Kids in the Capital: Call for Contributors

Not long ago, we published a call for pictures and you all made my day (several days in a row) with lots of beautiful pictures that will soon grace the top of the Kids in the Capital Web page. We're hoping you'll want to join us more regularly to share your stories of being a family in the Ottawa area.

In just a few months we'll be celebrating our 2nd Anniversary. We've covered many great activities in and around Ottawa, but we're nowhere near done! There are many more stories to tell and a never-ending list of activities to do around homes and communities all over the city.

If you're interested in writing for Kids in the Capital, please email us at kidsinthecapital@gmail.com! We'll be updating our regular contributors page over the next few weeks and we'd love to see your name added to the list!

Kids in the Capital: some changes

Brie and I started Kids in the Capital a year and a half ago to talk about the things we love to do in the city with our kids. And we've loved doing it! As parents with a million things on the go however, it isn't always possible to keep doing all of the things that we love to do, not well anyways.

Due to this lack of time to do everything, I'm sad to announce that Brie is stepping back from Kids in the Capital, though hopefully we will still hear from her and about all the amazing things she does with her kids!  She is still blogging at Capital Mom - a blog about her journey through parenting that is not to be missed.

Karen has agreed to step up and help with the running of the blog and we're thrilled to have her! Karen's personal blog, Karen's Chronicles, is a place where she documents everything from her thoughts about life in general to her adventures in living with the two men in her life - her husband, Matt, and son, Brandon. She recently started a blog about social media called The Media Mesh that allows her to explore one of her favourite subjects on a regular basis. You can expect to get to know her better in this space soon as a contributor as well.

But we can't keep this place hopping without you guys.  If you are interested in writing regularly, or just sharing something great you've done now and then, we'd love to have you send us a post at kidsinthecapital(at)gmail(dot)com.

Please join me in thanking Brie for all the hard work, sweat and tears she put into building this blog.  It wouldn't be what it is without her, and it certainly won't be the same without her.

Parents in the Capital : Lara K

Ottawa has some wonderful bloggers and we are lucky that many of them are Kids in the Capital contributors and readers! We want to share some of our favorite Ottawa parent bloggers on a more regular basis so we have introduced a series of posts called Parents in the Capital. Say hello to Lara!

1. Tell us about yourself and your family (please include a photo if you’d like)

My name is Lara, I am a mom to a 3 year old "with heart" and a healthy 17 month old, who thinks she's 3!  Stinky Monkey has two heart conditions and has had one open-heart surgery.  After a rough first year in and out of hospital he is now stable, growing and doing things all other 3 year olds do.  Having a healthy baby, Bella Bear, was life altering and scarier than having a cardiac kid!  Before I had Bella Bear I was on a very driven career path, I've taken a step back on returning to work this time around to give myself, my knowledge base and most importantly, my family the attention they deserve.  My interests are volunteering with/for other cardiac families, shopping (helping the economy), and giving my kids the best opportunities and lives possible!

2. What is your favourite activity to do with your kid(s) in Ottawa?

The experimental farm is a family favorite for us.  Going early in the morning, packing a picnic and watching the kids explore the animals and amazing play structure ensures lots of great pictures and happy memories!  Also, Stinky Monkey is obsessed with tractors.

3. What is your favourite at home activity to do with your kid(s)?

Swimming, we put a pool in after Stinky Monkey was born, we knew travel would be limited so we invested in a heated, saltwater pool.  We can all keep cool, get exercise and are close to home!  We love to entertain and enjoy watching all the kids have a great time on hot, sticky Ottawa summer days.

4. What was the biggest surprise that parenthood has brought into your life? The source of strength and confidence I have gained. And both my kids are inspirations to me, they teach me to live more authentically, more real and more in the present.

5. What parenting tips/advice do you wish you'd known when you first became a parent?

That is a really hard question for me to answer because my experience becoming a parent was so different.  I suppose I would have like to have known before I had kids how little sleep the human body actually needs to survive and still function!

6. Tell us about your blog and how you discovered blogging.

I discovered blogging through friends (thank you Lara Wellman) that inspired me by their ability to use social media to share their stories and unique lives!

I had the best of intentions to blog regularly when I returned to work, but that hasn't happened.  www.ParentingwithHeart.blogspot.com was meant for two things;

1. To keep family/friends informed of how things were going with the kids, it gives me a space to provide status updates.
2. As a place to provide other cardiac families with our story of how we are raising a kid "with heart" because our parenting is different, our issues are sometimes different.

7. What do you love best about being a parent in Ottawa?

The number of museums and kid-friendly spaces where we can explore, learn and socialize with so many others in the community.  I am also really appreciative of having CHEO and a great medical community so close to home, I know my kids, if and when they need it, can access great care.

Thanks Lara!

Social Media Monday : Tumblr.

by Lara

We've talked quite extensively about starting a blog on Kids in the Capital, but for some, a blog is just not the right fit for them.

If you are looking for a way to share small snippets of your life with people - maybe a photo, a quote, or a funny video, tumblr. may be a better fit.

I see tumblr. as sort of a cross between a blog and Twitter.  You can post really small amounts of information in a blog-like format. Because it's not actually a blog, the expectations for content aren't as high.

You can even integrate it with other tools you use making it even easier.  I can automatically get an instagram photo to appear on my tumblr. page from my phone without ever having to go to tumblr. for example.

You can also have tumblr. post to Facebook and Twitter by toggling those options on or off on a post by post basis. You can also download apps for your smartphones to manage your site right from there (something that is definitely harder to do with a regular blog).

Here's my Tumblr site - I'm only just starting to really use it (since I DO have four blogs my need for tumblr is probably slightly lower than for some others ;)) but I'm finding it to be a good spot to stick the things that aren't worth a whole blog post but that are more than just a tweet.

I've seen quite a few people use it as a place to document their 365 photo projects which I think is a great idea. I can also see it as a perfect place for sharing photos and videos with friends and family when you have a baby.

Check it out and try it out, and if you do, leave us the link - we'd love to go and check it out!

Lara is mom to 4 year old Kiernan and two year old twins Quinn and Juliette. You can read her blog at Gliding Through Motherhood.

Parents in the Capital: Meet Sara

Ottawa has some wonderful bloggers and we are lucky that many of them are Kids in the Capital contributors and readers! We want to share some of our favorite Ottawa parent bloggers on a more regular basis so we are introducing a series of posts called Parents in the Capital. Say hello to Sara!

Tell us about yourself and your family I am the proud mom to two boys, the firefighter, who is 5, and the monkey, who is 2 and a 1/2.  My husband, who does not have an endearing nickname other than ‘DH’, and I have been married for almost 9 years.  We recently moved further out into the suburbs and I joke we now live closer to Montreal than Ottawa.  Orleans really is that far east.

Since the firefighter was born I have juggled part-time work and at-home motherhood.  I am a photographer who specializes in couples, children, families, maternity, and newborns.  The very same photographer who does not have a recent picture of her entire family together and instead decided to include this outtake from our Christmas photos.

What is your favourite activity to do with your kid(s) in Ottawa? We love the newly renovated Museum of Nature and our favourite outdoor haunts are Parliament Hill (“the place with all the grass and cats” according to the firefighter) and the Mer Bleue boardwalk.

What is your favourite at home activity to do with your kid(s)? Both boys are at a place where they live in a world of make-believe.  More often than not we are firefighters and rescue personnel of some sort but depending on whatever dress-up outfit or accessory they’ve unearthed we might be construction workers, hair dressers, secret shark divers, or cooks.

What was the biggest surprise that parenthood has brought into your life? I am incredibly tidy and neat.  I even blog once a week about my neurotically clean and organized ways.  However, I also embrace the mess and chaos of being a mom to two small kids.  We play in the puddles and the mud, we paint almost everyday; I fill the sink with soap and bubbles for them to play in; and there is always play-dough stuck to my kitchen floor.  Despite my preference for all things orderly, I’m surprised at how easy going I am about all the fun and mess that makes childhood so great!

What parenting tips/advice do you wish you'd known when you first became a parent? It gets better.  Parenthood is wonderful and full of joy and amazement.  It’s also exhausting and can be the source of so much despair.  So many times my friends reminded me “this to shall pass”

Tell us about your blog and how you discovered blogging. Less than a year ago I discovered Kids in the Capital and contacted Lara and Brie, asking if I could write some guests posts.  I had kept a password protected family journal for three years but wanted to write for someone other than my immediate family.  Two months later I started My Points of View.

I am also one of the bloggers at Losing It in Ottawa.  Last but not least I have a blog for my business, Sara McConnell Photography.

I have Kids in the Capital to thank for my discovery of blogging :-)

What do you love best about being a parent in Ottawa? Other than the fact that my entire family is here as are all our friends, I love all the green space.  Both my husband and I love the outdoors and there is no shortage of fun things to do with kids outside in Ottawa, irrespective of the season!

Thanks Sara! We are so glad that you found us and blogging.