When you give a kid a cookie........

Do you love cookies?  I'm not sure I know anyone who doesn't!!

I have combined my love of baking with my artistic flair, and The Cookie Neesh has arrived!  We bake custom homemade hand-decorated sugar cookies for any occasion!  Perfect for loot bags, party platters or party favours at any event!!  Packaged on a platter or individually wrapped with coordinating ribbon to match!!  These cookies are not only decorative and delicious, but they are 100% nut-free, just the way we like it!!  So we may be nutty, but our cookies aren't!!

We are happy to have been part of Zack's Dream Room Fundraiser at Moraine Hills Public School this evening, and our cookies sold out!  It's our pleasure to help support such a wonderful cause!

So when you give a kid a cookie from The Cookie Neesh, you should probably get one for yourself too, they are too good to share!!  Call 647-408-9949 or email us at thecookieneesh@yahoo.ca !!

How old is old enough.....to leave them "HOME ALONE!!!"

Do you miss making last minute plans with your spouse? Do you wish you could go shopping......alone? Do you miss going for dinner without having to take each child to the bathroom, twice? 

As most parents know, when you have children, your vocabulary quickly changes to include words like: diapers, bottles, pacifiers, snotty noses and dirty bottoms, and undoubtedly, BABYSITTER!! For the next decade, at least, the opportunities to enjoy a night out, unplanned and totally spontaneous, are out the window like late nights at a club and sleeping in till 9am!!

After years of paying babysitters and bribing family members to "watch the kids, pleeeeeease!" we long for the days when we can trust our kids to stay home alone, so we can finally go grocery shopping alone, without kids asking for fruit gushers or fruit roll-ups, or the tempting chocolate at the check-out (oh wait, the chocolate part is me!!!)

So at what age is it legal to leave your child home alone?  Or does that responsibility depend on how much you trust your child not to discover and demolish your chocolate stash?  Apparently, age 10 seems to be the answer from most of my friends with children close in age to mine, and considering my son will be 12 in December, that answer was like music to my ears! (Justin Bieber of course!!!)

So if your child is at least 10 years old, you might want to try leaving them home alone for a short period of time, and if your chocolate stash goes undiscovered, it's a go!! You have officially entered Chapter 2 of parenthood, and your life just got a little easier! Enjoy grocery shopping alone and not having to hear "I'm staying in the car" every time you reach your next destination!  Amen!

The puppy blues - based on a true story!!

Do you remember bringing your baby home from the hospital?  Were you overwhelmed with sadness and fear of the unknown?  Did you ask yourself "When is the next time I will get a full nights sleep?!?!" I think many of us can remember that day vividly, and although my kids are now 5, 8 and 11, my memories are from 3 weeks ago.   Confused??  Well here we go........

We picked up our new puppy from the breeder on Friday December 17th, excited and nervous at the same time!!  I woke up the next morning, and much of the day, and the whole week that followed, is unbelievable and comical at the same time!!  I was in the shower and the tears started. I was crying, well.... bawling more like.  I couldn't stop.  The shoulders were going up and down, I couldn't see straight, and my mind was racing with thoughts of regret, sadness and wishing I had the ability to kick myself in the ass!!  WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING?!?!?!  A PUPPY??????  YOU'RE CRAZY!!!

I'm not sure anyone reading this will say "OMG, I thought it was only me!!!" but for some reason I think there may be a few of you out there who have had the Puppy Blues!!  The only difference betweeen bringing a puppy home vs. a baby, is there's no excuse for the extra 10lbs on your hips, and your boobs aren't leaking. 

After a week of puppy kisses, puppy breath, and puppy cuddles, my Lola was a keeper!!  I wouldn't trade her for the world, and my 3 kids are pretty cool too!!!  Heck, I'm keeping all 4 of them!!!  So yes I admit it, I cried, a lot, like a child whose double decker chocolate ice cream dropped off the cone, onto the dirty ground, throwing the 3-second rule out the window.  Yes, it was bad.  So the moral of the story is, think long and hard about getting a puppy, and don't be afraid to shed some tears, if you think you made the wrong choice.  Once you have picked up its poop, let it pee on you, and watched it as it sleeps, before you know it, you will wonder why you cried like a loser in the shower, while your unsympathetic husband tells you to "pull yourself together!!"   

Look on the bright side, your puppy can never tell you they hate you, say that you're the worst mother ever, or demand that you cook something different for dinner!!  Puppy love, there's nothing like it!!!!