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Family

9 Conduct Disorder Tips and Strategies for Parents | Parenting, caring for, and teaching a child with conduct disorder can be very overwhelming, especially if the child has other conditions like autism, ADHD, or mood disorders. This post provides insight on warning signs and symptoms, plus treatment options and behavioural management strategies to help kids with conduct disorder at home and in the classroom.

9 Conduct Disorder Tips and Strategies for Parents and Caregivers

15 Finger Print Art Projects For Kids | If you're on the hunt for easy crafts for kids of all ages, these fingerprint art ideas will inspire you! Whether you're crafting with toddlers or looking for homemade gifts kids can make, these easy kids activities will not disappoint. From thumbprint dandelions, to alphabet art, to flowers and butterflies, to autumn trees and more, this list of fingerprint crafts for kids has something for every age and stage.

Crafting with Kids: 15 Finger Print Art Projects We Love

11 April Fool's Day Pranks for Kids | If you're looking for fun and easy practical jokes to play on your kids or students - or for your kids or students to play on their parents, siblings, friends, or teachers - this post has lots of great ideas to inspire you! Most of these work as last minute pranks, and they offer a bit of light-hearted humor without being mean-spirited. We have options for groups and for families, and you may even use some of these for work - they are really funny!

Gotcha! 11 Fun and Easy April Fool’s Day Pranks for Kids

17 Outdoor Education Activities For Kids Of All Ages | This collection of outdoor learning activities is perfect for teachers looking for outdoor activities to include in their daily lesson plans, and parents who are assisting with teaching their kids virtually and/or on the hunt for learning activities they can enjoy after school or on weekends. Whether you need ideas for kids in preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, or for older kids, these ideas are simple, fun, and easy to setup!

Get Outside! 17 Outdoor Education Activities For All Ages

18 Easy 5-Minute School Hairstyles for Kids | Whether your child has short, shoulder length, medium, or long hair, one thing is for certain: you need no fuss, quick hairstyles to simplify your morning routine! If you're constantly running late (like us!), don't stress. We've curated tons of cute hairstyles for school, with step-by-step tutorials and videos that are simple and easy to follow. Choose from braided hairstyles, half up half down looks, upgraded ponytails, messy buns, and more!

Rise and Shine! 18 Easy 5-Minute School Hairstyles for Kids

9 Natural Colic Remedies | If you're a breast-feeding or bottle-feeding mama looking for tips, tricks, and remedies to help you and your newborn survive colic, this post has lots of helpful information, including the signs, symptoms, and causes of colic. From holding and swaddling, to dietary and formula changes, to movement and noise, we're sharing the best ideas to try for quick relief, allowing you and your babe to return to a place of calm asap.

Surviving Colic: 9 Natural Colic Remedies that Actually Work

14 Outdoor Snow Day Activities for Kids | While it can be tempting to stay indoors all day long on bad weather days, anyone with young kids knows that being cooped up inside for hours on end can be a recipe for disaster. If schools are closed due to snow and you're looking for things to do outside to help your kids burn off energy, these outdoor winter activities will inspire you! This list of simple and easy ideas has options for toddlers, kindergarteners, and kids in elementary school.

Cabin Fever? 14 Outdoor Snow Day Activities for Kids

14 Easy Origami Tutorials for Kids | If you're looking for simple step by step origami for beginners, we've got you covered! From flowers, to stars, to hearts, to animals, to finger puppets, to holiday origami ideas and more, these origami videos are a fun way to craft with your kids. Origami offers a great way to develop a child's fine motor skills, and these art projects double as beautiful DIY gifts kids can make. Grab your origami paper and give some of these ideas a try!

Origami For Kids: 42 Simple Step-By-Step Tutorials for Beginners

16 Super Bowl Games For All Ages | If you're looking for activities and games to play on Super Bowl Sunday, this post has tons of fun family-friendly ideas to inspire you! From minute to win it games, to free printable bingo board play cards, to prize ideas everyone will love, this collection of Super Bowl Sunday activities for kids and adults is your ticket to hosting a party that will be enjoyed by all ages and stages!

Football Is Family: 16 Super Bowl Games For All Ages

79 5-Minute Hairstyles for School | If you're perpetually running late in the mornings like we are, and you need quick and simple hairstyles for school, these step by step videos and tutorials will inspire you! Whether you have short hair, medium hair, or long hair, thick or thin hair, straight or curly hair, these hairstyles are easy and trendy, and will help simplify your morning routine!

79 5-Minute Hairstyles for School for All Ages and Hair Lengths

Virtual Brain Breaks for Kids of All Ages | If your child struggles with focus and concentration, distance learning can be particularly tricky. Thankfully, the internet is full of quick and easy brain breaks for virtual learning that teachers can do with students on Zoom, and fun brain breaks parents can incorporate into their virtual learning routine at home. Whether you have a child in preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, or middle school, this post has tons of ideas to inspire you!

Rest and Reset: 17 Virtual Brain Breaks for Kids of All Ages

33 Winter STEM Activities for Kids | If you're looking for ways to keep kids engaged and learning when it's too cold to go outside, we've curated tons of STEM experiments and activities for kids in preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, and high school! These indoor and outdoor STEM activities are simple and easy to setup, and you can enjoy them in the classroom and at home. Who knew science, technology, engineering, and math could be so fun?!

Cold Weather Ideas: 33 Winter STEM Activities for Kids of All Ages

How to Keep Kids Motivated with Virtual Learning | If you want to know how to motivate kids during distance learning, we've got 9 ideas to help! Online learning isn't just a struggle for kids - it's hard for parents too as it's very hands-on and requires a lot of patience and creativity to keep kids engaged and learning. It can be even harder for kids who already struggle to focus and concentrate, and downright impossible for kids with autism and ADHD. I hope these tips help!

How to Keep Kids Motivated with Virtual Learning: 9 Tips to Help

22 Teacher Appreciation Gifts Kids Can Make | If you're looking for inexpensive yet meaningful gifts from students for teachers and for staff to show how much you appreciate their time, effort, and dedication, homemade DIY crafts are always a good idea. Whether your child attends school in person or takes virtual classes, these simple and easy art projects are creative, unique, and thoughtful. You can drop them off for admin staff to hand out, and we've included ideas you can give virtually!

Homemade with Love: 22 Teacher Appreciation Gifts Kids Can Make

21 Christmas Cards For Kids to Make | If you're looking for easy DIY Christmas gifts kids can make, homemade Christmas cards are always a great option. They offer a simple and easy way to add meaning to someone's holiday, and if you have crafting supplies on hand, they are a cheap and inexpensive gift idea too! Whether you're looking for ideas for parents that kids can make with their classroom while at school, or you want to make these at home for teachers, these ideas won't disappoint!

21 Meaningful Homemade Christmas Cards For Kids to Make

50 Stocking Stuffers for Women | If you're looking for the best gifts for women this Christmas that are both cheap and small enough to fit inside a stocking, you're in luck! Whether you're shopping for your sister, mom, girlfriend, or wife, we've curated tons of ideas to inspire you. Some are practical and useful, some are cute and fun, some are unique and meaningful, and many of them are inexpensive (under $5 and under $10!) and can be purchased on Amazon or at your local Dollar Tree.

Stocking Stuffers for Women: 50 Gifts She Really Wants This Chrismtas

24 Hanukkah Crafts For Kids | Whether you're looking for Hanukkah themed art projects for the classroom, or crafts and activities you can enjoy at home with your kids to mark the holiday, this post has tons of ideas to inspire you. Learn how to make a dreidel out of clay, paper plate menorahs, a sparkling Star of David, Hanukkah slime, Hanukkah pipe cleaner candles, and more! Oh, and don't miss the marshmallow dreidel recipe - it's delicious!

Eight Nights of Fun: 24 Easy Hanukkah Crafts For Kids

50+ Stocking Stuffers for Men | If you're looking for the best gifts for guys this Christmas that are both cheap and compact enough to fit inside a stocking, you're in luck! Whether you're shopping for your brother, dad, boyfriend, or husband, we've curated tons of ideas to inspire you. Some are practical and useful, some are funny, some are perfect for dads, and many of them are inexpensive and can be purchased on Amazon or at your local Dollar Tree.

Stocking Stuffers for Men: 50+ Meaningful Gifts He Actually Wants

54 Hanukkah Recipes The Whole Family Will Love | Whether you spell it Hannukah or Channukah, this collection of traditional Hanukkah / Channukah recipes is for you! With tons of traditional Jewish food items, including healthy upgrades to support your clean eating and weight loss goals, low carb keto recipes, and vegan and vegetarian options, you can make ahead many of these recipes. We've also included lots of delicious dessert recipes for kids! Happy Holidays!

Traditional and Tasty: 54 Hanukkah Recipes The Whole Family Will Love

90 Stocking Stuffers for Tweens | Looking for the best gifts for tween girls and tween boys that will fit in a stocking? Tweens can be difficult to buy for, but we've got tons of girls ideas and boys ideas that are cheap but good to help make Christmas morning extra special. We've also included holiday online shopping links so you can purchase everything from the comfort of your own home. With tons of creative and unique presents to choose from, these non-toy gift ideas won't disappoint!

90 Stocking Stuffers for Tweens and Teens Your Kids Will Actually Like

8 Unschooling Tips for Parents | What is unschooling anyway?! Is it the same as homeschool? If you've seen the word floating around lately and want to know more about the concept, this post is for you! We're sharing everything you need to know about child-led education, including the benefits of unschooling, unschooling activities, and unschooling schedule ideas. Whether your kids are in kindergarten, elementary, middle, or high school, these tips are great for parents!

What Is Child-Led Education? 8 Unschooling Tips for Parents

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‘A woman with a voice is by definition a strong ‘A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult.’ –Melinda Gates Wishing all the strong, bold, loud, messy, and amazing women in my life a Happy International Women’s Day! . When we found out we were having a girl, I was so excited. I couldn’t wait to share my love for fashion and beauty with a smaller version of myself, and had such a strong vision of the kind of mom I wanted to be. . I promised myself I would be present, involved, loving, and empathetic, and that my sweet girl would wake up and go to sleep each night knowing there was at least one person in this world who believed in her 1000%. . I thought I had everything mapped out, but failed to realize that being a ‘girl mom’ would require so much more from me. It’s not enough that I listen to her, support her, and encourage her to be assertive and to own her truth. I have to model that behavior, too. . And that’s not easy. . I was raised at a time when women were encouraged to make themselves as small as possible - both literally and figuratively. . No one ever encouraged me to speak up when someone did wrong by me or someone else, and when I did start to find my voice as I got older, I was told I was ‘too much’. . Raising a girl has forced me to challenge everything that was taught to me about being a woman. I want my daughter to grow up believing she can achieve anything and everything she wants in life, and that she never has to make herself small to make others feel more comfortable. She’s bold, brave, assertive, and loud, and she’s doesn’t apologize for ANY of it. . And I hope she never does. . My girl keeps me on my toes, but being her mom has already been the ride of a lifetime. I’m so incredibly proud of her and can’t wait to see the mark she makes on the world. . ‘Here’s to strong women: May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.’ –Unknown
‘HOW YOU DO ANYTHING IS HOW YOU DO EVERYTHING.’ —Jess Sims . While some people love reading self-help books or listening to inspiring podcasts, quotes, mantras, and song lyrics are my jam. I spend hours upon hours scrolling through my social media feeds each week searching for motivational quotes and sayings, and I copy the ones I love most to the notes app on my phone so I never forget them. . I have a quote and lyric for pretty much every feeling and occasion, and if you follow me on stories, you know that I try to share something motivating and inspiring every morning. . I’ve recently been using short quotes/mantras to help me stay focused. Mantras are typically used in meditation, but they are also a fabulous tool to help you stay grounded. The idea is to pick a word or phrase with meaning to you, and each time your mind starts to wander, you repeat the mantra over and over to bring yourself back to the present moment. . I use mantras to help me stay productive with work, to keep me motivated when I want to push myself during my workouts, to stay present when I’m overwhelmed and trying to do too many things at once, and to stop me from ruminating about the things that make me stressed and anxious. . If you’re looking for inspiring quotes and mantras to help you stay focused, present, and calm, here are some of my favorites! . ‘Be present where your feet are.’ —Unknown . You don’t have to. You get to. —Jess Sims . Easy is bullshit. —Christine D’Ercole . Feel the burn, step closer to the fire. —Emma Lovewell . A setback is an avenue for a comeback. —Alex Toussaint . Hold the vision, trust the process. —Unknown . No challenge, no change. —Robin Arzon . Acknowledge the fear and do it anyway. —Emma Lovewell . Impossible is just an opinion. —Paulo Coelho . Treat your body like it belongs to someone you love. —Hannah Marie Corbin . Fix your ponytail and try again. —Unknown . 👇🏻 What quotes and mantras keep you focused and present when you’re overwhelmed or anxious?
‘ALL GREAT CHANGES ARE PRECEDED BY CHAOS.’ — ‘ALL GREAT CHANGES ARE PRECEDED BY CHAOS.’ —Unknown . f you’ve been following me on stories, you know we moved to a new house a couple of weeks ago. I was going to document the whole thing, but moving during a global pandemic in a city that is completely locked down with a child in virtual school is… 🤪 . This was the biggest move I’ve ever undertaken, and my Type A personality really struggled with how little control I had over everything. Lists and schedules are my jam, but it seemed the harder I tried to keep things on track, the quicker they fell apart. . I eventually decided to just embrace the chaos. I allowed myself to let go and just enjoy the excitement of it all and it ended up being the smoothest, most enjoyable move I’ve ever experienced. We’re still waiting on furniture deliveries and have lots of painting to do, but since no one will be visiting us for months (years?!) on end given the state of the world right now, there is absolutely no pressure. . And that feels great. . If you’re struggling, here are 4 things that helped me find order in the chaos that has been our lives for the last several weeks: . ✔️ EXERCISE. I start every single day with a hard workout to get those feel-good endorphins flowing. It makes me feel accomplished, helps me work through whatever is on my mind, and sets the tone for the rest of my day. . ✔️ ENERGY MANAGEMENT. I do all of my most pressing tasks when my energy is high and my mind is clear, and save all of the monotonous, mindless stuff (think: responding to emails, meal prep, folding laundry) for the evening. . ✔️ NEVER TOUCH SOMETHING TWICE. Once I ‘touch’ a task, I deal with it then and there so it’s taken off of my plate, rather than ’touching’ it multiple times and allowing it to take up extra energy and mental space. This is one of the best productivity tips I’ve ever read and it’s been a life-saver for me lately! . ✔️ DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT. I struggle the most with this, but the last few weeks have been a great exercise in challenging a lot of my Type A tendencies. . 👇🏻 How do YOU stay on track when you feel overwhelmed?
‘SELF-CARE ISN’T SELFISH.’ . If you met me I ‘SELF-CARE ISN’T SELFISH.’ . If you met me IRL, you’d probably [hopefully?] never know I suffer from anxiety, and would likely assume I’m just a high maintenance, high strung, Type A personality. All of those things are in fact true, LOL, but what you may not realize is that each of those traits of mine are the result of years of feeling anxious and worried and stressed. . I grew up at a time when we were taught to keep our struggles to ourselves, and when I think back to grades 3 and 4 when my anxiety was at it’s absolute worst, it pains me to remember how much I suffered in silence. I feel proud that I was able to overcome some pretty tough stuff on my own, but I refuse to let history repeat itself. . I will not raise my daughter in a world that stigmatizes mental illness. . According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, 38% of Canadians say their mental health has declined since the start of the pandemic, and people already struggling with their mental health were 2 times more likely to say their mental health has declined further.  . One of the biggest hurdles for anyone suffering from mental illness is overcoming the stigma. It is the number one reason why people living with mental illness do not seek help. . Today is #BellLetsTalk day and Bell will donate 5 cents to Canadian mental health programs for every applicable text, local or long distance call, tweet or TikTok video using #BellLetsTalk - all at no cost to participants beyond what they would normally pay their service provider for online or phone access. . MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS. . Let’s end the stigma.
‘STOP TRYING TO CALM THE STORM. CALM YOURSELF, T ‘STOP TRYING TO CALM THE STORM. CALM YOURSELF, THE STORM WILL PASS.’ —Unknown . My daughter went back to school virtually today, and while the Type A in me is excited we’re back in some kind of routine, I had forgotten just how chaotic and impractical distance learning is. A province-wide internet outage took down her teacher within 2 hours, shattering any hopes I had of grabbing a little time to myself to get caught up on all of the work stuff I’ve been putting off for the last 3 weeks. I’ve dried tears, prepared snacks, provided new Zoom logins, helped with grade 4 math, and I even made paper plates out of construction paper for a last minute craft. . Wash, rinse, repeat. . All is good in our world again, and soon we’ll dive back into those math problems and whatever else is on tap for homework before I retreat to my office to print off tomorrow’s agenda and worksheets. We’ll all play Roblox before dinner to help us unwind after a crazy day, and I’ll stay up later than I want to tonight trying to get caught up because I know tomorrow will bring more unforeseen challenges, and I hate starting my day feeling behind schedule. . Parenting in a pandemic is extra messy, and if this sh*t storm has taught me anything, it’s that we need to give ourselves a hell of a lot of grace right now. There will be days where we’re super productive and get through everything on our never-ending ‘to do’ lists, but there will be many more days where we feel like we’ve accomplished absolute nothing. . It’s on these difficult days that we need to remind ourselves that our most important job right now is making sure our kids are healthy and happy, and that they feel safe and loved. When they look back on this time, they won’t remember if the house was clean and the laundry was folded, how often we ordered takeout, or if we gained weight. All they will remember is how we showed up for them - even on the days we were struggling to show up for ourselves. . If the return to reality has you feeling overwhelmed today, stop trying to calm the storm. Take a deep breath, get present in this moment, remind yourself what’s important, and focus on that instead. . We’ve got this. 💙
BACK TO REALITY… . Are you ready to get back at BACK TO REALITY… . Are you ready to get back at it? . While we’ve certainly been busy organizing, packing, and getting our new home ready and didn’t really relax as much as we’d hoped to over the holidays, I’ve enjoyed operating at a slower pace the last couple of weeks. We’ve stayed up late, slept in a little bit each morning, had too much to eat and drink, and enjoyed a break from routines and schedules. . Toronto is currently under lockdown, so my daughter is going back to school virtually tomorrow while my husband and I continue to work from home. It’s not ideal, but we’ll make it work and I’m excited to get back into a routine. The time away from my computer helped me reset and recharge, and I feel like I’m starting 2021 with more realistic expectations of myself. And that feels good. . 2020 was definitely not my favorite year, but when I look back at the last 12 months, a lot of really great things came from it. It gave me more time with my husband and daughter and brought us much closer than our busy, pre-2020 lives would’ve ever allowed. It helped me reconnect with friends I had lost contact with due to the craziness that is being a working mom. And it helped me form amazing new friendships that I will cherish forever. . I know 2021 is likely going to be just as challenging - if not more so - as 2020 was, but for the first time since becoming a mom, I finally feel like I have a tribe of people around me. I feel less lonely than I’ve ever felt in my life, which is hilarious since we have been holed up in our house for ~10 months, but it feels pretty amazing. . I’m not sure where I was going with this post, but suffice it to say I’m ready to caffeine and conquer! ☕️
‘ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR LIFE. KNOW THAT ‘ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR LIFE. KNOW THAT IT IS YOU WHO WILL GET YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO, NO ONE ELSE.’ —Les Brown . I think we can all agree that 2020 was the absolute shits, and I know we’re all looking forward to a chance to start fresh in hopes that the universe will be a little kinder to us in 2021. . Of course, our lives aren’t going to magically go back to the way they were at 12:01 am. It’s not easy to be positive right now, but instead of getting stuck in the suck, remember that the only thing you have control over is your attitude. You can continue to feel sorry for yourself and mourn all the ways your life has changed, or you can straighten your crown and focus on all of the good things happening in your life. . If you dig deep enough, you’ll see that there is so much to be grateful right now. . And if you can’t think of anything that you feel proud of or that brings you joy, then it’s up to you to create it. Accept responsibility for your life. Stop making excuses and be the change you want to see. . Instead of thinking of 2021 as another year of lockdowns and restrictions while we wait for vaccinations to take place and herd immunity to take hold, look at it as an open book. . 12 new chapters. 365 new chances. 🥂
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