Jenn & Chris – Page 9 – Mom Dad CuppaKids

The Perfect Family Present. Ross Petty’s Peter Pan #PettyPan20

by Jenn & Chris on December 16, 2015

If you are in need of a gift for a family in your life or you yourself are looking for a guffaw, a giggle, or a moment of pure unadulterated delight..let me guide you to the perfect present.

The BEST gift you could possibly give this year is laughter. Bring sheer joy & smiles to family on your list by giving them tickets to Ross Petty’s Peter Pan in Wonderland at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto.

I can’t say enough about how truly awesome it was.

Go. Just Go.

Click here. Buy tickets.

NOW.

You have to. Trust me.

We had the pleasure of attending our first ever Ross Petty experience this past week, thanks to our friends at the Yummy Mummy Club. I had heard great things about Ross Petty shows in the past but I didn’t really understand the wonderfully interactive and unique experience it provided until we went ourselves.

I thought we were going for the kids. What I didn’t realize was how much fun and entertainment it would be for us adults. I can say in earnest that I was in tears twice during the show for two entirely different reasons.

The first was from the humour of the performance. The writing was crisp, the innuendo plentiful and the characters were fabulous. Jessica Holmes, who played an epic Queen of Hearts along with Dan Chameroy, Ross Petty and Anthony MacPherson gave both my abs and my eyes an awesome workout.

The second was that I didn’t expect the beautiful reaction our children would have to the show, especially our son. Having a child with Autism lends itself to checking for the nearest exit points at a venue, just in case you need to make a fairly quick escape. I will admit to usually surveying the people around us to see where the expectation for “normal” behaviour might come into play and cringing if it looks like there is potential where patrons might get annoyed.

I was worried for no reason. The casual and interactive nature of the program meant that kids were encouraged to be part of the show, and were we ever. My son enjoyed the participation and music so much he was literally bouncing out of his seat to dance. The mood of the people around our seats were jovial and relaxed. By intermission we received comments on how much they enjoyed watching our son’s joy (as did we). Of course I cried. I was touched that they took the time to say something and beyond grateful that Ross Petty makes the occasion such an inclusive experience.

For the record, we were seated on the Orchestra level, Row V, Seats 32-36. It is THE perfect spot for special needs. It’s on the aisle and right in front of one single seat and a pillar with a direct beeline to the stairs if suddenly needed.

Thank you Ross and thank you Erica for giving US the perfect family present to start the holidays with.

Sincerely, think about making this moment a special one of yours this year.

You won’t regret it.

Ticket prices range from $27-$99 Adults • $27-$69 Children under 12

Get your tickets NOW for PETER PAN, The 20th Anniversary Family Musical PANto-monium, running at the Elgin Theatre from November 27, 2015 – January 3, 2016.

NB: No expectations were asked of me to write a post or support this show. I sincerely loved it SO much I just HAD to tell you all about it.

Family Matters

Look at me Adulting..

by Jenn & Chris on November 25, 2015

I know I'm an adult I just don't like thinking like one

I’ll let you in on a little secret.

Sometimes, (oft times) I get surprised about where I am in life.

I can’t quite comprehend how I am in my forties given that a moment ago I was in high school.

I don’t feel like an adult.

I can’t wrap my head around that I am married, that I’ve have been left in charge of these humans and are responsible for helping shape and mold their life. Wow. That’s heavy.

MY CHILD

On my life’s soundtrack, I can pin point the exact song I was listening to when that “Moment” happened and I felt like it wasn’t just about me anymore. It was early early in the morning and I was up trying to feed our 2 day old bundle of joy in the hospital. I was overwhelmed. The whole breastfeeding thing wasn’t working and I was listening to Sarah McLachlan’s Ice Cream to try to create a “calm/nurturing environment”. I was petrified. No part of me felt grown up enough to take care of this little one. No part of me felt old enough or wise enough to know what to do.

As I listened to the song, the lyrics hit me hard. All I could think in that moment was “its you and me kid.” In this for a lifetime.

The mama bear in me made that commitment, then and there that I would always, always be there to protect these children of mine.

Ice Cream Lyrics

Your love is better than chocolate
better than anything else that I’ve tried
oh love is better than chocolate
everyone here knows how to cry
it’s a long way down
it’s a long way down
it’s a long way down to the place
where we started from…

MY HUSBAND

We had a moment last year when my favorite man (yes that would be Chris, the hubs) jumped off the dock and accidentally impaled his foot with a buried piece of T bar at the cottage. I had just left, oblivious and on my way to the airport to head out of town. I got notice as I was at the airport that he had been hurt and was simply heading up to the next town for stitches. What I wasn’t told until I returned home is that the shock & pain of the injury caused him to pass out, our friends finding him face down in the water, unconscious.

They endured the frightening challenge of having to pull him out and revive him. When it all came out in the wash, my security blanket felt a little less secure. A matter of minutes and the urgency of our friends coming to his aide was truly what made the difference.

Our little girl is still doing this. 8 years later

MY FRIEND

I have always looked at Life Insurance as one of those checkboxes you tick off to make sure you are covered. This year though, everything changed. One of my dearest friends passed away in May and I watched first hand the importance of how life insurance played a role. We all believe that we won’t need it until we grow old but witnessing it in this light made me realize how essential is it to have something in place, how important it is to make sure those we love are covered.

When presented with the opportunity to work with Manulife on this, I was all in. I was really interested in checking out the Cover Me application form to see how easy it was to apply. Simple and fast, it has made me feel better to add just a little more coverage, to be sure those I love are well looked after. I timed it, it took less than 1 minute. Perfect even in my I-don’t-have-time-for-this excuse book.

We are going to be talking about life’s moments when you realized it wasn’t just you anymore tonight on an @Manulife #BeCovered Twitter Chat at 9pm EST, 6pm PST.

I encourage you to join us to talk about this essential part of life and adulting.

@Manulife Twitter Chat Co-Hosted by @CommonCentsMom and myself @HartGalla

Changing the World

I am Feeling the World.

by Jenn & Chris on November 20, 2015

Mom Says:

I am stuck.

Dozens of blog posts sit unpublished. Friends have checked in to see what’s wrong given how “quiet” I have become on social media.

I haven’t felt much like talking lately. There is more than enough dialogue out there.

Social media has taken its toll.

I am worn down.

The shouting, screaming, threats, complaining, and rants rage mixed against the stream of selfies, outfit of the days, food porn, product shots and a continued run of superficial moments feel wrong. So wrong.

On one hand, the world is strife with so much anger, sadness, hurt and heartache and on the other, the world continues to move by, seemingly oblivious to what is happening. We are draped and protected by our world of privilege that allows us to consume these moments when we want and turn them off, just like that. I am ashamed.

I am worried.

For friends experiencing difficult commentary, opinion and aggression towards them because of their beliefs. I am concerned for people feeling the rebound effect of what happened in Paris. My friends from Ketchup Moms Moms concern over anti-Muslim sentiment in Canada and CanadianMomEh Terrorism Has No Religion both give incredibly great perspectives.

I am curious.

What would I do, if caught in a situation where my home and my country no longer felt safe? What lengths would I go to protect my children? I think I would lie, cheat, steal, sleep with, bargain, comprimise and do whatever it took if it meant my kids were OK. Imagine violence and terror surrounding you daily and leaving EVERYTHING you have (yes, the SUV, the Pet Shops, the Xbox, the clothes, the Macbook, The iPhone, the shoes, the memories, the Starbucks cups, all the insanely ridiculous amount of STUFF we have here in the Western World.) EVERYTHING.

Come on people.

Imagine that.

Imagine what it would be like to lose EVERYTHING to move to a new country, just to feel safe.

And then shut the fuck up.

I am heartbroken.

Is it helping or hindering when the connection you feel to everyone allows so much into your world?

There has always been war. In my mind, there is no reason to take another’s life. Ever. Adding a religious postscript does nothing to validate the position.

Is the introduction of social media creating a new kind of anger, rage, sadness or have those same feelings been as strong pulsing through our veins in the past? I don’t think so. We are so exposed to it now that its creating a ripple effect.

I think its slowly chipping away at this gentle earth of ours and in turn all of us.

I am hopeful.

The only way that anything will CHANGE is by you helping change it. Today, you can look at the world and be angry or you can look at the world and think of how you can make it better. The best work you can do is to spread joy and kindness. The worst you can do is add to the anger.

Make a good choice today.

Dad Says:

The medium allows for it. In fact, it was built on it. Real time discourse, monitoring and yes commenting on events that previously you needed to wait till Noltan read the news to disseminate. We went from one journalist to 1000’s. Each of who can comment, argue or spew their thoughts & feelings to a world of many in a matter of seconds. It’s real time war. Is this affecting us more deeply or has it desensitized us to mankind’s base indignities? The cradle of civilization has been fought over since before we could write about it, and it seems everybody has a historical stake. This is the war that never ends, and we just get it streamed to our devices now. You cannot turn it off, there is no filter. Its 24-7 depression.

Vietnam brought the war into our living room, and the internet brings it into our lives before we get out of bed. CNN chases hurricanes and global upheaval, with the facts trickling after. I don’t know if its right, but I know I don’t like it. I don’t like the way it makes me feel. I am going to go for a walk.

Spread love in every way you can. Every day.

Changing the World

My #LifeReady Moment means the world

by Jenn & Chris on October 28, 2015

We have a major #LifeReady moment we are starting to prepare for. It’s an idea of taking our kids on a world-wide trip. We want to teach them to be global citizens, help them understand and embrace all cultures and learn on the road.

The comforter is warm and cozy and as I wake up to the sweet sounds of the Cowboy Junkies I look over to see the angel faces of both my children snuggled up beside me.

My children.

There is so much love and so much responsibility that go with those words. I often wonder how I possibly have kids when at times I still feel like a kid myself. I remember growing up thinking how very much my parents had it together in how they planned for everything. Planning for a trip, planning house moves, planning for their retirement and for our future. My dad especially focused diligently on maxing out his investment opportunities every year to see it through that they were covered as they got older. As they are finally in that stage of life, it’s paying off. Large. They don’t have to sacrifice the world to sustain their living. He had set it up beautifully so that they had a quality life full of travel and opportunity when they got to this life stage.

Dreaming gave us this view of the Indian Ocean #LifeReady

It makes me nervous. Coming from a different generation and philosophy, we don’t concentrate nearly as much as they do on financial matters. We are in far more debt. Our house is more expensive. The impact of interest rates from credit cards don’t seem to create the same concern that I saw with my folks. We are doing ok for saving for retirement but by no means are we maxing out each year. (And we have NO end goal as to when that is).

We are doing well on RESP contributions and because of Autism in our world, we are also adding contributions to RDSP’s to ensure the care of our child when he’s older. But we also hold the philosophies of “Come Before Winter” and “Tomorrow can easily become never”, which continually drives us to travel, seek experiences and have adventures that will create amazing memories for us and the kids more so than feeling financially safe as we get older.

And this experience in Stonetown, Zanzibar #lifeReady

We have a major #LifeReady moment we are starting to prepare for. It’s an idea of taking our kids on a world-wide trip. We want to teach them to be global citizens, help them understand and embrace all cultures and learn on the road. I am a dreamer, a live life to the fullest kind of gal whereas my husband is the responsible, collected one of the two of us. The only way we can get to this moment is to bring down our debt and meet at an agreed upon a level of financial preparedness and risk for both of us to be comfortable to go.

Being #LifeReady took us to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro

And brought us this close to moments that took our breath away #LifeReady

We can't wait to explore more of what the world has to offer #LifeReady — We can’t wait to explore more of what the world has to offer #LifeReady

This program couldn’t have come at a better time in taking stock of where we are.

We want to explore so many more beautiful sunsets

I took the Manulife Readiness Quiz and discovered I am in the 45% of Canadians that feel we are on our way to being financially ready but we still have a ways to go.

Manulife Life Ready Quiz — My #LifeReady Quiz Results

Think about taking the Manulife Readiness Quiz to see how financially #LifeReady you are.

AND…Be sure to join us October 28 at 9pm EST for our @Manulife #LifeReady Twitter Party to talk financial preparedness and see what you dream of being #LifeReady for. Must RSVP to win over $2500 in Cash prizes!

RSVP BELOW

Changing the World

Almost There! #WalkForSickKids

by Jenn & Chris on September 22, 2015

I lie down beside my little guy, stroking his hair as he drifts off to sleep. All I can think about is how grateful and how blessed we are. Life has shown us this year how quickly it can change. When you least expect it one moment can make all the difference. Going when we did to Sick Kids was a major part of our son’s successful recovery.

We are so jazzed to be taking our whole family (& our family dog) on the #WalkForSickKids this Saturday, September 26th! We’re so close and would love your help in getting us to our fundraising goal!

SickKids is a world leader in patient care, research discoveries that are changing the field of health, and global knowledge. Their goal this year is $2 Million and with your help, with all our help, we can get them there!

All funds raised for the Canaccord Genuity Great Camp Adventure Walk will be directed to the Possibilities Fund at SickKids, the biggest opportunity to help support children’s health.

If you’d like to participate yourself in The Great Camp Adventure Walk, there’s also still time to sign up! Use promo code “Social” to get $10 off the registration fee.

Personally I think you should join us, TEAM COOL GREEN because we are a lot of fun and are bringing our new puppy on the walk as well. Love so much that PetSmart is involved this year!

Everything you need to know about how to register is found at WalkforSickKids.ca! The concept is a challenge-by-choice event–which means you can walk 5, 10, 15, or 20 km, what better way to get your FIT BIT steps in.

If you can’t make it, there is still there is still time to DONATE to our Canaccord Genuity Great Camp Adventure #WalkForSickKids page and be sure to follow along on the hashtag on Saturday. We will be actively posting from the event about all the amazing things #WalkForSickKids does to help children.

Have you entered?

The Great Camp Adventure Contest gives you a chance to win 1 of 5 $100 donations to a team of your choice and an additional $100 for you to decide what to do with.

Simply sign up below for a chance to spread the joy.

The Great Camp Adventure Walk for SickKids Promotion Contest

Disclosure: I am part of the Canaccord Genuity Great Camp Adventure Walk for SickKids campaign with Influence Central and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Changing the World

#WalkForSickKids helps all of us

by Jenn & Chris on September 1, 2015

WHY we’re doing the #WalkForSickKids Canaccord Genuity Great Camp Adventure Walk.

I’m pretty sure every new mom sits at about Defcon 2 most days when it comes to watching over their new baby.

The worry and the unknown consume you. Every baby book tells you something different. Every baby book says trust your instincts, you know your baby best.

That moment when you vow you will do anything to keep them safe

Three weeks in to the birth of our new son, something changed very quickly. Every feeding he would projectile vomit. All over my shirt, down my bra, his jumper, couch, EVERYWHERE.

It started happening too often so we went to the hospital clinic to be sure he was ok. We will always remember the new-parent-you’re-an-idot-eye-roll of the doctor, who thought nothing was the matter.

He must just have caught a virus.

We went back home feeling foolish, except that when we fed him next, he pulled an epic Linda Blair.

We looked at each other. Packed up and went straight to the emergency room.

The first hospital I won’t even get in to except to say that watching your sons 3 week old eyes pleading with you as a set of nurses clumsily try to get an IV into his hand will truly be one of the worst moments of my life. The night got worse from there. I sat the night in a chair, alone, told to calm him down when he wanted to feed (Ha!) watching my son in a crib that looked like a jail cell.

The next day we discovered that he had Pyloric Stenosis. To put it simply the valve between your stomach and intenstine never opens up making it impossible to digest anything.We were immediately sent to Sick Kids Hospital to check in there and await surgery.

Our experience at Sick Kids was 1000X different than that of the other hospital.

The nurses and doctors at Sick Kids get it. They offer calm and reassurance when your world seems steeped in throat-tightening anxiousness. They get that you are terrified, exhausted, need a coffee break, and how hard it is to simply be there, in a hospital, with your child. They know you would do anything to trade places.

We lived at SickKids hospital for over a week, and never felt anything but comfort and support the entire time. The rooms, the staff, the communication, the kindness, the research, the care were all because you knew that those who worked there WANTED to be there. If it hadn’t been for the staff, I don’t know how we would have done it.

We met other families, many who were going through such difficult times for their children. Our hearts ached for every one we met. Regardless of the reason, there was a common thread. They had come for the best care for their child, and they were so grateful for receiving it.

This is why we are doing the Canaccord Genuity Great Camp Adventure Walk, and why we are asking for your help to raise funds on behalf of SickKids Hospital. They put so much positive energy into making the worst time ever bearable, and we want to give back. With a goal of raising over 2 million dollars for SickKids, we are joining Toronto’s greatest adventure walk on Sept 26th.

To give a nod to the best Sequence team at the cottage and our Gym Riot days as teens, we have affectionately named our team #TeamCoolGreen. And we want YOU! ..To JOIN us in supporting this incredible cause.

How Can You Help?

Come on our team, raise $500 and get fit walking up to 20km in a challenge-by-choice (you can do 5k, 10k, whatever you like) ..as Nike says JUST DO IT!
Use promo code “social” to receive a $10 discount off The Great Camp Adventure Walk registration fee! Adults are $65 for a whole day of food and fun, Children are $35.
Donate to our #WalkForSickKids Donation Page
Enter the The Great Camp Adventure Contest where you have a chance to win 1 of 5 $100 donations to a team of your choice and an additional $100 for you to decide what to do with ( I would donate it to SickKids…#JustSayin)
Share all over social media to support the incredible work that #WalkForSickKids does for sick children & for their families
Check out Walkforsickkids.ca

To enter The Great Camp Adventure Contest, simply enter below for a chance to spread the joy.

The Great Camp Adventure Walk for SickKids Promotion Contest

Disclosure: I am part of the Canaccord Genuity Great Camp Adventure Walk for SickKids campaign with Influence Central and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.