Kindness Matters

My friend ClickFlickCa shared a link on Twitter to this video that demonstrates how one small act of kindness sends ripples of good things through our world.

Kindness is a cornerstone in my life and in this business. I try to impart upon my kids the importance of small kindnesses; that it doesn't take a lot of money or time to make a good impression on our world.

Hold a door for someone with their hands full.

Donate some outgrown toys to a shelter. 

Buy a coffee for someone on the street.

Send an e-card to a friend.

Bake some cookies for a teacher.

Smile.

Every kindness you send out into our world will come back to you plenty, I promise. Kindness is something we will never run out of, as long as we keep sharing it.

I love hearing stories of kindness. Share 'em if you got 'em.

From our family to yours:

If there's one lesson I'd like to impart upon my children, it's that family is what we've got when we enter and leave this world. Whether that family is biological, adopted, created or assumed doesn't really matter. The point is that our personal relationships are what matter the most. We encourage our children to play together, be tolerant of one another's annoying behaviours and to include one another in their daily lives. Although there's a three year age difference, we find activities they can do together to create a bond between them. (They're currently doing crafts together, actually.)

The crayons we made out of all the broken bits of crayon

Salt clay ornaments

The salt clay ornaments my five-year-old painted! 

So many cookies!

Right now, Clippo is shut down for orders for the Christmas holidays. While I'm working behind the scenes on the spring line, new products, etc., it's nice not worrying about the flurry of orders that generally arrive during any given day. It's giving everyone involved in Clippo the chance to spend more time with their families. My kids and I are doing things that I hope create happy family memories for them as they grow older.

We've made cute crayons out of the bits of old crayons (you saw those up there). We've baked a myriad of cookies. We've written lists to Santa and sent cards to family far away. We've played outside, had spontaneous hot tub parties and lazed about in our pajamas for entire days.

This is what I wish for you all for your holidays, whatever you celebrate. Draw close those people who mean the most in your lives and give them a true piece of quality time with you. Remind friends you love them, and family that you care.

It isn't about the presents, it's about your presence.

From the Clippo family to all your families out there, we thank you so much for supporting our business and we wish you a peaceful, happy holiday season and all the very best for the coming year.

My Clippo Cuties: Mason & Story

Dads Can ShopWise, too!

Apparently I may not be the target audience for Yellow Pages' new iPhone app, ShopWise. (At least, that's what I'm left to assume after not being invited to the ladies-only launch party. Humph.) In the end, I did get to go, and I'm glad I did! On the day of the event, my lovely wife Alexandria (@Clippo) was robbed of her health by a sinus infection, and Erica Ehm (@yummymummyclub) knows that I work only steps away from the event, so just a couple hours before it was to start she invited me to take Alex's place. w00t! Finally, a perk to this gig!

The event was slick: cool venue, nice ambiance. A small group of mom bloggers (some of whom I'd met before) were gathered in the Pantages Hotel bar (which, by the way, was only 81m and about a one minute walk from my office, according to my iPhone maps app).

One "Shoptini" into the event and I forgot all about being the only male attendee and was having a great time chatting it up with some seriously cool women. About 30 minutes in, the presentation started. They ran through some stats, intro'd the app... all that good stuff.  I was a little turned off by the level of (what I felt was) pandering to moms, but I guess that's par for the course for the original invitees. I felt the presentation stereotyped moms, but maybe I'm over-sensitive?

The app, as it turns out, is great! The presentation by the Yellow Pages folks was focused on moms, of course, but I actually think the app is equally well-suited to dads. Or, anyone, actually. In a nutshell, the app displays all the deals around you on a map identified by what looks like gift tags. Tap on a tag to get the deal details, or should I say dealtails (groan). It's that simple. Also, there are featured deals to flip through as you enter the app. Some deals are hot. Some are time-limited. 48 hours before a deal ends, a counter begins telling you how long you have left to get the deal. You can search for deals, too.

But here's what I really like about it: it's situational, quick and fun.Trapped in the mall running boring errands? Use ShopWise to get the bird's eye view of all the deals around you. Killing time before your next meeting? Fire up ShopWise and see what's around. Dads, moms, whoever, this is good stuff.

And yes, I now use it. I happened to be rolling into the train station the other day and tapped into the ShopWise app on a whim. Found out chocolate milk was on for $1 a litre at Loblaws (chocolate milk is awesome, bee tee dubya. We're still drinking it!). The app is quick, easy, and free. It works well whether you planned to be out shopping or not. You've got nothing to lose but a couple minutes and some data on your iPhone plan. Try it. Who knows what you might find.

A couple caveats worth mentioning:

1. I haven't tried anything similar before, and I know there are similar apps out there.  What I do know is that ShopWise is built on the same deal database as RedFlagDeals, which has been my go-to deal site for years.

2. Fair disclosure - at the event, I won a CHI hair straightener and in addition to the aforementioned "Shoptini" I was given, I also received several coconut shrimp, mini burgers, pieces of sushi, mushroom tartlets, a box of sweet potato poutine, and a small cup of Hagen Daas - yum.

- Ryan.

Wanna Win a Leapster Explorer Prize Pack?

It's no secret that our family loves many of the Leap Frog™ products. When it comes to educational gaming, they're our number one choice for good reason: the products are sturdy, easy for kids to use, and they really do teach kids some great stuff. What's more, as children learn, you can track their progression online (we don't...but you can, and that's a nice option!) and they can move up levels through their games.

Back when Ryan wrote reviews for another site, he posted this rave about the Leapster Explorer™. The unit we were given then is still being used multiple times per week, by our now-five-year-old and our two-year-old as well. The games are progressive and fun, the unit itself stands up to all the abuse the kids can throw at it, and we absolutely love the product.

Just in time for Christmas, we've got a Leapster Explorer, three games, and a camera attachment to give away to one lucky Clippo reader, thanks to the generous folks at Leap Frog!

This prize includes:

Leapster Explorer™ ($79.99CDN value, English version, in green and white, like my daughter's one that's pictured here out of the box)
Explorer™ Learning Game Disney*Pixar Cars 2 ($29.99CDN value, English version)
Explorer™ Learning Game Pet Pals 2 ($29.99CDN value, English version)
Explorer™ Learning Game Leap School™ Reading ($29.99CDN value, English version)Leapster Explorer™ Camera and Video Recorder ($29.99CDN value, English version)

It's a prize worth just under $200CDN, people! This would be the ultimate gift for any lucky kid this Christmas. So how do you win this?

Easy:

1. Leave a comment here telling us why you'd love to win the prize. Include your email address, that's one entry.

2. Tweet us @clippo and tell us why you'd want to win the prize. Use the hashtag #ClippoExplorerPrize.  Each tweet counts as another entry, but they must be legit tweets with reasons for wanting to win, not just random hashtag usage.

3. Post on our Facebook page telling us why you'd like to win the prize. That's one more entry. You can only post once on the wall saying why you'd like to win, but the more friends you get to mention your name, the more entries you'll get, which brings us to the next point:

4. Share the contest with friends! If they post on our Facebook page wall saying you sent them, that's an entry for you, and if they tell us why they want to win, it's an entry for them, too!

Contest will close at 5:30pmEST on December 14, 2011. The draw will take place on December 14th, 2011 at 6pmEST and will be announced here on the blog, via Twitter and on our Facebook page. The prize will be sent immediately upon receiving the winner's address, via Expedited Canada Post mail.

Open to Canadian and U.S. residents.


Good luck, everyone!

NOTE: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAST YOUR STATUS UPDATES FOR FACEBOOK AND TWITTER HERE. WE WILL FIND THEM VIA THE HASHTAG AND ON THE FB WALL.

*** THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. ***

FROM MORE THAN 300 ENTRIES VIA THE BLOG, FACEBOOK AND TWITTER ENTRIES, RANDOM.ORG WAS USED AND THE WINNING NUMBER BELONGED TO TAMMI HAYNE. CONGRATULATIONS, TAMMI!