Family Day Fun At Our House Goes Like This : The Saturday Weekend Review #159

 

Family Day Fun Is A Day To Spend Exclusively With Family

Family Day Fun is not something you pay for, it’s something you create together with the people who mean the most to you.

There’s a statutory family holiday in February and it’s called Family Day… how will you spend your day?

This will be my eighth Family Day in Canada and every year I learn something more about this beautiful country I call home.

Today I’m going to share with you what I’ll be doing with my precious family this Family Day whom I love and miss when I’m not home to spend time with them.

I’ve learned that even if you are tired and feel you can’t go on the love of your family always makes you go the extra mile.

Family Day Stat Holiday

You don’t need kids to enjoy Family Day fun either. Couples all over Ontario are finding ways of enjoying the holiday with just as much excitement as parents are with their kiddos.

A family doesn’t mean “blood” either it can be anyone you consider to be part of your family.

Family Day in Ontario is this coming Monday, February 15 which means this guy has the day off from work, with pay.

There are 11 statutory holidays in Ontario and Family Day is just one of them.

The other Ontario statutory holidays 2019-2020 are :

• New Years Day
• Good Friday
• Easter Monday- * Only federal employers are required to give the day off.
• Victoria Day
• Canada Day
• Civic Holiday
• Labour Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day
• Boxing Day

Since this is our first Ontario Family Day where our son will want to run wild and have fun we want to make sure he gets full enjoyment of the day.

Spending Time With Your Family

The most important part is that we do it- together.

As you all know from reading the blog I’m working 7 days a week, and our son misses me when I’m gone.

How do I know? He has a complete meltdown when I leave for work in the morning if he sees me and does the happy dance when I get home.

My wife is a stay-at-home mom now as was my mother and she enjoys the opportunity to do this for him but never looks forward to when I have to walk out and close the door.

She knows what comes next, especially when he sees me leave.

Most days I leave in the very early morning which some consider the middle of the night so he doesn’t see me.

I do my best to give my wife and son a kiss good-bye even if they are asleep and won’t remember.

It’s a tough job working around the clock like I do and it’s also very stressful. I wish it were a walk in the park, but it’s not.

Any slip of the hand, miscommunication, forgetfulness, or errors could cost people their lives. 

It’s so important that I get my rest so I’m alert on the job, with coffee of course.

Working To Pay The Bills

From the minute I open the garage door when I come home, he runs to it and stands in the doorway.

When I open my door all I hear is him screaming for Daddy.

My wife says he’s had enough of her and then says to me, “He’s all yours”, haha!

It breaks my heart most days that he misses me so much but on the other hand I know I have to work to pay the bills.

Around about an hour or so before I’m due to come home he paces around saying “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy” or he watches photos on the photo picture frame we have in the living-room.

She has multiple videos of him doing this. She often takes videos that I can watch when I get home to see how his day was.

I appreciate this because it makes me feel as if I’m not missing as much.

Fortunately for me, my crazy workweek won’t last forever as I’m waiting to get signed on full-time at job number 2 by the Fall of this year.

It’s a huge process that I’ve been working through the past 2 years but hopefully, life will resume back to normal soon.

Although the money is VERY nice the time away from my family is not.

I see my wife sad when I leave for work and excited if I’m home early.

You can’t get back these moments in your life so every chance I get I spend it with the two of them.

In a way, I feel I’m trying to make it up to them because I’m not around as much but success doesn’t fall in our laps, we have to go get it.

Balance is key for me even though it still hurts to miss out on special moments.

Take Time For Yourself

Before our son came along I started this blog and although I don’t blog every day like I used to I do take time for myself because that’s important.

Apart from running, being a husband and dad I blog and enjoy my time alone to do so.

I’ve made so many friends online many of which have become part of my CBB family so in part this Family Day is for all of you as well.

I know many families who think that just because it’s Family Day that they should go out for dinner or pay for activities for the kids to be happy.

Not the case. Most often all your kids want to do is spend time with you.

Your kids spend most of their time either away from you if you go to work and they are at school, daycare, or babysitters.

Some parents have children who are off to school or moved out of the house or married and never see them.

You might be the parent who doesn’t have enough time to devote to them every day like you wish you could.

All I can say is, you must make this time.

Children learn from their parents, look up to their parents, and want to be like their parents until of course they know better and find their own identity and way in life.

Even then kids still lean on their parents for support through the good and the bad as the years roll by.

For the most part, I hung out with my dad as much as our son wants to be with me learning about fixing stuff.

My mum stayed at home so when dad came home all I wanted was to be with my dad.

I can understand what my son is going through.

If you’re working full-time or even part-time but are away from the home often, too busy catching up with cleaning, paying the bills, and other adult activities your child may crave your presence daily.

If your child is out of the house a phone call works better than a text and the same goes for the kids.

Family Day Fun When Family Is Far Away

Call your parents and tell them you love them or maybe ask how their day is going.

Although Family Day Fun should be every day even if for 20 minutes playing with toys in the toy-room, reading a book together, or talking about how the day went these are moments your children will remember the most.

These moments build a closeness of love, trust, kindness, patience, and most of all family love.

I make this a priority over everything, every single night because family first really does matter even if it’s hard to live up to being there more often than you’d like.

How to celebrate Family Day without going broke

This is how we expect our Family Day Fun to happen although not every detail is here. I have to keep some stuff private you know. Wink. wink.

Family Day Fun on Monday will consist of waking up in the morning and Mr.CBB (me) A.K.A. chef daddy making mommy coffee in bed.

From there we will both head to the kitchen to cook up some good ol’ Canadian pancakes and maple syrup from my father-in-law who has many maple trees on his property.

Our son loves pancakes, and I love them too, and on days like this, we enjoy taking time to prepare them together.

Sometimes I toss in chocolate chips, bananas, or even a bit of cinnamon just to switch them up a bit.

My wife on the other hand will enjoy her low-carb cream cheese pancakes that are tasty but not filled with the carbs she’s trying to avoid right now.

When my wife and I were dating she brought pancake mix and maple syrup to cook up for us.

Making pancakes together in Canada reminds us of how much we love each other and brings back memories of the giddy days of blossoming love.

Memories really do leave an imprint.

Even our son has fun flipping the pancakes, with our help of course.

He says, “Cooking” and enjoys watching us cook.

After goofing off watching some Peppa Pig which is a British Cartoon we will shower and get the big red wagon ready to go to a local Winter festival for kids which is FREE!!

Family Day Fun In Your Community

It pays to do a community search online to see what is happening in the community for free.

This event will be held in a community center in our city and while the adults enjoy hot beverages and the kiddos sip on their hot chocolate they will also be enjoying a few hours of fun.

The event will have activity tables set up all over the auditorium where kids and parents can partake in various activities. 

• Kids Crafts
• Face painting
• Play-Doh,
• Reading books
• Family games
• Indoor soccer
• Hoola-Hoops
• Community skating outdoor for the family, and much more.

All Free!!!

Donating Money – Family Day Fun

For lunch, a BBQ will be held with hot-dogs for $1 each where the money will be donated to a local charity.

Once we get home I’m sure the little guy will be knackered and want to take a nap for a couple of hours when mommy and daddy will quietly enjoy some much-needed together time.

I’m not telling what happens here but let’s just say it starts with a great movie and ends with a kiss.

After our little guy gets up we will play then sit as a family to enjoy a homemade meal of crock-pot stuffed mozzarella meatballs over rice (my wife will have them over cauliflower rice).

For dessert, there will be homemade banana bread for dessert.

After a bath and reading some books we will put squirt to bed and enjoy the rest of the evening by the fireplace chatting about us.

So often couples forget about taking time to talk and find out how the other is really doing as opposed to a quick hello, bye, and kiss in passing.

This luxury may only come on Family Day for some people but for us, we do it as often as we can.

Make Family Day Fun a part of your everyday.

Enjoy your Family Day!!

What will you be doing for Family Day Fun?

CBB Week At A Glance

This week was busy for me just like every other week.

I am finding it a bit draining right now because I’m spending a bit more time at work than anticipated, paid of course.

The problem is you can’t always expect going home in my line of work but it can get depressing after working 12 plus hours.

We made a small trip to the gym for our boy to bounce off the walls…Haha literally he goes wild in there and that’s about it. It’s lots of fun for the family and only costs $10.

We did pick up a great bargain this week a $500 cherry curio made by a prestigious company for $40!!

I know. amazing. We also had a garbage bag of 4T boys clothes dropped off at the house for free which was generous.

Our son is learning more and more of the alphabet and more words are coming from his mouth.

He can point to his head, shoulders, knees, and toes when asked…even his eyes, mouth, and nose. Ha, ya he loves the song.

I did manage to finish a small experiment with buying and selling that I will write about soon. Overall a quick week but now that Family Day is around the corner I feel better.

Let’s just hope I don’t get an emergency call into work. Meh!

Finally, Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you!!

How was your week?

Awesome posts published this week

Just in case you’ve missed any of my blog posts this week I will share them all below.

If you want to share a story via a Fan Question please ensure that there are a minimum of 500 words and lots of detail.

I’m more than happy to chat via email to bring your story to life.

• A Balanced Budget Doesn’t Make It Unbreakable: Our January 2016 Budget Update
• Should You Buy Into The Costco Membership Consumer Hype?
• Queen of Hearts Jam Tarts- Perfect for Valentine’s Day!

Popular Post this week: A must-read > How much should my grocery budget be?

Budget Brags

Submit your Deal or Brag:

Saving money while grocery shopping is essential in the CBB family and that’s why we share our grocery shops every week in The Grocery Game Challenge.

What I love the most is when my fans share their amazing shops with me whether it be groceries or other deals they find at a garage sale, online, or freebies.  

In 2016 if you send your Budget Brag you will automatically get entered into a yearly draw for a surprise gift card.

If your Budget Brag gets chosen you get an extra ballot.

So start sending in your brags with a photo and write-up telling me about your deals.

Open to Canada and USA only.

If you have a brag that you want me to share email me at canadianbudgetbinder@yahoo.(ca) < remove brackets) or fill out my contact form by Friday each week to have your brag considered for the Saturday post.

Hi Mr.CBB!

Making A Difference (MAD)

Welcome to 2016 Making A Difference series!

If you are a personal finance blogger (anywhere around the world) and would like your blog to be MAD featured simply drop me an email and I’ll explain the process to you. 

This is my way of giving back to the personal finance community through networking and sharing knowledge with my fans. 

Financial Bloggers Share Their Story

Hi Mr. CBB and Fans!

Find your passion and bite down. The debt was never a passion, more of a pet.

Debt kept me from traveling, building wealth, and embracing life where debt even prevented me from buying premium bacon.

Without a financial plan, I wandered out of student loan debt in nine long years.

Foolishly I financed a car the next month. With the help of Mrs. Money Bacon, we each built a visual budget.

Mine was for the car. Hers was for her student loan.

With focused intensity, we became debt-free on November 29, 2014!

The following day, standing in my rented kitchen, I came to life.

I began dreaming again.

While daydreaming it became clear that I was a big fan of money, bacon, and leading by example.

moneybacon.com (no longer exists) was born at that moment. I blog to keep myself accountable.

Visitors can follow my journey toward wealth, see my budget and even track my net worth.

Today I am a “Bacon of the Month Club” member, which is amazing.

I found my passion.

By budgeting every paycheck I can bite down on the bacon that I love.

I encourage you to use budgeting to make your dreams a reality. -Money Bacon Guy

Top Recipe Of The Week

Food and grocery shopping is a BIG part of CBB because food is a large part of the budget which people struggle the most with. 

If you are someone who would rather buy convenience meals or products consider cooking homemade meals or baking from scratch.

Not only will you save money but you will be proud of what you’ve accomplished and you’ll see that from the smiles on those you feed.

For the past 2 years, I’ve had a second Facebook page called The Free Recipe Depot where I exclusively share recipes from Food Bloggers around the world.

This week our Top Recipe Pick goes to a blog called, “Delish” for this Oreogasm Brownie Dessert which is not only easy to make but perfect for Valentine’s Day on Sunday.

Top DIY Project

Today I stumbled across this amazing DIY Mason Jar Chandelier Project which I think the wife and I might try for our new kitchen remodel down the road.

We love using mason jars for our spices and soups so right away we thought, genius.

Plus, you can’t buy this stuff at your local big box store.

Rebekah over at Charming Imperfection has taken something typical of a kitchen and turned it into something beautiful.

Well done Rebekah!

Editor’s Blog Pick

Every week I will pick a blog post of the week from around the web that I found interesting and want to share with all of you.

Please head on over and give the post a read and let them know that Mr. CBB sent you if you comment. Thanks.

Editor’s pick (That’s me Mr.CBB) this week goes to the Frugalwoods with their post “A Frugal Valentine’s Day: Do Instead of Buy” because it ties in with my Family Day Fun post today.

You don’t need to buy stuff to have fun all you need is each other. There are so many things we can do together with loved ones that don’t require us to reach into our wallets. A great read.

Saturday Search Terms

Every week I get thousands of people to visit Canadian Budget Binder because they did a search online and found my blog.

Any spelling errors below are because I share with you the exact way they typed their search engine query to land on my blog. 

• Does anyone try the free sample sites?– Are you talking to your computer? Haha!!
• I am broke and need money now– Call JG Wentworth… or get a job!!
• How to borrow money from strangers?– As if!
• In Ontario, if your house is paid off do your taxes go up?– No, our taxes did not go up

Related Articles:

• The Saturday Weekend Review #154: How to Investigate Whether A Sale Price Is Worth Your Money
• The Saturday Weekend Review #155: Do Customers Expect Too Many Freebies from Businesses?
• The Saturday Weekend Review #156: My Neighbour Made Me Richer Over One Beer
• The Saturday Weekend Review #157: Sexy Photo Fun Could End Up A Nightmare of Revenge Porn
• The Saturday Weekend Review #158: Travelling Tips You’ll Want To Review before Boarding

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