Buying a home is one of the most exciting things…of course, it can also be one of the most challenging. Add in renovations, a busy family with a child, a limited budget and huge dreams, and you have a recipe for stress. How are we managing? With some serious tenacity, a lot of coffee and a significant amount of help from some really amazing people in orange aprons. We bought a beautiful little house that had been on the market for a while by the time our skeptical realtor showed it to us. It is on the outskirts of our dream area and was way under our budget…and it doesn’t have a kitchen. Well ..read more

Back-to-school shopping for books, running shoes, lunch box paraphernalia and even laptops has never been so full of perks as since AIR MILES has partnered with more than 175 online stores. Online shopping has seriously saved our sanity. Between dropping kids off at camp, tripping to the cottage and ensuring every little one we’re responsible for is covered in sunscreen for the last two months, we haven’t had an ounce of time to get out to the stores and do the necessary back-to-school shopping. Enter the ease of online shopping, where we can order in our pjs with a glass of wine—sans bored t ..read more

Girls need to be girls just as much as boys need to be boys…exerting their “girlness” by developing self-confidence, bonding with other girls their own age, and learning practical life skills that will set them up for success. We’ve all heard the saying, “boys will be boys”, and while we don’t want it to be used to excuse boys from difficult, dictatorial or destructive behaviour, we do think that boys “being boys” isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Actually, it can be an excellent mantra; especially if we add to it that indeed, “girls will be girls”. We think changing the dialogue to include girl ..read more

Looking for a few ideas to have fun with the kids for New Year’s Eve? Look no further! New Year’s Eve doesn’t have to mean a last-minute scramble to find a babysitter. And it doesn’t have to mean an obligatory expensive night on the town either. Celebrating with your kids can be just as much fun—if not more. Hey, what better way to unleash your own inner child a little than with a nostalgia-filled evening of s’mores and popcorn, or a perfect night with toboggans and steamy thermoses…? Not sure where to start? Here are a few family-friendly ideas to inspire you. Countdown While Indoor Cam ..read more

Sure, the days are shorter in winter. But to the parent trapped inside from dawn to dusk with a toddler who has enough energy to sustain a small hydroelectric plant, those cold-weather days can seem long indeed. Yes, to occupy your little ones you could help them craft a model of the CN Tower out of used gum wrappers. Or you could steal these real-world, sanity-saving ideas from parents who’ve learned how to keep kids entertained on days too chilly to head outside. Play “Fancy Restaurant” With two toddlers and a husband who was constantly on the road, Toronto mom Anna Ross had her plate full—e ..read more

It’s not easy to be a girl growing up in Canada. It may not always be evident, but your daughter is fighting a battle every day—against peer pressure, social-media anxieties, parental expectations and even her own sense of self. The pressure both to fit in and stand out can take a tremendous toll. A recent national survey conducted by Girl Guides of Canada, for example, found that 59 percent of girls in Canada believe they face unrealistic expectations that negatively impact their self-esteem. With that in mind, we caught up Lindsay Sealy, the Vancouver-based educational and personal-developm ..read more

Fraser, Hope and Kelly on the road   Fraser Walters travels around the world as part of the award-winning Canadian vocal group, The Tenors. It’s a glamorous gig, but the Vancouver-born performer and his partner, talented singer-songwriter Kelly Levesque, definitely have their hands full when on the road. That’s because there’s a third frequent flyer in their entourage—their baby girl, Hope. First-time dad Fraser shares with Canadian Family some of his colourful behind-the-scenes travel tales—plus some practical travel advice on how to successfully fly the skies with ..read more

Does the thought of your kids feasting on giant Halloween hauls for next two months terrify you? Check out these two great ideas from our friends at Real Food for Real Kids that cut back the sweets without spoiling the fun. Hoity-Toity Candy Tasting Have your kids channel their inner connoisseur! On the kitchen table, line up one of each type of candy, in the same order, for each participant. Set up “spitting cups” in front of each child so they can spit out what they don’t like, and have some palette-cleansing water at each place. Start by sampling each candy in order, stopping to ask about ..read more

With Halloween around the corner and your little ones eagerly anticipating a night of candy and the chance to dress up, what better way to begin the celebration than a family trip to a pumpkin farm? A grinning jack-o-lantern is a staple of spooky decor, and though pumpkins can be purchased at the local supermarket, heading out to a farm will provide you with a much larger selection and better prices. As a bonus, many pick-your-own (or “U-Pick”) pumpkin farms offer far more than just pumpkins—like a cornucopia of fresh seasonal produce and a full day of family fun. At Andrew’s Scenic Acr ..read more

Sitting up, smiling, saying Da-Da: these are milestones that we, as parents, wait for with breath bated and cameras charged. These are the things we anticipate from birth, and endlessly compare with our other parent friends. But these are not the only firsts in a new family’s life, and they are not even the most significant. The really iconic milestones after baby is born are not generally written about in the baby books, and they are not even limited to babies: new parents go through a lot of firsts as well. These are the firsts that nobody warned you about, but are universally experienced ..read more