Masterpass Diary Day 3 – Presents and Projects and a Giveaway, Oh My!

We’ve had a busy week and you can bet we’re looking forward to the weekend. In addition to our usual workload, we took a little trip to London, Ontario to speak to the good folks of Rogers TV about holiday time-saving strategies. (Check it out using the link above.) It was so great to get into a car with Ceri and have two hours of down time, especially when we knew there was so much waiting for us when we got home. It’s funny how parents will view the most mundane tasks, like a car trip, as a respite from their hectic lives. It was so nice just sitting in the car nursing coffees and chatting that it was as much of a recharge for me as a visit to a spa. Ok, maybe I’m overstating it a bit. It’s not like Ceri did my nails or anything, but it was nice to be forced to sit still for a few hours.

Laura: Thursday, December 8th – After school, pre Gymnastics but around dinner; in the zone I call the edge of reason.

Since Scarlett was teeny I’ve always classified the hours between 5 and 7 “the edge of reason. In other words, at any moment she can step over the precipice of reason in to a full blown meltdown. When she was little, it meant she’d collapse to the floor in tears about something completely irrational like “I wanted to cut my chicken!” Today, as a much older girl, it can still mean tears but they’re also associated with a major foot stomp and some well-placed sass. I find it’s all associated with the exhaustion that strikes that time of day. God, I can relate. I have less of a fuse then, too. On this day, when Scarlett hit me with a Social Studies project that she need to get poster board, sheets of decorative paper and other art supplies for, I didn’t lose my decorum. Normally, this request would have been the tipping point for me, especially since I couldn’t think of a single moment in the next few days that I had time to shoehorn in a office supply store visit. But instead, with Scarlett at my side, I just jumped on line and put her to work ordering all her materials on The Grand and Toy website. I reviewed her choices and then, since all my information was already loaded into my masterpass account, I was able to let her complete the purchase so I could stay focused on dinner. We’ll have the materials by the weekend so she can bring them to school on Monday. And, that my friends, is called a happy ending.

Ceri: Friday, December 9 – Shopping

Why yes, I do realize that this is the third instalment of our Masterpass diary. Take it as an indication of how often a busy parent needs these kinds of small but meaningful hacks! Before taking Julian to the movies last Friday, I suddenly remembered that one of his pals has a birthday party coming up next week. Just because it’s December doesn’t mean that the grade school birthday train takes a break. Seriously, is there a weekend in the year when I’m not driving a kid to lazer tag, trampoline world, a bowling alley or an arcade? No, my friends, no there is not. That means an almost never-ending need for gifts. Sometimes for kids I don’t know at all! Although this time around it’s for a kid I know and like a lot and Julian flat out adores. We had a lot of fun scrolling through Indigo’s site looking for just the right thing. I tried to talk him into Lite Brite to satisfy my own nostalgia but no dice. Julian ended up choosing a very cute Qixels kit and I’m sure his pal will love it. And I loved whipping through online check out using Masterpass. Because all my information is already loaded into my Masterpass account – billing, address, etc – it took no time. It was almost like a gift to me!

This post is sponsored by Mastercard but the opinions in it are our own.