Kids & Company Blog

Posted on: Tuesday November 6th, 2012

Posted by: Victoria Sopik

When my children were younger, Halloween was one of their most anticipated holidays. From carving pumpkins, to making costumes and painting faces, we always had a fantastic time. Come Halloween night, I would usually volunteer to stay home with the youngest and hand out candy to the adorable trick-or-treaters, and my husband would take my brood around the neighbourhood to fill their pillowcases with treats. As much as my kids loved candy, I did my best to ensure that they did not overload on sugar. After they returned with their loot, we would sort through the piles to make sure everything was safe to eat. I would usually allow my kids to indulge on that first night, and their consumption was much more controlled in the days to follow.

Posted on: Wednesday October 24th, 2012

Posted by: Victoria Sopik

Power struggles are such a common occurrence with children of all ages for so many different reasons! You would think after the age of five or so they would taper off, but I’d have to say to this day I still experience power struggles… even with my oldest child!

One power struggle that is common for parents is the clothing dispute. Whether it’s your three-year-old daughter who insists on wearing a Christmas dress with rubber boots in the middle of July, or your four-year-old son who refuses to get dressed in the morning, clothing can be a tough one! When my eldest daughter was three years old, she decided that she was going to be picky about her clothing. In fact she decided not to wear clothes at all, and there was no way I was going to get anything on her. This was definitely difficult for us, as the number one rule in power struggles is to ignore the situation and not to engage in the battle.

Posted on: Saturday October 13th, 2012

Posted by: Lisa Ruscica

This week, try a fun alternative to your family pasta dinner, use a spaghetti squash instead! It is a good idea to expose our families to something new, different and easy for dinner.

Spaghetti squash is an oblong seed bearing variety of winter squash that can range in colour from yellow to orange. The orange varieties have a flesh that is bright yellow or orange because of the high carotene content. When raw, the flesh is solid and similar to other raw squash but when cooked, the flesh falls away from the fruit in ribbons or strands like spaghetti. Spaghetti squash contains many vital nutrients including folic acid, potassium, Vitamin A and beta carotene. It is also low in calories, averaging 42 calories per 1 cup serving.

Posted on: Tuesday October 9th, 2012

Posted by: Victoria Sopik

Whether or not to use a pacifier to soothe your baby has been a longdebated question for parents and pediatricians. There have beenstudies that suggest that pacifier use has health benefits for babies, including the reduction of SIDS in babies who use pacifiers. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Institute of Child Health and Human development recommend using a pacifier at night because of this.

Posted on: Tuesday September 18th, 2012

Posted by: Victoria Sopik

Eating and nutrition is definitely a hot topic among parents. Many always wonder, is my child eating enough, are they eating a wide enough variety of food, are they getting the nutrition they really need? What I’ve experienced is that all children (and people for that matter) are very different. In my household, we always had many different meals and food arrangements going on.

Posted on: Friday September 14th, 2012

Posted by: Victoria Sopik

Once again, the summer has flown by, and as I enjoy the final few days of August, I am also gearing up for September, which is a busy month for most moms. Five of my eight children are going “back to school” next week, ranging from grade ten to law school. Given that I have gone through this process many times already, here are some of my tips for the transition back to school.

Posted on: Tuesday September 4th, 2012

Posted by: Victoria Sopik

One question I’m often asked is, “do you love playing with children?” Although this may come as a surprise to most, my answer to that question is “no.” I do have a special love for babies, nursing, cuddling and playing with them, but I have never had much of an interest in “getting down on the ground,” or playing house, cars, school, etc. I have always felt more of a pull in the direction of nurturing and loving them and I’ve left their playing and learning to be developed through each other and school.

Posted on: Tuesday August 28th, 2012

Posted by: Victoria Sopik

Spanking is such a tough topic and is one that I have strong personal feelings about.
Of course, in the child care world we have a very firm policy on “behaviour management” and a teacher would be immediately let go if they even suggested a spanking policy. We take this very seriously and provide positive reinforcement and redirect the child if they are having a difficult time.

Posted on: Wednesday August 22nd, 2012

Posted by: Victoria Sopik

Most of our parents have babies or small children, and sleep is a huge part of the entire family’s daily routine. If we haven’t slept well as a family then life is so much more difficult.
I have lots to share in future blogs about babies sleeping, toddlers and moving to “big beds”. I even have stories about baby number eight sleeping with us until he was close to five! This was not a good thing and is one of my parenting regrets.

Posted on: Wednesday August 15th, 2012

Posted by: Victoria Sopik

In the child care world, we often talk about “transitioning” from one part of the daily schedule to the next. Children might be playing on the carpet and then need to come to the table to have their snack. Most children manage this transition well and when told that it is “snack time” they jump up from their play and run happily to the table.
Some children have a harder time with this and need to be told a few times, “soon it will be snack time”, “a few more minutes”, “start to get ready” and other reminders like these. We find this makes things much easier.