A Mother's Day Cocktail Party

How are things looking for your Mother's Day?

Will you be sleeping in, eating a leisurely brunch and getting a pedicure? Or reading an entire novel while sipping coffee in your favourite chair?

Didn't think so.

You probably have a busy schedule this weekend and at least some of it may involve celebrating your own mom, step-mom, grandmother or mother-in-law. Whether you're putting miles on the car or just wearing out the floor boards in your kitchen, my guess is that the day might not be all about you.

As some may have read before, I host a party for my friends around each Mother's Day. You can see a photo gallery of one of these here.

The party in the gallery looks pretty fancy, but in the last two years, I've changed this event to a low-key Thursday night cocktail gathering in advance of the big day. Food prep is minimal: I put out crudites and hummus, olives, good cheeses and crackers, and serve hot appetizers baked straight out of the freezer (thank you, Mr. President). Friends bring pretty desserts.

The focus is on the cocktails and conversation, and everyone looks forward to dressing up a little and sneaking out after bedtime for a bit of grown-up fun.

Here are a few pictures from this year's event (all photos by Kelly Smyth).

 

Raising a glass with me (left), Tanya Davies, Erin Billowits and Fabienne Moureaux.

It gets crazy if you give guests too many drink options. In addition to non-alcoholic offerings, we made two cocktails, Kir Royales and Sidecars.

Lego picked up? Check. Lights dimmed to hide grubby slipcovers? Check. Tulips purchased for $10 on way home? Check.

With me here from left, Lisa Murphy, honourary mom and expert lemon squeezer Jennifer Wilson-Speedy, and Kira Vermond.

Irene Tashiro (left) and Juli Belliveau.

Sarah Noonan (left) and Tanya Davies.

It doesn't matter what you serve or what your house looks like (candlelight does wonders, though!). The key is to the gather the people you want to see and share a few spirit-lifting laughs.

So go on! There's still time between now and Mother's Day, or even in the week or two after, to do something that's just for you and your people. Budget-friendly options could include chick flicks and ice cream, a pot luck, or a wine tasting where everyone brings a bottle. You don't even have to host: A night out at the movies, the neighbourhood pub or a restaurant would be quite a treat as well.

Happy Mother's Day!

More inspiration:

More Mother's Day coverage

Mother's Day photo gallery

Recipe finder

Yummy Mummy Club

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We're having ourselves a little St. Patrick's Day gathering tonight. Green milkshakes for the kids, some Guinness for the grownups, and a bit of an old-school menu of mashed potatoes, buttery pan-fried whitefish, carrots and peas. One neighbour is bringing a roasted chicken and another some some sort of Ireland-inspired dessert. If I get home in time, I'll make soda bread (which is really easy - check out the soda bread recipes we have on thestar.com today).

Despite the Norwegian surname, I really am Irish. On my mother's side. And today I'm wearing my vintage Shamrock pin, a gift from my granddad, whom I adored and who - while born in Canada - was very proud of his Irish heritage.

There are quite a few green shirts around the office today, which is nice to see. My theory is that anybody who wants to be can be Irish on St. Patrick's Day. Nothing would make me happier than to see my Pakistani friend wearing green today (he drives a cab, between interviews for jobs where he'd actually get to put his MBA to use). In fact, maybe I should give Amir a call.

What could be more Canadian, really, than to order some sushi or a pizza to go with your St. Paddy's Day beer tonight? And when you've got kids, isn't any occasion a reason to celebrate?

Here's our St. Patrick's Day guide.

And if you're looking for March break ideas to take you through the rest of the week, find some inspiration on our March break guide.

There's an idea: Pediatric clinics at low-income schools

Tonight the Toronto District School Board's program and school services committee will be discussing its proposal to bring health clinics to six of the neediest inner-city schools in Toronto.

The moves follows startling findings during hearing and eyesight tests at schools in poorer communities. Nearly a third of these kids needed follow-up care by an optometrist, and 13.7 per cent needed further hearing tests. This spoke to the barriers preventing low-income families from getting the health care they need, including difficulty juggling work schedules and appointments (when you're in a minimum-wage job, chances are good you won't have the flexibility to duck out to take your little one to a clinic) and simply not having a family doctor.

The clinics would be run by Sick Kids and St. Michael's hospitals, and would likely be open one day per week after school. It's not just hearing and eyesight that these clinics would be handling, but rather that those barometers cast a harsh light on the severity of this particular health care gap.

I also find this interesting in terms of the discussion thread happening on my blog post on childhood obesity earlier this week. Perhaps more so than banning junk food in school vending machines and cafeterias, having easy access to pediatric physicians who can monitor body mass index could be a key step in the right direction.

But as commenter Yuki suggested in her insightful explanation of why low-income families aren't preparing and eating healthful meals, the real solution could be to "make basic cooking classes and hands-on nutrition a mandatory part of the curriculum so our provinces' children are better equipped to make healthy choices in the future and actually have the practical skills to execute them."

Some other headlines you don't want to miss today:

Ottawa to speed some Haitian adoptions

Trustees' vote keeps nine more pools afloat

Baby 101: A crib sheet for new dads

Teacher accused of sex with teen

What's really making our kids fat?

The Ontario government has announced a ban on sales of pop and other junk food, as well as unhealthy lunch meals, at schools starting in the fall of 2011.

I think it's an important and logical step in the sluggish efforts to combat astonishingly prevalent obesity among children and adults. Surely in our educational institutions we should be setting a good example, right?

But I got some feedback on Twitter this weekend that got me thinking a little differently about where the problem really lies.

I haven't had a chance to verify this, but one person said that it's schools in affluent areas that sell the most junk from vending machines and unhealthy cafeterias, and yet it's not those kids who are obese. It's the kids who eat junky foods because their parents can't afford anything better who get fat, and it's not because they're buying pop at school, she said.

Of course it's not news to any of us that there's a link between poverty and obesity. That's why community gardening programs and others that help put healthy foods in the hands of people with lesser means have been so successful.

It was on my mind Sunday when I hauled home a huge bag of winter vegetables - carrots, parsnips, potatoes, turnip, beets, bok choy, onions, ginger, garlic. The cost - $16.10.

I was talking about the affordability and nutritional density of these mostly root veggies with the boys' father, and he challenged me to better understand the way my own education and good fortune arm me with the knowledge required to turn these cheap veggies into parsnip-potato pancakes, turnip-carrot-parsnip-apple soup, mashed yukon gold potatoes with horseradish, and pan-seared bok choy with ginger. (And that's just this weekend - my crisper is still full.) 

I'm not working a second job. I know I'm fortunate to have the time to make these foods for my family. But the extent to which it may be a mystery to others how to plan and prepare healthy meals is something I hadn't considered fully. In future, I hope to better explore the initiatives and policies that really would help Canadian kids maintain healthy body mass, and would love to hear your thoughts.

What kind of healthy-eating programs would make a meaningful difference?

Parenting tip of the day

Picky eater? One of my boys is like that, too.

Registered nutritionist Lianne Phillipson-Webb of Sprout Right, shared a great tip when we were chatting at the Babytime show.

When you're making a fruit smoothie, try this veggie sneak: Throw in a handful of baby spinach leaves. Pulverized by your blender, the offending greens disappear, particularly with a mix of colour-rich fruits such as blueberries and raspberries.

My 2-year-old has not been noticing that his "Lightning McQueen" novelty glass contains spinach-enhanced smoothie each morning. If you're able to get your child to drink a smoothie, take advantage of the opportunity for covert nourishment!

Here are some more nutrition tips from Lianne.

Read yesterday's "tip of the day."

Not sure how to make a smoothie? Check out the Star's recipe data bank.

Please share your parenting tips and tricks by commenting on this post.

Parenting tip of the day

Here's a school-lunch cheat you might like to copy on a hurried morning.

When I'm in a local bakery, I've been grabbing a stuffed croissant as an occasional sandwich boredom buster for my son in Grade One.

It's admittedly a bit of a treat because of the high fat content (though Cameron is so skinny he has a little 6-year-old six pack), but there's goat cheese, spinach and roasted red pepper inside. Pickier eaters might prefer ham and cheese, or even the variety stuffed with a sausage, which kind of makes it like a big, portable hot dog.

I've been picking these up about once a week. The cost is around $2.50.

What are your lunch-box secrets?

Today's top news stories for parents

It's no surprise that I'm getting a lot of questions from parents about swine flu these days. Whether or not you choose to vaccinate is a personal choice, but I'm urging parents to make informed decisions based on facts. Please take your advice from family doctors and public health authorities. I'm seeing all kinds of factually shaky and misguided emails and YouTube videos making the rounds in mommy circles, so it may be wise to consider the source.

Here are some news stories that may help you get informed:

Health reporter Theresa Boyle has compiled a list of common questions about swine flu.

Here's the latest on when swine flu vaccination is likely to begin.

This story contains information on the availability of adjuvant-free vaccine for pregnant women, and this one answers more questions regarding the vaccine and pregnancy.

In other news:

Food editor Jennifer Bain takes a critical look at the school cafeteria in a profile of a unique pilot project called the Good Food Cafe. Run by FoodShare, this place is whipping up yummy lunch choices and helping city kids make a real connection between what's grown in the field and what lands on the table.

In the latest in her series on the state of children's aid societies, Tanya Talaga takes a look at the sad state of Family and Children's services in Rainy River.

Fun diversions:

Michele Henry's hilarious blog admission of baby milestone jealousy

A Halloween craft you can make from those little cereal boxes

Our Halloween Guide

Please let me know if you think I've missed something that should be included in this list.

Back-to-school party

My oldest boy, Cameron, is headed back to school tomorrow. Not only that, but he starts Grade 1, which is a pretty big deal when you're accustomed to calling it a day at 11:30 a.m. and everything that happens outside of the kindergarten wing is cloaked in mystery.

Cam has taken a while to get comfortable with the notion of being in Grade 1. He doesn't yet know how to read and some of his friends do, so he's been concerned that he's not "proper for Grade 1." A little pomp and ceremony have been required to nudge him from plain old nervous to nervous excitement.

I wrote last week about the transitions that September brings, some of them welcome, some of them, not so much. Suffice it to say we both needed something to give Labour Day some shape, mark the end of summer on a high note and welcome the start of school.

We decided on a back-to-school lunch at noon. This way everyone could have a leisurely meal and good long play and still get to bed on time. (You could do this with school-bus themed invitations and a school-bus cake, but this was planned on short-notice, which I think is the easiest and lowest-pressure way to throw a party.)

I didn't feel like manning the barbecue all day, and I wanted to be able to talk to my friends, so I made platters of sandwiches (school-lunch theme, right?) that I could pull out of the fridge when guests were assembled. Along with a selection of other kid-friendly snacks, Irene's veggie tray and a plate of watermelon, this was all that was needed.

 

(Unfortunately, 2-year-old Alister sidled up to this tiered snack tray when I was busy setting up, and polished off the chips.)

It was a gorgeous day, so the backyard was the perfect place to gather.

 

Left to right, that's Alister (he's not going back to school), Maddie, Davis, Ella (who declared her intention to marry Davis several times during the party), Cameron and Emerson.

The kids had plenty of opportunity to burn off some last-day-of-summer energy...

...sliding...

...climbing...

...colouring...

and playing "Octopus." (Octopus? Cameron explains: "One person is the octopus and they say 'run!' and if you get touched, you're seaweed.")

Naturally, all of this requires refreshments...

Of one kind,

Or another.

Because after keeping kids entertained through nine weeks of summer vacation,

the grown-ups deserve a little fun, too.

Hurray!

Naturally, the centrepiece of this sort of gathering is always the cake (who doesn't like cake?).

 

I swung by Baskin-Robbins late Sunday afternoon and selected this ice cream cake from the few left on the shelf. I asked the young man helping me if someone could pipe the words "Back to school!" on top.  He said yes, but added, "I dunno why anyone would want to celebrate THAT." He then proceeded to spell it S-H-C-O-O-L. The above is his fix-it job.

It went over Okay.

 

 

But the important part is that, by dinnertime, Cameron had declared that he was now more excited than nervous, and that going into Grade 1 "makes me feel so much bigger."

And that's the point.

Have a great first day of school.

Lego birthday party

Cameron turned six on Saturday.

Since he lives and breathes Lego - Star Wars Lego in particular - there was really no doubt that he had to have a Lego-themed birthday party this year.

We agreed that the party would start with about an hour of indoor play at various Lego stations. Even the dining room table, territory he and I struggle over in Battle-of-the-Somme-type fashion (me daring to advance with meals and baskets of lemons, he trying to establish planet Tatooine), would be fair game.

We set up various Lego stations on the table, living room rug and a small kids' craft table. Naturally, the dining room table's prime real estate was devoted to Star Wars.

Ellis (left) and Cameron assembled some sort of Star Wars fighter jet thingie....

...and the whole cast of characters...


 

...including these guys, (prequel and original film characters mixed together - yes, I know), made for a pretty popular set-up. Anticipating fights over the Star Wars dudes, I coerced my tallest (and hopefully suitably intimidating) friend, David, to help Derek and I supervise. Luckily, there were no scuffles over storm troopers, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Anakin, or even Princess Leia.

Lego expert Noah channelled his inner Jedi knight.

 

A couple of new, more basic kits were assembled during the party, which was satisfying for kids newer to Lego (the youngest guest was three). More experienced Lego builders were able to help out, with only a moderate number of "Brandie, I need another window piece/blue flower/picket fence piece" kind of requests. That's Maddie in the background. She knows from Lego.

My favourite thing that happened spontaneously was this group effort to make a Lego plane fly using helium balloons (not that any of these kids had seen the movie Up).

Note the engineering using pieces of Lego to attach the ribbons to the wing. One side of the plane was actually raised a little.

I can only handle 10 kids inside the house for so long, so they were all kicked outside after about an hour, a plan Cameron and I agreed upon ahead of time. We had no outdoor activities planned, but they got up to their own thing on the play structure...

...while the adults "supervised" from the patio table.

 

Cameron (left) opened his presents (Charlie, middle, Seamus, right)...

 

...and then it was time for cake!

The cake was made by Sweet Escapes in the Distillery District. The red brick was red velvet, the yellow brick lemon, and the blue brick chocolate.

I've never commissioned a fancy birthday cake before, but this time it seemed worth it, since I wasn't killing myself with elaborate and clever Lego games and crafts, and this would enforce the theme in a way Cameron will (hopefully) remember. (And I don't have the cake-decorating chops to take on something like this without serious risk of meltdown.)

 
I think he was pleased.

 

Everyone had their preferred colour or colours of cake...

Adults lingered over cocktails and cake at pick-up time, while the kids played inside and out. Each kid took home a $4 box of Lego and (after a clean-up that seemed to last 24 hours) that was that.

(Only we've gotta do it all over again this Saturday for little brother Alister's 2nd birthday. Help.)

The Allergy story

I never imagined I'd be a one of those peanut moms.

When my first child, Cameron, was about 2 1/2, I was having some peanut butter toast, and he wanted a bite. I was an editor at a parenting magazine at the time, and was well-versed in the prevalence of severe allergies, but I thought, "I've waited long enough; it's probably fine."

Within five minutes, Cameron had thrown up. We hoped it was just one of those random kid vomits, but it was hard not to feel a bit of panic. We mentioned it at our next doctor's visit. "It's probably nothing," she said, "but it might be a good idea to talk about testing him." Before we'd made it to the allergists', he'd accidentally been given a peanut butter candy by a Sunday school teacher who thought she'd procured Halloween-coloured Smarties from the bulk bin. Again he threw up, and this time he turned pale and clammy.

I guess it was no surprise when a scratch test turned up positive, and it's something we've learned to live with, but I went through a strange mourning period, if you'll excuse the hyperbole. I couldn't believe we would have to become those hyper-vigilant people who had to throw wet blankets on birthday parties and trips to the ice cream shop.

If you haven't read Kristin Rushowy's interesting piece about the allergy debate that's popped up surrounding St. Stephen Catholic School, please do. Readers are engaged in a particularly passionate debate.

Long before I became one of those peanut moms, I found it the tenor of people's opposition to food restrictions in shared spaces surprising. After all, what do one individual's snacking preferences amount to stacked up next to someone else's life-threatening allergy? Will it really not be a baseball game if you can only get a ticket in the peanut-free zone?

We see that same anger, and suggestion that the "healthy" child's individual rights are in jeopardy, in the debate happening among this story's commenters. Check it out and add your voice to the debate, or let me know what you think by commenting on this blog.

As for my Cameron, who's active, strong and rarely has a cold or fever, I think he's a perfectly healthy. I guess, like any other parent — with our bottles of hand sanitizer, reminders to look both ways, and "eat-your-vegetables" reprimands — I'm just trying to keep him that way.