However, I knew it wasn’t my call, after all, it was their birthday so it would be their choice. If they wanted a party, they could absolutely have it. Or they could choose the adventure day.

Since then we’ve spent birthdays wandering through museums, visiting a castle, and splashing the day away at a waterpark more than a few times.

It took a few years, but I took the plunge and decided to apply this to Christmas as well. We had been talking after dinner one evening and got on the topic of Christmas gifts. The more we talked, the more I realized they barely remembered any of the gifts they received over the years. Gifts I had sweated over, gifts we had spent hard-earned money on. Simply forgotten.

Not even a blip on their radar screen of life.

It made me question why I was spending all this money on ‘things.’ This is not to say I took away all gifts, I’m not the Grinch who stole Christmas, but that green guy was on to something. Christmas doesn’t have to come from a store, maybe perhaps, it does mean a little bit more.

What we decided to do was give them something that would create memories as their main gift, along with a few smaller items so they could still have something to unwrap Christmas morning.

If you too are leaning more towards memories as opposed to simply gifts, you might be struggling to come up with ideas. Here are a few to get you started:

Be A Tourist

Plan a trip to explore somewhere safe near where you live, and be sure to hit the tourist spots. I once took our boys on a double-decker bus tour of Toronto and they still talk about it.

A Camera

A few times a year my kids pull out our photo albums and we all go through them, sharing what we remember. We live in a digital age where so many of our photos end up on a computer and are forgotten. Get your kids a camera (it doesn’t have to be expensive) and have them document holidays or even your day-to-day life and then make a promise you will actually print them out.

A Library Card

This seems like such a small gift and yet the independence your kids feel when they have their own library card is a gift in itself.

A Shopping Spree at the Local Bookstore

Yes, this is actually shopping and buying, but if you opt out of the library card idea, you can make an event out of this one. Who doesn’t love strolling through a bookstore? Go together during an off-time when you can easily distance from others and take your time picking out new books. Then, why not pick up some takeout on the way home and spread out with your food and books for the afternoon or evening?

Something That Takes Them Out of Their Comfort Zone

Last year we took our boys tree-top trekking which was an amazing experience that took all of us outside our comfort zones. But doing something outside of your child’s comfort zone doesn’t necessarily have to be adventurous. Take your sporty kid out for a night of painting, or your artsy kid skating on an outdoor rink. It’s a good way to teach them that they can do more than they think.

Make a Date

Breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Make a date to take them out for a meal at their favourite restaurant (or grab takeout from a local restaurant and dress up your home for some fancy dining). Pro tip: Breakfast is the cheapest of the bunch but your kids don’t have to know that.

Magazine Subscription

One of the highlights of my childhood was receiving a monthly magazine my grandmother got for my sister and me. I still know how to do the alphabet in sign language thanks to that magazine.

Board Games

A family game night never gets old. Add to your collection and make it a weekly event that brings you all together.  Here are a few of our favourite family games:

Best Family Board Games for All Ages

The post The Best Ways to Give Memories Instead of Gifts appeared first on SavvyMom.

We start the season fresh, full of summer fun ideas and good intentions. There will be daily outings! Picnics at the park! You will achieve Pinterest Level Pro!

But the reality is, by the end of July, the idea well has gone dry. And many of us struggle to fill another 14-hour day without losing our minds.

These ideas may not be Instagram-worthy or Pinteresty-pinnable but they might keep you going when the going gets tough.

10 Mid-way Point Ideas for Summer Fun

Exploration Day

Remember when you were a kid and you’d head out with friends to explore somewhere in the neighbourhood you’d never been before? You can do the same thing with your kids. Put on some old clothes and shoes that can get wet and head to a local creek or a pond. Check out a forest or a nearby conservation area. Pack some sunscreen and a picnic lunch and head out somewhere new, either by bike or by foot. Exploring where you live can be a great way to pass some time, and you never know what you might uncover.

Bike Wash

Grab the hose, fill a bucket with sudsy water, toss in a couple of sponges, and put up a sign. You’re in the bike washing business. Actually, your kids are. You’re in the ‘sitting on the porch whilst drinking a coffee’ business.

Frozen Lego in the Tupperware

Freeze a Lego character in a Tupperware container (or any small toy that’s waterproof; Hot Wheel cars also work well). When it’s completely frozen, pop out the ice block (you may have to run it under warm water to get it out), set it up against a tree, your garage, your house….any place you don’t mind getting wet, and have your kids shoot water guns at the ice blocks to ‘free’ the Lego character. To make it a less difficult for younger kids, fill the water gun with warm water. To make it more difficult, tie the ice block to a tree branch with string for a moving target.

Timed Lego Building

Give each of your kids a small container filled with Lego pieces. They then have 30-minutes to build their own creation. At the end of the 30 minutes, they present to you with their design.

Helpful Hint: Don’t declare a winner unless you want to deal with the aftermath.

Decorate Your Street

$10 worth of Dollar Store chalk = an entire block of sidewalks transformed into art. Have your kids pick a theme for each sidewalk square. Circles for one, stripes for another, stars on the next one…. within a few hours it’s possible for them to turn your entire street into an art show.

Bike Parade

Am I the only one who remembers bike parades? Grab a group of neighbourhood kids and have them decorate their bikes, scooters, tricycles, or wagons using streamers, ribbons, or whatever else you have on hand. Playing cards attached to the wheels with clothespins? Yes, please! Enlist a couple of parents to bring some sort of musical instruments like a tambourine or small handheld drum and lead those gussied up bikes throughout the neighbourhood. End it with a Freezie festival. Because what’s summer without Freezies?

Paper Boat Races

Construct boats from paper (Google it, there are a million tutorials and it’s super simple), tape the bottom with duct tape to make it waterproof, but not too much because it will weigh the boat down and cause it to sink which will, in turn, cause meltdowns. #BeenThereDoneThat. Then use a straw to blow it across a kiddie pool to see who can get it to the other side the quickest. If you don’t have a kiddie pool you can fill up the bathtub (which is a great rainy day activity).

Paint with Ice

Freeze washable Tempura paint in an ice cube tray (the dollar store is your friend because you won’t be able to use the tray for regular ice cubes afterward). Once frozen, pop out the cubes and paint your sidewalk and driveway.

Bath Outside

Fill a kiddie pool with bubble bath or bring the soap and shampoo outside and let them run through the sprinkler.  Either way, your kids get clean while having fun. And you get to wear your Mom of the Year sash. It’s a win/win.

Paint Rocks

What I love about this is that it entertains kids from toddlers to teens. Toddlers will mash the paints together to create a tapestry of colours while older kids will attempt to fashion something out of the shape of the rock.

For the record, my Sponge Bob Squarepants rock will go down in rock painting history (at least in our family).

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What can I say? My kids were young and I got caught up in the magic.

All I can say now is thank goodness they were too young to remember it the following year (and after my not so fun experience freezing my keister off crawling around in the snow trying to make it look like Dasher, Dancer, and the rest of the reindeer were chilling on our front lawn, I wasn’t about to mention it) so I wasn’t stuck making footprints for the next ten years.

Which brings me to this.

Parents of children under the age of four, heed my warning.

Choose your holiday traditions carefully because once your kids hit an age where they start retaining memories, you’re going to be doing those traditions for a long time.

Be Careful, the Holiday Traditions You Begin Because You’re Going to Be Doing Them for a Long Time

Our house has the distinction of having the world’s most awful Tooth Fairy. It’s not that she would forget one of the kids had lost a tooth, it’s that she was so exhausted by the time that kid was finally in bed – No, you can NOT have another glass of water – she would fall asleep and not remember the money exchange until early in the morning, when the chances of that kid waking up whilst doing the tooth/Toonie transfer was the greatest.

Needless to say, she got caught more than a few times.

Helpful Hint: If you too are part of world’s worst Tooth Fairy group, let your kids know that the Tooth Fairy had the unfortunate experience of  accidentally waking up a few kids in the middle of the night and unintentionally scaring them, so she no longer goes into rooms while they are asleep. Have your kids leave the tooth and a note on your kitchen table in the evening, where it’s there staring you in the face when you pour your morning coffee, and become a part of the Tooth on The Table club.

When it comes to traditions, don’t get caught up in the newest trends (I’m looking at you Elf on a Shelf), instead repeat these two little words:

Know thyself.

I have nothing against Elf on the Shelf. I actually think it’s a very cool tradition and a fun way to get your kids excited for Christmas while allowing parents to be hilariously creative. But if our Tooth Fairy, who wasn’t capable of slipping a Toonie underneath a pillow, was any indication, our Elf was going to be a complete and utter failure.

Every year for my sons’ birthdays instead of giving them a card I make them a giant sign of all the reasons they are awesome and hang it on a wall for them to see as soon as they wake up. Presents are given before breakfast but they have to race through the house finding and deciphering clues to find it. This works for me because (a) I’m a morning person and have time to set the whole thing up before they get out of bed and (b) I’m really good at making rhyming clues (a talent, for sure, but not likely to ever make it on my resume).

However, I’m terrible at baking so all of our Christmas cookies are essentially things that involve melted chocolate, and my present wrapping ability is best described as “drunken frat boy.”

So now I don’t stress out trying to make magical memories baking with my kids when I know that this will only teach them new swear words, and I outsource my wrapping.

Take it from me, young parents. Know who you are and choose wisely.

There is nothing magical about being outside at 11:30pm on Christmas Eve pressing cardboard reindeer footprints into the snow when you’d rather be inside sipping Bailey’s and hot chocolate.

The post Be Careful Which Holiday Traditions You Begin appeared first on SavvyMom.

Best Family Board Games for All Ages

Where’s Bear?

Age: 2+
Available at Amazon.ca

Think your toddler can’t play a board game? Where’s Bear is about to change that. It combines two activities: stacking blocks and finding a hidden bear. It’s the perfect start to teaching your kids about taking turns and having fun. It will soon have Where’s Bear turning into There’s Bear!

Don’t Step In It

Age: 5+

Available at Walmart

Don’t Step In It involves a large game mat, fake poop and a blindfold. But don’t be fooled by the potty humour, this game also involves poop moving tactics. Can you avoid the number twos to be number one?

Pictionary Air

Age 8+

Available at Toys R Us

Pictionary but without the pen and paper? Yes, please! Pictionary Air is a cross between Pictionary, charades, and the Matrix. Instead of a pad of paper, family members use augmented reality technology to sketch in the air and interact with sketches they can’t see.

Feed The Woozle

Ages 3 – 6

Available at Amazon

What’s best about this game is that it has three levels so it grows with your child. Level 1 is simply roll and feed the Woozle his silly snacks. Level 2 adds in a movement like walking or doing a hula dance while you’re trying to feed your hungry friend. Level 3 takes it up a notch by doing Level 1 or 2 with your eyes closed. Who knew chocolate-covered flies could be so much fun?

Not Parent Approved: A Card Game for Kids, Families and Mischief Makers

Age 8+

Available at Amazon.ca

For all the parents who love Cards Against Humanity, this is the same thing but 100% family-friendly. Instead of politics and profanity, think gassy unicorns and booger juice. Did we mention the game starts off with a burping contest? Kids love it because they feel a bit naughty. Parents love it because it’s a fun game to play.

Yeti in My Spaghetti

Age 4+

Available at Amazon.ca

You need to use your noodle for this game. Place the Yeti across a bowl full of noodles then each player takes turns pulling the noodles one by one. Whoever makes the Yeti fall, loses. But you’ll be a winner because this is a game your kids can play on their own.

Sequence

Age 7+

Available at Indigo

Play a card from your hand, place a chip on the corresponding game board space and when you have five in a row, it’s a sequence. But be careful. You’ll spend so much time developing your own sequences, you won’t see the ones the other players are building. Part luck, part strategy, pure fun.

Candyland

Age 3+

Available at Amazon.ca

Sometimes it’s good to stick with the classics and Candyland is one of those childhood rites of passage. What’s great is that it’s set up for the youngest in the family, but this game will take you down a magical road of sweet surprises no matter what age you are.

Codenames

Age 14+

Available at Best Buy

If you have an older child in the house, board games might get you an eye roll. But not this one. Turn your teen into one of the spymasters and even though the game can be played in 15 minutes or less, you’ll end up playing all afternoon.

Blokus

Age 7+

Available at Amazon.ca

This game gets a 4.8 out of 5 stars on Amazon for a reason. It takes less than a minute to learn and is one part strategy, one part frustration. The person who fits the most pieces on the board wins. Simple, yet more difficult than you think.

Related Reading:

Card Games for Kids Perfect for Family Game Night

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Remember when your child was a toddler who asked question, after question, after question, talking non-stop every waking hour of the day and you wished more than anything you could get just a moment of silence?

When they’re little you know every aspect of their life; who their friends are, their favourite shows, the games they love to play, what they eat, when they sleep. Then, those little ones grow up a bit and begin school. Suddenly there’s a whole seven or eight hour part of their day you don’t know about at all. But it’s still okay because your little chatterbox loves to share.

Then it happens. One day, she barges in from school, you ask how her day was and get the dreaded one-word response:

“Fine.”

Motherhood is nothing if not ironic.

But all is not lost. The trick to keep kids talking is to keep the lines of communication open now so when your school-aged kids become teens they’re still more likely to talk to you. It’s not as hard as you think.

How to Keep Kids Talking from the School Years and Beyond

Lower Yourself

Literally, lower your body so you are below them. I discovered this by accident after a long day at work. I was on the kitchen floor petting my dog when my two teens walked in. Both of them stood, leaning on the countertop and low and behold, the conversation flowed. Since then I’ve made it a habit to cop a squat on the floor whenever we’re in a room together. Maybe it’s because I seem non-threatening when I’m on the floor, but for whatever reason, it works.

Listen Without Judgement

Your kids will tell you stories about their friends or things that happened at school which you might not necessarily like. It’s going to happen, I promise. At this point you have a choice, to bombard them with your opinions or to listen. Repeat this mantra to yourself: They are telling me this voluntarily. They are telling me this voluntarily. You want to keep kids talking about this stuff.

This is not to say you are not allowed an opinion, but before you jump in offering advice, criticism, or condemnation, take a moment to ask to listen empathetically and ask questions. Kids are under a lot of pressure these days and knowing they can come to you with anything without judgement offers them a release valve.

Listen Without Losing Your Mind

In keeping with no judgement up above, it’s possible your child will tell you something that may cause you to lose your mind a little bit. For a school-aged kid, it could be failing an exam or not handing in an assignment in on time. For a teen, it may be that they tried drinking or vaping.

Our first instinct tends to be negative and yes, you will want to lose your mind. Temper that instinct for a few moments; listen empathetically, ask questions and keep an even tone to your voice.

Again, you are the parent and there are going to be consequences to their actions but when your child knows he can come to you without it turning into a screamfest you are paving the way to a time when he’s older, finds himself in a bad situation and knows he can call you for help.

Understand When They Like to Talk

Have you ever walked through the door and been inundated with kids and questions? What’s for dinner, mom? Where were you? Did you pick up shampoo?

It’s irritating and invasive. Give your kids a little bit of space when they come home and learn when it is they like to open up. In our house, it’s after dinner. With me sitting on the floor, obviously.

Show an Interest in Their Interests

My older son and I have a deal. When we are driving together anyplace, he listens to my music on the way there, I listen to his music on the way back. This allowed me to get a feel for what he liked and gave us conversation starters. Also, who knew I’d like Post Malone?

Let Them Start

To keep kids talking, sometimes the best strategy is to stay silent and let them begin the conversation.

Ask Your Kids Their Opinion. On Anything.

Once again, listen without judgement. You’ll be surprised at what you learn.

Secret Code

As our kids get older they still need to know we love them but “Oh my gawd, mom. That’s so embarrassing.”

In our family, we came up with a secret hand signal so I can tell my boys I love them without anyone else in the world knowing what we’re doing. Kisses at the front door as they take off for school may be long gone but the hand signal is here to stay.

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