Hand Sanitizer – Not Every Germ Killer is Equal

While I was in Vancouver last week, one of the pervasive concerns amongst the crew – none of whom were Canadian except for me – was not getting sick.
This was especially true for the moms in the group who, even though they were in professional mode and sans kids, found themselves seriously concerned about taking [...]

Getting Away – Planning Your Family Winter Road Trip

Editor’s Note: If you missed Robin’s morning post on holiday sanity savers, you can check it out HERE. There are definitely some tips I need to incorporate! This afternoon we have Alix Wilson with us sharing tips on preparing for and enjoying the holiday road trip. Here she is:
The holidays are alarmingly close. For my family, [...]

Halloween Safety Tips for Families

The trick-or-treat festivities are just about upon us… and so is the weekend. Fright night or a Monday or a Wednesday, well, pretty chill. Saturday’s frightful activities might be a bit less tame than usual.

So, in the name of good, clean, spooky fun, here are some hot tips from the Comox Valley’s own Street Smart Kidz, [...]

Cougar and Bear Safety as a Family

Editor’s Note: Quick, rearrange your schedules, there is ALL KINDS OF CHEESE GOODNESS going on today as Natural Pastures Cheese Co. wraps up its month of cheese from around the world. Head on over to 635 McPhee Ave. in Courtenay for fantastic cooking demos at 11 a.m., Noon and 1 p.m. I know it’s killer [...]

Monday Morning Mom Poll – Green Dish Soap

Good Morning! Today’s topic – finding green dish washing soap and dishwasher detergent – is seriously hot.
When I sent out a note to the usual Mom Poll suspects last week, the general response from nearly everyone was “I can’t wait to hear what everyone else says because we haven’t gone green in the soap department [...]

BUMPS – It’s Spring, Time to Nest

The space I have carved out for myself in this house is the spare room.
This is where I write.
Since my daughters share a room, this one is mine…well kind of.  I guess I share the space with the ironing board, the pack-n-play (for our baby guests to snooze), broken and obsolete electronic equipment, and other [...]

Family Fitness – Safety Keeps You Fit on the Trails

Editor’s Note: Good Morning. Today we’re hanging out with Equilibrium Lifestyle Management owner Sarah Seads as she gets us geared up for long Spring days out on the trails or at the beach.

After this crazy Winter, I know I’m totally excited to get back out there and spend some quality time working out and [...]

Back-To-School Safety Tips

Editor’s Note: Street Smart Kidz’ Steven Baird is here with us today to share his wealth of knowledge about ways to keep your kiddos safe as we head back to school.
Safety is one of those necessary evils in the world and Baird’s organization does a fantastic job at giving parents the tools to make sure [...]

Paradise Meadows

With the wet, cold, L-O-N-G Winters we’ve had the last couple of years, we can only hope that Summer lingers a bit longer than usual.
Personally, I hope the sunshine puts in some overtime this year so we can spend some long days wandering the forest of Strathcona Provincial Park taking in the absolute magic that [...]

Mommy Talk – Keeping Kids Safe

This week marked a grim time when the first Amber Alert ever to be issued on Vancouver Island came out of the Comox Valley.
Although the details haven’t been released about a 10-year-old who was allegedly abducted by a 32-year-old local man, it has sparked more than a bit of fear in the hearts of parents [...]

Summer Sun Safety

Editor’s Note: Patti Fletcher is taking a break this Summer, on sabbatical from her post as Comox Rec Program Director.
Mandy Johns has stepped in and graciously agreed to write Patti’s column while she’s on leave. Mandy is busy this Summer filling in for Patti all over the place and we are grateful that she took [...]

How Much Is Too Much Safety

I have a reoccurring waking nightmare that I am always just out of reach as our daughter falls off of a cliff, slips off the side of a building or tumbles down a 1,000 meter embankment.
When I watch her run to the railing at the Comox Pier or the Courtenay Estuary and peek her head [...]

Breaking News – Major MEGA Brand Recall

CVK Mom Robin – AKA Another Robin – just sent me a note about a major recall from the makers of MEGA Blocks.
More than 1.3 millions MagnaMan Magnetic Action Figures are being recalled because swallowed magnets may cause aspirational and intestinal trauma.
The small magnets inside the figures are known to detach and if more than [...]

Resources for British Columbia Families & Children

The Comox Valley Child Development Association
The BC Coalition of Women’s Centres
BC Coalition of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counseling Programs
North Island Women’s Services Society
BC Housing Rental Assistance Program
Campbell River Family Services
BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation Child Passenger Safety Program
PacificCare Childcare Resource & Referral Program
www.islandfamilyinfo.ca – a site funded by the Ministry of [...]

Safety First – Dangerous Comox Valley Intersections.

I am having one of THOSE days.
You know, the ones where your kiddo wakes up at 5:45 a.m., screams at you for two hours, gives you a bloody, fat lip while at the pool and is generally as disagreeable as mommy is before coffee (the coffee shack was out of reach until about 20 minutes [...]

Safety First – Aqua Dots Recall

As if we hadn’t seen enough toy recalls this year, Tornoto-based Spinmaster Toys (their websites were entirely inaccessible this morning) is now recalling its entire Aqua Dots line after it was discovered that the coating on the plastic used in the dots “can turn toxic if swallowed” according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Meanwhile, [...]

Safety First – Bumbo Baby Sitter Recall

I’ll be back later this afternoon with some spooky crafting ideas. But, breaking safety news trumps Halloween crafts.

When a pal who owns a kids store in San Francisco first showed the Bumbo Baby Sitter to me before our daughter was born, I thought I had been saved from the curse of the tacky high [...]

Cool Mom Picks Safer Toy Guide

I am a H-U-G-E fan of the moms over at Cool Mom Picks if for no other reason than they keep me from totally losing my cool factor and giving in to the urge to live out my days in 6-year-old sweats and faded t-shirts.
They are super resourceful and totally funky, not to mention exceptionally [...]

Safety First – More Major Gear Recalls

I feel like I’ve left CVK readers in a local news wasteland this week with so many interesting and timely things going on a bit more globally.
But, I can’t overlook another major recall notice.
Kolcraft is recalling 425,000 playpens sold from January 2001 to September 2007 after a 10-month-old child died.
Twelve different Kolcraft play yards are [...]

Safety First – Car Seat Recalls

Thanks to CVK mom Angela D’Eon for updated news from Transportation Canada on the car seat recalls for Cosco, Safety 1st and Eddie Bauer products.
The seats that are being recalled manufactured and sold between Nov. 1, 2003 and Dec. 31, 2005 include:
* Cosco Alpha Omega: 22C15BNP, 22C15CRK, 22C15ROR, 22C15TUX, 22C26BNG, 22C26GRH
[...]

More Recalls and Ideas for Being Proactive

The rash of recalls lately – particularly the ones for lead paint – have brought to the forefront a renewed deep concern on my end about the toys that live in this house.
I remember while I was pregnant and right after our daughter was born I wouldn’t have even considered putting anything plastic or painted [...]

Product Review – Wrap-N-Mat

I hate plastic bags.
Hate can be a strong word. But, seriously, I hate them.
It may be the personal fact that the tiny person terrifies me with her fascination with putting them over her head or the environmental reality that millions of gallons of oil are consumed every year to produce the more than 500 billion [...]

Major Recall

Mattel has further recalled a whole whack of toys, this time those that older kids are more likely to play with.
The rash of toy recalls lately is really unnerving.
Check the Mattel site here to see if toys you own are a part of the recall as well as how to deal with them.

Safety First – Wasp and Bee Stings

Like just about any other parent of a 2-year-old, I totally freaked when our daughter was stung on her arm and back by a “buzzy” (as she calls them) at a backyard gathering a few weeks ago. A large swath of dark, red rash took over her lower arm, scaring me so badly that we [...]

Major Recall of Dora, Diego and Sesame Street Toys

If you haven’t seen the news yet, Mattel has recalled a whole shwack of pre-school toys due to the discovery of excessive amounts of lead in the paint used on them.
After reading the news, we immediately went to Mattel Consumer Relations to look and see if any of the toys in our house are on [...]

Safety First – Water Quality at Local Beaches

I’m pretty sure it never really crossed my mind to wonder if a local beach was safe to swim at until I had kiddos.
But, neither did a whole realm of potential health hazards that I am now more than a little neurotic about.
I guess I assumed that beaches around here just can’t be health hazards. [...]

Safety First – Cougar and Bear Safety

Well, it took me a bit longer than expected, but today we’re finally getting to the good stuff in terms of keeping your family safe while you are out enjoying the incredible wild of Vancouver Island.
Senior Conservation Officer Dan Dwyer gave us a call over here at CVK yesterday to talk shop about cougar and [...]