The Three Worst Children's Shows for Earworms

Yes, I let my daughter watch TV. Educational TV. That reinforces numbers, counting, the alphabet. Being kind. Sharing. All the good stuff I try to teach her, but has more weight coming from Elmo.

I always watch with her. Which can be problematic when it comes to the songs. Often I find myself, at my desk at work, humming "Build Me A Building" - a song from Bubble Guppies.

And so I present, the worst three children's shows for earworms. (According to Wikipedia, an earworm is a catchy piece of music that continually repeats through a person's mind after it is no longer playing.) I based my unscientific list more on original songs specific to an episode, versus a song that is in every episode of a show.

Canadian Cash #Giveaway!

Love giveaways? Check out the Giveaways Open to Canadians Facebook group. It's a place for Canadian bloggers and contesters to share and enter fabulous Canadian giveaways. I post ALL of my giveaways there!

I've joined Homeschooling Mom 4 Two and some other awesome Canadian bloggers to celebrate reaching 1,000 members. We're offering our fans and readers a PayPal cash giveaway that is ONLY open to Canadians!

Muppets Most Wanted Makes Me Want More Muppets! (Movie Review)

The new Muppets Most Wanted movie begins literally where 2011's The Muppets left off. In LA, outside the El Capitan Theatre. Statler & Waldorf realize a sequel has been ordered after newest Muppet Walter notices the cameras are still there. Let the hijinks begin.

The Muppets decide to go on a world tour with their new co-manager, Dominic Badguy (pronounced Badgee, played by Ricky Gervais). What the Muppets don't know is that Dominic really is a bad guy and working with Constantine - the world's number one criminal who looks exactly like Kermit, save a facial mole.

While the Muppets tour, Kermit is mistaken for Constantine and is stuck in the Gulag with Nadya (played by Tina Fey) producing the annual show to discourage rioting.

As the Muppet tour through Europe proceeds, Constantine and Badguy continue with their criminal activity staying one step ahead of Sam Eagle, CIA and Jean Pierre Napoleon (played by Ty Burrell) who are trying to track them down.

Express your Style with Barbie! #Contest

When I was growing up, my favourite thing to play with my best friend was Barbie. M had the ultimate dream house. We loved dressing up our Barbies for different occasions - the beach, work (my Barbie often worked at McDonald's since I had that playset) and going out on a special dates with Ken. We could only consult each other about the variety of looks - all based on our combined (albeit very large) Barbie closets. If only Barbie - My Dreams was available to us back then, to let us know all the latest fashions in the world of Barbie and more. Thankfully it's now available to my daughter...and therefore me too!

Barbie - My Dreams is an online interactive hub for contests, games and of course dreams! Canadian Barbie fans will love collecting their favourite things, catching up with Barbie and friends and entering the latest contests. Barbie - My Dreams is a safe environment that functions similar to the Pinterest, but for the biggest Canadian Barbie fans. Content is uploaded regularly and when you sign up for a Barbie my Dreams account you will be the first to know about new promotions - and of course, new Barbie fashion!

Bathroom Buddies #Giveaway #PGmom

Hannah hasn't started to show signs of being ready to go on the potty, but she has shown signs of loving the public washroom. We eat at a restaurant at least once a week. When colouring her menu and the food bores her, she demands to go to the washroom to "Wash hands with soap and water." I'm happy she cares about having her hands clean, but a few weeks ago she got curious and peeked under a stall - that was occupied. I apologized profusely to the woman who came out afterwards and thankfully she took in it stride. "We're all girls," she smiled, and I instantly breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Healthy habits start from a young age, and it’s never too early to teach your toddler to master the bathroom. Learning the basics of healthy hygiene can begin as soon as your child is old enough to hold a toothbrush or go on the potty. P&G and Walmart are here to help make the experience easy and fun with cleaning and personal care Bathroom Buddies from Pampers, Oral-B and Charmin that are designed specifically for your little ones!

Muppets Most Wanted #Toronto Screening #Giveaway

I really like the Muppets. Like REALLY like them.

Back in 2010 my cousin was working at Epcot in Orlando. So we went to Disney to celebrate Christmas with her. It was the coldest week I've ever spent in Florida, but that didn't matter - my new favourite attraction was inside.

Muppet*Vision 3D...I think we must have seen that show five times on Christmas alone, my cousin and I at Hollywood Studios. She humoured me, and then humoured me some more. I just saw new things each time and I couldn't get over its awesomeness.

So you'll understand why I am SO excited the release date for Muppets Most Wanted is almost here! I can't wait to see Kermit and Gonzo and Fozzy. I'm also pretty stoked to see Ricky Gervais and Tina Fey too.

Would you like to see Muppets Most Wanted before it hits theatres?

A special screening is taking place this Wednesday, March 19th. Enter using the Rafflecopter below!

Please note this screening takes place at 7:30 p.m. in downtown Toronto. Four tickets available to one winner. Transportation to the venue and refreshments are not included. Winner will be chosen Monday morning and will have to respond to email by 3 p.m. - if you enter, please check your email Monday morning!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

© 2014 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.

4:35 p.m. - formerly known as the best time of day

Some days it was earlier, rarely it was later. But since August, on any given weekday, 4:35 p.m. was my favourite time of the day.

Hannah's daycare is approximately a 7 minute walk from my office. Save pedestrian traffic, GO and TTC buses, most days that landed me in the toddler room at 4:35 p.m. That magical part of the day where I finally got to see my daughter after missing her for 8 hours straight.

At first, she felt it too.

She would yell, "Mommy!" from across the playground in the summer/fall, across the room after Thanksgiving. She would run to me and give me a big bear hug. In fact, if I fumbled with things in her cubby for too long she thought I was leaving her there and would start to cry.

And then in late January she turned 2. I brought in ice cream to celebrate. If I had only known I was celebrating her daycare independence, I might have not been so joyous of the occasion.

Winter storm? Netflix to the Rescue #StreamTeam

Hannah is only 2 so she doesn't get March Break. It's been a normal week at daycare for her, but not entirely. Yesterday the weather was so bad in Toronto my work closed early - as did Hannah's daycare.

Even with the long commute home, after colouring, blocks and playing trains, I still had two extra hours to entertain her before bedtime.

Enter Netflix. Netflix has so many great educational shows for us to watch and learn from together. One of Hannah's favourite series is Thomas & Friends (she even had a Thomas birthday cake!), so we were really excited when a new episode Creaky Cranky appeared. Thomas and Cranky the Crane compete to see who is stronger - and in the end upset Sir Topham Hatt (or as DD calls him "Topem At") when they ignore their duties of preparing for a very important party.

Top 5 Things I Learned Through #SavingMadeSimple

For the month of February I lived on a monetary diet - and on cash - for #SavingMadeSimple through #PGmom.

Here are the top 5 things I learned from Gail Vaz-Oxlade's Money Rules…not surprisingly, a few of them have to do with having kids.