At your wits end! Let momstown connect you with some REAL solutions!

My little guy just turned two and oh what a joy it is! I love the fact that he is starting to be able to communicate more effectively by vocalizing what his needs are - sometimes. He is starting to test the waters, push his limits and see what kind of rise he can get out of me every step of the way. Sometimes it is a challenge to keep my cool and remember that this is the norm and he is just testing his independence. Sometimes I just feel like I'm at my wits end, feeling like a broken down record saying the same thing over and over and over again! If there's anyone else that feels this way too, there is hope!

momstown.ca is excited to partner with Amy McCready, founder of Positive Parenting Solutions, to offer a FREE live training webinar: Get Kids to Listen without Nagging, Reminding or Yelling!




We have 2 options for you to attend - Tuesday, February 21st from 9-10 PM EST or
8 – 9PM PST (11 - 12 PM) EST!!

Amy promises that we’ll walk away with concrete tools we can use the next day and see results. I know you'll be especially interested in learning the 5 R’s of Fair and Effective Consequences. You can watch, listen and even interact with Amy.

Participants are not required to have a webcam, only a computer with speakers.
Webinar seating will be limited so learn more and RSVP now!

So grab a drink, a notepad and a quiet spot and get ready to learn some great tips that will help you get through the terrible twos, the trying threes, etc...

Everyone is welcome and you can extend the invite to friends and family on Facebook by clicking here!

Caged Babies: Saving our Sanity

My oh my how things have changed. Its a shame they don't sell these anymore. It is multifunctional too! Comes with curtains for a breezy sleep nook! Remove the padding and no need for diapers or bibs! Oh how well people had it back then! I'm kidding... I think I am anyways. If it's not a window cage its something else. A playpen, a gated room, a locked closet (wait what?). These are all techniques us moms introduce to maintain our sanity. Some nights (last night for me) we get very little sleep. Our babies have their own schedule and for the first little while we follow it whether we like it or not. Even if it means party time at 4am. So to get that extra dose of morning caffeine, or even a little shut eye, we have to find little tricks to save our sanity.

But I also need my sleep. I need to shower. I need to do laundry. I need to eat. I struggle to find time for myself.




I've been creative with media to help with tummy time. My baby hates tummy time. He has hated Tummy Time since day 1. I used to prop him up a little with a rolled up towel but he is now long past that. Since he has figured out how to roll from tummy to his back Tummy Time has been an even bigger challenge. He lasts about 10 second on his front until he decides to roll over. This shouldn't be a big deal for most moms but it is for me. He has some issues on one side of his neck and shoulders causing him to always turn to that side (another breastfeeding challenge). This was likely caused by high forcep delivery when he was yanked from me in the most aggressive way possible. His pediatrician said that more tummy time can help balance this out. So how do I get him to stay on his tummy? Baby Einstein of course! I've tried throwing toys and books on the floor infront of him but he's just not interested yet.




It is very important to have these methods or you end up doing stupid things. Take the picture below for example:



This is our Diaper Genie. Full of dirty diapers and last nights explosion perched on top. The blue bag hangs down with that oh so important knot tied at the bottom. Well guess what I forgot to do last time I changed the Diaper Genie. Tie a freaking knot. So this mess is what I blindly stuck my hand into this morning when I went to change the bag. Delightful. I was in such denial I called my husband and asked if he changed the bag last. I was thinking I could not have done such a thing! I did. He hasn't ever changed it and doesn't even know how it opens. I had to accept the facts: I'm an idiot. Apparently I need to cage my baby more often. A sane mom is a happy mom, and a happy mom has a happy baby!

This blog was written by member Sarah Smith. She's a first time mom weeding through the ins and outs of mommy hood.

Confessions of an Unfit Mother

Quote: “That’s not sweat, it’s my body crying….” Anonymous

Are you there Richard Simmons? It’s me…Unfit Mommy. I just got my “A” kicked by a lovely Fitness Guru from CardioCore named Leanne. I’m in so much freakin pain right now. I am feeling parts of my body I didn’t know existed. Did you know there were muscles behind your knees?? My thighs are burning so much if I rub them together I think I could light the pilot on my furnace. Did I mention I am writing this from the floor of my bedroom where I landed Tuesday night and cannot get up from…?


Being a former Athlete (high school sports teams count right?) and totally being the master at Wii Zumba I figured I would have no problem keeping up with a little fitness demo with the Momstown Crew. With my yoga mat under my arm (tags still on), my water bottle, and my cute little shorts I bought that morning I walked into that gymnasium feeling pretty confident. This would be a piece of cake. Mmmm cake. Anyways, I stepped threw the open door into the building and looked around the large space we would be calling home for the next hour. It reminded me of the gym we had in middle school. Standard Basketball Court-CHECK. Floors that squeak with the touch of my sneakers – CHECK. I felt very comfortable and eager to start working out. I turned my head and saw a smiling face staring back at me. It was Leanne our wonderful Cardio Core Instructor/Angel of Death. Her sweet smile and gentle voice showed me no indication of the pain and suffering I would be feeling later on. In front of me stretched an ominous row of bright orange pylons that seemed to go on forever. To the left I saw piles of 5lb weights and small towels strategically placed around the gym floor. “We are going to have so much fun!” an optimistic Leanne said. I don’t remember props on my "Sweating to the Oldies" DVDs I thought to myself. It was at this point I realized “Richard, I don’t think we’re at Dairy Queen anymore”.

Over the next few minutes others started to trickle in the door for our night of sweaty fun. The regulars were in full gear with their own weights and mats in tow. Each person looking more ripped then the last. I swear I saw one of the ladies on the cover of Oxygen Magazine last month. Leanne introduced me to the group of buff goddesses. Everyone was very friendly, encouraging and supportive with me being a Newbie to the club. I felt intrigued by the workout equipment around the room and I was excited to start the class.


We started our workout with some laps around the gym followed by sprints across the room, and high kicks. Then we continued with links of lunges and squats. After what seemed like an eternity my heart was racing, my breath was short, legs were shaking, and sweat drenched my body. I was ready to call it a day when Leanne said “Great warm up guys – now let’s get started!” Let’s get started?!? You mean we’re not finished? My body asked.

We moved onto other combos – Spider Climbs, followed by planking, Sumo Squats, and Burpees along with other torturous activities my body has never done before. For those of you who don’t know “Burpee” is Latin for “Death by jumping push-ups”.



To watch the regulars in the class you would think these moves were so easy. They effortlessly moved across the floor with grace and precision from position to position. Every movement like a perfectly executed ballet of intensity and strength. Then there was me still struggling to complete my first crunch in a pile of jelly on the floor.



After an hour with some prayer and a lot of wonderful encouragement from Leanne and the group I completed the “Modified” program without vomiting. WOOT WOOT! As I clasped onto the yoga mat in a puddle of my own perspiration a feeling of relief and triumph washed over me. Was it because even with a lack of oxygen to my brain I could still remember those three important numbers - 911? Strangely no. It was that now I could see why these ladies push themselves like crazy every week. The feeling of accomplishment and pride is overwhelming and completely diminishes the fact I may never walk again. I rolled over onto my right side hoping I could regain the strength to crawl from my mat outside to my car 20 feet away when one of the girls asks, “Are you coming back Thursday?”

This blog was written by our new fabulous and extremely humorous mommy blogger Jenny Dean. Please give her a warm welcome by leaving her a comment on your thoughts about this post.

Loving my new Toshiba Thrive Tablet!

Last week I attended our momstown National conference where we were all given the opportunity to try out 4 of the new Toshiba Thrive Tablets amongst our group. I was eager to get the opportunity to have the hands on experience since that's how I learn best. I was pleasantly surprised about how easy it was to navigate myself through it to get to my email account, face book, twitter, take pictures and of course look at our momstown Milton website!

Having had the opportunity to play with it helped to make me realize that working off of my phone was no longer a productive way of getting things done and that I really needed to add the Toshiba Thrive Tablet to my Christmas wish list as a must have item.

It didn't stay on my wish list for very long since I ended up being chosen by my peers as a lucky winner. I was going home with a Toshiba Tablet of my very own..unbelievable! Thank you to both my momstown teammates and Toshiba for this awesome prize pack!

Working with it more, I have come to appreciate the size of the screen ( I don't have to squint anymore looking at my phone), the touch screen keyboard ( bye bye mouse) and the fact that it is a lot easier to type on have been a value added bonus for me. I like the fact that it is light weight and portable which makes it easy to bring along with me since I'm always on the go. The grooved backing makes the grip more sturdier and stable which is a great feature to have when working around little hands that like to reach and grab.

The tablet was just too great of a prize to keep all to myself so I took it to our playgroup to see what our other moms thought about it. It was an instant crowd pleaser. Not only did the moms enjoy the ease of using it (one handed by some) and keeping connected, they also enjoyed watching their toddlers being able to navigate the touch screen with very little assistance.






Want to hear what our other moms are saying about the tablet. Check out the other winners blog - momstown Winnipeg, momstown Guelph, momstown.ca and momstown Edmonton South for their thoughts and opinions.

Want to win one of your own? You can enter here to win your very own Toshiba Tablet from our momstown contests blog or nominate a good Samaritan in your community to receive one by entering them in the Toshiba Holiday Hero contest. Good Luck!

Laugh and Learn Puppy from Fisher Price

momstown Milton was lucky enough to be chosen to review the new Laugh and Learn Love to Play Puppy from Fisher Price. When I opened it up, I had to do a double take since it looked very similar to the puppy that we already have and love! I was excited to see the upgrades that have been made and I was curious to see if my son would notice them at all.



I put out the new version for him to play with and waited to see what his reaction would be. He was startled at first since with this version the puppy actually wiggles, dances, claps and moves and my little guy wasn't expecting it all. After a few times of pushing the buttons and watching the movements (especially the ears going up and down) from a distance he warmed up to it and began engaging with the toy - singing, dancing,clapping and most of all smiling and having a good time.




The songs are upbeat and catchy with some childhood standards in the mix like if You're Happy and You Know It and Patty Cake. The instructions are easy to follow and offer your little one a fun way of learning the basics. Jaxon's favourite was the counting to 10 song that had him clapping along and counting out loud with the puppy.



We decided to take the puppy for a trip to our playgroup to see if the others might enjoy playing with him too. I should have known he would be a big hit! The kids gathered around him and couldn't wait until it was their turn to push the button. It was great watching them take turns, share the toy and act out the directions that were presented to them. I even picked up some new funky dance moves from the girls!





Overall the Laugh and Learn Puppy is a toy that will be well used and loved in our household. If you want one of your very own don't forget to enter our momstown contest to win!

Have you heard the exciting news....

momstown.ca owner Ann-Marie has won the SavvyMom mom entrepreneur of the year award!

All of us momstown mamas are so proud of Ann-Marie! This is definitely a result of all the hard work she puts into the momstown communities on a daily basis! She is a dynamic, charismatic individual who genuinely cares for us all and offers a lending hand whenever needed! I am so honoured to be a part of the momstown movement!

Read about how this award has touched our momstown founder Ann-Marie and what she plans on doing with it!



In celebration we want to thank everyone by giving each and every one of you a FREE month of membership! This applies to current members, trial members, new members and even former members to come back and experience all that momstown has to offer! Check out the details below and don't forget to sign up by Oct 28th!


MEMBERS win when we win! Free one month membership to NEW members and a free month extension for EXISTING or EXPIRED members. To redeem, please register on your local site and complete the form* at http://momstown-moments.momstown.ca/node/372. Available between Oct 21- 28th. Memberships will be extended the first week of November.

PLUS, are you an ONLINE MOM ENTREPRENEUR? momstown wants to share our success by offering Online Mom Entrepreneurs exposure with a FREE national contest & member discount listing! Details, rules*, and entry at http://momstown-moments.momstown.ca/node/372. Available from Oct 21-Oct 28 for ad activity Nov – Dec 2011

Looking forward to connecting with all of you!

Sam Kassam-Macfie
your momstown Milton mama

Having a Hay Day with Scribble n Splatter

Our momstown Milton moms and tots had a great time decorating scarecrows at our monthly visit with Scribble n Splatter. We started off by using water coloured paints to make the backdrop. The kids had fun dipping their brushes in the water and swirling it around the paint to get the colours they wanted. Some of them discovered that they could create new colours by mixing two paints together!





Once the backdrops were completed, we gathered around to have circle time. We weren't sure how many in attendance actually knew exactly what a scarecrow was so we decided to read our book "Story Country" by Derek Anderson that was provided by our awesome partners at Scholastic Canada. This was a cute story about building a farm from scratch and all of the components that are necessary to make it complete including a very pretty scarecrow! We then sang a few songs to go along with our theme including the Floppy Scarecrow where the kids got to role play how a scarecrow guards the crops.





We then gathered around the table to finish off the craft by dressing up our men with patches of fabric and straw. Once they were glued on to the water colour backdrops, the mural was complete! What a colourful masterpiece! To see all of the great pics from this event click here.






Join us next month when we learn about the wild west - Yee Ha!
Register for a FREE 6 week trial membership by signing up here.

Another fabulous resource brought to you from momstown!

Title: Is Time Out a Waste of Your Time?
Location: Webinar (virtual training)

Date: Thursday, October 20th from 2PM -3PM EST
Date: Monday, October 24th from 9PM – 10PM EST

Description:
momstown is excited to partner again with Amy McCready, founder of Positive Parenting Solutions, to offer a free live training webinar to our members!

The session is…Why Time Out is a Waste of Time! Amy promises that we’ll walk away with concrete discipline tools we can use the next day and see results. In fact, you’ll learn one of the all-time “parent favourite” tools for stopping any power struggle in its tracks. You can watch, listen and even interact with our host, Amy. Participants are not required to have a webcam, only a computer with speakers.

You'll love the way this webinar is structured. Amy is right there LIVE, a video image of her is in the upper left corner of your monitor the whole time. As she talks with you, you'll watch her PowerPoint presentation that is packed with valuable information. She'll also stop to answer our questions about difficulties and needs when it comes to getting our kids to listen.

You will also have the option to write in specific questions and she’ll address them, right there for you!

All you have to do is RSVP (sorry due to limited ‘seats’, you MUST register on positive parenting) (http://www.positiveparentingsolutions.com/momstown) and then kick back and learn the proven strategies to Get Kids to Listen without Nagging, Reminding or Yelling!

Have a friend(s) that are not momstown members that you think could benefit from this training? Please Invite Them Too! Just share this registration link http://www.positiveparentingsolutions.com/momstown!!

About Amy McCready:

Parenting expert Amy McCready is the founder of Positive Parenting Solutions, which has empowered thousands of parents worldwide to correct their kids’ misbehavior without nagging, reminding or yelling. Amy is a frequent guest on the TODAY show and has also appeared on Rachael Ray, CNN, Fox & Friends, MSNBC, and elsewhere. A regular contributor to the TODAY Mom’s blog, Amy lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband and two sons.