Minnow’s Five Things

1. I’m scrambling to make my deadline on this post because it’s already been a busy week. You see I’ve been getting around a bit lately—as media moms do. So with a little shameless self-promotion, I’ll tell you about my recent article that was published on Yahoo! Finance. It’s filled with great money saving tips for back-to-school prep. And earlier this week, I was asked to join Jacqueline Milczarek on CTV News Morning Express who was very interested in mom blogs and learning more about what we’re all thinking, doing and saying that’s getting brands all excited. My answer? We’re keeping it real, of course. That’s why our readers love us and that’s why the brands are paying attention.
2. Speaking of blogs, there is a lot of great stuff on SavvyStories this week. I couldn’t help but notice the very useful post by AboutKidsHealth with tips for parents on preparing kids for school and routines again. The article starts off stating the basics of what kids need to succeed: eating well, a good night’s sleep, exercise and staying organized. It sounds so easy when you say it like that—doesn’t it? But they do actually help you with specific and practical ideas on how to achieve these goals. Now if they could just figure out a way to find two more hours in the day we could probably get everything done.

3. I’ll definitely be taking advice on eating a good breakfast and having family dinners—two very important parts of my day. And now I have a new grocery store to pick up my weekly feed—the new Longos in our office neighbourhood of Leaside is absolutely amazing. Sarah and I went to the store opening yesterday and we were very excited. (Is it sad we get so excited about a new grocery store?) It’s not only huge, clean and filled with all kinds of gluten-free items, organic seafood, artisanal cheeses, homemade breads and local produce, it has a restaurant (licensed, so you can leave your beloved there while you shop). The building is an old restored locomotive repair shop—it’s worth the drive if you’re not from the area. And if you’re not from Toronto—sorry—but this blog is all about me, isn’t it?

4. All moms should take the attitude that it’s about them. It’s not just me that says so. The experts tell us we need to look after ourselves first before we can look after others. Think of the emergency airplane instructions—moms always have to put their oxygen masks on first. Well, doctors at Queen’s University and Kingston General Hospital also know this. That’s why they have developed an app called Maternelle. It focuses on the health of the new mother as well as the baby—and is helpful to both the mother and the physician. I think it’s a great lesson for moms to learn early on—that their own health is important to everyone in the family.

5. On a less healthy note, we know one thing new moms need and love is caffeine and chocolate. That’s why it’s not surprising that a new product called AWAKE Chocolate bars arrived in our office this week. Made with milk chocolate (quite tasty) and the same amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee or a 250 mL energy drink—these really do wake you up. Let me be clear—I do not recommend you leave these anywhere your kids can eat them. In fact, this is not even a product recommendation—but they did catch my attention (everything caught my attention for about an hour after eating one)!

And that’s it for this week. If you have anything interesting that you think will catch my attention, let me know. I would love to hear from you!