Category: Archive

KARA has been a part of my life since 2013 and a part of my children’s lives since 2015. It has been a constant companion through countless adventures and learnings. The amazing individuals that work at KARA have been a family to me. They were there when I got married, there when I announced all of my pregnancies, there when I learned how to change a diaper, there when I found my passion for writing, and there when I tried numerous new parenting skills learned in their classes or by writing my blogs. Saying goodbye to a close-knit group of people who have been with me through so much is never easy.

Before I was ever a parent, my pre-parenthood days with KARA, I was a Data Manager. I sat behind a desk and logged participants and wrote year-end reports for funding purposes. After my husband and I got married (the KARA family thoughtfully threw us a Wedding Shower), we later announced our first pregnancy (to which they then threw us a Baby Shower)! A few months into my pregnancy, a thoughtful KARA manager asked me if I’d ever changed a diaper. I can only imagine what my face looked like as I nervously uttered “no…” She led me upstairs to one of the baby changing tables and let me practice on one of the dolls. She caringly stood by me as I fumbled with the doll here and there, giving me encouraging words and helpful advice. After a while, I had successfully diapered and swaddled my first “baby.” It was a moment I will always be grateful for.

In a similar situation, I helped facilitate a short-handed staff group during their Caring for Families program. I recall sitting in the baby room with a senior facilitator who pointed out each of the objects in the room, detailing which objects were used for each stage of baby development. I took countless notes and even came back to her several times both before and after having my son, asking for more advice on baby toys and furniture. This was how I originally started my mommy collection that has helped my children grow and thrive. This is also how I learned about KARA’s Ages and Stages Questionnaire, and how I could boost my child’s development with specific activities and items.

After I’d had my children, I started attending the parenting programs (when there was room). Through the wise and caring patience of another of KARA’s facilitators, I learned about the importance of reading to my children. Some of my children’s first books were obtained in the Books for Babies program that used to run at KARA-Too. I recall sitting in a circle with many other first-time parents. My son was so young, he couldn’t even sit without support. Yet his eyes followed me as he heard my voice reading stories to him, even smiling once or twice. What a memory to cherish. This particular KARA family member was my continuous inspiration for writing as well, giving me several books to reference and learn from. She also taught me the importance of patience.

Since these early days at KARA, I’ve become quite the parent, spurred on by the advice, instruction, and guidance of these senior mentors. I’ve been renowned in my inner family and friend circles for being one of the most knowledgeable parents and am even bombarded with questions whenever I attend social gatherings. I even started writing my parenting experiences, both in blog form for KARA and in personal novels for my children. All of my parenting accomplishments, my children and their learnings as well, I feel, stem from these humble beginnings. I could not be more thankful.

So even now that I am saying goodbye, it is bittersweet. Yes, I am embarking on the next chapter of my life, and what a busy one it will be – with my third child, my first daughter, my two sons, and my environmental career in full flight. But I feel that I have gained so much knowledge from my 9 years with my KARA family that I would never truly be leaving. I will still see many of my mentors in my parenting actions, hear them in my words, and feel them in my heart.

So my final message to you, should you faithful readers wish to hear it, is to use KARA to your full advantage. The senior mentors that roam the halls there were the voices I heard in my early days as a parent. I could not have been the mom I was and am without them. So attend your classes, ask all of your questions, and listen to the wise words that I still hear when I parent my children.

Photo courtesy of Mommy Nearest

Every year, my family has taken part in the time old classic of reinventing ourselves for the new year ahead. I’ve tried many successful (and unsuccessful) new resolutions myself over the years, undertaken many new activities, and even participated in a few friendly competitions while doing so. When my husband and I had our first child, and became a young family, my New Year’s resolutions took on a more holistic theme, incorporating my baby and husband. As our family grew, our resolutions morphed into fun activities, adventures, and growth opportunities. Last year, my family even started a weekly family game night!

This year, my family would like to try a few new resolutions to brighten our days and grow as a family. I’d like to share them with you. I’d also like to share a few past resolutions that I’ve tried, ones that I sometimes struggled with and tips on how I plan to make them work this year.

Before going on though, I want to add a little cautionary note to this article: not every resolution works (shocking, I know)! But I’ve always found that even the ones that don’t still gave me and my family fond memories and happiness, even if just for a short time. So never get discouraged! New Year’s resolutions are for fun after all!

Get Outside More

Historically, this has been a New Year’s tradition for me. I’ve called it different things (running more, exercising, going on adventures), but it’s generally a well-known New Year’s resolution in many households. It typically starts strong in the first month or two of the year then peters out when the weather gets really cold. No matter how long my family keeps it up for though, we always enjoy it!

This year, I’m giving myself a tip (and you too) to help keep the adventure alive: telling my kids when the weather is nice, frosty comes out to play.

My kids really do keep me young at heart, and also keep me from going back on my word! When I’ve told them we are going to do something fun, they always make me keep my word. And I know it’s important I do to help them build honesty and trust. So I told them frosty likes warm weather. Whenever the sun is shining, he comes out to play. And they remind me whenever the sun starts peeking through the window! It’s been a great method in keeping the energy up and getting the fresh air we need outside! Being held up in the house with many former activities now out of reach, the army of snowmen we’ve created outside really has been a great morale booster too!

Keeping Pen Pals

As a kid, I often tried to write letters to my friends and keep regular correspondence with family too. This was just something not meant to be though. Once I got my first phone, I wrote only to my Great Aunt, who lives in Scotland. As the distance is so great, the letters took a great deal of time to reach either of us so the general pen pal feeling was lost after some time. I did try to gain new pen pals as I left my college years and started a family, but having a vehicle to bring me to my family members took the fun out of it once more as I often saw them in person before they received their letters!

This year, with the new normal still strong, my family and I have rekindled this long lost art. We seldom see any of our old friends anymore so have started crafting some letters. The kids have been having a blast doing so too, using their new Christmas gift (art supplies) to build their own letters! I love how inspired they are and the new skills they are gaining too. It will surely do them well when they start attending school.

But how do I plan to keep this going throughout the year? By enlisting my honest little prompters again! Funny enough, my older son knows what a ‘year’ is by knowing the sequence of holidays in the year. As soon as one holiday ends, he begins preparation for the next holiday (just like his Mom). We have hours of fun making crafty decorations or planning the tasty treats to enjoy the day of. But this year, we will also be sending cards to all of our families and friends! He has already made eleven cards for his cousins and brother. I hope to continue this tradition (and building new skills) throughout the year on other holidays!

Keeping a Record of Fond Memories

In past years, when I had more time on my hands, I really liked making photo albums. I made digitized ones and had them printed by photobook companies. It made for great collages of my finest memories.

It’s been a few years since I’ve made one, so this year, I’m going to make one for each of my children. How will I inspire myself to make this resolution a reality? I’ve been showing my children past ones I’ve made and made a promise to each of them I will make them one before the year is out.

I’m really looking forward to completing this task as it will not only be a fun activity to do together as a family but will also be a cherished record of my kids during their young lives they will have forever.

If you like this idea, you can also get in on the memory record-keeping game with old-fashioned photo albums, artistic collages for your walls, and making albums within social media platforms! They all work to keep your memories alive!

Practice a Positive Cognitive Skill

Lastly, this year, my family and I are planning on doing something new around the house on a daily basis that will help boost morale and show our appreciation for one another. It’s not exactly something we don’t normally do, but this year we plan to make it a resolution to try to be more cognisant of. We plan on showing gratitude whenever an opportunity presents itself.

In our busy day-to-day lives, sometimes we forget the struggles of our other family members. Sometimes we don’t notice the hard work that is being completed right before our eyes. We grow so used to the qualities that make our individual family members so amazing that we pass it by, forgetting to show gratitude. But the little things, like saying thank-you, really do make all the difference.

Therefore, my husband and I plan to make a conscious note to keep showing our gratitude towards each other and our children whenever possible! To show our appreciation has really benefitted our relationships with each other, and taught our kids the importance of gratitude by leading by example too.

How do we do it? A couple easy steps to start you off are to listen to one another during a conversation, make eye contact when listening or speaking, giving compliments for big and small things, and show appreciation for the efforts taken by others. These small gestures make home life very happy. So how do we plan to keep it up?

Try this! Whenever someone shows you gratitude, make a mental note to return the appreciation when possible. Even though it’s tough to explain this to a young child, by doing this, they catch on pretty quick! Compliment them, listen to them (and even say “I’m listening to you”) while making eye-contact, and say thank you. They will eventually start to mimic you and the mimicked actions will eventually turn into real feelings. It’s pretty amazing when your child starts thanking you for reading them their bedtime stories!

Last Note

Did you have a chance to come up with your own New Year’s resolutions this year? Any ideas you’d like to share? Please reach out to me because I’d love to hear about them! Also, if you liked any of my resolution ideas and are hoping to give them a go with your family, tell me about it! Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!

My husband and I are very happy to announce we are expecting our third child!

It’s been a tough year for everyone, us included, but this happy news has helped us keep going. My husband has kept very busy by handcrafting our new baby’s crib. I’ve been making lists and staying on top of sales to get the most out of our short time to prepare. With two older children, and having moved a few times, we didn’t hang on to many baby items. Restocking our shelves with common baby must-haves has made me acutely aware of the many things new babies need – including baby skincare products!

Therefore, I’ve laid out some common baby skin conditions that one might encounter in the first five years of a child’s life. Not everything is covered, or in complete detail, but many will give you an idea of what can be expected, and what measures or types of care may help. This is based on my experience and a bit of help from healthcare websites. Any advice on skin conditions or care should be sought from a healthcare professional.

Newborn Skin

Not many of you readers will be surprised to know that newborn skin rarely looks like the picture-perfect cherub seen in movies. What’s important to note is that most newborn baby skin is perfectly normal and does not need any help from us. Skin conditions mentioned below here are to be expected and do not need products, just time and proper hygiene.

Upon arrival into the world, the baby’s skin is thick with a cream-cheesy white substance called vernix caseosa. This is a mixture of old skin cells and skin gland secretions and it has an important role of protecting the baby from its old home (your womb and amniotic fluid). Very helpful if you don’t want to turn into a pickle!

Once wiped clean, babies will often be quite colourful. Their skin red, blue and blotchy, looking like they’d just come out of their first fist-fight! This is because of the pressure changes baby goes through during childbirth. Particularly quick or stressful labours can even cause bruising. But young baby will recover well in your arms, with blood circulating in the skin as normal.

Newborn skin may also be a tad hairy. This fine, peach fuzz that sometimes coats baby from head-to-toe or even in patches is called lanugo, and it’s perfectly normal. It’s also a protective covering in the womb but it is often shed before birth. Interestingly, mommies’ bodies produce hormones to prevent babies losing lanugo in the womb, which also prevents mom from losing hair! Lustrous hair is often a benefit of being pregnant for this reason! If still present at birth, lanugo will disappear within a few weeks, as will the baby’s first layer of skin, which may look like your newborn is peeling from a bad sunburn. All part of the miracle!

When my kiddos were born, I’d had already watched dozens of labour videos online to prepare myself (for the anticipated pain). My husband didn’t share in this particularly adventurous baby-birth-video-binge. I recall after Grizzly Bear was born, he mentioned the vernix caseosa and a few other things as being … unexpected. I was expecting it, from my videos, so I let him in on the secret. What I was not expecting, though, were the odd skin-nail mixtures at the ends of our baby’s fingers! His skin had attached to the tips of his nails. Giving him his first nail-cut was near impossible. That was the only unforeseen skin related difference that I really noticed with Grizzly Bear. Our second baby, however, Polar Bear, was a different story. Born chubby and pink, he did look pretty picture-perfect. Two weeks later, and his skin started peeling off in great heaps! Unfortunately, this coincided with our Welcome Baby Party. He looked somewhat like a reptile just beginning the molting process as he was passed around to each happy guest. What a funny guy! A week or so later, and back to our pink cherub!

The conclusion is that all newborns have unique skin, and with time, become the perfectly soft skin we all imagine when envisioning our children. Expect the unexpected and chat with your healthcare provider if anything worries you! If you get a chance and are also expecting, or want to check up on what your grown child had after birth, check out more info on newborn skin here.

Baby Skin

Once a child is two months old, they are generally considered to be a baby. But there are no hard and fast age rules that dictate when a skin condition can strike! Skin conditions are common among certain age groups but can appear at any time. Two of the most common skin conditions that affect babies are cradle cap and diaper rash. Here is some general information, preventative measures, and measures to help ease symptoms or treat them.

Cradle cap can develop between 2 weeks and 12 months of age. It is usually found on the top of the head but can appear on the face, behind the ears, or in any skin folds, like the groin or armpits. It looks like white, yellow, or red scaly patches. It can also look crusty or flaky. It can look itchy or painful but it’s neither. It normally does not bother a baby at all. Its cause isn’t altogether known but it’s generally thought to be caused by too much skin oil. Cradle cap is identified by healthcare professionals by its look and location. Seek medical advice quickly if any areas look red, drain fluid, or are warm to the touch as this could indicate an infection.

Cradle cap will clear up on its own in a matter of weeks or months, but you can help your baby by gently washing their hair once a day with tear-free baby shampoo. My Grizzly Bear had a very mild form of cradle cap for the first year of his life. He was completely bald and only started growing blonde hair (it looked invisible!) around the age of 1.5 years. Until then, his flaky cradle cap persisted, which looked like dandruff. He didn’t mind it at all, which is the joy of being a baby! If you want to help remove the scales though, you can use mineral oil (great for dry skin!) and a baby toothbrush to gently brush them away. Just let the mineral oil soak into the scales first to avoid hurting your baby. If the cradle cap is located somewhere other than your baby’s head, consult your doctor. They will generally provide you with a special cream. Be certain to ask about and follow any hygiene treatments to avoid potential infections. Check out more details here.

Diaper rash is, unfortunately, a common and painful skin condition that can affect any child wearing a diaper. Diapers are designed to keep pee and poop from dirtying a baby’s clothes or ending up on the floor. The problem with this is that, if not changed regularly enough, the pee and poop (or even moisture!) can damage your baby’s sensitive skin. Diaper rash looks like sore, red skin and is located in the groin area. Similar looking rashes can appear on other parts of the body but would be caused by some other irritant (like sweat).

To prevent diaper rash, which both of my kids experienced from time to time, be sure to check and change your baby often. Gently clean the diaper area with soap and water, and pat it dry before putting on another diaper. If you see a rash developing, apply a cream or ointment that contains zinc oxide. Why this ingredient? Zinc oxide is impermeable, meaning it adds a waterproof covering, like a second skin, to your baby. This gives your baby’s sore skin a chance to heal before coming in contact with pee or poop again. Another way to allow the skin to heal is to give it some air time. Air will help your baby’s skin to dry properly and heal (bacteria don’t do so well in oxygen). Yes, this means you will have a naked, unpotty-trained baby on the loose, but it will help the skin heal faster (and keep you on your toes too!).

If your baby’s diaper rash doesn’t go away in a few days, or appears to get worse, make an appointment with your doctor. And as with any other condition that shows signs of infection (draining liquid, odour, is warm to touch, or is causing great pain or fever) seek quick medical help. To find out more, click here.

Kid Skin

Toddlers and kids are mobile (much more mobile!) and can get into some pretty crazy stuff! From bumps and bruises to heat rash and chickenpox, there doesn’t seem to be an end to types of skin afflictions. Luckily, many are preventable, treatable, or manageable. I’m going to cover two that I have experience with; eczema and warts.

Eczema can look different on everyone but is generally characterized by red, itchy patches made of scaly skin or raised bumps. Its cause isn’t entirely known but is thought to be by gene variations that prevent the skin from retaining moisture, and can be linked with other allergic conditions, such as asthma. It can be located in many places but common locations are cheeks, elbows, knees, and torso. Unfortunately, there is no cure for eczema, but preventative measures include avoiding things that trigger outbreaks, such as certain foods, heat, or perfumes, like in baby products or laundry soaps. Watch your child’s symptoms carefully and take note when outbreaks strike. This may help you track down triggers and prevent your child’s discomfort in the future. One good news story is that eczema tends to improve by age 5 or 6 and can sometimes go away. A sibling of mine had eczema as a child, which did go away as she grew (mostly). She only triggers it when she travels back from hot or humid places – those pesky vacations!

To help your child with an outbreak, only give your child short baths and use mild, unscented soaps. Pat the skin dry before applying any creams or moisturizers. Dress your child in soft, breathable clothing. If your child begins scratching and damaging his or her skin, keep their nails short or put baby mitts on them to prevent scratching at night. As with any infected-looking area, seek speedy medical attention. Read more here.

Warts are also an unfortunately common skin condition. They are caused by a virus that lives in soil or even household floors. A common place to contract them is a bathroom floor, such as public swimming pool change rooms, because the moisture allows them to survive and be transmitted easily. They can affect any part of the body but are common on hands or feet as this is where kids tend to touch things. Most warts don’t hurt but can if irritated. Preventative measures include washing hands and feet when you’re out and about and exposed. Also wash the bottoms of your feet after walking bare foot in a public place or outside. If your child bites their nails, or has an open cut, keep these areas clean and covered to prevent easy access for the virus. If a wart is contracted, be sure not to allow your child to scratch or pick at it as it could then be spread to other areas or become infected.

Warts can be treated at home, but for any little ones, it’s best to have a professional take care of it. I never had a wart as a child, so when one of my little one got one, we went to the doctor. It was a plantar wart on the bottom of his foot, so walking was uncomfortable for him. Some freezing jelly was applied and the wart was scraped away piece by piece in a couple visits. My son did not have any discomfort afterwards!

If any pain, redness, bleeding, or oozing occurs around the wart area, make sure to seek quick medical help as these are signs of infection. Read more about warts here.

Skincare Products

Now that I’m a Mom of two, and (as you can see) have lived through a few of the more common skin conditions, I’ve made my short list of baby skincare product must haves. I chose these products because they are natural, versatile, or will be a common staple for the first year of my new child’s life. I’ve also used them before and can vouch for their effectiveness! They are:

• Virgin Coconut Oil: those that are not new to my posts will know that I use this for an all-around moisturizer, hair softener, and baby massager. It also works on stretch marks and for nursing. It’s a must-have here!
• Peas in a Pod Shampoo: when pregnant with my first child, I received this brand’s sampler set as a gift. One product I kept going back for was the shampoo! I’ve tried many different kinds of baby shampoos since (since this one if kind of hard to come by), but this one was always the softest on my kids’ skin, especially as newborns.
• Burt’s Bees Diaper Rash Ointment: most diaper rash creams are created equal because of their key ingredient, zinc oxide. I do try to keep natural products in the house, and Burt’s Bees is famous for using natural ingredients!
• Seventh Generation Wipes: baby wipes are one of those things that seem to be personalized to both parent and baby, and that’s because we are the ones using them for stinky jobs. I like thick wipes that don’t tear and don’t have harsh chemicals to harm my baby. These are perfect, I’ve used them for years and never had a complaint. Plus the fact that they are less harmful on the environment is a much needed bonus!
• Seventh Generation Laundry Detergent: another eco-friendly winner is this hypoallergenic, formulated for sensitive skin, and biobased product free of perfumes, dyes, and artificial brighteners. Again, I’m a long time user and it works great!

Love your Family’s Skin

Hopefully this blog has provided you with some useful information and tips on caring for your family’s skin. If you have different skin concerns that I didn’t go over, maybe you will find them on this terrific site, which covers more topics from a wider age range! With more knowledge, we can all be better prepared for whatever skin challenges face us next! Kids get into all kinds of stuff, remember! If you like any of the information, products, or have some thoughts of your own, lay some skin on me! I’d love to read all about it!

I grew up in a large family and almost all of us are avid readers.

My older sister reads a new book every one to two days. I know what you are thinking – they must be pretty small books!? You wouldn’t think that she could be reading 500 page novels in a single day! But she does. She is just an incredibly fast reader. Once, when I was a small child, I watched her eyes while she read. They flew across the page like an eagle chasing its prey. It was remarkable to see. She tells me she has always loved reading. In fact, she loved reading so much that when she would get in trouble, our parents actually took away her books as punishment! They were more important to her than any other toy.

My younger sister is an avid reader as well. She enjoys classic novels and hasn’t missed a single best-seller. She reads at a more normal pace but never stops. She loves reading and always tells me about the newest book she has just dived into.

My older brother also enjoys reading. He prefers magical and heroic quests that he can immerse himself in. He really connects with individual characters and their struggles. His favourite characters even become part of his everyday life – he cares for his beloved characters so much, he has used their names for his pets and children!

My Dad is the king of reading – for that’s what we all know him as. His personal library is so expansive and he is so fond of his books that my Mom has to sneakily recycle or donate them to make room for more. He reads everything from manuals and historical narratives to Do-It-Yourself books and literary novels. Any topic of conversation, and he has read a book that will enable him to be the master of the discussion. He is a walking encyclopedia (of which he has four sets).

My Mom is less of a reader than the rest of my family but she is only overshadowed due to the vastness of the rest. She is still the only person I know who reads a newspaper (the entire newspaper front to back) every day. This makes her very knowledgeable on current affairs, but, albeit, a less interesting conversationalist – just kidding Mom!

As for myself – well I’ll get to that in a moment…

Reading Stats

We’ve all been told at one point that reading to our children is important – and it is! If you weren’t aware of the benefits, nothing says it better than KARA’s newest Playing Together, Growing Together Newsletter – Reading for Pleasure. Children gain literacy skills, build confidence and relationships, shape their imaginations, and become life-long learners! What better way to set your child up for success!

The 20 minute/day rule is what pops out the most to me when I think about my kids and our reading schedules. So I make sure to put in the time and more whenever possible to encourage my children’s healthy reading habits. After all, that’s what my parents and grandparents did, and it worked well for my parents and siblings!

So what more do I need to know?

Well, I was curious what the statistics said about reading. Since we put in so much time (608 hours in the first five years of life!), I was interested to know exactly how the benefits affected a child later in life. Let’s check it out!

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development at the University of Melbourne followed a group of 4,000 children aged 4 to 5 years through until they were 10 to 11 years. The study included taking information on each child’s family environment, early childhood experiences, and physical and socio-emotional state. The study, focusing on the effects of reading, also captured the frequency of parents reading to their child. All this over six years – that’s a lot of data – what did they find?

I’ll tell you! The data showed that reading to children at age 4 to 5 every day had a significant boosting effect on the child’s language, literacy, numeracy, and cognitive skills, propelling them ahead of the curve. Reading to a child 3 to 5 days/week boosted the child ahead so that they had the same skills as a child 6 months older than him or her. Reading to a child 6 to 7 days/week boosted the child ahead so that they had the same skills as a child 12 months older than him or her! Crazy, right? Furthermore, children that were read to more frequently at age 4 to 5 achieved higher scores on standardized literacy and numeracy tests in Grade 3 (age 8 to 9). The really cool part is that the differences in reading and cognitive skills are not related to the child’s background or home environment but are the direct result of how frequently they had been read to prior to starting school.

Now, my children are incredibly smart (probably that instinctual-mom-thing-to-say), but they are also just starting their reading journey, so rather than asking my children how they felt reading affected them, I went a different way to determine if the science proved true in my personal life. I asked my 16 year old niece and this is what she had to say on the subject:

“Reading is a very important aspect of my life, and fun as well! Books and stories are very important to me. They help fuel my creative side while working my brain with new words and phrases. I find exercising my brain like this very enjoyable! It probably stems from when my mother would read to me every night. They were usually books like Little House on the Prairie, Black Beauty, and Roald Dahl to mix things up! When I finish school, I plan to become a lawyer. I believe one of the main reasons I want to follow that career path is because I love to read books about solving mysteries and helping people, and I want to relive those precious stories! Reading also drastically improved my vocabulary, ability to write stories, and love for writing, which really helps in the workplace. I just hope I still have time for my stories when I get my dream job!”

Reading this anecdote always makes me tear up! She is going to be a terrific lawyer (although I hope she will always be my editor too)!

Personal Reading Quests

Like the rest of my family, I was read to as a child. Shockingly, I never become an avid reader though. This was always pointed out to me throughout my childhood and even into my adulthood. True, I do read about 5 books a night, but I’m not sure The Very Hungry Caterpillar counts…

Being surrounded by so many other readers and having the same time spent being read to, what happened? Well I never became a reader.

I became a writer!

The End

I hope these narratives, statistics, anecdotes, and inspirational inscriptions inspire you to read to your loved one. It’s never too early or late in the day to pick up a book and spend a couple of minutes sharing an adventure with your child. They will love and cherish it, and it will affect them more than you think!