Have a pancake breakfast at the Casa Loma with Robin Hood and Maid Marion.  Limited tickets available for Sat. March 13th & 20th.  Other Robin Hood related events will take place all week for March Break.

Go to Kortright Conservation Centre (Woodbridge) for their annual Maple Syrup Festival.  This is a fun festival with all kinds of activities, wagon rides and ponies.  Come early, otherwise the car line to enter the parking   get really long.  As well, bring your own sandwiches and snacks because their food selection is limited.  Picnic tables are available outdoors.  Click here for a schedule of events.

See a show this March Break  – Max & Ruby, Pinkalicious, Robert Munsch,  Yo Gabba Gabba (enter code MUNO on the Ticketmaster website to get $5 off your tickets), The Monster Under the Bed (ages 6+ at the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre)

There are also special March Break activities at the ROM, CN Tower, Bata Shoe Museum and the Science Centre.

For more indoor fun, you can also try Wizard World at Exhibition Place.  I haven’t heard any reviews about this…so no guarantees!

So is mine.  A good friend’s words help me keep it all in perspective.  Her motto is now my own:  My baby is doing what he is supposed to be doing. And thank goodness for that.

By far, Mabel’s Labels rank high on the Mamapicks chart of useful kids’ products.  You can label everything from shoes to clothes with your child’s name.  The weather is looking so good…and it makes me want to label sand toys (!).  Enjoy 15% off your order with coupon code KIDS and you might get a little surprise with your order as Mabel’s Labels is celebrating their 7th birthday and adding goodies to random orders until March 17th!

The Boy is now writing.  He mostly writes lists of the names of the kids in his class.  He often makes a dotted outline of a letter for himself (just like on the worksheets at school) and then goes over the dots.  It’s quite charming.  I recently thought about capturing his handwriting style as it develops over the next few years and decided to look for a way to create a font for my computer called The Boy.  I found a website which generates personal fonts.  All you have to do is give your child (or anybody else you want to create a font for) the printable sheet to fill out the letters of the alphabet.  Then, you scan the sheet and the program generates the font for you.  This costs $9.95.  Click here to try it, it’s quite simple…and it’s a really nice way of saving your child’s handwriting, using it for various projects, and sharing it with them when they are older.

There is nothing like a good cut or style to make a mama feel amazing… and there is nothing like a good deal to help us justify spending money on looking good.   Lena is an incredible stylist who works at the Finishing Touch Salon near Centre & Dufferin.  She is offering first-time clients an unbelievable price on Tuesday & Wednesday appointments.  $15 for a blow-dry and $35 for cut+blow dry.  Trust me, she is incredible and you’ll be back for more!  Just tell her that you are a Mamapicks reader.

Once in a while, you buy a toy and it actually peaks your children’s interest for more than 1 day.  This one (Pipe Builders) has been occupying both The Boy & The Girl for over two  months!  Who would have thought?   They are always busy building letters, numbers, shapes and structures. I purchased the large tub of plastic pipe builders at an amazing American store called Lakeshore Learning (they supply educational toys, learning materials and craft supplies to schools, museums, playgrounds and regular families).  If by chance you are in the US, you must visit!  Some of Lakeshore’s products (Pipe Builders included), are available here in Canada through Wintergreen Learning Materials.  The set includes 240 plastic pieces and is well worth the purchase!