Win a Mother's Day Giveaway

Are you a mom who could use a little pampering? Lullaby League has joined forces with SKN Holistic Rejuvenation Clinic (Yaletown) to give away:

• A 90-minute Customized Royal Jade Facial (value: $135)
• An opportunity to find a fantastic babysitter at a Lullaby League mixer (value: $50)

How to enter: Email info@lullabyleague.ca with the word "mother" in the subject line, and include your name and phone number in the body of the email. A winner will be selected on May 9!

Lullaby League connects parents in need of babysitters with high-quality university students through speed-dating style mixers. For more info on Lullaby League, click here.

For more info on SKN Holistic Rejuvenation Clinic, click here.

urbanbaby & toddler's BIG GIVEAWAY now at $790!

Have you looked at the BIG GIVEAWAY booty recently? We've added a couple more items. The prize is now worth $790! Don't forget to enter.

One entry per email per day until Aug. 15, 2010. Open to BC residents only. Provide your phone number as winner will be contacted by phone.

When are we washing the baby?

"When do we wash Auntie J's baby?" asked my 5-year-old daughter Lauren last night.

"We have to wait for Auntie J to have her baby first, sweetie," I replied, amused by her eagerness to help out with her as-yet unborn cousin.

"But we have to wash the baby at the party. If Auntie J doesn't have the baby, how can we wash it? It's supposed to be a baby washing party!" Lauren demanded.

Evidently, she has taken the term "baby shower" quite literally!

Addition of toys to prize puts value of The Big Giveaway at $650+

I've just added 3 Sprig Toys Eco-trucks to The Big Giveaway grand prize! The total value of the booty is now over $650. I'll be adding more items to the grand prize as the weeks go by, so check the contest page often to see what you can win.

Enter as many times as you wish (one entry per email per day) until Aug. 15, 2010. Click here to enter.

The best show for new & expectant parents

Why go to Bellies to Babies Celebration on Sunday, Apr. 18?

1. You'll get tons of information on products, services and resources from pregnancy through to toddlerhood. Trust me, if you're having a baby, you need to come out and see what's new.

2. CTV weathercaster Tamara Taggart will be there as a keynote speaker, to share her inspiring story.

3. There are a lot of contests for very cool prizes. So, bring your address stamp if you've got one, otherwise, you'll get writer's cramp from filling out all those entry forms.

4. You get to meet me (Emma Lee), editor of urbanbaby & toddler magazine at booth 44. (Okay, okay, so I'm not a highlight of the show, but it's always a highlight for me to meet urbanbaby & toddler magazine readers! So come see me; I'll be at the show all day with a contest that will blow you away.)

Date: Sunday, Apr. 18, 11 am - 4 pm
Place: Croatian Cultural Centre, 3250 Commercial Drive, Auditorium I & II, Main Level, Vancouver, BC
Admission by donation to Basics for Babies
Info: www.belliestobabiescelebration.com

When eating at a restaurant with kids...

I was on a coveted "date night" with my husband the other week, eating dinner at a restaurant that has a casual atmosphere but has enough cachet to make it feel special. It isn't considered a family restaurant, per se, but it does offer a children's menu, so families are definitely welcome.

So, anyway, a family with a baby and a toddler was seated next to us. My husband and I chuckled when we saw them, glad that we were on a date without our kids for a change but empathetic to the challenges of eating out with young children. Once the family got settled with high chairs and booster seats, the baby of the family screamed...and screamed...and screamed...and screamed. The mother tried to placate the little munchkin (who looked to be about a year old) by saying, "Please sit still and be quiet or Mommy is going to put you in a time-out." The child continued to scream and cry, interrupted only by his mother's intermittent pleas, for the next 20 minutes. He did not sit still. He did not keep quiet. And his mother did not ever follow through with her promise to put him in a time-out. He just kept screaming until the food came (I understand -- sometimes I want to scream too when I'm so hungry I just can't wait).

Through the whole 20 minutes, I watched the restaurant owner as he paced nervously around this family's table, wringing his hands. I looked around at the other patrons and most of them looked annoyed, but dared not complain (we're polite Canadians after all!).

I know every family's situation is different and every parent has their own style of managing an event like this. For me, I would not have expected my one-year-old to sit quietly in his high chair while we waited the 20 minutes until his food came. When we went out with our kids at that age, we always swiftly ordered, and then one of us (my husband or I) would take the kids outside for a little walk to help pass the time before the food came. We never felt it was feasible to expect a one-year-old to be patient. And certainly, if our child screamed at the top of his lungs in a restaurant full of people, we would give him one minute to be quiet before we'd scoop him up and go for a walk to save the ears of our co-diners.

How would you handle a situation like this, if you were the parent with the screaming child at a restaurant?

Couples more likely to break up after pregnancy loss

I just found out that, according to a new University of Michigan Health System study published in the journal Pediatrics today, pregnancy loss increases the chance that a couple will break up and the emotional strain is greatest on unmarried couples. The study also established that parental relationships have a higher risk of dissolving after miscarriage or stillbirth compared to those who have a live birth.

There is no doubt that a pregnancy loss is difficult. Fortunately, I have never suffered a miscarriage and have had pregnancies that went smoothly and ended up with healthy babies. But many women miscarry or lose their babies to stillbirth. How many of them seek help for themselves and their spouse after the loss? I wonder.

Have you suffered a pregnancy loss? Did you get help afterwards? How did your relationship with your partner fare?

Let the BIG GIVEAWAY contest begin!

It's here. urbanbaby & toddler magazine's biggest contest ever, where the grand prize just keeps on giving. We'll be adding more to the grand prize as the weeks go by, so be sure to check our website often to see what you could win.

Open to BC residents only. Deadline to enter: Aug. 10, 2010. One entry per email per day.