Loulou's views

We all lead busy lives—from juggling work to extra-curricular activities, sometimes it feels like there aren’t enough hours in a day to get it all done. Trying to find the perfect balance can be challenging, but one thing remains constant in my household: connecting around the dinner table. Coming from a Greek family, dinnertime was always a priority, no matter how busy our days were, and this is a tradition we’ve kept with our children. Now that our boys are older (13 and 10 years old) my husband and I often get them to help out when it comes to dinner preparation, and even cooking; I’m happy to say that my even my youngest son can make a delicious homemade tomato sauce, with some ingredients coming from our own backyard vegetable garden, like basil, tomatoes, oregano, and onions.   Growing a garden was a new venture for us this summer, and one we thoroughly enjoyed. It made meal time prep more fun, and also forced us all to eat more vegetables than we were used to.  ...

Summer is my favourite season–I love hot, sunny vacation days, hours spent around and in the pool, bike rides with my children, BBQ's with friends and family, and outdoor concerts and patio nights. It doesn't get much better than that. Somehow, we're just days away from school starting again, even though it seems like yesterday I was celebrating my children's last day of school. Although I'm a summer girl at heart,  I still love fall, and back-to-school. It's definitely time to get everyone into a regular routine again. One of my favourite things about back-to-school is the shopping, of course; and even though it's not me heading back to class (I wish it was, sometimes) I still love getting my boys ready. This year, my oldest son is starting middle school–grade 7–and my youngest son, grade 4.  To make everything go as smooth as possible, and to help alleviate the stress that sometimes comes with the start of a new school year, I partnered with two of...

October is National Bullying Prevention Month, but bullying—and cyber-bulling—are problems children face every day, every month. The best way to help children and teens is by raising awareness and helping those who need it most. I wanted to talk about this issue because I have children in grade 3 and grade 6, and although they haven't faced any serious issues, I see that not all children are as kind as they should be when I'm volunteering at the school. I asked Ottawa's Stuntman Stu some questions about this issue, because he and the team at Majic 100 started the No More Bullies campaign—which has received great feedback from schools, the youth, parents, and the community. Although the program is currently on hold, there are ways we can still promote kindness and remind children and teenagers the importance of being kind—to everyone. How did you come up with the No More Bullies campaign? What has the feedback been like so far?   The campaign started by accident....

School's been out for a few weeks already (how do the summer months fly by so quickly?) and we've been keeping busy, mostly enjoying the gorgeous weather outside.  My boys have re-discovered their love of soccer, thanks to Euro Cup 2016, and they've been kicking the ball around all day—that is, when they're not swimming until after dark. With two weeks of tennis camp  coming up, I'm mindful that we spend some quality time together indoors, too, doing fun things like "help mom clean the house", "organize your rooms" and of course, snuggling up on the couch, after hours spent playing outside. I  need some "me time" time, too, to get work done, so I totally appreciate that Netflix is  able  to entertain my children when they need time to relax. My boys are a little older so the nice thing is, we're able to enjoy many Netflix shows and movies together, popcorn in hand. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days is one of our favourite movies to...

March Break is around the corner and that means... the kids will be home with us. All day. Every day. Yes, it's a beautiful thing, and in all honestly, I cherish all the time I have with my children. We're going to Mont Tremblant for a little getaway but for the days that we're here, we still want to keep the kids busy and active! I was on CTV Morning Live talking about ways to keep the busy this summer, while still staying sane at home, thanks to P&G. Here are some ideas I love: Camps: Get your kids in some sort of day camp! Whether it's for half the day, or full-day, Ottawa.ca has a list of all the great camps for your kids, to keep them busy, from sports to arts and drama. Tag Along Toys: Tag Along Toys, in Kanata or in the south end, has all the arts supplies and toys you'll need to keep your little ones entertained this March Break. They are even having hands-on activities for kids every day during March Break. In The Home: Before your kids s...

It’s amazing how quickly children grow and with that, leave one phase behind for another phase. Some phases are easier to go through than others, but of course, parenting is always a challenge, no matter what we’re facing.  The hard part is, while you’re going through a certain phase, you feel like perhaps it will never end—whether it’s night waking with your colicky baby or dealing with the terrible two’s (that—let’s face it—don’t quite go away until your child is… oh, about four?) every phase seems to last long and sometimes, you’re at a loss about what to do.   One phase that was challenging for me as a mom was getting through the bedwetting phase with my youngest son. Even after the age of four, my son would sometimes wet the bed in the middle of the night. Although I kept repeating “This too shall pass”  as we were going through the phase, it didn’t make things that much easier when I was waking up at 3 o’clock in the morning to a sad and wet child. I...

Sometimes, it amazes me how much I get done before 9 a.m. Before having kids morning was a pretty standard routine: wake up, get ready for school or work, and get out the door. Now? It's wake up, get ready for the day with one million interruptions, make breakfast for everyone, pack lunches, make sure school bags are ready to go, help the children get dressed, clean the house, do a load or two of laundry, clean the house, prepare dinner, and start working after I drop the children off at school... all while enjoying a cup of not so hot coffee, because it's not until the second cup of the day that I can sit down and exhale. It's a whirlwind for sure, but I'm used to it, and I love it, even though some days can be hectic. It's a given that when you're a mom, you're multitasking every day.  I know I am. A multitasking mom gets more done in a day than is humanly possible, with little to no complaining. (Who has time for that?) It's important to stay or...

Parenting is always an adventure, no matter how old the children are, and even every day activities—like a visit to the grocery store—can lead to unexpected adventures. (Like the time I walked out of the grocery store with my children only to notice my car was being driven away by a stranger!) No matter what, though, we make the best of any crazy situation. Whether we're on vacation or spending a quiet night at home watching shows on Netflix, we're having fun together making new memories. Now that my boys are older, there are more movies and television shows we can enjoy watching together, including movies that I remember loving when I was a child, like Annie and The Gooni es. I was excited to see that The Goonies is playing on Netflix right now—and so were my boys, because of course, they love this movie as much as you'd expect they would. It's a classic, after all. My boys also love How to Train Your Dragon, and they are looking forward to watching the all-new...

Are you singing along with me? School's out for the summer... almost. And we're all excited! Well, mostly all excited. The kids are excited. Parents? Well, we're excited, too. After all, we love spending time with our children, right? And we don't have to pack lunches every day! But, most of us still have to work during the summer months, and summer is long. (Not as long as never ending winter, but long.) We're always looking for ways to keep our children busy, having fun, and staying active. Of course, most parents will sign up their children for summer camp, but with so many camps to choose from, selecting one that is perfect for your child is a daunting task. My boys have been taking tennis lessons through Capital Camps for a couple of years, and when I found out that they also offer a variety of Summer Camps , I got so excited. After all, I know they'll have a good time, because they love it during the yea...

We're over the excitement and craziness of the holidays, and we've settled back into our daily routine quite nicely. Despite the freezing cold temperatures we've been dealt, I'm thankful for our daily routine. After school, although we're busy with activities and tennis lessons and Cubs, I always find time to spend quality time with my boys, so we can talk about our day, and truly connect. I cherish every moment—truly. I miss my boys when they were toddlers and young children; but now, it's an entirely new world of fun. I love seeing and learning about the things they are interested in; reading, writing, building LEGO, playing Mario Kart and Minecraft and spending time on their iPads actually playing educational games and learning while they're online. My oldest son is devoted to science and math; my youngest son loves to use his imagination with play, writing, and creating. They are very different, and yet similar in many ways; for example, they both love...

As a family, we love to travel—a lot. Getting to our destination can be a lot of fun, whether it's a car ride to Great Wolf Lodge or a plane ride to Florida. However, when you take into account airport delays and tired children, the travelling part can sometimes be tiresome. Thank goodness for iPads, because they can be a lifesaver on trips. Now that my boys are older, they love watching their favourite shows on their iPads. I'm very glad they no longer watch some of the shows that used to annoy me, like Caillou, but with full access to the internet, sometimes I worry about what they are viewing.  They are pros at navigating around their iPads and searching YouTube for Minecraft videos. Sometimes I'll hear a very bad word and I'll have to tell them to turn it off. I wish iPads came with parental controls! Thankfully I discovered Kidoodle.TV —an online streaming video service for children 12 and under. Thanks to Mom Central Canada, I was offered a free two-month s...

Last year, my oldest son, my baby, turned seven years old.  Today my baby boy is eight years old. Eight. Years. Old. In two years, my oldest son will be ten. It is amazing how much my life shifted  from before, to after, the second my son was born and placed in my arms. Life changed for me in ways I'm still trying to wrap my head around. Life changed for the better, and my eyes were opened to an entirely new world. This new world made me much more vulnerable than ever before, much more afraid than ever before, and much more emotional than ever before. Often, I have thoughts of wanting to fast-forward time, to see where we'll be in twenty, thirty years. I feel that only then will I be able to exhale. At the same time, I want to freeze time, because even though I absolutely cherish every second, I feel like time is going by way too quickly. Looking back at pictures of my son and seeing the boy he's become, and the baby he was, makes me emotional. I remember i...

Summer is my absolute favourite season of all. If I could turn all four seasons into one, I would. Well, I'd leave a month for fall, because I love the colours of the trees, the crispness in the air, and the fall clothes, and I'd take two weeks of winter in December, for the holidays, but after that? Bring. On. Summer. You're probably wondering what a summer girl like me is doing living in a city that has like, seven months of winter (okay, slight exaggeration, but you get my point) and minus 30 degrees temperatures for months on end and I guess the reason I haven't left yet is because my entire family lives here. I would hate to be far apart from them. Anyway! School's out, backpacks have been unpacked, lunch boxes have been disinfected, and we're thinking of fun and creative ways to give the kids a summer they'll remember forever. Here's how we're making this the best summer ever: Sleeping In: I know, this is pretty impossible with most c...

I'm awesome. Because I'm a mom. Here are 15 reasons why: 1. I survive—in fact I can function— amazingly well on three hours of sleep a night. I know this to be true because it's been my reality for the last seven years, give or take an hour (or two). 2. I can carry more in my arms than the average human at the same time. We're talking a suitcase , a child, a bottle of water, a purse, two sweaters, a pair of running shoes, snacks, passports, and a stroller. While walking down a broken escalator trying to catch a flight. 3. I host playdates with children and I let them invade my entire house. 4. I live with little dictators and I am a calm and rational person in spite of this. 5. I can put together impossible LEGO creations. 6. I eat Goldfish crackers off the floor for dinner. 7. I put all sorts of weird things in my mouth to clean them. 8. I have endured listening to many hours of that annoying brat, Caillou, without breaking the television set in a f...

"Cherish every moment" were probably the wisest words of advice I received when I was pregnant. Looking at how big my boys are now, it's hard to remember that once upon a time, they were snuggled tightly in their blankets, sleeping peacefully in their cribs. There are so many amazing memories I have of my children as babies, and truthfully, they'll always be my babies, no matter how big they get. There are definitely things I don't miss about the baby stage, though. Like the diapers. If you're a mom, you'll know what I'm talking about when I say it felt like half the day was spent just changing diapers... over and over again! When I was pregnant for the first time, selecting all the things I needed for my baby registry was fun but a little stressful. The one item I was told to put on my list was the Diaper Genie . Once my baby was born, I made good use out of the Diaper Genie. It's no wonder the Playtex Diaper Genie is the best selling diaper ...