“Piff Paff Poof is the perfect production to introduce children to their number one companion – their imagination.” - David Ben.

Created by Magicana, a performing arts and charitable organization, Piff Paff Poof is a "great opportunity for parents and children to take a break from video screens and television sets and share a wonder-filled family journey."

What: Piff Paff Poof is a fun, friendly show where children can interact and take part in the thrills of live theatre. Join magic-maker Eng and Poof! (the mischievous, carrot-loving rabbit) and special guest entertainers Mark Lewis and Richard Lyn (Tricky Ricky) - two of Toronto's most sought-after children's entertainers.
One of my readers will win a Poof Prize Pack which consists of:

• 1 pair of tickets to the March 15 show.
• Button that says: "My mom thinks I'm better than Poof"
• Kids T-shirt that says Piff Paff Poof
• 2 post cards (advert for show and the "missing" poster - see attached) Magic trick (ball & vase - Poof's favourite trick).

For a chance to win, read up on the Magic Makers and leave a comment telling me something interesting you learned about them. (You need to click on the word "comments" in the footer of this post if you don't see the Disqus comment form.)

For additional entries, you may choose to do any or all of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each entry indicating what you have done.

• Follow Piff Paff Poof on Twitter.
• Like Toronto Teacher Mom on Facebook.
• Share this giveaway with your friends on Facebook or via email. 
• Follow Toronto Teacher Mom via Google Friend Connect.
• Subscribe to Toronto Teacher Mom by email or in a reader. 
• Add my button to your blog.
• Become a follower of Toronto Teacher Mom on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway. Tweet daily for additional entries. Feel free to use the following tweet:  

Contest ends March 14 at 10 am EST and is open to Ontario residents who are able to attend the show in Toronto on Wednesday, March 15 at 3:00 pm. Winner will be selected using Random.org and must reply to the notification email within 24 hours or a new winner will be drawn.

Today marked the launch of a national dialogue on childhood obesity. With a new site called Our Health Our Future, the Federal, Provincial and Territorial governments of Canada are reaching out to children, parents, caregivers and educators to encourage them to engage in discussion that will include "making our social and physical environments more supportive of physical activity and healthy eating, identifying and addressing obesity risks in children early, increasing access to nutritious foods and decreasing the marketing of foods and beverages high in fat, sugar and/or sodium to children." When I was invited to attend today's press conference to share the challenges I face as a parent, I felt extremely honoured. Both the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health and the Honourable Maureen MacDonald, Minister of Health and Wellness, Nova Scotia were there to speak about this initiative.

This was the first time I had ever attended a press conference as a guest speaker. I was really excited to share my thoughts and had a hard time limiting what I wanted to say. Yet, once it was time for the conference to begin, I became nervous. Very nervous. There were a lot of cameras and several important people there and I soon found myself worrying about being able to clearly verbalize my thoughts. It's so much easier to blog about them, thanks to the delete button and grammar check function. I had prepared some notes but didn't want to resort to reading from them, but rather speak from the heart. At one point, I forgot what I wanted to say next and then stumbled through the rest. I will attempt, therefore, to share in this post what I wish I could have eloquently put into words today.

When I first became pregnant, food was a very important factor in our lives. It became an even greater issue once our daughter was born and we chose to breastfeed. My daughter weighed in at approximately 6 lbs 12 oz when we left the hospital. Based on her age and weight, I remember that she fell on the lower end of the growth chart. And for the first five months of exclusive breastfeeding, she was only gaining about a 1 lb a month which was barely on the lower end of 'normal'. Consequently, I felt an incredible amount of pressure to introduce solids early. In the back of my head, I was always thinking about how exclusive breastfeeding had several health benefits, one of which included lowering the chances of obesity later in life. I wasn't really concerned about my daughter being 'overweight' per se, but I was still worried about overfeeding and making sure she was fed the healthiest options. We chose to stick to mainly organic and natural foods as much as possible. And since we are a dual-income family, we can afford that luxury. But back then, the availability of certain products was somewhat sparse among the local grocery stores. And there have been times when it was simply more convenient to buy conventional foods. However, it was always surprising to read labels and discover how many foods that I grew up with and that are marketed for kids are full of sugar.

Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I have a sweet tooth. Unfortunately, my children love sweet treats almost as much as I do. And while limiting the amounts of sugary foods our children eat, we don't deprive them of it entirely. Instead, we opt for foods containing unprocessed or natural sweeteners. A number of weeks ago, I met Peggy Kotsopoulos who is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist. She spoke to the impact of sugary foods in kids' diets and to its correlation to childhood obesity. It reminded me of the importance of monitoring the quantity and quality of sugar in our children's diet. She offered up suggested alternatives that have a lower glycemic index when compared to regular sugar. And while we have been using these alternative sweeteners for many years at home and look for them in ingredient labels, I often wonder about the actual amount my kids are consuming. Because as much as we can control what they eat while at home, it's not as easy once we leave the house.

One of the issues I mentioned today is the difficulty in taking our kids out to certain attractions and venues that also happen to sell food but offer little in the way of healthy options. And because I am not the most organized mother I know, I don't always plan to have healthy snacks on hand. But what about places that don't allow you to bring in your own food, such as at an indoor playground, let's say? I have been to some locations where the concession stand has candy bars and chips strategically placed where kids will find them. Our local community centre is conscious of offering healthier choices for kids via vending machine and has colour-coded stickers to identify which ones they are. But I'm not sure kids will take the time to read the legend. I would imagine that if they see the candy, they will want it. I have also been in schools that have taken out vending machines that sell snacks and have kept only those that sell milk. However, they also sell flavoured milk that contains significantly higher amounts of sugar than regular milk. And what about low-fat foods that are supposed to be healthier but have more sugar to help make it taste better?

Another issue I touched upon has to deal with physical activity. While my daughter's school and daycare include physical activity as part of their daily routines, we sometimes find it hard to keep our kids just as active at home. We don't have a huge play space for the kids in our home but they do have a large yard to play in. What ends up happening, however, is the kids stay mostly indoors, especially during the cold winter months. With two parents that both work during the day, we prepare dinner as soon as we come home. We could easily send our kids outside to play but we both feel it's unsafe to leave them unsupervised. Our community is great but we still worry regardless. During the warmer months, we can barbecue outdoors while the kids play. The community centre also offers some fantastic summer programs for kids but you have to register early to secure a spot. The playground also required some repairs last year as well but I'm sure it will happen over time. In meanwhile, I embrace my children's love of music and dance and join in when they want to dance their crazy dances. And while I also embrace technology and want our kids to be tech savvy, we try to limit the amount of time that they spend sitting in front of a screen by introducing them to games and shows that encourage them to move around and have fun.

In the end, I am grateful that my kids are healthy and happy. Even though my daughter may be on the higher end of the growth percentile now, I try not to focus too much on the numbers. As long as she grows up with a healthy self image and self-esteem, then I'll be happy. Because she is beautiful, bright and makes me proud. And, by the way, the very reason I started this blog. Finally, I am also grateful that we Canadians now have place to share ideas and discuss how we can make a unified effort to ensure the health and happiness of all of our children.

Disclosure: The thoughts expressed in this post are my own.

Recently, I added Disqus as the comment platform on this blog. I made this decision because I longed to have threaded comments so that I may reply directly to any comment. It's also great because I can easily post a reply simply by replying to the email notification. This makes it very convenient when posting from my iPhone. It was also quite easy to add numbered comments seeing as they have included it in one of their templates, no html code to worry about. For my readers, I felt Disqus would be easier for those who are unfamiliar with Blogger or who do not have a Google account because you can log in to Disqus using your Facebook, Twitter or Yahoo account. I know some of my readers have expressed a preference for the original Blogger comments so I have decided to put up a survey to help determine whether or not I should stick with the status quo. I am asking that you take a quick second to vote for a comment platform using the voting buttons on the sidebar to the right. If you know of another platform that you like best, I would appreciate it if you could leave a comment on this post with the name of it so that I can check it out. And since I have a $50 Amazon giveaway currently underway, I thought I should give you an additional entry if you vote on your favourite comments platform. Just leave a comment on the giveaway post letting me know that you voted.

Thanks for your help and happy Monday!

With the Pop Secret - Pop! Camera! Action! promotion (U.S. only) currently underway, you have the chance to instantly win a 2-month Netflix subscription. All you have to do is play the Direct the Kernels Instant Win Game. Give the Kernels a script to read, hit Action and watch your movie to see if you’ve instantly won. But that's not the best part. You can also win the Ultimate At-Home 3D Movie Theater Grand Prize by registering or logging on to www.PopCameraAction.com each day during the Promotion Period. The Sweepstakes drawing will be held April 6, 2011 and the winner will be notified by email.

But wait, it doesn't end there. As a Pop Secret blogger, I have been given the exciting opportunity to give away a Pop Secret prize pack to one of my die-hard fans. The prize includes a $25 VISA Gift Card, a 3-pack of Pop Secret Movie Theater Butter Flavor Popcorn, and 1 box of Raisinets Candy, which, by the way, contain 30% less fat than the leading chocolate brands, are a natural source of fruit antioxidants and can provide a ½ serving of real fruit in every ¼ cup.
For a chance to win a Pop Secret Prize Pack, leave a comment telling me which movie you would see first if you won a Netflix subscription. (You need to click on the word "comments" in the footer of this post if you don't see the Disqus comment form.)

For additional entries, you may choose to do any or all of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each entry indicating what you have done.

• Enter the Pop! Camera! Action! Sweepstakes for three entries (and leave three separate comments).
• Like Toronto Teacher Mom on Facebook.
• Follow Toronto Teacher Mom via Google Friend Connect.
• Subscribe to Toronto Teacher Mom by email or in a reader. 
• Add my button to your blog.
• Become a follower of Toronto Teacher Mom on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway. Tweet daily for additional entries. Feel free to use the following tweet:  

Contest ends March 14 at 10pm EST and is open to U.S. residents only. Winner will be selected using Random.org and must reply to the notification email within 48 hours or a new winner will be drawn.


Disclosure: I am a Pop Secret Blogger, courtesy of Mom Spark Media. I will be receiving a prize pack as a thank you for participating. Thoughts are my own.

The Bring Home A Stanley Cup Champion™ Grand Prize consists of:

• The Stanley Cup® trophy delivered to the winner’s home in Canada on May 20, 2011 or May 21, 2011, by either Mark Messier (in the West Region), Doug Gilmour (in the Ontario Region), or Guy Carbonneau (in the East Region)
• Ultimate Playoffs Party for up to 100 people courtesy of Pepsi®, Lay’s® and Gatorade®.
• One (1) 52'' LCD TV
• One (1) Home Theatre System
• Two (2) leather chairs
• A Pepsi® branded bar fridge, filled with Pepsi® and Gatorade® products
• A Lay’s® temporary display, filled with Lay’s® products
• A year supply of free product coupons valid for Pepsi, Lay’s and Gatorade products, consisting of fifty-two (52) Pepsi soft drink coupons, one hundred and four (104) Lay’s potato chips coupons and fifty-two (52) Gatorade thirst quencher coupons; and
• A $250 Gift Certificate to be used towards a home cleaning service.

TSN will videotape the Grand Prize Bring Home A Stanley Cup Champion™ Ultimate Playoffs Party which will be featured on TSN as well as on bringhomeachamp.ca. See Contest Rules for complete details.

Visit www.bringhomeachamp.ca to submit your story (with or without a picture). Finalists will then be asked to create a video explaining why they should Bring Home A Stanley Cup Champion™ and the Stanley Cup® trophy. For those who vote on the final videos, you could win one of seventy-five (75) $100 coffee Gift Cards just for voting! So, who would I like to bring home?  Why, #93 Doug Gilmour, of course! When I was a kid, I used to watch him and the Toronto Maple Leafs bring excitement to the television screen. My dad was also a huge fan back then and loud hurrahs were never in short supply in our house during hockey nights in Canada.  And look at this - Doug Gilmour himself has sent a shout-out to you, the readers of Toronto Teacher Mom, through this video taken during a Q&A session. Squee!




Thanks for the shout-out, Gilmour! You may be retired, but your fans will never stop loving you and all that you do.

Oh, and one more thing. Stay tuned for a cool giveaway from Gatorade, Pepsi Max and Lays Regular Chips products right here on Toronto Teacher Mom!

Disclosure: I have been approached by Fleishman-Hillard Canada to participate in an online campaign involving Lay's, Gatorade and Pepsi Max. The previous post is a reflection of my own personal thoughts and ideas and do not represent those of the named brand.

It is with great excitement (and ketchup coated fingers) that I announce the arrival of Lay's new and delicious Kettle Cooked chips. Made with all natural flavours, Lay's has taken their highest quality homegrown potatoes and turned them into delectable kettle cooked chips that contain no artificial colours, no preservatives, 0 trans fat and no MSG. And they sure pack some crunch!

Lay's Kettle Cooked Potato Chips are available in the following flavours: Ketchup, BBQ, Dill Pickle and Jalapeño Cheddar. For review, I was sent one bag of each flavour. I already knew before trying them what my favourite flavour would be and yes, it's the ketchup. It has such a great taste and still has that familiar sweet and tangy flavour, only better. There's something about the use of natural flavours that makes me want to stick my hand in the bag for just one more chip. It's not like there's any unpleasant aftertaste in your mouth. Each chip tastes just as good as the first, if not better. And my favourite part is that it doesn't stain your fingers red like some ketchup chips. See, no artificial colours!


It is so nice to know that Lay's has come up with a tasty and satisfying alternative to conventional potato chips. And I also like the packaging, too. It has a 'stamp' indicating that it is made with all natural flavours and will be easy to point out in the grocery aisles. Even the photo of the chips on the front of the bag looks like a real representation of the actual chips. They not only look good, but they taste great! Wouldn't you like to try them for yourself? Keep reading to find out how you can win a Lay's Kettle Cooked Chips prize pack valued at $150.

One lucky reader will win a Lay's Kettle Cooked Chips prize pack valued at $150.00, which includes:

• New Lay’s Kettle Cooked Chips (all flavours)
• Bamboo serving bowl
• BBQ set
• Apron
• Fresh herb garden
• Portable picnic blanket

• Add my blog button to your website.
• Become a follower of Toronto Teacher Mom using Google Friend Connect.
• Like the Lay's Canada Facebook fan page.
• Like the Toronto Teacher Mom Facebook fan page. 
• Subscribe to this blog by email or in a reader. 
• Become a follower of Toronto Teacher Mom on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway. Tweet daily for additional entries. Feel free to use the following tweet:  

"For never was a story of more gnome
                   Than this of Juliet and her Gnomeo."

Hear ye, hear ye! At long last, the day has arrived. 'Tis with great pleasure that I proclaim the winner of the Gnomeo and Juliet prize pack. I left it up to my trusted Random.org to select the winning entry out of 120.



Terry Mac 


Congratulations, Terry! You're going to have a great time at the movies courtesy of eOne films.

Alas, picking but one winner is such sweet sorrow. I wish I could have chosen more winners. But fear not, there are some fabulous giveaways to enter right now with plenty more to come.

Happy Friday!

The aim of Mickey's Mousekersize is to encourage healthy lifestyles for pre-schoolers and their families. This healthy initiative couldn't have come at a better time, with recent headlines highlighting the daunting fact that about "twenty-five to 30 per cent of children in Canada are overweight or obese." While a focus on healthy eating is important, so is physical activity, and what better way to get your little ones active than with their favourite Disney characters. Join Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Daisy and Pluto as Playhouse Disney embarks on a healthy initiative with Mickey's Mousekersize, airing this Saturday, March 5, 2011 at 9 am ET then available On Demand and at Playhouse Disney Online (for PHD channel subscribers). Visit PlayhouseDisney.ca for more information on additional programming.



Disclosure: I’m part of the Playhouse Disney Mom program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

With spring just around the corner, I have felt an overwhelming urge to purge. We have accumulated so many things and half of it we'll probably never use. We recently got rid of a bookcase my husband had made to clear space in our office. We have a small desk that my husband uses but a second desk for me would come in handy. The bigger, the better. I'm thinking an L shaped desk perhaps, something that has a lot of useful storage to keep important things in their spot and yet hidden from view. I must admit, though, that I am a bit of a pack rat. I hate to throw things out and I want to eventually find a use for them. Because you never know. It's kind of the same with my kids' clothes. But how many bins of their old outfits do I really want to store in my crawl space, anyway? I figure, it's better to give most some of it away so that someone is actually making use of it.

When it comes to my kids' bedrooms, they're pretty small. My son's room is the smallest and we could barely squeeze in all the pieces of furniture once we converted the crib into a double bed. My daughter's room has already had a makeover and is painted a nice purple. My son's room, on the other hand, could use a fresh coat and some fun decor. I was browsing through CSNStores.com and found a couple of peel-and-stick Mickey Mouse wall decals that I know my kids would love. The giant Minnie and Mickey decals by Room Mates look pretty neat and I like that they are re-positionable and don't leave any residue. And at $21.99 a piece, it's a pretty affordable solution to cover up all the empty spaces. I just wish I had a knack for organization and interior decorating. Just saying.



In the meantime, I'll stick to what I'm good at and throw in another giveaway from CSN Stores to help you find a solution to your organizational or decor woes. This time around, you could win a $50 gift voucher!
Mandatory Entry: Visit CSN Stores and browse through their catalogue. Have a look around and leave a comment on this post with the name of an item that you need to help keep you organized or perhaps a decor item you really want. In the market for some "green" products? You can browse for  eco-friendly items, too. Whatever it may be, share it here on this post for a chance to win a $50 shopping spree from CSN Stores. (This must be done first in order for any bonus entries to be counted.)

Bonus Entries: You may choose to do any or all of the following for bonus entries and leave additional comments letting me know what you have done. Please read carefully to make sure you get all your entries in.

• Like the CSNStores Facebook page .
• Follow CSN Stores on Twitter.
• Become a follower of Toronto Teacher Mom using Google Friend Connect.
• Add my blog button to your website for one entry. If it's located on your sidebar, add a second entry. Copy code is located on the sidebar to the right.
• Like the Toronto Teacher Mom Facebook fan page. 
• Subscribe to this blog by email or in a reader.
• Become a follower of Toronto Teacher Mom on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway. Tweet daily for additional entries. Feel free to use the following tweet:  

Contest ends on March 26, 2011, at 10:00 pm EST and is open to both Canada and the U.S.

Please note: Gift voucher will not cover any international fees.

Last week, Hasbro Canada was super generous in offering up three copies of their new and super cool Ji Ga Zo puzzle for a giveaway so I decided to try something new to give my readers different opportunities. For example, some people may not be on Twitter but maybe on Facebook, so I ran a little Facebook-only contest and then a separate Twitter-only contest. If you followed the requirements for either/or, you did not need to leave a comment on the blog post here on Torontoteachermom.com. I had to delete some entries based on this requirement along with a few other entries that came in past the deadline, which was 10pm EST last night. I always feel bad about doing that but I want to keep things fair. Please remember to read the instructions carefully in order to maximize your odds.

For the first winner, I used Random.org to pick from the 15 entries on the blog post, where you had up to a maximum of 5 potential total entries.

The lucky winner is:

RobynL




The second winner has been selected from all the Facebook entries, where you had up to two total entries, one if you shared on the Toronto Teacher Mom Facebook fan page who you would Ji Ga Zo and one for sharing the giveaway with your Facebook friends. There were a total of 18 entries and again, I used Random.org to pick a number which will correspond to the order in which people left comments. For example, the first comment will be #1, etc.

And look at this! The first comment won! The second winner is:

Brandy B.






Finally, I used Tweetaway.com to pick a random winner on Twitter from those who used the hashtag #whowillyouJiGaZo and I just received the notification that the third and final winner is:

Nugglemama

Congratulations to all of my Canadian winners and a big thank you to Hasbro Canada for sponsoring such a fun giveaway!

Now on to the Pocoyo giveaway. There were a total of 36 entries and Random.org picked the winning entry. And the winner is:

Felecia


Congratulations! I will be contacting all the winners shortly.

Thanks goes out to the makers of Pocoyo for sponsoring this giveaway, and a big thanks to all of my readers who participated.

Be sure to enter my $50 Amazon gift certificate giveaway in celebration of my 5-year blogoversary.

Happy Tuesday!