Quite a few years ago, I saw these funny looking bikes that didn’t have pedals. The theory of these pedal-less bikes was explained to me. The kids push themselves along, lifting their feet and gaining a sense of balance faster than they would using the traditional ‘learning to ride a bike’ methodology. This all made a lot of sense to me.

At that time, I had a little tot who I thought would benefit from having one of these fancy little wooden European bikes. Then I saw the price tag and quickly threw some training wheels on an old two-wheeler in the garage because she was about to outgrow her tricycle.

Fast forward to kid number five who is an active three-year-old. Over the last couple of years, these little bikes have become more mainstream and, fortunately, significantly cheaper.

I reached out to the owner of Strider Canada with a few questions about her product and, satisfied with the product information and customer service, I placed my order. That bike arrived and my three-year-old has not been off it since.

Spending money on your fifth kid is a bit painful – when you have six kids, you hope that the last couple will be able to manage with the purchases you made in your earlier career as a mother. However, I have not regretted spending 100 bucks on a Strider for a split second. In addition to loving his bike because he can go fast and balance, my little guy also enjoys something that is very important to a fifth kid: his bike looks the same as the bikes the big kids in the family are riding.

Other good news is that when he outgrows it, the bike will be passed along to kid #6 – and judging by how awesome he rides that thing now, I’m guessing he’ll be on a traditional two-wheeler by the end of this summer at the ripe old age of three-and-a-half years old.

Here’s my kid riding his Strider before even getting dressed for the day!

Mothers can have bad days - kids misbehave, work gets on top of you, the house is a dump, your husband is being useless, etc. Mothers often tell me that when they are having a bad day, they think of me and they instantly feel better. The chaos in my life provides them with some comfort in those manic mama moments.

But I have to let you in on a little secret: it’s not that bad. In fact, it’s pretty darn good. Sure, I don’t get a lot of sleep and nights out on the town are few and far between, but that’s what I signed up for when I had six kids.

Between my babies, business and blogging, there are quite a few balls in the air. So the question is often asked about how I manage it all. I could go on and on, but since this is a blog and not a book, I’m keeping it short with just a few little things that are firmly entrenched in my brain that help me get through my busy days.

Keep everything in perspective
When things are hectic at Mabel’s Labels and stress is creeping into our lives, my business partners and I look at each other and remind ourselves of this: We are making labels; we are not saving lives. This is not to downplay how seriously we take our business. If a customer has not received labels on time, that is a dire Mabel 911 situation. Should we let it keep us up at night? Probably not. We’re better off engaging in more proactive responses such as finding out what went wrong and changing our system. Fix the mistake, move on and remember: no one died.

Don’t take your kids so seriously
My kids are kids, not projects. Don’t obsess over whether your kids are academically gifted, going to get MVP or be chosen for the competitive dance team. When my kids grow up, they will be like most others – they’ll get a job. They may become teachers, bricklayers, doctors, bus drivers, parents, whatever. Hopefully they’ll have a fulfilling personal life. I want them to be happy and the best people they can be. Stop taking them so seriously and worrying about what they’ll be later, instead of what they are now.

Don’t take yourself so seriously
You’re a parent, not a miracle worker. You’ll make mistakes and feel crappy about it. So learn from it and move right along. Dwelling is pointless. Sometimes as you try to balance all your roles, you’ll notice everything becoming unaligned – several balls you are juggling come crashing down at once. On those days, order pizza, give the kids bowls of cereal for dinner, let them watch too much TV or go to bed without brushing their teeth. I think they will be OK if they don’t have veggies with dinner two nights in a row. No one is going to turn you into the bad mother police for letting the kids eat hotdogs off their laps on the family room couch. While they’re doing that, for goodness’ sake, go get yourself a well deserved glass of wine!

So this Mother’s Day, give yourself an invaluable Mother’s Day gift. A healthy dose of perspective will make you happier than a dozen roses or new pair of earrings ever will.

I love seeing how kid and baby products have developed over the years. Since I had my first kid ten years ago and launched the business (www.mabel.ca) seven years ago, so many fun, useful and beautiful products have cropped up. Attending baby shows with my business is an occupational hazard – I am a consumer at risk. Being surrounded by so many cool products, often created by innovative mamas (who are my peers and friends!), can make for very tempting times.

However, I recently committed to focusing on things that would simplify my life. As a result, I examined ways I could outsource services to make life a bit easier for this busy mama. I’ve done well – I’ve got a school bus buddy, a homework helper, some driving help, etc.

When I got a call from the lovely Kimberly at Haircuts On Wheels (www.haircutsonwheels.ca) offering to come to my house and give all the kids a haircut, I thought I must have been dreaming. Kimberly arrived at my home with her haircutting tools, a stool, kiddie entertainment and a smile that lit up the room. Each kid got called in for a quick haircut, and as soon as it was done, the kid was back outside playing. Note the benefit here – there was no hanging around the hairdressers for two hours watching each child become bored, hyper, or both as they waited for their siblings.

Now, since I can’t entirely shake my love of great kiddo products, I had to check out what cool hair stuff has won a PTPA Media Award.

1) Love the funky bandanas here: http://www.tsitah.com

2) This rinseless shampoo would fit right into our busy lifestyle: http://www.oopsydaisybb.com/

3) Kimberly could use this handy little booster seat. It might save her from having to drag her stool around: http://www.babysmartusa.com/classic.asp

So if you’re looking to simplify, think beyond Grocery Gateway and carpooling – there might just be some other cool services in your neighbourhood that will help you survive your crazy life.

I’m quite sure that this product must be controversial. We know that “Breast is Best” and that feeding time is a great opportunity to cuddle and connect with baby. There is nothing I love more than breastfeeding a little one. And when babe moves to a bottle, I continue to treasure feeding time.

But around my busy house, sometimes baby is screaming for a bottle as toddler is bleeding profusely and biggies are about to miss the school bus. It’s just how it is around here. So, I have the choice – leave baby screaming as I deal with the other dramas happening around me, or set him up with one of these handy dandy little gadgets:

http://www.bottlesnugglers.com/what-are-they.php

This bottle holder contraption is not meant to replace the loving arms of a parent - it is marketed as something that allows you to be hands- free while holding the child. But this weathered mama can tell you there are certainly times when the odd bottle needs to get propped around here. If you have never had to prop a bottle for a baby, count your blessings and embrace the zen that surrounds you. That is the kind of peaceful home environment I know nothing about.

I’ve used various propping tools in my time….pillows, blankets, soft toys. They all act as a quick fix in a moment of desperation, but inevitably the bottle moves so baby either ends up with gas or extremely frustrated when the bottle shifts just out of reach of a little mouth.

You can always go with the option of having bleeding toddler give bottle to hysterical baby while you shove school-aged children out the door to run for the bus. Sadly, I’ve tried it and it didn’t work out so well.

You’d think that with a family my size, we’d just avoid going anywhere. Overseas travel sounds out of the question, right? This is not the case for my clan. My in-laws live overseas and we have committed to visiting them every second holiday season.

This is where the fun begins – the sad reality is that they are not just on the other side of the province or even the country. It takes 20 hours of air time to get to these people. Let’s not even think about the years that get taken off your life from hanging around in airports. I try to remind myself that at the end of it all, it’s really just one day – one long and hellish day, but surely you can do almost anything for just a day, right? And yet, knowing that I’ll be once again facing that day in 10 months’ time is enough to make me break into a sweat.

But there is good news that goes along with this scary travel story – I’ve kinda got this travelling with a lot of kids thing mastered. I know what seat configuration to book that will give me the best chance of having empty seats around us. I know what special requests to make to the airline that will help keep my sanity intact. And I have learned that simply asking for help works. I am not too proud to ask a line-up of 100 people at Customs if we can skip the queue and go to the front of the line. My experience is “ask, and you shall receive”.

I’m always on the lookout for great travel products that make my life easier. My most recent favourite can be found at www.trunki.com

With six kids, I am loaded down with gear so need even small children to be independent little travelers. This product gives them access to all of their “things” on the plane while allowing them to ride their suitcases throughout the airport as we transfer flights and change terminals.

Before the next trip, I’ll also be having a close inspection of the amazing PTPA approved travel products. For a peek, look here:

bECO Baby Carrier - http://www.becobabycarrier.com/

CARES - Child Aviation Restraint System – http://www.kidsflysafe.com/
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Hoppop Diaper Bag + Booster Seat in one - http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=535316&cmSource=Search

Goober Baby Change Purse - http://www.gooberbaby.com/gb_store.asp?pageid=&PID=1

Next time you are travelling with your kids, think about me on an airplane with six kids for 20 hours. I guarantee that you’ll stop feeling sorry for yourself.

Whether you call them swaddling blankets, bunny rugs, wraps or receiving blankets – this is the one baby product I can’t live without.

You see, I swaddle my babies. Tight. In fact, I sort of mummify them. People watch in fascination as I wrap a baby before a nap or bedtime. I give regular tutorials to new parents and the nurses at the hospital take tips and ask for demos.

Most mamas stop swaddling long before baby is rolling over. Not me - I’ll have to unwrap my babies so that their hands are free to write out their college applications. Many mamas will report that they don’t swaddle because their babies dislike it. I don’t believe such a baby exists. If you think your baby doesn’t like it, you’re either doing it wrong or not tight enough. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

10 years ago when I had my first baby, there was not much on the market as far as these swaddling blankets go. Anything that was out there didn’t suit my swaddling needs. Because I wrap even my huge grown up babies, I’m fussy about size and material. The blanket needs to be big and it needs to be super stretchy. Fortunately I have a talented mother-in-law, Oma, who is a wiz with a sewing machine. She custom made all of my swaddling blankets fulfilling all of my fussy requirements, allowing me to successfully wrap my babies until a ripe old age.

Here is my 8-month-old all wrapped up and ready for bed:

So ten years and six kids later, I seem to only have one remaining blanket that I like. It has had a long and useful life, and as you can see, it has had better days.

So what is a swaddling mama supposed to do when she doesn’t have an Oma on the scene? I suggest you head on over to see what the fine product testers at PTPA have to say on the matter. I found these two PTPA approved wraps and they look pretty impressive to me!

http://cloudb.stores.yahoo.net/lullawrap1.html
http://www.swaddlekeeper.com/www.SwaddleKeeper.com/Welcome.html

Happy baby wrapping!

I’m no organizational guru, but owning a business and being a mama of six kids means I’ve learned a fair few tricks along the way. Without organization, I lose the thing I value most: TIME. Mine comes at a premium and I have none to waste. Join in my commitment to valuing a mama’s time by keeping these tips in mind:

1) Organize your stuff

It’s time to clear out the crap folks – I’m talking toys, clothes, even that stuff you get all sappy and sentimental about. I have news for you – that painting your kid did when she was five-years-old looks pretty much like every other kid’s painting. If I held onto art projects, my sentimentality would take up a lot of valuable space and create unwanted clutter. What happens when I have clutter? I can’t find the stuff I need which makes me waste time having to look for it. The other problem with holding onto sentimental items is the longer you have them, the harder they are to part with. Save yourself the grief ten years from now - tell little Johnny you love his painting and then promptly hide it in the recycling bin.

Can’t emphasize this strategy enough – take a half-day every season to organize seasonal clothes and sports equipment. It will save you on the morning of the season’s first snowfall from repeating the annual tradition of frantically searching for winter boots and snow pants while the kids yell about missing the school bus. That half day once every four months is an investment in the value of your time and sanity – you will easily gain that half-day back by closing the door on frantic-searching-panic for good!

2) Organize your peeps

Stop doing everything for the kiddos and instead train them for independence. Not only will it give them lifelong skills, but it will give you time. Sure, there is an initial commitment – sometimes it’s just easier to pack their school bag for them or fetch that glass of juice. But training them to be independent is worth the time investment. Four of my six kids have to be on the school bus at 7:45am. I use a poster that reminds them of their morning responsibilities. If they get off track, I re-direct them to the poster of duties. Empower them with strategies for independence. You’ll thank yourself when you actually have time to pour yourself a cup of coffee in the morning.

3) Organize an outsource

Let this year be the year you get realistic. That’s my resolution. For three years -including two maternity leaves - I’ve had big dreams of getting my 1000 photos into albums and actually printing the 500 still sitting on my laptop. Just thinking about this project was enough to make me break out in a sweat of stress. Finally admitting it was never going to happen, I hired someone to do it, by posting the project and my cry for help as a Facebook status update. Twenty Facebook friends expressed interest. Sure paying someone to do it is a bit of a drag, but you can’t put a price on mama’s sanity or beautifully organized photos.

So, mamas everywhere, let’s face 2010 with a proactive approach to our organization. Do the groundwork and you will reap the benefits. You’re a busy mama – your time is worth investing in.

I was just blogging over at the www.mabelhood.com about how Christmas provides us with the opportunity to be bad parents. We spend the month of December saying things like “Santa’s watching” and “You better be good, or else!!”

So basically we bribe our children: Be good and you get presents!

We are also full of empty threats: Be naughty and no presents for you!

It’s a big load of crap since I’ve never seen a lump of coal in any stocking – and I know some pretty naughty kids.

So this year it would seem we parents now have a sort of ‘enabler’ encouraging our bad parenting ways. It comes in the form of a little elf that sits on a shelf in your home and acts as a spy for Santa. The “Elf on a Shelf” watches your kid’s every move then reports back to the big guy with observed behaviours.

OK, so maybe this Elf dude is further enforcing our bad parenting, but from all reports it’s working a charm for families everywhere. So let’s just agree that December is bad parenting month and embrace that little Elf as a partner in crime.

Check out your accomplice here: http://www.elfontheshelf.com/#/home