Tag Archives: Julie Cole
Mother’s Day – What I Don’t Want
Julie Cole in Just Between Us - 3 comments - posted on May 9th, 2012Mother’s Day is around the corner and everyone is asking the moms what we want. I’m a simple gal and not particularly high maintenance in the gifts department. I don’t want flowers or jewelry for Mother’s Day or any other occasion really. In fact, my perfect Mother’s Day gift would be doing without some things. For example, there are certain comments made by the general public that we mamas could do without. Mamas of biggie-sized families prefer not to be asked if we own a TV or suggestions that we should take up a hobby. Contrary to popular belief, we … Continue reading
Bragging on Facebook – Annoying or Acceptable?
Julie Cole in For the love of parenting, Just Between Us - 6 comments - posted on Mar 28th, 2012A while ago, my friend Louise relayed that she was horrified to learn that a woman she knows “unfriends” people on Facebook who brag about their kids a lot. Louise explained that she loves sharing news about her children and also hearing about other people’s kiddos. While I couldn’t agree more, I completely get where her friend is coming from. I don’t have a problem with parents who use their status updates to talk about the cool stuff their kids do. But there is one condition – I better be hearing some of the bad stuff too. I love learning … Continue reading
As mothers, we encounter many cute products and others that are useful but may seem a little over the top. For example, there are two very distinct camps of people who will and will not use “Baby On Board” signs on their cars. For whatever reasons, some mamas love ‘em, others – not so much. I kind of felt that way about those sticker families that go on cars. They’re cute and all but I just didn’t think they were my thing. Secretly, I may have thought they were a bit too “Sunshine Family”, if you know what I mean. … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
The Mother’s Day Gift to Give Yourself
Julie Cole in Just Between Us - 5 comments - posted on May 3rd, 2010Mothers 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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading