Deals: Save on appliances and free movie screening

You would think that retailers getting crushed in this economy would be rushing to tell bloggers about their oh-so-fabulous promotions. Sadly, I only have a few leads today. Good thing they are good ones...who doesn't like a free movie after saving hundreds on new appliances?

Future Shop: Save 10% on major appliances (until Dec 24)

Rainbow Cinemas: Free screening of "Horton Hears A Who" on Dec 20

Finally, a tidy little summary of this week's flyers.

Meals: Meal Plan Monday

My crock pot evangelism continues. I think I talk about my slow cooker twice a week. I wonder if I'm starting to lose friends over this.

Whatever. You can dump me for my crock pot obsession. I'm OK with that.

This week brings us a few new recipes to try...

Crock-pot Butter Chicken with rice and peas

Moroccan Lentil Soup

Parmesan Tilapia with green beans and sweet potatoes

On occasion, I'll set aside the crock pot and cook over my 30+ year old stove with a broken burner and oven door that doesn't quite close.

American Heart Association's 10 Minute Fettucine with a green salad

Coconut Crusted Salmon with carrots and an indulgent bread machine concoction of my choosing (not sure what, but you can bet that there will be some butter involved) 

One thing that won't appear in my kitchen this week is the PC Candy Cane Fudge Crackle ice cream. We've ODed on it in recent days, something I do each year before swearing it off for another 364 days.

Comment: Why say no when you could say yes?

When I was a camp counsellor, I often asked myself "Why say 'no' when you could say 'yes'?". It served as a reminder that making a child's day was often as easy as ruining it.

Last week, the "why say no..." phrase came back to me when I dealt with Rainbow Songs, a provider of music classes for babies.

The issue at hand is one of make-up classes. Babies are not the most predictable creatures on the planet, so it's rare to get one to show up to 3 months of weekly activities without fail. Given that my attendance record is hardly perfect, I've taken BabyBear to 2 make-up music classes this fall. When I tried scheduling a third make-up session this week, Rainbow Songs provided this response:

Unfortunately, due to our large volume of clients we can only provide two makeup classes per child per session which you and C took on October 28 and December 2. Sorry about this.

Just a remind that our winter session is filling up fast!

Rainbow Songs said no, when they could have said yes. The class that I wanted to attend was not full. It was not that logistics prevented things from working out for me. Rather, policy created an unhappy client. (And it's worth noting that unhappy clients don't rush to register for more classes.)

Not to be discouraged, I asked for an exception and suggested that some flexibility now would help me commit to the next session. Once again I was shut down. That's right, Rainbow Songs told me that their policy meant more to them than my future business.

Perhaps things will change when the Canadian economy cools off a little more and the moms of north Toronto opt for the free music classes at the Ontario Early Years Centres. Personally, I'm looking at attending Babies Boogie Too at a neighbour's house this winter.

Deals: Canadian Tire and Marks for him, Banana for her, and a few things for the kids too

Canadian Tire's advent calendar of coupons

Marks Work Wearhouse $10 off coupon ($10 off a minimum $10 purchase before Dec 24)

Marks Work Wearhouse friends & family sale (20% off on Dec 13, after 5 pm)

Banana Republic 40% off sale (Dec 10 only)

Please Mum sale (15% off purchases of $75 or more; 25% off purchases exceeding $150)

Gingerbread Monkey discount code (15% off)

And for my friend, Becky, a free roast beef sandwich from Arbys.

Quips: Measuring up

Yesterday, BabyBear had a check up with our pediatrician and there was a lot of measuring. Dr. Star stretched a tape measure along my daughter's squirming body with laughable precision. The kid was plunked stark naked onto a cold scale, declared to be 20 pounds even, and cajoled for reaching the 95% percentile. (And I thought bathing suit shopping was humiliating.)

When the doctor measured the circumference of BB's noggin, I couldn't help but laugh. It's true that an excessive measure would indicate the build up of fluid around the blood-brain barrier. 

That's all well and good, but most practical moms don't need to know where their kids' heads rank. 

I would much rather know if my daughter's feet are of average size. At least then I would know whether the 6-12 month silver ballet flats that I bought for her Christmas dress are going to fit in a month's time.

Deals: Guess, Aeropostale, American Eagle and Porter Airlines

Yeesh, retailers sure are doing what they can in this downturn:

Guess Canada Factory Store sale (30% off the entire store on Fri Nov 28)

Aeropostale Canada sale (50% off everything, excluding fragrances and clearance)

American Eagle Canada online sale (free shipping and 25% entire order on Thu Nov 27)

And in the travel space, Porter Airlines is offering 20% off flights this winter.

And with all that money you save, you could splash out on the Puj baby bath tub. A great idea at $20, but $99?

Tips: Have a pleasant day

I am currently working through my own 12-step programme to clean up my language. BabyBear doesn't give a flying...um...flip what I say right now, but she's bound to catch on soon.

Two tips to curb your cursing:

1. Rather than swearing at inconsiderate, reckless drivers, wish them "a pleasant day". For some reason, saying "Have a pleasant day" with a smile on my face is almost as satisfying my old methods.

2. Substitute with new expressions. I'm really fond of saying "mother of pearl" right now.

What do you do to keep the cursing at bay?