Cici Bean... coming soon!

With Fall launch of Peekaboo Beans brand new Tween line, the ladies behind the scenes have been very busy getting all the information about Cici Bean out into the world and spreading the joy!  Not only are they bringing us amazing clothing for girls aged 8 to 14 but they are also reaching out to those same young girls and inspiring them to embrace themselves, be proud of who they are and be confident to shine with their own individuality.  We love what they are all about and invite you to have a closer looks at Cici Bean and find out what makes them so extraordinary.
 
Oh and did we mention, they are having an awesome back to school giveaway right now?  Who doesn't like a giveaway!  Get all the details HERE


 
A must read from Andrea's

 
Playful Parenting by Lawrence J. Cohen, PH.D.

I was introduced to this gem of a book by a colleague who raved about all the wonderful little insights she had gained reading Playful Parenting. She was impressed with the way her daughter had responded to their new playful interactions. I found it to be an enjoyable read myself, packed with practical ideas for how to establish a connection with your child, join them in their world of play and introduce playful interactions into your daily routines. I highly recommend it to parents who are looking for a fresh approach to the way they respond to some of the daily joys and struggles of parenting.
 
The first chapter is my favourite, focusing on the value of being a playful parent and how it contributes to the great payoff of parenting, those moments when you experience a meaningful connection with your child. Infants and toddlers offer parents frequent opportunities to connect both physically and emotionally.
 
When children become school age, these moments tend to be less frequently initiated by the child. Parent child conflict over rules, expectations and performance may increase at this stage of development. The beauty of Playful Parenting is that you can apply it anywhere you are and as often as you wish. It isn’t dependant to your availability to play.  The author challenges parents to look for moments when they have a choice to respond to their child in a playful manner and watch the profound impact it makes on the relationship.
 
Take time for this amazing read, be playful and enjoy the pay off of those special moments with your child.
 
 

Bofrot by Akosua



Bofrot, Ghanaian goodness!

Akosua, our WOW girl at the Playground, keeps coming to work with these awesome little packages of goodness!  Never lasting more than a day, we all gobble them up like they are going out of style!  So fresh, so yummy and such a treat to enjoy an old Ghanaian tradition.  So we are thrilled that Akosua's Mother has allowed us to share her family Bofrot recipe with all of you.  Enjoy, and be forewarned... it's hard to eat just one!



Bofrot -
1/2 cup warm water
1.5 oz sugar (3 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon)
1/3 egg (I beat a large egg, poured it in a 1/4 cup measuring cup, then poured out 1/3 of it)
1 teaspoon yeast (I happened to have rapid rise yeast, so used that)
4 oz of bread flour (higher gluten content than regular white flour) [that's about 1/2 c plus 1/3 cup unsifted flour]
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 t baking powder
pinch of salt
oil for deep-frying (I used canola)

Mix dough together gently and knead into a ball, cover and let rest in a bowl for at least 2 hours.  When you are ready, heat up the oil and drop it spoonful size into the deep fryer.  Fry until golden brown, remove from oil and rest on paper towel.  Cool and enjoy! 



I remember when...

I remember the countless summer days spent at our family cabin swimming in the lake from sun up to sun down. My sister and I would play games and create routines imagining that we were synchronized swimmers. We spent hours perfecting them and rehearsing them. Now that we are grown up with our own children I look forward to seeing what their favourite activity at the cabin will come to be.



Stop drooling and start doing!

We all love Pinterest don't we? And if you are anything like me, you have all these good intentions of being inspired to actually follow through with some of the wonderful ideas of crafts and activities that you stumble upon.  So how excited was I when I came across this blog post from Mer Mag that actually shows us a great way of keeping track of all these wonderful ideas from Pinterest and with the help of the kids start putting them into actions:

(Read the full post here)








Originally posted by Mer Mag blog on June 28, 2012

Bean there done that!


I think I have always been a pretty non-judgmental person and I have been blessed with, (or cursed with) the ability to see all sides of any story. I was an ER nurse for 45 years. A guy could come into the ER with a fork sticking out of the side of his head and tell me he got so mad at his brother that he stabbed himself in the head, and I would say "Have a seat, the doctor will be with you shortly."

So it surprises me in this day and age how judgmental we seem to be with each other. It is not in my DNA to presume to know what is best for any other human being, even my own children. They are adults with lives of their own and they both know better than me how they should do things. If I am asked my opinion, I will give an honest one, but otherwise, I keep my lip zipped.

Therefore when I turned on an afternoon talk show recently, I was surprised at a debate between a panel of stay at home moms versus a panel of working moms. I can't believe we are still having this conversation! The working moms were calling the stay at home moms lazy, while the stay at home moms were accusing the working moms of paying other people to take care of their children. I was always a working mom, because A, there were bills to be paid, and Two, I liked my job and I liked to work. After taking three years off to have my children I found myself one day bragging about having used whole wheat flour instead of white in a batch of cookies and immediately decided I must go back to work. I worked forever after until I retired last year, and as far as I can see, my kids turned out just fine. So while watching this show, I was thinking, okay, I can solve this problem in about three seconds. You guys over there? You want to stay at home? Into your minivans, and off you go. You over there? You say you want to work outside the home? Put on your work shoes and have a good day. Problem solved.

The judgment I see, especially among young mothers, is just silly. You do things your way, someone else does it theirs. No one is wrong and everyone should be happy.

I felt some of this judgment myself two weeks ago, when, with Brad and Traci away, I took my Baby Bean to her ballet class. The chirpy young dance instructor started the lesson by asking each child what they had for breakfast. The first little girl said "I had yogurt and fruit". The second little cherub said "I had oatmeal with fruit". Hmmm, I thought, I do not like the direction this is taking. Around the circle we went with each little one topping the one before. I expected the next tiny tot to say she had two perfectly poached free-range eggs nestled on a bed of sautéed organic spinach with a garlic reduction. Soon enough it was Colbies turn. "I HAD FROSTED MINI WHEATS!" she shouted out proudly! Well, all eyes turned to me, her breakfast-challenged Nana. From the look on their faces she might as well have said she had two double stuffed Oreos with a side of Sweet Tarts and a glass of coke.

 You go on Facebook, and someone jokingly asks "which one of your children do you like best?' You can hear the collective gasps, while someone searches frantically for a Dislike button. I am pretty sure that this remark was intended as a JOKE! I think the problem with society today is that we have all lost our sense of humor. You can debate for hours why this is so, but the bottom line is, how do you get through life without having a good laugh now and again. I don't think we are doing our children any favors by modeling this sort of uptight behaviour. Sometimes you just have to laugh.
It's not just young people either. The other day my Mom made the mistake of (gasp) going" in" to Walmart through the "out" door. Oh the travesty! A gentleman took her aside and tore a strip off her right then and there. Please....my mother is 87 years old. She has worked hard, raised children, paid taxes and been a good citizen. If she wants to go in the out door, please get out of her way and leave her alone!

So everyone, please take a deep breath and lighten up. There is plenty to fuss over....don't make stuff up. Live and Let live. As my Mom used to always say, There's more than one way to skin a cat. (Of course this saying gave me nightmares when I was a kid, but now I understand it. Or maybe not. Mom, what the heck does that mean anyway?)

But you get my drift. Take it easy on each other. Do things your way, and let others do the same. Learn from each other. Don't be so busy" telling" that you forget to hear. It's all good. We need to start supporting each other instead of pulling each other down.

And by the way, I defy any mother of small children to say that they have never liked one kid more than another at one time or another. It's a tough job, raising kids. If you can't laugh now, you will never make it through the teen years.

Bean there done that, its all good.

The power of Acknowledgement


Kindness and acknowledgement can go a long way in this world and we at Peekaboo Beans are strong believers of recognizing our fellow bean-mates for their generosity, good deeds and overall good human nature.  It really makes it a unique and inspiring place to work and be.  

Perhaps it's for reasons like this that we have dubbed our head office "the playground"!