Month: January 2022

The midst of a pandemic may seem like an odd time to talk about travel, but we are hoping to be able to fly to Australia at some point in the near future so we are starting to dig out our travel supplies in the hopes we’ll make it soon. This has me thinking about some of the tools we use that make our long flights a little easier, that others in the community might find useful. 

Bag Organizers

When traveling with little ones, one thing I would definitely recommend to help everyone stay organized are some sort of bag organizers. There are lots of options, but basically you want something lightweight so it doesn’t add too much weight, and something that kids can easily open and access. We use these All-in Organizers from Thirty One Gifts. I don’t see them currently available on their website, but they do have other similar products. The main reason I like these is that they can easily be taken out of the suitcase when we arrive, then each kid can manage their own organizer from then on. They actually hold much more than would appear, especially with the outside pockets. My kids can usually pack everything they need, even for long trips, in one organizer.

Another option is packing cubes. While these help to keep your suitcase organized, they are much harder for kids to keep organized upon arrival. You might want to use these for yourself though. You can sort by different types of clothing (pants, t-shirts etc) or you can put a whole outfit into separate cubes. They definitely meet the criteria of lightweight, and because of the mesh you can easily see what is inside.  

Headphones

I am lucky enough to have a pair of noise canceling headphones which I use regularly in my day to day life and these are terrific on the plane. They are fairly expensive though so probably not something you need just for the flight. Comfortable headphones for the kids though are a must on a long haul flight. We really like these ones because they can connect to each other, so if you  have one ipad both kids can listen on their own headsets. Like most kids headsets they are also volume limited so you know they are not blasting their ears. 

Carry What They Can

My final tip is to get the kids backpacks to carry on the plane that they can comfortably carry. Anyone two years old or older can probably carry something, and every little bit helps. Between strollers, car seats and whatever else you are trying to manage, anything they can carry comfortably without you having to add to your load is useful. We also try to use suitcases that are manage for them to wheel so that everyone can basically manage their own luggage (excluding infants of course). 

For more travel tips, check out Chapter Nine in The Mom Wing-Woman book where I detail how to prepare for travel from day trips to longer trips, by land and air. 

Continuing the theme of learning, the mid-month tip for January is…Dance!

Even if taking a dance class is not your thing, stick with me for a minute here as I outline some of the benefits of learning through dance and some options. 

Dance is not only great exercise, it gives you a chance to listen to music that inspires you, calms you, or even allows you to get out some of your anger. Learning choreography engages your brain and improves your memory. Dance can be great to increase your flexibility and strength, all of which can help reduce your overall feelings of stress. From a mom perspective, it’s also something you might choose to do with your children.

Some Options:

FitOn: This is a free exercise app with all sorts of workouts. Two that might interest you in relation to dance are the barre workouts or the dance workouts. You will get prompted to sign up for the pro version which costs money, but you don’t need to, there are lots of options included with the free version. There is lots of variety not only in the type of workout, but the length, even if you only have 10 minutes there is something you can do. Check it out here. 

YouTube: You can find lots of dance routines on youtube. Particularly ‘Just Dance’ routines which are nice and repetitive and easy to follow. If you search the name of a song you like and ‘Just Dance’ on youtube you will likely find a routine. For example, the kids and I are planning to try this one this afternoon Just Dance: What Makes You Beautiful By One Direction. Let the community know if you have any favourites by commenting on this post. 

Create Your Own: You don’t really need to know much about dance to create your own routine. Of course you don’t even need a routine, you can just bop and move around, this is especially fun if you are goofing around with your kids and include some hairbrush microphones or air guitar. However, if you want to make a routine choose a song that is repetitive, has a beat that is easy to dance to, and that you like. Then choose a few moves to create a routine. Some examples of some moves you might include:

• Squats
• Two steps each direction
• Grapevine
• Run on the spot
• Reach to the sky & touch the ground
• Slide side to side

The inspiration for this month’s blog is a rather bumpy skate on the pond last week.

1. Find or Fine-tune Your Personal Learning Tools

As I shuffled across the ice barely keeping pace with my three year old (who was having her first outing on the ice ever!), I had to give myself a bit of a pep talk. Positive self talk has always been an important tool for me and my ability to use it grows every time I put myself in a situation that is new, challenging or out of my comfort zone. This was no exception. I had to recognize what was happening in my body (heart racing, sweating), take some deep breaths and remind myself I could do this. Since it was a large pond and no one was nearby, I was actually able to give myself a pep talk out loud, including reminding myself of some key coaching points (bend the knees, push down into the ice). This allowed me to take the lead from my three old, who was attacking the task fearlessly, and generally get myself into a better head space to access the skills I had been learning in my lessons.

2. Find Your Wing-People

Another obvious change in the context of Rink vs Pond was my lack of wing-women. When I am in our Sunday morning lessons at the rink, I not only have an encouraging, knowledgeable coach, I also have several other learners all cheering me on. Whenever one of us does one tiny new move correctly, the group is cheering like we just skated in the Olympics. It’s very positive and a great learning environment. I would wager a bet that most adult learning environments are like this because everyone is likely feeling challenged, has their own motivation for being there, and wants to create a positive learning environment. Seems like a great place to find some wing-people to me.

3. Feel Humbled

As adults we have likely found some things we are good at, and take pride in doing them either as part of our job or hobbies we enjoy. It feels good to do something well. When you challenge yourself to learn something new, you are quite quickly reminded that everyone is a learner depending on the context. This is a great reminder for contexts where I feel confident and skilled, to remind me that others may be in different stages of learning.

Toddler behaviour: Sometimes it’s a no, sometimes let it go. 

As a parent of a three year old, I find myself in very ridiculous arguments with a tiny person more often than I would care to admit. Why am I engaging in an argument about why she can’t have ice cream for breakfast? Or why we are not turning around 20 minutes into the 25 minute journey to go back for teddy. These are examples of ‘sometimes it’s just a no.’ It will never be ok to have ice cream for breakfast (with the exception of recovery from dental surgery), so don’t engage in the argument, the answer is one word, no.

Sometimes though, it’s not actually a battle you need to pick, then you should consider ‘sometimes let it go’ For example, it’s mid winter here in Saskatchewan and lately my three year old only wants to wear a striped pink tank top. No sweater or long sleeve shirt over top, just the tank top. Oh and her new watch. While an adorable combo, it’s not a great choice for winter attire. However, she is putting her jacket on to go outside (that would be a non negotiable) and it’s actually quite warm inside (thank you well insulated Canadian housing with good heating systems), so this is a battle I’m leaving for now.

Of course while not your only options in response to ridiculous toddler requests, this little saying might be something to keep in mind the next time your toddler throws a curveball at you while your trying to do something important, like get out the door in the morning.

Its time for a mid-month muffin tip! Muffins are incredible. For some reason, it is totally acceptable to eat a muffin at any time of day. They can be sweet or savoury and transition from breakfast to desert with the addition or subtraction of just a few ingredients. 

However, muffins can be tricky and range in healthiness from basically a cupcake to a fruity, seedy wonderland. My personal muffin making career has had its ups and downs. I have tried very healthy muffins with very little sugar, basically inedible, and cupcake like muffins too sweet for any time of day except dessert. And so, let’s get to the ‘tip’ part of this email. 

I have found an amazing website with the most amazing muffin recipe. These Blueberry Oat Muffins are whole wheat, but still have some sugar and flavour. They are moist and still taste good the next day. I am so excited to not only have found this recipe, but this website. Bake Eat Repeat is an amazing source of family recipes, but particularly for really good muffin recipes. We have also tried Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
and Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal Muffins and both were excellent. 

Thank you Bake Eat Repeat, you have changed my muffin world.