PRECIOUS CARGO

Our kids are precious cargo. As parents we do everything we can to keep our kids safe, especially when they are in the car. I know I do. We have several car seats and booster seats. We make sure our kids are buckled up before we go anywhere and stress the first thing that they should do when they get in the car, before doing anything else, is buckle up. So today when I noticed a little boy in the back seat of a car, with an adult, not in a car seat and not even buckled up I was shocked. I was stunned. I couldn't believe what I was seeing because I didn't know that anyone still did that anymore. Here was this child walking around in the back seat, even sitting on the woman's lap in the back seat. What I now regret is that I didn't pull over to report this vehicle to the police. I was just shocked and not thinking clearly.

But in an effort to at least pass on the story and a few tips to help with car seat safety for parents, I am writing this post with several tips and pieces of advice from a friend and police officer. Sergeant Tim Burrows of Toronto Traffic Services has written several blog posts about this topic and I am going add his link and a few of his key tidbits of information.

From Sgt. Burrows....

There are three important gauges to consider which child safety system is best for your children.

• Age
• Height
• Weight

All children must be in one form of safety seat. Infant rear facing/forward facing, toddler forward facing and child booster.

The driver of a motor vehicle is responsible for occupants under the age of 16 to be restrained properly. As the driver you may be charged with several offences for not having the occupants restrained. In Ontario there is a simple law that applies, one person, one seat belt.

Sgt. Burrows and his colleagues offer great tips and advice to keep everyone in your family safe on the roads so it is worth checking out their traffic services blog

FIVE FRIDAY FAVS: FRIEND FUN

So this week I got a chance to meet with friends and reconnect with people I haven't had much time for lately and so I thought it would be great to make them my favs for the week.

1. Sunday: I love the neighbourhood that we live in. It is close to the lake, in a quiet community but a neighbourhood is more than just location. The people make it a special place and I am lucky enough to live near some fantastic people. Sunday night after the kids were asleep I got a chance to sit on a neighbours porch, have a great glass of wine and have great conversation with some fantastic friends.

2. Tuesday a.m: In the morning I got a chance to hang out with some fantastic women at a twitterlicious tweet up. It was the creation of some great twitter friends @sherrirossi www.findabilitysolution.com and @optimom www.opti-mom.ca . It was a great morning, coffee and great conversation and I got to meet some new friends.

3. Tuesday p.m.: I recently reconnected with some friends from college. We actually kind of bumped into each other on twitter, sounds a bit strange but true. We decided that we should meet up for lunch. I was a great afternoon on a patio. We talked about what we have all been doing these past years and talked about meeting up again soon. Old  friendships made new again. Great.

3. Friday: Today I got the chance to have a fantastic meeting with @optimom  www.opti-mom.ca. There are some awesome things ahead for us. Look for updates on what we are planning soon!

4. Weekend: Yet to come but I added it because it is going to be a great weekend to hang out with my family. We are going to head to The Burlington Sound of Music festival... the largest free music festival in Canada. And of course, who could forget Sunday is Father's Day! Hurray to Dads everywhere!

FIVE FRIDAY FAVS: About this week

Ok so I am a little late with the Five Friday Favs. There is only about 35 minutes before it turns Saturday. Just under the wire for me. It has been a busy week so I thought I would list my 5 favourite things this week.

1.Three day work week: I was only at work three days this week. Hurray! it is so nice to take time off, especially when I get to spend time with my family.

2. Girl time: This week I got time to spend with my girls. It was the end of their dance season and they had two nights of dance recital so I took two nights off this week to take them to their recital. It was a lot of work and a bit stressful but we all had a fantastic time spending some time together.

3. Dance time: As I mentioned my girls had dance recital this week, for the first time in about 3 years I got to sit and watch my girls dance on stage. You see usually I volunteer behind the scenes, helping my girls and several other girls get ready for their dance numbers. This year my girls are old enough that they are able to stay with some other Mom volunteers while I sat in the audience and watched.

4. One Proud Momma: I was beaming with pride this week. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

5. Dance is over for the summer: My girls love to dance but I am so glad when we get to this point in the year. It means that I have two months off. No more early morning Saturday's at the dance studio. I can't tell you much I am looking forward to tomorrow morning!

WARW: Something Wicked

 Welcome to another Write a Review Wednesday, a meme started by Tara Lazar as a way to show support to authors of kids literature. I like to look at all kinds of books and authors, not just kid lit.

I have been a little lax in my Write a Review Wednesday posts. I hope you can forgive me (busy, overwhelmed and feeling a little un-inspired lately but I'm back now). So this week I wanted to talk about a YA (young adult) novel that I received free from Penguin Canada. As a general genre ( if you can call it that) or category I enjoy YA books. For me they are often a quick read and can have some really interesting topics. This week I am review Something Wicked by Lesley Anne Cowan.

The book is about a teenager named Melissa and to be honest her life seems to be in a real mess. I think Cowan knows the topic of teen troubles well. She is a secondary school teacher who works with at-risk youth so I am sure the issues discussed in this book are well know to her. You see Melissa is a young woman with secrets and troubles and while her mother loves her she doesn't really have the skills to parent a teen like Melissa. There is a lot of drugs, sex, depression and heartache in Melissa's story. It is a real emotional roller coaster.

The book was a quick read for me as far as the pacing but I have to be honest the content was often a bit hard to read. It was hard to read about Melissa and what seemed like her poor decisions. I often felt like screaming at her or asking her why she is doing what she is doing. Her behaviour was so self destructive and when it seems like there is a chance for to have a better life she makes a bad decision or has someone in her life make a bad decision that impacts Melissa's life.

I think the book deals with a lot of hard issues and problems that teens today face every day. As a parent of young kids it was a look into a life I don't know much about but I am sure that goes for a lot of parents out there. It is a world that most parents are not privy to.

I am not sure I liked the ending of this book. I was left feeling like I wanted more but then again it did feel a little bit like how things end in real life. There is really no tight and tidy ending, life goes on and life is a journey with twists and turns in the road. Never the less I still felt a bit unsatisfied with the ending but still worth a read.

PARTY FUN

So I am a little late in posting pictures from my daughters 7th birthday party. We had a kids party - pictures to come - and a family party. We always have two parties, something my kids have come to believe is normal. The family party was fantastic this year. The weather was great, perfect BBQ weather and the pool was clear and warm. It was a full house, we had about 18 people in all told. Wow. My daughter had a great time.

My dad is always the joker. Lots of fun. I love spending time with my family so many great memories!

FIVE FRIDAY FAVS: bank accounts

So it was another busy week but what's new. I am back to my five favourites from the week and this week it has to money. This week I finally opened a bank account for my girls. I have been wanting to do this for a long time. You see every year my in-laws give my children money for their birthday and it inevitably gets spent because the kids don't have a bank account to stash it away in so this week I finally did it! Hurray for me!

1. One more thing off my to do list: I can finally cross this task off the list of things that needed to get done. I am not the best at organization so this was a biggie for me. Next step is getting the girls a Registered Education Saving Plan.

2. Bank book & bank card: The kids were over the moon to get their own accounts, bank books and their own bank card that they can use to buy things and take money out of the bank machine. It is so exciting to see the smiles on their faces when they show family and friends their new bank books and bank cards.

3. Ownership and Responsibility: I am happy that I am teaching my girls about saving money and how exciting it is to have money in the bank. They are so happy and feel like they have some responsibility in how they spend and manage their own money. My youngest daughter is already planning how she will save her money for our yearly holiday trip to Florida and she is only 4 years old!

4. Making a deposit: I loved watching both my daughters line up for the bank teller and give their bank books and money to deposit. They were smiling from ear to ear. They were so proud of themselves. It was worth every minute we waited to see the pure joy on their faces as they made their first ever bank deposit! So cool!

5. Paying customers: I have to admit it is pretty cool to have kids that can actually pay for dinner!