HRM Parent Blog

I was one of about 30 lucky local blogging-type people invited by the Downtown Halifax Business Commission to participate in their new Big Day Downtown promotion. A simple idea - give $100 each to a bunch of bloggers, set them free on downtown to spend as they like, and ask them to blog about their experiences. A lovely idea. And $100 for me to spend! Yay!

I wasn't sure quite how to spend it at first - a problem of too many ideas, not too little. I was quite tempted to spend it on a night out with friends - mommy friends unite! Then I thought of a romantic evening out with my husband - not too many of those coming our way after baby arrives in a few months, after all. Or perhaps I should stock up on Christmas presents? I already shop at DeSerres and the Discovery Shop on Barrington for a fair amount for presents for kids. Maybe I should explore downtown for other kid-friendly Christmas presents? Or take an afternoon by myself and spend the $100 on me me me?! Trust me, it was tempting. *Very* tempting. In the end, I opted for a family day with Richard and Alex. Yes, I really do deserve my good mom medal now, don't you think?

The afternoon started with us getting off the bus downtown and Alex immediately announcing he had to use the bathroom. Ah, the joys of kids. So I sent Richard and Alex off to Scotia Square for their handy bathroom facilities while I took my time to browse in Biscuit. It's definitely one of my favourite stores downtown - lots of fun browsing through all the unique items! I almost bought Alex a collection of stick-on moustaches, but decided to hold off buying anything at that point. (I think I need to go back and get them - they'd be a great stocking stuffer!) After bathroom break, we headed to Strange Adventures for Alex to get a comic book. He picked out a Spiderman comic - a real treasure, from his perspective. Next on our agenda was a quick trip to the Discovery Shop to search for Lego, but sadly they didn't have any in stock. (I say 'sadly' but I don't actually mean it - I think Alex has enough Lego at the moment and the next purchase would make a good Christmas gift, so it suited me just fine that we couldn't find any. I mean, when did this day turn into a 'buy Alex anything he wants downtown' day? Jeez. Whoops. Did I just lose my good mom medal?!)

We headed down to the waterfront to find Maps and Ducks, which seems to be called Maps & More now (or did I just make up their old name?), and they'd also moved to Summit Place - a bit confusing for a moment, but we found it. We splurged on a big 40"x57" laminated world map, which came to a bit more than $40. I love it. I've been wanting a big map for ages, and I'm justifying it by calling it part of Alex's homeschool education, heh. That's geography sorted for the year then, right?

Next up, time to cool off with an ice-cream from Cows. Technically Alex and I had sorbet - he's allergic to dairy, so finding a non-dairy cold treat for him when out and about always makes for a happy boy. The line-up was long, but it moved pretty quickly, and it was definitely worth the wait.

To spend what was left of the $100 we decided to go crazy and take a ride on Theodore Tugboat. It's not cheap, that's for sure, but at least we had our handy ABC Family Card to get 25% off a family pass - yay! (Hey, I like to get deals even when it's not my own money I'm spending!) Theodore took us on a nice tour of the harbour and it was an enjoyable way to spend an hour. I do hope the tour guide gets paid well - there was only one child other than Alex but still she went all out acting as if the boat was filled with kids, instead of mildly amused adults. I suspect we were a bit of a tough crowd.

After Theodore we headed to the pirate playground outside the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic for some free downtown family fun. Alex played with a few other kids while Richard and I sat back and relaxed. I had heard months ago that this playground was going to be replaced but so far it's still there and the kids still love it. Works for me!

All in all, a great family day downtown. Thanks to the Downtown Halifax Business Commission for the opportunity! If you'd like your own Big Day Downtown, follow Downtown Halifax on Twitter and Facebook to find out how you can win one. Good luck!

There's just over four months left to save with your ABC Family Card - even if you don't already have one, there's still plenty of ways to save big with it in the time left, so make sure you scoot off to buy one asap, OK? At only $10 for the card, it's easy to save money at participating businesses, over and over again. Here's my top ten picks (but there are more ways - check out the full list of discounts here)*:

1. Enjoy our wonderful city and be a tourist with 25% off a family pass or one adult pass for the Harbour Hopper and Theodore Tugboat! You save $15-18 off a family pass, which more than pays for your ABC Family Card and still means savings! (If you only have one child under 5 though, you are probably better off using the 25% discount on one adult pass, saving $5-6, and paying full price for another adult and your child. Check out the rate pages for the Harbour Hopper and Theodore Tugboat to figure out what's best for you.) Theodore runs into September and the Harbour Hopper until late October.

2. Get your family's holiday photos organized! Now's the time to be booking for this, and with the ABC Family Card you can save money on your photos from five local photographers! Choose from a 10% or 25% discount on products and services, or receive free prints with your photography session, with savings starting at $30 and going up - another way for your ABC Family Card to pay for itself quickly! If you are planning family photos this year, make sure to check out the work of these wonderful local photographers.

3. Now that I have number two on the way, I've been reviewing my cloth diaper stash and seeing what I'd like to add to it. There's lots of options available: for the best selection, check out Nurtured and Enchanted Forest and get 10% off purchases; also Klassy Kids in Cole Harbour are now stocking cloth diapers and My Lil Package has a limited selection too! I love love love my cloth diapers and the thought of using them makes going back to changing diapers a *little* bit more tolerable!

4. Get those back-to-school haircuts at Sharkey's Cuts for Kids in Bedford, saving 10%. The kids enjoy movies and games while getting their hair cut without any fuss!

5. Who doesn't like pizza? Save 10% at Pizza Delight in Halifax Shopping Centre, Bayers Lake and Tacoma Drive in Dartmouth. Or head over to Smitty's in Dartmouth and kids under 10 eat free after 4pm! Mmmmm...food...

6. Looking to shed a few pounds before Christmas? Use your ABC Family Card to receive a free trial class with Outdoor Fitness at Point Pleasant Park or receive 5% off classes and workshops at Core Essentials in Dartmouth. Lemme know how it goes - I'll be at Pizza Delight... ;)

7. Oh, books, how I love thee, and how I love Tattletales. Get 15% off all merchandise at this local bookstore - this includes their wonderful selection of toys as well! I try to use the library as much as possible, but just can't resist the pull of books at a discount. I suspect I'll be doing a large portion of my Christmas shopping there...

8. And speaking of Christmas shopping, your ABC Family Card has lots of options for unique Christmas gifts at a discount for your loved ones! Check out our shopping section for all the details, but here's a few that pop out at me: the very cute custom glass tile photo pendants from local business Storybird Designs (save $5 - a great gift for grandma!), the impressive selection of toys and games at My Lil Package, and the fun science-related toys at the Discovery Shop. Christmas can be expensive - make sure you use your ABC Family Card to cut back on those expenses this year!

9. Last year my son participated in music classes with Andrea from Andrea's Music Studio , and our report is that Andrea is simply wonderful! If your child is showing some musical interest, why not try a free trial lesson in piano, guitar or voice at Andrea's Music Studio to see if it's time to pursue regular lessons?

10. If you want to escape the heat of the summer, head indoors for some air-conditioned fun at the Discovery Centre (free child admission with purchase of an adult admission), Aplaydia ($2 off admission), Fairlanes Bowling ($5 off an hour of bowling), or Tree House Cafe (10% off admission). And with summer going to an end, there will be lots more opportunities for indoor fun as we head into winter. Summer has been great though, hasn't it?

OK, that's a lot of ideas! For more ways, to save, check our the full list of discounts here. I really hope you find your ABC Family Card useful - I know I've been enjoying it this year! If you don't already have one, you can buy one online here, or for a list of participating stores that also sell the cards, click here.

* Check abcfamilycard.ca for a full list of discounts and exclusions. Offers mentioned may have restrictions.

This call for volunteers is from the Prenatal Community Support Network - help support breastfeeding moms in Halifax!

The Prenatal Community Support Network (PCSN) is seeking volunteers to help them carry out a public breastfeeding initiative. We are canvassing local businesses to display the International Breastfeeding Symbol to show their support to breastfeeding mothers in our community. Participating businesses will be invited to display their logos on the PCSN website, a place where women can access information on businesses in their community that are openly breastfeeding friendly. Of course, we assume that EVERY establishment in Halifax is breastfeeding friendly until we are informed otherwise. With this initiative we are opening a dialogue between breastfeeding advocates, breastfeeding mothers and local business owners, as well as publically supporting a mother’s right to breastfeed her baby wherever, whenever and in whichever manner she feels most comfortable.

We are looking for volunteers to canvass local businesses. Volunteers will be provided with the International Breastfeeding Symbol and information on breastfeeding to leave with business owners.

We believe that one decal can make all the difference to a mother who is unsure about breastfeeding her child in public. If you think you can convince even one local business to display the symbol, we need you.

Please contact the project coordinator with any questions or to sign up to be a part of this exciting initiative.

Erin Hemmens, redhemmens@alumni.sfu.ca, 422-6429

This initiative is being funded by a Breastfeeding and Baby Friendly Initiative Grant.

And the winner of our July giveaway from Chirocare is Laura Snow - congrats, Laura! And thanks again to Chirocare for sponsoring this giveaway!

More giveaways coming up, so stay tuned.

Maybe not a secret. A confession? That's not quite right either. But it's something I've been meaning to go public with for some time now, and just could never quite seem to do it. I don't really know why. At first, we only told a few dear friends and close family, feeling like we should wait until the first "scary" twelve weeks had passed. And then the twelve weeks came, and went, and still I kept the news close to home. I thought I'd feel like shouting it from the rooftops once we heard the heartbeat - real, proper proof at last! But still, I stayed quiet. Surely once the ultrasound was over? Surely then I'd tell everyone I met on the streets and blab it all over HRM Parent? That was two weeks ago. Close enough, I guess?

In case you need me to spell it out even more for you: I'm pregnant! Yay! 22 weeks with number 2. Richard, Alex and I are super, super excited. Richard and I are also somewhat terrified of going back to the insanity that comes with a baby. Poor innocent Alex hasn't a clue what's coming! But, oh, babies are just so deliciously cute, don't you think?

So yeah, that's my news. It's also my excuse for why HRM Parent has been somewhat neglected over the past few months. Uh, sorry about that. This pregnancy has been great so far, other than tiredness and insane hormonal mood swings (at least I have something to blame it on now!), but certainly HRM Parent has been put on the backburner these past months. Like, let's not even mention the activity calendar, OK? It's shameful. I'm sorry! I'm hoping to get it caught up for the fall and get the new Under 6 Planner up and running for then too.

OK, I'll stop babbling now and get to bed. This pregnant woman needs her rest! I mean really, how many times in one night can a person possibly need to pee?