There is little as special as a peaceful bath with soap you have made yourself. Try different scents, and let the kids experiment with their own colours and smells. Handmade soap is spectacular hostess treat for the holidays, or perfect for holiday gifts. Once you are comfortable with the basics, you can try different recipes, or interesting moulds to create amazing one-of-a-kind soaps.
There are few life events that are as exciting and meaningful as the arrival of a brand new baby—whether it’s your own darling smoosh or one belonging to someone you love. As happy as we are about these new little additions, picking a perfect gift for each baby shower can be a daunting task—mostly because you want to commemorate the occasion with a really great baby shower gift.
Recently, we have been feeling so much pressure to register, to organize play dates, to structure. What about spontaneity? Learning through play? We have been soliciting ideas for fun, learning-enhancing activities that can be done with little or no cost. Pretend play offers young children a chance to practice skills within their own frame work and rules, letting them set the boundaries. You can always make suggestions if they need it but follow them, not the other way around.
After searching for the perfect nanny, how are you going to pay her? In determining the nanny’s status as an employee or as an independent contractor, the Canada Revenue Agency does the following tests:
1. Control: Are you specifying the work to be done? Are you specifying the working hours and are you reviewing the work that was done?
There are a couple of things that have always scared me a bit. Maybe it was lack of knowledge. Maybe it was fear of the unknown. Possibly just being copasetic. I remember browsing the course catalogue for university and not knowing exactly what engineering was. Seriously. Similarly, when friends got braces in high school I would just smile and nod. My teeth were straight enough – the top ones anyway. Everyone else was part of some club who got dismissed early for their ‘ortho’ appointments and I just sat and watched them leave, as if they were venturing to mars. I should have done some research. Little did I know that braces aren’t just cosmetic. Crooked teeth and overbites can affect speech, jaw stress and cause unnecessary wear on other teeth as time passes.
How many of us have been there: busy mass transit situation, your legs are killing you after a long day’s work. No available seats, so you stand, exhausted though you are. Through it all, blissfully oblivious, several teens sit comfortably in their seats, earbuds plugged in, heads bobbing. All while your calves and toes scream for mercy.
Taco Tuesday? Fajita Friday? Or simply an excuse-for-a-fiesta-Saturday. All summer long I’ve been tending to the garden as the kids help me water and weed. We’ve tried our hand at growing vegetables and have been thrilled with the results. In addition, my family and I have the good fortune of owning a crab trap. So…. when I mastered the summer challenge of catching crab in the Pacific Ocean, I was very proud. The only obstacle is when I catch too many. Seriously. Listen to myself! Feeling inspired and using my new pastimes to source fresh ingredients, I got our family and friends out of a serious dinner rut with crab tacos.
Now that we are all home – a lot, there seems to be a never-ending laundry stream. Being super-concerned with bacteria and pathogens, it can be terrifying when the ‘clean’ laundry comes out a bit rank. Why does this happen? Bad news, friends – bacteria + sweat + oils mean that clothes will need special treatment. Dampness is the big culprit, and when left for hours or days (ewwwww), your items will need some TLC. Here are a few ways to get the stink out of typically stinky items like hockey gear, yoga mats, workout clothes and mattresses. We also have some great stain tips for red wine, grass, oil and dirt in this article.
Well, the time is here. For weeks, parents, teachers and school boards have been fretting about how to proceed. A back to school pandemic plan is a tough one. While many students head back to a modified classroom in person, there are thousands of kids who will opt for homeschooling, distance or online learning.
When offered the opportunity to do a day trip or two in the new 2020 BMW X3 30e, our family was giddy. OOOH the possibilities! The whole province could be our oyster! Where to first? We decided to take at least one night away. Not having been to a hotel since March when the world changed, this seemed like a brand new stage for us. Super-careful since being whisked home from Florida before more cancelled trips, a getaway seemed so foreign. We didn’t count on the idea being so widespread when we decided to explore Prince Edward County!
