Roxanne's On Her Soap Box Again

I just went to one of my favorite sites to visit today (Cup of Jo) and she posted about taking her son to the beach and not having a swimsuit and therefore letting him go nude (he's 2).  People whispered and some were uncomfortable so she felt better putting his diaper back on and letting him play in that.
She then asked her readers if this is a do or a don't?
This is what I posted:

Our society is so weird in North America! This would never be an issue in Europe or South America!! It's a baby! It's a naked body! Hello, how beautiful! And normal! And guess what, everyone's naked under their clothes!
It's totally ok for tweens to have push up bras and wear stamped-sized shorts and skirts but a naked baby at the beach? Shocker!
I think it's awesome for children to see other children naked and see that they have the same things going on or that the opposite sex has other things going on and it's no big deal.
This is part of the reason why we have unprepared people getting pregnant or having difficult/scary sexual altercations: no one has a clue what's going on underneath and it's because of the lack of something as simple as casual nakedness in childhood.
As for people worried about pedophiles: they are out there no matter what and you have to look after your kids no matter what. Them being clothed or naked is not stopping or spurning on these sick people.

I encourage you to read the post and then the responses from other people.  Some are very educated and thought-provoking.
What do you think?

xoxo
RW

Ava's Forever 21 Haul!

My daughter Ava is 5 (going on 35) and she keeps seeing packages roll in for me and her Granny and she wanted to get in on the action.  So I went onto my favorite fast fashion site Forever 21 (cheap clothes/free shipping...hello!) and got her a few items from the Girls Sale section.  Here they are:

 A purple sequin skirt! Very cute.

 This mint green sequin hoodie had to be worn right away.  Finally something that isn't pink and at $12.99 it was the priciest item on this list and will probably be worn the most (I'm thinking it will be the go-to hoodie for summer).  Total no brainer.

 Not a great pic but this is a black tulle "tutu" with a sequin waistband.  Sensing a trend?  Sparkles, sparkles and more sparkles!  And Ava is all about a tutu...and every skirt is a tutu to her.

 

A pink princess dress with tulle underlay.  HELLO!

 Ava lives in stretch pants/tights.  We usually get her the little lace bottom ones from Old Navy but I thought these jazzed-up ones were cute for a change.  The pink ones have sequins down the side and the black ones are covered in little "diamonds"...what's not to love?

 This skirt is so beautiful.  It's a thick jaquard over fine tulle in this delcious creamy vanilla colour.  Very high class! It won't fit her until next year but when it does...oh my!

And of course the obligatory Paris shirt (it seems that all little girl clothes makers are obsessed with the Parisian theme right now) but 'round here we always worship the Eiffel Tower and the fact that the text is in French (Ava is in French Immersion) is parfait!

xoxo

RW

Things I've Bought & Liked

Hey ya'll!  I did some shopping and found some rad things I'd like to share.  Here they are:

 Periwinkle shirt from Costco (the brand is Dahlia).  It was under $10 and is made of the nicest slinky cottonish material and has these really nice buttons at the sleeves.  I wore it with my higher waisted black "leather" skirt and it looked really polished.

 Look at these rose gold sandals from Forever 21.  When is summer coming so I can wear them!?

 Also from Forever 21 these are wedge sneakers and they are sooooo cute! So cute.  I'll wear them with my black waxed skinnies or some denim skinnies (of which I need to get new ones--any suggestions?)

 I read a lot about this book and so ordered it from the library.  It's great.  It's a parenting book that is enjoyable and easy to read (an oxymoron usually).  It's about how French parenting is different and more laid back then American/Westernized "helicopter" parenting and French kids are better behaved and more well-adjusted because of it.  I think I like it because it really aligns with my own parenting sensibilities and makes me feel less bad about not being that parent at the party that's down on the floor entertaining their kids the whole time.  Go play!

 These are Guess Daredevil Bootcuts.  They are amaze.  That is all.

And a new workout top from Winners to spurn on my fitness regime.  I mean, you can't get fit if you look like shit.  I'm a poet and I didn't know it!

And also these pants.  Another Forever 21 find.  They are a bit crazy but I love  them.  They are a nice weight and have a proper trouser waist band (buttons and fly etc.) and I think they are pretty special.  I'll post a OOTD soon to show you how I styled them.

Happy Monday and stay tuned for my take on Oscar fashion.

xoxo

RW

Bunny Cell Phone Case

I have wanted one of these babies since Zooey Deschanel had one on the New Girl.  

So I went looking for them online the other day and found this ebay seller and got it for under $5 (free shipping).  So, yeah, I'm a little stoked!

 It has a fluffy bunny tail!

 That it can stand up on!

And bunny ears that are obviously the cutest.  I mean, Instagram selfies never looked so good!

See?
(follow me: @roxcandymountain)

I even downloaded some Hello Kitty/pink bubbles/coloured polka dot wallpapers to add to the overall adorableness of the whole thing.

xoxo

RW

Organizing Kids Crap--The Cheap Way

Ava has so much stuff! She is into dress up/babies/arts and crafts and all that stuff needs it's own space in her room instead of all rolling around on her floor in a crazy strata of crappola.
I have bought her nice hatboxes from Winners and the kids have used them as step stools and folded in the tops.  I have bought cheapy boxes from the dollar store but they are never  big enough and the lids get lost.
So, after Christmas I was in our basement, looking at all the cardboard boxes we had (and thinking about all the new toys/crafts we got) and decided to take matters into my own hands.

 

So I brought up all the boxes and picked a whole bunch of different sizes for the various toys/games/dolls, etc. that they were to house.

 

 Then I cut the top flaps off the boxes as I didn't need them and knew they would get in the way of little hands.

 Then I picked a whole bunch of after-Christmas discounted foil wrapping paper that I thought was not so much Christmassy but fun.  This is what we were going to wrap around boxes.  I let Ava pick her favorites.

Next I used Elmer's glue sticks and rubbed them all over the cardboard where I wanted the paper to be, wrapped the paper around that area and cut off excess. Voila!

 

Here's what the "guest" bed in Ava's room looks like now with all her special little boxes filled with all her special little things.

 

Pro tip: fold excess over the top of box and inside so that it looks a little more finished and pretty.

Cute right?

Happy crafting! Tonight I am going to a friend's house to make Valentine's wreaths.  I'll keep you posted!

RW

Potty Training: No Where Near!

One of my subscribers (SuperStarStef) kindly recommend some post ideas for this blog.  Much appreciated!  One of her suggestions was a Potty Training post as I have a daughter who is 5 (who is obviously potty trained!) and a 2.4 month old who should be well on his way to being potty trained as well.
Except he isn't.  Not even close.  He won't even go near the thing!
We have 2 little potties

 which I've decorated with wall decals from the dollar store

 

that I thought would be inviting/friendly for Jack (my son).
I have also gotten him one of those little seats that go on the regular toilet

and even put a car sticker on the top of the main-floor bathroom toilet lid.  No go.
I just don't think he has any interest as he does not even really have control yet.  If he pees in the bath he always kind of looks confused, like he doesn't know what's going on...?
And when I put him near any of the potties or the toilet, he screams and cries and carries on.  There are obviously children at my daycare that are his age or younger who are almost completely potty trained (maybe some Pull-ups at nap time or if their mom is taking them for a long shopping trip) and they are doing awesome.  I ask them frequently if they need to go potty and if it's been a few hours, I might set them on one even if they say 'No."  I've learned the hard way about that (last week I had two girls piss all over my floor and one of them shit themselves in their sleep and got a pee/poo mixture all over one of the daycare beds--yikes).  But, overall, great.
I am not pushing Jack and not going to worry too much about it.
Over the Christmas holidays we got rid of his "Lula" (soother/pacifier) and we are now working on losing the baba (bottle) which he is pretty attached to still.  So, we have other fish to fry, as they say.
But, I'll for sure keep ya'll posted and if you guys have any tip or tricks for me, please let me know.
It felt like Ava (my 5 year old) took forever to train but it was not long at all (what was I worried about?)  She was for sure in Pull-ups by now and hardly ever having accidents.  I started at 18 months with her and although it was slow-going, by 2 she was pretty well potty trained and by 2.5 she was good-to-go with no accidents or anything. We rewarded her with a sucker, we had a star board every time she went on she would get a sticker and she loved this book:

So, she was just a rockstar.  It really had nothing to do with us.  She was very mature for her age.  Jack is...not (sorry buddy!)
Good luck to all you potty-trainers out there and maybe this post from Cup of Jo might help you too?

xoxo
RW