School

Keep Your Child Motivated for School All Year Long!

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Choosing the Right Postpartum Underwear: The Pros and Cons of Disposable vs. Period-Proof

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Tips For a Successful PTA Experience: How to Make a Real Impact as a Parent Volunteer

Parenting

DIY Kids and Toddler Halloween Costume Ideas

In Parenting

Tips and Tricks for Bringing Home New Puppy

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If you find yourself thinking about getting a new puppy or even talking about it with your family, there are many things to consider. Don’t make the mistake of rushing the decision, a new puppy is a big change and there are many considerations to make. Here are ten tips to ensure a positive transition for both you and your new friend. Do you really want a dog? The most important tip for anyone thinking about getting a puppy is to look long and hard at their life, expectations, and comfort. If you despise the cold and rain, you are certainly not going to want to take a dog out for daily runs. The same is true for those who don’t have a lot of spare time. A puppy will turn your life upside down, in positive and negative ways. Shelters are overrun with unwanted dogs and cats that were…

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Top Fundraising Problems; and How Mabel’s Labels Solves Them

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Fundraising is inevitably a necessary burden to keep schools, clubs, and organizations running these days. From needing to cover travel costs, uniforms, equipment for kids to overall helping under-funded programs up and running. The benefits of fundraising are so great for kids; you need to understand the most effective way to raise money for the kids’ school or organization. The big downside to fundraising is that it’s a BIG job. It’s a full-time job and can add to already busy and stressed parents. Whether you’re asking parents to sell chocolate bars, wrapping paper, or magazine subscriptions, parents get tired of the time-consuming burden of fundraising, and organizers get tired of the planning, distribution, and overall logistics. There are many flaws with fundraising programs, but we’re here to show you how we’ve created the most straightforward way for both parents and organizations to raise funds without needing the added burden. Our…

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In Mom Moments

Six Fun Facts about January Babies

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It’s a new month! A new year! A new beginning! And maybe for some of you reading this…a new baby! Starting off a brand-new year with a brand-new bundle of joy is super exciting. January always has that feeling of a fresh start where we can put the past year behind us and look forward to what’s to come. That’s especially exciting if the previous year wasn’t all that great. And let’s be honest…it probably wasn’t, am I right? Well, if we’re being completely honest here, the last TWO years weren’t all that awesome. But hey – that’s all behind us now! It can only go up from here! *crosses fingers and toes* If you’re expecting a new baby this month, you have plenty to look forward to in the coming year! Lots of exciting changes and milestones, and since January is right in the middle of winter, you get…

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In Mom Moments

Targeted Instagram Ads are Ruining My Life

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Last month when the Sex and the City reboot debuted, actor Sarah Jessica Parker took aim at the “misogynist chatter” surrounding how the show’s characters, herself included, have aged. “I know what I look like”, she told Vogue magazine. “What am I going to do about it? Stop aging? Disappear?” Amen sister! I mean, considering the alternative to aging is, um, BEING DEAD, shouldn’t we be pleased about those wrinkles and sore backs? SJP also took aim at social media where women are targeted for having too many wrinkles or none at all, and where brands and influencers encourage us to embrace our bodies exactly as they are, and in the next breath suggest expensive creams, scrubs, balms, lotions, and procedures because #selfcare. Surfing Instagram is a lot like shopping at Whole Foods: you’re enticed by the pretty colours and the possibility of living a better life. But in the…

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In Parenting

Ten ways to encourage kids to go outside for a much-needed break

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Here’s a sound bite from my house: Me: “Hey kids, let’s go outside!” Kids: “Groannnnnnnnn. No thanks.” I have a theory about this reaction. It’s not that they’re lazy or dislike being outdoors (I know for a fact that they do). It’s just that kids need a compelling reason – even a small one – to step outside. Of course, that reason can’t be: “Well, it’s good for your overall health and mood, plus it gives you a much-needed break from screen time!” No one is leaping out of their seat after that boring sales pitch. It might take a bit of creativity to motivate kids to head outside, but it can be done. The secret? Create a purpose. Invent a task. Introduce a prop or accessory. Add something (anything!) to give the experience a sense of importance or accomplishment. Here are some of my kid-tested ideas to promote outdoor…

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In Mom Moments

Four Lessons I Learned When Covid Turned Up

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We had an unwanted visitor over the holiday season, a couple of my kiddos got the dreaded Covid. No matter how hard we worked on following protocol and how safe we felt we were being, at the end of the day, it was only a matter of time. This uninvited visitor over-stayed it’s welcome and put a damper of the Holiday season. But like every bummer of a situation, we learned something from it. Here are a few things I learned from covid: No point in pointing fingers: When the first kid in our family tested positive, the siblings turned into detectives in hopes of discovering who the original source was. Their witch-hunt came up empty, and no one could be burned at the stake for being “Patient Zero”. Our family followed all the protocols and did nothing wrong.  I understand wanting to know the source to mitigate spread, but…

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Keeping Your Baby Safe From Germs This Flu Season

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Tips & Tricks on Managing the Germs and Family Expectations We’re all familiar with the simple ways to keep our baby safe from germs, especially during flu season. Living through a pandemic has certainly taught us about washing our hands and wiping surfaces. It’s unlikely these days that any parent would use a public change table without wiping it down first. But surface germs aren’t a parents only, or biggest concern. For infants, it’s more complicated. While it is essential for our babies to grow a strong immune system, these days, it’s more important to ensure we’re keeping our babies safe from germs that can cause them harm. Of course, they’re naturally exposed to germs every day. Still, it’s your job as parents to ensure they’re not deliberately exposed to more germs than needed, especially those coming from other people. Germs from other people can be quite harmful to an infant…

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In Parenting

2022 Baby Name Trends

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Baby names rise and fall in popularity; it’s a curious thing. We imagine that popular culture plays a significant role. Songs, movies, books, and television are the biggest influences, and will continue to influence the baby name trends for 2022 We’re excited to see where these predictions land. (Take a peek back at our previous speculations) It’s clear that as cultural evolution happens, so do name evolutions. It’s probably unlikely that we’ll be seeing many babies with the name “Karen” in the next few years. Here at Mabel’s Labels, we can confirm it isn’t a name we see passing through our printers very often (Although, full disclosure: we have a lovely Karen working here at Mabel’s Labels customer service, and you’d be lucky to know her!) We also don’t see unique names that were previously trending, like Delta on the rise much further. Instead, it’s far more likely we’ll see a rise in names…

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In Mom Moments

Mom Fails 2021; Trolling My Teens and Other Parenting Mishaps

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My yearly round-up of Mom Fails is a bit of a tradition. They were a mix of funny ones and real regrets/lessons learned in the early days. As my children get older, I find some of my “Mom Fails” are more like “Mom Trolls.” Those of you who have teenagers can surely appreciate and relate to how easy and enjoyable it is to see them cringe. This year it is a mix of “whoopsies” and cringe-worthy moments. Accidentally letting the 12-year-old watch Sex Education. If you have not seen this series yet, it’s pretty racy at times. I thought I’d go to sleep watching the last few episodes of the first season. I promptly fell asleep, to which my friends commented, “only Julie could fall asleep during Sex Education!” Regardless, once I dozed off, 12-year-old Fin crawled into bed with me and proceeded to watch the last three episodes. When…

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In Mom Moments

Periods- No Shame in That Game

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As a mom of a whole bunch of teenagers, my home has been filled with people having periods over the last few years. I have now joined the ranks of the peri-menopausal. It’s not awesome – I live never knowing when my period may or may not turn up. I deal with a constant state of hot flashes triggered by kid hugs and face masks. Most annoying? I seem to be carrying an unexplained 10lbs extra on my body. I have done nothing differently, and yet my jeans don’t fit. Hormones are a bit rude that way. Hormones; why ya gotta be like that The critical thing to remember about hormones is that they can indeed cause us grief at any age. Girls are getting their periods a year younger than in the ’70s and remember that adrenarche begins years before that! The average age is 12 years old. However, precocious puberty is…

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