CPO Insider

Hi Friends, Tracy again, with an update on today’s staff meeting.

As usual, we met on the phone. With summer well underway, it’s sometimes difficult to get everybody together at the same time, so it was nice to connect. 

Our main objective for today was to do some brainstorming for another upcoming CPO Club. The Clutter Control Club has become such a major success story for us that it only makes sense to add another unique club to CPO’s offering. Of course, the club’s name and focus won’t be unveiled until later, but I must mention that our favourite idea came from Cara’s brain! Now, the work and planning begins as we put it all together. We’re excited - This is going to be a fun project!! Stay tuned for more details.

We also discussed some  some technical issues which I won’t bore you with now. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention - CPO’s new Facebook Page has launched. If you use Facebook please become a fan of the CanadianParents.com page. 

On a personal note, here’s what’s on our minds today:

Heather has BIG news to share. She’s expecting her second child in January! Congratulations Heather!
Cara just returned from a quick trip to Bar Harbour with her family.
Helen is busy planning Christmas in July for her household.
Tracy is has company from Edmonton staying at her house this week. They have strict instructions not to bother her during working hours!

We’ve got 3 amazingly practical prizepaks to give away - just in time to care for those inevitable summertime wounds. Each and every time you update your blog you’ll receive one chance to win. No need to sign up, we’ll keep track. Start your blog today and that counts as your first entry. Contest closes August 15/08.

Each prizepak includes:

Nexcare Tattoo Bandages
Nexcare Liquid Spray
Nexcare Brights (80 pack)
Nexcare Brights (30 pk)
Nexcare Gel Bandage
Nexcare Heavy Duty Bandage
Nexcare Heavy Duty Water proof
Nexcare Comfort Strip Bandages
Necare Tegaderm Bandage- Knee
A 64 piece Nexcare first aid kit
Necare cold/hot pack
Nexcare Skin Crack Cream
Nexcare Liquid Bandage
Nexare Cracked Heel
Back pack, water bottle and towel

Good luck to all!

~Tracy

Hi friends, Tracy here.

We had an exceptionally long meeting today - lots of tidbits and bigbits to go over as it had been two weeks since all four of us were able to attend. All four of us were on the line; Helen, Heather, Cara, and myself. Everyone had items on their list; solutions, possibilities, and ideas were flowing. We’re all loving the fact that our site traffic is up and entries for our Josh Groban Contest are pouring in. Apparently, some CPOer’s reported that they almost cried while watching our Father’s Day video montage.

What else? We discussed ways we will be working with our sister site, Todays Parent, as both sites have unique content for all parents. I’m putting the final touches on our soon to be launched Facebook page and also pretty excited about a new Expert we’ll be welcoming to CPO next month. Stay tuned for more.

On a more personal note, here’s what’s on our minds:

Heather is on a roll. She just finished a challenging project that ended with a big presentation and has finally been able to sink her teeth into more productive work. Sounds like she is enjoying her time here with us.

Cara is meeting up with another CPO mom (Rothesayshymom) tomorrow at a local park. They met on our boards and Cara knew she needed some help with her baby sling so she suggested they meet up for a playdate and some baby sling lessons. Wow. Is she a dedicated CPO community leader or what?

Helen is still immersed in end-of-year activities with Emmy and Sam. She takes on these huge projects (like designing and distributing T-shirts for each entire class) and wears herself out! Gotta love a mom like that, eh?

Tracy is getting ready for her eldest son’s graduation from college on Friday. We’re having a big family party after the ceremony on Friday night that involves a huge surprise for all 3 of our kids - Andrea and Jay will be arriving for a 2 week visit from Ontario. Shhhh!!

I’d like to congratulate our dedicated Child & Family Therapist, Sara Dimmerman on the release of her first book, Am I a Normal Parent?, the definitive guide to figuring out what’s normal for parents in the 21st century.

The courier delivered four copies of Am I a Normal Parent to my door yesterday - hot off the press! I’ll send a copy out to the first four bloggers who leave a comment to this post - AFTER you take Sara’s quiz: Am I a Normal Parent? In your comment, tell us a little bit about how you made out taking the quiz. Are you a normal parent?

Don’t forget to include your first name and email address in the comment box below. I’ll contact the first 4 posters via email to get mailing address etc.

Hi friends, Tracy here.

As usual, our meeting took place over the phone. We spent over an hour running through our list….. CPO is such a busy spot! Our latest contest, the CPO Child of the Week submissions, is getting lots of entries. I’m sure everyone is inspired by the chance to win the scrapbooking locket from Shosh designs.

I can’t wait to show off our Father’s Day video montage! We’re getting lots of submissions for that too. We’ve chosen music to accompany the video, and with Helen’s creative touch, I just know we’ll all be proud. You’ve got till June 12th to get your submission in. Be part of this great tribute to Canadian Dads!

Last week we sent a press release out concerning the launch of our new blogs. If you’d like to see one of the media outlets that picked it up, click here.

On a more personal note, this is Hailey’s final week with us before she leaves to have bambino #2. She’s not due until the 26th, giving her lots of opportunity to cherish Noah, one-on-one, before HIS life changes forever too! We wish Hailey the absolute best of everything - from her delivery to the special time she will be spending with her family - and look forward to her return.

Meanwhile, we have lovely Heather with us! She’s got single parenthood on the brain as she prepares for her husbands business trip. Just back from maternity leave herself, this will be the first time she’s had to “do it all”, meaning work full time and parent her young baby. I’m sure she’ll come through with flying colours but the prospect can be daunting!

Cara is enjoying the sunny summer weather. She took our phone call outside on her deck! Cara’s also looking forward to her end-of-season playgroup party.

Helen is busy preparing for a 3 day field trip with her daughter Emmy, but Emmy was upstairs in bed with a high fever! Since Helen is a class chaperone, she was wondering if they would be counting on her to go - even if Emmy couldn’t! Turns out, Emmy made a quick speedy recovery and all is back on track!

As I hung up the phone from our meeting, it rang again. My son Bobby had fallen off a ladder. He pressure washes houses for a summer job. Oh brother!! What happened to all his safety training? No broken bones, but he’s one sore little puppy.

Get ready for the biggest sleepover in Canada this coming Saturday night (Saturday June 7th, 2008). Girls of all ages are encouraged to gather some of their closest friends for an exciting night of sleepover fun and self-esteem building.

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Lisa Naylor, a self-esteem expert with the Dove Self-Esteem Network who co-wrote the Mom’s Guide to Self-Esteem Friendly Sleepovers with Jessica Weiner. The Guide is designed to help kids strengthen their sleepover hosting and guesting skills and includes all kinds of activities and tips to help moms communicate better with their girls.

Lisa says, that although times have changed, sleepovers remain a part of girl culture and they are here to stay. How we approach them may be different, however. Her advice for this and any sleepover is to invite those your daughter is most comfortable with. Group dynamics play a key role in the success of any sleepover. Even numbers are also something to consider, nobody likes to feel left out. Lisa went on to stress the importance of parental involvement in the planning and supervision, giving the girls some space and time to bond and to have fun but still close enough to keep the get-together fun for everyone attending.

The Guide’s activities will help girls to replace some of the games that are typically seen at a sleepover, many of which can be self-esteem hazards. Girls should feel good about themselves and feel safe at a sleepover, positive experiences can have a huge impact on tweens and teens.

The Sleepover for Self-Esteem is a great opportunity to help your daughter and her friends grow their friendships and their self-esteem through fun activities and a national TV movie go-along. I will be hosting a sleep-over with my daughter and her friends and we will share some of what we are up to as the evening progresses.

For those of you who haven’t heard of the sleepover visit www.dovesleepover.ca for more information and to download the free guide. You’ll learn more about the movies playing during the evening, you can print invites and activity sheets too.

Have fun!

Helen

Hi Friends ~ Tracy here.

As you know, we usually have our staff meetings on Tuesday mornings. Last week Cara was away in Florida, Helen had an appointment, and Hailey and I were both too busy!

So we met this morning - all FIVE of us! Yup, we have a new friendly face and her name is Heather Lielmanis. Heather will be covering for Hailey’s maternity leave and we welcome her to our team!

We have a new contest launching tomorrow so make sure you check out our Home Page for more details. We all wish we could enter (employees can’t) as the prize is simply adorable. I don’t think there’s a mother among us who wouldn’t agree.

What else did we discuss you ask? Among other things, our Father’s Day contest/video montage entries (don’t miss out!), the success of our blogs, we planned a blog press release, and did some editorial planning.

Of course we had a friendly chat as well. On a more personal level, here’s what’s on our minds today:
Hailey is ready to pop and busy tying up loose ends around the office as she prepares to take a well deserved mat leave. We’re going to miss her!
Cara is recently back from a last-minute family vacation to Florida and can’t wait for school to be over. She’s dealing with a very tricky teacher situation concerning her daughter. Trust me, she’s NOT having fun - and that’s putting it mildly!
Heather (recently back from a mat leave herself) is transitioning to her new role as acting GM in Hailey’s absence. We wish her all the best and look forward to working with her in the coming months.
Helen is crazy busy with end of school activities including designing T-shirts for both of her kids classes. On top of all that, she’s co-chair of their school’s Fun Fair.
Tracy is trying to make it to the gym every day and not having much luck. She’s also helping a frantic teenage daughter prepare for her school’s Oscar night… and oh no – she just got invited to the Grade 12 prom! Will they survive??

Congratulations to all our wonderful Mother’s Day bloggers, especially our three winners:
Jennifer Christakos
Mandi Naismith
Sarah Ingals
They have each won a one year premium Smilebox subscription!

***Stay tuned for more exciting giveaways and continue to Blog Yourself Silly!

I have three One Year Premium Smilebox Memberships to give away this week for Mother’s Day! To win, simply blog about Mother’s Day, or anything to do with being a mom, or being a daughter. Tell us your wishes as a mom, the details and events of your Mother’s day, or even just your favourite Mother’s Day quote. Don’t worry about being fancy - just be yourself and write and/or post a picture about what’s on your mind.

The contest is open beginning immediately and will stay open until midnight on Monday night, May 12th.
When your Mother’s Day contest blog entry is complete, simply send me an email with Blogging Mom in the subject line and the link to your blog post in the body of the email. You will automatically be entered in the contest. Good Luck and have fun!

We’d like to thank each and every one of the CPO Bloggers who entered our Giveaway for Dental Health Month sponsored by Crest Spinbrush!

Following a random draw, we’d like to congratulate our winners:

Kelly S Cierra (Miscouchemommy)

Britany Henson (lilmissie)

Janice Common (punkypboy2006)

***Stay tuned for more exciting giveaways and continue to Blog Yourself Silly!