Month: March 2015

Giveaway! Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats #TryItHot Prize Pack

Posted by mike On March 23, 2015

Not too long ago, I was pleasantly surprised to receive this package, courtesy of the Kelloggers Network:

Pretty sweet, right? And, in return, they only asked that my fam do one thing – #tryithot.

Now, while I’ve always liked Mini-Wheats (the kid in me still loves the frosted side), it never once occurred to me to try them hot. I was up for the challenge, though!

I wasn’t sure about my kids, however. J is usually pretty open-minded and down for whatever, when it comes to eating. B, on the other hand, is…..picky, to put it mildly. He’s the type of boy who will drop to the ground, screaming hysterically, and start writhing on the floor, just from smelling an unfamiliar food. #TryItHot? Shoot, I’d be fortunate just to get him to #TryIt, I thought.

So imagine my surprise when B was actually excited to dig into the different boxes of Mini-Wheats! He eagerly sampled them all, with cold milk, and gave us some feedback. ie.

Me – “How do the Maple ones taste?”

B – “Maplely!”

Don’t mind the plastic spoons.

We also did take the challenge, to #TryItHot. Believe it or not, that went over well, too! Warm almond milk over Brown Sugar Flavoured Mini-Wheats is a particular favourite, in our house. There are a bunch of other cool recipes, though, on the Mini-Wheats website.

GIVEAWAY TIME!

One lucky reader will have the opportunity to #TryItHot, like we did! Kellogg’s is giving away the same package that we received. Same tasty cereals, same wicked travel bowl with the same foldable spoon.

DATES – Giveaway closes at 11:59PM on April 13th, 2015

ELIGIBILITY – Open to all residents of Canada, except for Quebec.

TO ENTER – Use the form below to complete the mandatory and optional entries, for your chance to win.

Entry -Form

GOOD LUCK!!

Disney Junior And LEGO DUPLO’s Magic of Play Tour

Posted by mike On March 17, 2015

Over the next few weeks, Disney Junior and LEGO® DUPLO® are joining forces, to travel across Canada, for the Magic of Play Tour! As noted on the Disney Junior website:

Disney Junior and LEGO® DUPLO® are hitting the road together with fun filled, FREE indoor events in 8 cities! Build and discover the many ways to play with LEGO® DUPLO® bricks while you watch and enjoy your favourite Disney Junior shows! Plus take home a special Magic of Play activity booklet! It’s all totally free, but get there early so you don’t miss out on the fun.

Recently, my family was fortunate enough to attend a VIP experience of the tour, at Vaughan Mills!

When we arrived, K and I were both immediately impressed with the setup. The booth was divided into a bunch of building stations and play areas, along with tons of DUPLO® blocks. There were several friendly, enthusiastic attendants working the booth, too. At first, B and J were pretty hesitant. Once one of the attendants started to engage them, and hook them up with pieces to build their structures, they were good to go!

Another neat thing about the booth was that it had a TV in it, which played some Disney Junior shows. It was a good way to take a break from all of the playing!

Now, we weren’t the only VIPs, as there were other invitees at the experience, too. It was cool watching all of the kids interact with one another, and assisting in each other’s creations. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a lot of jacking of each other’s blocks. Way to play nice, children!

A side of the booth had cut-outs of Jake (from Jake and the Never Land Pirates) and Sofia (from Sofia The First). Perfect for photo-ops! I saw some of the other parents taking advantage of this. Their boys and girls were way more into smiling for the camera than mine were, however. I asked B and J to stand by the cut-outs, so I could snap a shot of them. This is what I got (lookin’ pretty fresh, eh):

Uh, your kids aren’t in this.

Oh. Right. No worries! They were too busy building masterpieces, to stop and pose for pictures! Hey B, what did you make?

“A PRESENT!”

Well, happy birthday to you! Yo J, what do you got?

“I DON”T KNOW!”

Nice?!

Huh? No, you can’t have that playset. It’s not for sale, just for show.

No really, you can’t have it. Quit trying to open up the display case!

Stop looking at it so forlornly!

Ahh, jeez. Please stop looking so sad.

Snacktime! Oranges. J was so in the building spirit, that, after she peeled her orange, and took the pieces apart, she tried to put them back together. Irrationally, she kept get getting madder and madder when the pieces wouldn’t stay together. Us trying to appeal to her sense of logic fell on deaf ears, as did the offer of a new orange. Soon enough, the tears started flowing. I’ve noticed that there’s always at least one crying kid, in pretty much any situation involving kids. I guess that we were due to be the parents of that kid.

Anyway, when J’s upset, she wants a soother. However, we’ve been trying to get her out of this habit. So, when she asked for it this time, I said no. She then did what any soon-to-be three year old girl would do – check K’s purse for a soother, and then, after coming up empty-handed, walk over to the coat section, and start checking pockets for one. I’ve noticed that there’s always at least one pickpocket in pretty much……………man, even I can’t justify that. Sorry, VIPs in attendance that day. We didn’t take anything, promise!

Because we’ve learned to pick and choose our battles, we let her have her pacifier. This made her happier than Pharrell. In the meantime, while this was going on, B was playing with some train tracks. I could be wrong, but it look liked he made an elevated track to nowhere, complete with some dude in a car who’s plummeted off of the edge.

We were there a for about an hour, and could have easily stayed longer, but we had to get going. Before we left, K tried to get a nice picture of us:

Yes, that is me pleading with J to take her soother out, for one lousy photo. No dice, of course. She’d pose for the camera, but only with the soother. Fine. Whatever.

Say cheese, guys!

Dang it!

Whatever. Still the best picture of the three of us that we’ve ever taken. Welcome to my world.

All kidding aside, big ups to Disney Junior and LEGO® DUPLO® for inviting us to check out the tour. We seriously had a blast! Here is where the tour will be visiting, over the next few weeks:

February 28 – March 1	Laval, Québec	Carrefour Laval
March 6-8	Montréal, Québec	Fairview Point Claire
March 14-15	Vaughan, Ontario	Vaughan Mills
March 21-22	Surrey, British Columbia	Guildford Town Centre
March 27-29	Calgary, Alberta	Chinook Centre
April 4-5	Edmonton, Alberta	West Edmonton Mall
April 11-12	Toronto, Ontario	Fairview Mall
April 18-19	Etobicoke, Ontario	Sherway Gardens

It’s fun, it’s free, it’s indoors, and it’s definitely worth making time for with your kids, if it’s in your area!

The Making Of An Adequate Dance Dad, Part 2 (The Departure)

Posted by mike On March 11, 2015

I’ve come to the conclusion that, just because your kids really want to go somewhere, doesn’t mean that they’ll make it easy for you, the parent, to take them there.

Say you came up to me, like “Yo Mike! I got an extra ticket for the Toronto Raptors game tonight. You down?” I’m a big hoops fan, so I’d be down, no doubt. However, once we got to the Air Canada Centre, I wouldn’t suddenly drop to the ground, and need to be dragged to my seat, kicking and screaming the whole way. That’s ridiculous.

And yet, with my kids, I can usually expect to be given a hard time, when trying to leave the house with them. Doesn’t matter where we’re going; there’s going to be an unnecessary struggle. I don’t get it.

Take dance class, for example. Like I said in part 1, J really enjoys it. Once she walks into the dance studio, she has a blast. Actually getting her there, though?

Yikes.

Lemme explain. Here’s a typical Saturday morning:

♦We wake up. I tell J that we are going to dance class. Even though she loves it, she will refuse to go. She’ll throw a fit because, well, toddlers.

♦ Time to get her dressed. Depending on her mood, this varies in levels of sucktacularness. If she’s feeling like a mommy’s girl, she’ll freak if I attempt to change her, because I’m not her mom. She’ll insist that K get her ready, instead (It’s all good. My feelings aren’t hurt that badly when she does this. She’s only choosing mommy over daddy. No biggie………… Sniff. No, I’m not crying. My eyes are just secreting liquid!)

If she’s feeling like Destiny’s Child and wants to be an independent woman, then she’ll freak if I attempt to change her, because she wants to dress herself. Now, I’ve never tried to squeeze my body into tights and a leotard before. I am pretty sure that I would struggle, if I did, though. It’s a lot of cramming/pulling/ stuffing. Normally, J is more than able of dressing herself, in everyday clothes. As such, after spurning my offer to help put on her dance stuff, J will start off all sassy and confident. Eventually, she realizes that she is in over her head . She will then suck up her pride, and come to me for assistance (tights hanging loosely off her butt, leotard around her ankles). I can then get her dressed.

♦ I get her ready, but only after much effort. One time, she started doing pelvic thrusts on her back, while I was trying to change her diaper.

If B’s around, he’ll play the role of big brother to a T, and bug the heck out of her. As if putting on her clothes wasn’t challenging enough, try adding in some arguing and squirming.

♦ I style her hair.

Ha!

Just kidding. She likes her hair loose and unruly. Most of the time, she has that Albert Einstein look going on, if Einstein was a toddler girl.

Even if she did let me touch it, I’m not much of a stylist anyway. I’ll admit, I may have gotten confused ~~many times~~ once trying to take the elastics out of her hair, and ended up using scissors to hack them off.

♦ We grab some breakfast. After that, we make sure that her dance bag is packed with all of the required items. One item will inevitably be missing, which requires a time consuming search for it.

♦ We hit the road. Usually, we crank some jams in the car. We also have conversations about whatever is on her little mind. Lately, she is concerned about what she is going to take for lunch when she goes to school in a few years. Yep.

Sometimes, she cracks jokes. Like this:

J – Knock knock.

Me – Who’s there?

J – John Cena!

Me – John Cena who?

J – UPTOWN FUNK YOU UP!

Me – (confused silence)

J – Oh. That’s not John Cena.

Yeah, yeah, I know, Bruno Mars. That yours and Mark Ronson’s song.

♦ We arrive. When I go to open the door, to get her out of her car seat, she’ll lock the door with her foot. While I mutter under my breath, fumbling in my pocket for the keys, to unlock the door, she laughs hysterically.

♦Once we enter the studio, everything is awesome.

And that’s our routine.

I mean, yeah, it’s a bit……… annoying, but it could be a lot worse. As long as she gets there, tries hard and has fun, then really, I can’t complain. I’ve been wrong about a lot of this introductory dancing stuff (hey, did you know that they don’t teach little kids the Shmoney dance? Go figure. ) but on this regard, even I know that it’s all just part of the job as a dance dad.

Or, I guess, job as a dad, in general.

Daddy Realness