Masterpass Diary Day 2 – Muffins, Movie and lost Toques

Hey Guys, welcome to Day 2 of our Masterpass Diary…. where you get to watch me and Laura try to dominate a typically busy week and all the work/family/school priorities we’re juggling. It’s also known as survival. When I think back to my pre-kids days (oh, hey cereal for dinner!) and all that I was able to accomplish in a day, I realize it’s not just that I have to manage the schedules of other humans now. The other factor is that I have to manage my kids’ schedules while I’m managing them. As people. As highly distracted, often silly people. For example, getting my daughter to her synchronized swimming class means packing the swimming bag, while helping Julian practice his weekly spelling test words, reminding Esme, again, to turn off the iPad and get dressed…. and you get the picture.

So, when I can get things done in advance of an outing that involves the kids, it does more than save me time, it saves me stress. And that, my friends, is what I live for.

photo by Leila Ashtari

Ceri: Friday, December 2 – Movie date

My kids are movie freaks. But I don’t need to tell you that, do I? All our kids are movie freaks. And as I learned while chaperoning a recent field trip, if you don’t see a movie in the first week it’s out, the spoilers will be flying at school. To get ahead of the school yard buzz, and to make up for his sister’s sleepover, Julian and I went to see Moana last Friday. We decided to hit the Cineplex at Yonge and Dundas so we could have lunch at the food court before hand. In my head, I started doing the math: getting us there, line up for lunch, line up for tickets, line up for snacks…. before I remembered that I could use my handy Masterpass in advance to order our tickets online. Hello, one less line with a very bouncy 7-year old? Yes, please. Oh, and the movie is awesome. Or as Julian will tell you, “It’s pretty intense.”

Laura: Monday, December  4 – Where are are your mittens, kitten?

Actually, Scarlett is usually pretty good about her mittens and gloves. In fact, as a major rule follower, she has military-focus about putting her mittens in her pockets as to not lose them. Her hats are another story. At some point, in the last few years, hats became part of her outfit. So she wears them to school and doesn’t put them in her backpack. Instead they stay on her head. Sounds cute, right? Are you saying, “Aw, she’s trying to be all cool like the big kids.” Well, not so cute when you lose them with the same frequency of a pencil. The obvious thought of, “My head is going to turn into a boiling caldron of hair and headband” doesn’t occur to her. (I know, I don’t see the point of the headband either!) So she removes it wherever she is; never to be seen or heard from again. And so goes the story of “where is your hat?” Our latest incarnation of the tale  took place over an after school snack of homemade Banana Cardamom muffins. During our usual download of what happened at school I asked the dreaded question, “Hey, where’s your hat?” When I realized it was not just left at school but missing since the weekend when we were out at a holiday event, I didn’t flinch. I used my Masterpass to order a new toque from Roots. The day it took to get here in shipping was a good time for her to reflect on the fact it’s important to have a hat in Canada in the winter and, therefore, I should take better care of it. Besides, as my mom used to say, and now I do too, these things don’t grow on trees, you know! And, just to be clear, we were sure to order a black one so it goes with everything because hats are a thing, btw.

Did you see our first Masterpass post? And don’t forget to share your favourite time savers with us and you could win a $500 pre-paid Mastercard!

This post is sponsored by Mastercard but the opinions are all ours.