Mabel’s Labels is having a loot bag giveaway to celebrate our 7^th birthday. From March 9th – 17th a surprise pack brimming with goodies from Mabel’s Labels will be added free to randomly selected orders!

In honor of International Women’s Day, Mabel’s Labels decided to make a donation to local women in need. Thank you to all our staffers for bringing in much needed items and for making another Community Relations Committee project a success!

I’m always mortified when we go out in public and my child throws a temper tantrum. How can I avoid these embarrassing situations without hiring a babysitter every time I need to go shopping?

When I was working as a nanny I have to admit the public meltdowns never really fazed me. I would calmly do my thing but if the tantrum continued, so be it– I wouldn’t give in. I often wondered if I would feel differently when I had my own kids. Suddenly I’m standing in the middle of the book store with this little creature who has thrown himself to the ground sobbing for injustice everywhere—and he belongs to me. Fortunately I haven’t found myself reaching for the dark sunglasses and wig just yet. Here are a few suggestions for managing public temper tantrums and the embarrassment that goes with them.

Keep your cool: The only sound that reverberates louder than a child screaming in a toy store is the mother who is yelling at her to “be quiet.” Keep your response calm. After all, a 4-year-old’s tantrum is not that interesting to listen to, but a frazzled mama who is at her wit’s end is going to draw a much bigger crowd. You won’t always be able to avoid a tantrum but your audience will be impressed if you are able to keep a level head in spite of it.

 Play fair: Imagine if you were in the bookstore reading the back cover of a novel and suddenly you’re dragged out of the store by your arm mid-sentence. Give your child the same courtesy you would expect for yourself. If she’s playing nicely when it’s time to leave the store/park/playdate, give her a warning. I find a 2-minute warning followed by a “One last turn (on the slide etc.) before we go” usually give us the smoothest transition.

Nanny Carrie’s Tip: I’m all for a bit of bribery in the right situation but if you set out with “If you behave I’ll give you…..” then everyone’s going to be disappointed when the trip is a bust, including you. Instead, wait for a successful outing and end it with ‘I’d like to take you for an ice cream because you did such a wonderful job waiting patiently in the shop this morning without making any fuss!’ An unexpected reward will make a longer lasting impression because she will be delighted to have made you so proud rather than expecting a treat in exchange for good behaviour.

Magazines can be a dreadful cause of clutter. They end up stashed around the house, including the bathroom! After, they often just sit there collecting dust. Gather them all up and get them organized!

If you have magazines from 2003 and haven’t looked at them since then, don’t waste your space anymore. I know you tell yourself “there is one article I need in there” but if you haven’t had to reference it in 7 years, you don’t need it. Recycle it.

Now take a good look at what you have left. Perhaps you have magazines geared to a hobby you picked up but didn’t stick with. Know when to let these types of special interest magazines go. If you are no longer loving them, it is time to unsubscribe.

I suggest subscribing to only your favorite three magazines and keeping two months’ worth. Weed through them regularly. If there is a particular article that you want to save, tear it out then send the magazine to the recycle bin.

Store the sheets you tore out in an inspiration binder that you can flip through when you need fresh ideas. This is a great way to save decorating ideas!

What types of articles do you like to keep? Or do you just read and toss?

Samantha, Dori, Andrea & Diane from Marketing & Special Programs

Sarah from Marketing

I’m not always completely honest with my kids, and it is done in the best interests of all parties. It’s not like outright lying to them – more like faking it. These top the list:

1) I fake that I like food.
Don’t get me wrong – I like food, but not the way most people seem to. For example, I would never in a million years cook myself something to eat. You see, the work involved is not worth the result. I’m quite happy having a bowl of cereal for dinner. But, I feel like I have to be a good food role model for my kids. So, I may tell them that I had a soup and salad for lunch, when in reality it may have been a Kit Kat.

2) I fake that I was good at math in school.
When someone asks a math trivia question, I have an easy out. I just say I don’t know because I suck at math. It recently occurred to me that I don’t want my kids to hear me say that. Why? Because it’s an excuse not to try. Accepting how much I suck at math has somehow given me a free pass from having to do anything mathematical. I don’t want my kids thinking they can have free passes. Not yet. They don’t think they suck at anything and I’d like to keep it that way.

3) I fake that I think the Olympics are super exciting.
Other than some recent hockey excitement, I generally don’t get all that jazzed about the Olympics. My total watching time included only one period of one hockey game. Even if I was terribly interested in the Games, I’m not sure where I’d find the time to commit to watching them. I mistakenly told the kids they could stay up for the Opening Ceremony without knowing anything about the start time being a full hour after bedtime. Regardless, I mustered up some fake excitement, got out the craft supplies, dressed in the appropriate colours and cheered the kiddos on as they created a medal count chart and drew some flags to hang around the house. Certainly watching them get all excited helped out where I was lacking.

One day my kids will realize that they have a mother who will call chocolate lunch, is mathematically challenged and athletically uninspired. But that day does not have to be today. What are your dirty little mama secrets?

Our Bright Idea Contest wrapped up on Sunday the 21^st and all we can say is WOW! Over 50 inspiring, heart-warming ideas were sent in to our facebook fan page and every single one made us smile.

To keep the fun going, five winners were announced throughout the course of the contest. Receiving a set of Label Out Loud™ Sticky Labels each, are: Jayda Turner, Ruth Dale, Shelly McCabe, Jennifer Sun and Jen Fields.

Congratulations to our winners and many thanks to everyone who took the time to share.

Most families either embrace winter with fun outdoor activities or ignore it by thinking spring with imaginative indoor play. However they beat the February blues, Mabel’s facebook fans really shone on this contest!

Are you one of those people who have little containers flying out at you when you open a cabinet door? I know you’re out there but don’t fret because I have a few tips to help you get your food storage containers under control.

1. Gather all of your containers and get them into one location so you can see what you have.
2. Match each container with its respective lid. If you have lids or containers without mates, toss or recycle them!
3. Did you just realize you have 50 containers? You might want to purge some. Keep a realistic amount.
4. Perhaps you didn’t have 50 but you noticed a few containers you don’t like or don’t use. Purge them!
5. Now, take a look at your collection and your storage options and see what will work best for you. Here are 3 ways to think about storing these containers.

- Stack like-sized containers inside each other with the lids stacked nice and neat in front of the container.

- Keep lids on containers and stack them on top of each other. (You must be blessed with ample storage space for this to work.)

- Nest your containers and store the lids vertically by size next to the containers. (This works best if you have a container to store your lids in. I know, I know: you’re thinking a container for your container lids?!)

And, last but not least, if you are using the cheap stuff for everyday use, you might want to think about upgrading because some of the new containers have been designed to make storage easier.

Mabel’s Labels is running a contest to search for its next blogger. You could win an all expenses paid trip to BlogHer ’10 in New York City, August 6-7^th, 2010 PLUS a 1 year contract as a paid blogger for Mabel’s Labels.

Entries will be accepted until March 15^th 2010. Visit our BlogHer ’10 Contest Page for more exciting details!