can enter their Clear It Up Sweepstakes for a chance to win one of three iPads in a grand prize draw in September AND weekly draws of $50 Visa gift cards. They’ve even given me a special PIN number that will get you an extra entry. Here it is:  ipmhhw3q

Photo credit: discoodoni on flickr

Disclosure: I am participating in a Mom Central Consulting campaign for OXY and receive compensation for my post. All opinions on this blog are my own.