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Featured

Big Kids in Strollers: Does This Stroller Make My Kid Look Fat?

July 4, 2011

by Alexandria Durrell, owner of Clippo & founder of SoConnected

It’s a mad mad mad mad world, people. We sue beer companies for falsely advertising our ability to score a hot partner if we buy their product, we sue directors and blame movie studios for “making” us commit crimes, and we blame strollers for making our kids obese. Really, people? Really?

I think it’s fairly easy to point the finger away from ourselves when dealing with a national epidemic like obesity. Let’s face it, we’d rather blame food companies for sneaking high-fructose corn syrup into, well, pretty much everything, than adjust our own habits (it doesn’t take long to read a label, folks). It’s easier to place blame than accept it, easier to find a single cause than to admit to a string of unhealthy choices. And blaming a stroller for a child’s obesity is just another ridiculous excuse.

In the recent CTV news piece about the issue, Sandra Martin, editor of Today’s Parent magazine said that “such studies should make parents think twice before they wheel their child around” while Dr. Freedhoff, an Ottawa-area “obesity expert” points out that stroller use is just one tiny part of a larger problem. On his blog, Weighty Measures, Dr. Freedhoff also points out the flaws in the recent study done on the correlation between childhood obesity and stroller use:

“Never you mind that the study failed to include an objective measurement of activity in these kids to determine actual levels of physical activity, never you mind that we don’t have data on stroller use in the years before the rise of childhood obesity, never you mind that the calories burned even in active play for 1-5 year olds aren’t much to write home about, never you mind that studies on childhood obesity clearly suggest it’s not a problem of inactivity, and that in fact obesity leads to inactivity, not inactivity to obesity – none of those things matter because hey, childhood obesity’s always news.”

Yet still, people jumped at the chance to lay blame. And when I casually responded to a tweet sent out that mentioned “too large children riding in strollers”, it started a maelstrom. Parents immediately leapt to defend their own use of strollers, others pointed fingers at kids over three years of age riding in strollers, some pointed out that there were other factors involved, and some even (laughably) blamed the suburbs. What? No, seriously, what?

As with any problem, it would be fabulous if there was one simple solution, but come on… we all know we can’t blame stroller use for the rising number of obese kids in Canada (which, according to the Childhood Obesity Foundation is over 26% of children and youth…insane!), don’t we? When I asked for opinions on Twitter, here are some I received:

“I feel that the composition of a child’s diet, activity level, sleep habits, and parental modelling all play significantly larger roles in determining whether a child becomes obese or at risk for obesity.”
(@KGaryDonald)

“It makes me sad that money was spent on a study like this when it could have been spent on helping reduce obesity (for example subsidizing local farm fruits and vegetables perhaps).” (@cormiki)

“We parents need to be educated on how much of stroller time is good for a child and when it is absolutely necessary.” (@TNyPhotography)

So, no, it really isn’t the stroller making our kids look fat. It’s the sugary foods, high-fat snacking, sedentary lifestyles all put together that are contributing to the general obesity of our population. And if we spent more time in the backyard playing soccer than on Twitter defending our use of strollers in malls, well, maybe we’d see a difference.

Alexandria Durrell is a supermom to two delightful wee peeps by day (and night, who are we kidding?). She started the popular kids’ accessories company Clippo. Visit her website and follow her on Twitter.

Featured

Diet Pop Can Make Your Belly Grow, New Study

July 3, 2011

Do you order a diet pop because you want to save calories?

Well you may want to think again.

Diet soda, which has nearly no nutritional value, dangerously bloats waistlines and might boost blood-sugar levels, according to new studies.

People who drink diet soda experienced a 70 percent greater increase in waist circumference over a decade than non-users, a study by the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio found.

“The more diet sodas people drank, the more their waists grew,” researcher Sharon Fowler told the NY Post.

“For people who drink two or more diet sodas a day, their waist increase was five times those who drank no diet sodas — almost two inches.”

Wowsers! Why? Some scientists say that artificial sweeteners trigger the appetite, or inhibit brain cells that signal the feeling of being full. Another study found that aspartame, a popular artificial sweetener, boosted blood-sugar levels.

Both studies were presented at a recent American Diabetes Association conference in San Diego.

Professor Helen Hazuda of the university’s Health Science Center said that beverages that contains artificial sweeteners may increase the cravings for sweets, deform appetite and can even damage the brain cells.

The study, which involved nearly 500 men and women, found that even ingesting small quantities of diet soda had these effects. The results showed that the waistlines of those who consumed diet drinks expanded 70 percent faster than those who eschewed them in favor of other beverages, including regular sodas.

Frequent users (defined as those who drink two or more cans a day) saw a 500 percent greater increase in girth, Hazuda said. Consumption of diet sodas also increased blood sugar levels over time.

The results remained the same even when other factors such as exercise, social class, education and smoking were factored in.

Holidays

Fun 4th of July Party Tips on a Budget

July 2, 2011

A 4th of July party can be fun, fabulous and frugal with the right tips.

“Summer is a great time for budget-friendly parties,” says Cindy Shanholtz, Owner of Chicago event planning company Effortless Events.

“July 4th parties especially are easy and fun to embrace a theme and run with. They can be relaxed and casual but with elements that guests will absolutely love.”

Here are some creative finds on our July 4th Pinterest board.

Cindy offers the following tips for a fun, wallet-friendly 4th of July party:

Interactive food bars

Affordable and interactive, food bars add a fun twist to the party menu. Favorite American foods are elevated with unique and interesting condiments.

Hot Dog Bar: Throw on your favorite hot dogs and sausages and the best buns you can find. Ask guests to bring their favorite or hometown toppings. Guests can create all sorts of different American dogs such as Coney Island dogs, Cincinnati dogs, Chicago dogs etc.

Burger party with boozy milk shakes: Think outside of the box for unique burgers with condiments like banana peppers and feta cheese, raw mustard greens with an over easy egg and pickled red onion, crispy sweetbread strips, avocado chili spread, spicy beer BBQ sauce, carrot chili slaw and scallion bacon ketchup. Supply a few different types of burger like beef, turkey, portabella, and tuna. Serve alcoholic milk shakes like salted caramel milkshake with tequila and caramel sauce.

Salad Bar: Cutting down on meat items helps a lot with budget. You can do artichoke, seafood, antipasto, avocado, pasta etc.

Adult ice cream night: High quality sorbets, ice creams and Italian ices spiked with different liquors and fun toppings will have adults interacting and comparing their “masterpieces.” Or rent a good humor cart and watch the guys in the group ponder a “Choco Taco” or sundae cone.

Appetizer party: Mix items from Costco’s freezer section (which has some nice options!) with homemade crostinis such as crab, chili and mint or peach, prosciutto and ricotta cheese. Focus mainly on basic, affordable ingredients and mix with some high-end ingredient items in small portions.

Simple, quality ingredients such as a nice marinated flank steak and a fresh salad like peaches, basil and sweet onion or grilled pineapple, basil and cucumbero
High brow ingredients in small portions such as grilled cheese with shrimp and mini lobster tacos

Control your bar: Beer, wine and 1 specialty drink (Try a Jalapeño margarita) is perfect. You don’t need a hard liquor bar in the summertime and it just runs up the bill!

Summery, patriotic décor ideas:

Fill mason jars with red, white and blue marbles (or gum balls), tie red, white or blue ribbon around the jar and stick a miniature flag inside the jar.
Use over-sized red/white/blue bandanas as place mats or table overlays.
Plastic beach pails in different colors from the Dollar Store can be used to put salads and toppings in.
Put drinks in a red wheel barrel or wagon or try large plastic red and blue tubs from Target with white stars painted or stenciled on the side.
Cut down on expensive (environmentally unfriendly) disposables and mix in your own daily china.
Get plants from Home Depot and put a bunch in the middle of the party table(s.) Try red, white and blue flowers or simply tie patriotic colored ribbon around everyday plants. You can then reuse the plants later in your home!
Red, White and Blue balloons as table top decorations for your food buffet are a fun, easy and relatively inexpensive way to make a big impact.

Happy 4th of July!

More 4th of July ideas

Holidays

Canada Day: Recipes and Crafts for Canada Day

June 30, 2011

Canadians celebrate the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the British North America Act, 1867 (today called the Constitution Act, 1867, in Canada), which united three colonies into a single country called Canada within the British Empire.

Celebrations will take place across the country. We’ve created a board on Pinterest just for Canada Day with some patriotic inspiration!

We also found some wonderful websites with fabulous Canada Day ideas!

Canada Day Kids Craft: Make Your Own T-Shirt

Canada Day Entertaining ideas

Canada Day Quiz

Canada Day Crafts for Kids

Canada Day Recipes and Drinks

Best Canadian Rock Songs of All Time

Happy Canada Day!!!

Featured

Mom Revelation: More Sleep Is Best For My Kid

June 30, 2011

Who are you and what have you done with my son? by Julie M. Green

I haven’t been watching Spielberg lately, but I swear some extraterrestrial has come in the night and taken away the Griner (my groan-meets-whining toddler) and replaced him with the most delightful almost-three-year-old you’re likely to meet. Or not. Or maybe his mom finally got a clue. Yes, that’s probably it. Finally.

And the surprising part is that the transformation pretty much boiled down to one thing: sleep — by reinstating the afternoon nap we thought he didn’t need, and by bringing it forward and curtailing it to an hour (so he doesn’t mistake 10pm for Happy Hour). As for the early morning wakings, I told Mr G to try getting ready for work downstairs as part of a weekly trial. The theory being that the combination of our squeaky old hardwood floors and adjacent family bathroom meant that LGO was perpetually waking up before his body clock was really ready, with resultant grouchiness to rival the green garbage can monster.

And what a revelation this week has been! Each morning without fail he woke up after 7a.m., and was so agreeable I had to pinch myself. Like his mom, it seems lack of sleep turns LGO into an ogre (and not the charming Shrek variety, either). Don’t get me wrong, he still melts down with the worst of them. But it’s not every five minutes. And it doesn’t even feel like every five minutes. So when he does kick off, I’m more equipped to deal with it without baring fangs.

There’s been no hitting or screaming (ok, so minimal hitting and screaming), and my son has been wooing me like you wouldn’t believe — I can’t get enough of his cutesy singing when he launches into C is for Cooking in a gravelly, pseudo monster voice. And every time he calls out, ‘Mommy’, I get a little buttery inside. Heck, I don’t even get offended when he tells me that my legs feel ‘picky’ or that he wants me to ‘shampoop’ his hair.

Motherhood may still be a job built on a series of tedious routines, but increasingly I feel like Jimmy Stewart, poised and ready to lasso the moon and yank it down the second my little one asks me to. So THIS is what it’s all about.

Part of my epiphany came from reading about intense or ‘spirited’ kids as they are known in polite circles: about how much of what’s dubbed misbehaviour can actually be nipped in the bud simply by safeguarding a child’s sleep. Sound like an overly simplistic tweak? Consider this mom converted. R.I.P. Griner…

Julie M Green (aka Little Green Mom) is a novelist and freelance writer who rants and raves about all things mommy at Little Green One. She lives in Toronto with her husband and two-year-old son, Jackson. Visit her website or follow her on Twitter.

How long should 2 year old sleep and nap? Once your child turns two his/her afternoon nap will shorten just slightly to about 1 to 1.5 hours and nighttime sleep will slim down to 10-11 hours. Most 2-year-olds need just 10 – 12 hours of sleep in total a day.

How long should 3 year old sleep? A three to five year old usually sleeps between 10 and 12 hours every night.

Entertainment

Shania Twain’s First Single in Six Years

June 29, 2011

Shania Twain’s new song “Today is Your Day” is the first song she has written in six years. It hit iTunes after the finale of her reality show “Why Not? with Shania Twain.”

After the 45-year-old Canadian country-pop singer released her album “Up” in 2002, and her greatest hits album in 2004, she took a break that lasted for a while. She was on the recovery from the breakup of her marriage to producer Robert Lange. It was a painful divorce which Twain says it made her to lose her singing voice.

To the fans out there and those following her life, can understand the lyrics she writes in her new single which highlights what she has been going through.

There has already been positive feedback on the official site of her reality show, which comments such as “It’s good to hear your voice,” “I love this song!” and “It was so moving and heartfelt.” About 12 hours after its release, it was in the top 15 on the iTune’s singles sales chart.

In addition to the debut of her new single on her show, the finale had a special appearance from Lionel Richie, and footage from her marriage to Frederic Thiebaud.

At a press conference at the Country Music Hall of Fame, she announced that she would come back to the stage and headline for two years at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

Preview “Today is Your Day” and purchase it on ITunes here.

Mariana Morales is a full-time student at Conestoga College studying Print Journalism. She enjoys photography and is a volunteer at the Snap KW newspaper. What makes her different? She loves video games. In her spare time, she writes articles for a gaming website called Hooked Gamers. She hopes one day to work in the video game industry. Follow her on Twitter.

Entertainment

Will There Be A Toy Story 4?

June 29, 2011

There may be a Toy Story 4?

Yes according to Woody – I mean, Tom Hanks himself!

The movie series has become so successful, with Toy Story 3 having a global box office take of over $1.6 billion and winning an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, it makes sense doesn’t it?

The first film netted $300 million in 1995, and its 1999 sequel raked in $485 million.

Tom Hanks, who voices the beloved character of Woody the cowboy in the series, said he believes another sequel may be in the works.

“I understand it’s happening and if it is, I hope they’ll hire me [again],” he said.

“They have almost every line I’ve ever said in the hard drive up there at Pixar. So they might not need me! I hope they’ll have some unique grunts they’re going to need from me so I can get in there and do it.”

The work on “Toy Story” actually hasn’t stopped with the release of the third film; Pixar has released a short, “Hawaiian Vacation,” ahead of their newest film, “Cars 2”.

Pixar will release another short film later this year, rumoured to be planned ahead of “The Muppets.”

Do you think they should continue with a fourth Toy Story or just leave it as a trilogy?

Motherhood

Being The Only Female In The House: Mom To Just Boys

June 27, 2011

I have two boys – two beautiful sons. I don’t have pink frills and glittery princess stuff around – except in my own closet.

I only have boys. And I’m freaking out because my almost 7-year-old and my 4.5 year old are the epitome of what rambunctious boys are… I’m almost afraid of how I’ m going to handle them as they get older.

They are already defiant, selective listeners and strong-willed. These traits will benefit them when they are adults, no doubt. But how do I deal with their characters as children without being driven to drink?

My heart has been conditioned to sustain blood pressure fluctuations when dealing with wipe-outs on concrete, bodies flying off couches and climbing up furniture.

The comments about bodily functions are always abundant and never get boring. I have no choice but to join in on the fun and laugh about who has the loudest fart or the longest burp.

I can name all of the Ben 10 aliens and can transform Bumblebee from car to robot in 20 seconds flat.

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when they pin me down and tickle my feet.

My boys put me on a pedestal – I’m the queen of the house and am reminded on a daily basis that I’m “the boss”.

My ego is constantly boosted by their crazy love – both of them want to marry me when they grow up.

Of course when they grow up, they’ll probably marry girls who will try to brainwash them that mamas boys aren’t cool, so they’ll forget to call me and manage to see me only once a month.

As I flash forward to the teen years when they are striving for their own independence, I try to savour every cuddle, kiss and cry for mommy.

Featured

Too Much Time Online Changes Your Brain, New Study

June 25, 2011

Spending too much time on the internet may physically change a person’s brain structure, according to a new study.

Researchers in China did MRIs on the brains of 18 college students who spent about 10 hours a day online. Compared with a control group who spent less than two hours a day online, these students had less gray matter, the “thinking” part of the brain.

The study also showed that multitasking on the internet can make you forget how to read human emotions. Clifford Nass, a social psychologist at Stanford, says that when he showed online multitaskers pictures of faces, they had a hard time identifying the emotions they were showing.

Online multitasking makes real life appear slow and boring and too much time online can make you forget how to read emotions in others, the study showed. Online life can lead to “popcorn” brain.

“We can’t just sit quietly and wait for a bus, and that’s too bad, because our brains need that down time to rest, to process things,” researcher David Levy said.

Constant online stimulation can activate pleasure centres in the brain. The brain is wired to crave the instant pleasures that online multitasking can give. But, the brain needs time to process and rest – in real life.

Food

Iced Coffee: Greek Style!

June 23, 2011

I can drink these all day long in the summer time!

1 tbsp Nescafe Classic Frappe (or any instant coffee)

A few ice cubes

1 tsp sugar or more to taste

1/3 cup cold water

1 – 1½ cup milk

Put coffee granules into a shaker and add ice cubes, sugar and 1/3 cup cold water. Cover and shake vigorously for at least 30 seconds. Pour into a tall glass. Add milk. Throw in a straw and enjoy!