I cant believe that we’re in the third month of the year. A few weeks ago I decided to write about some of the “First” memories and experiences some parents have had with our kids but life got in the way. Here we are in March and I’m just now getting it done. All parents have these special memories of our kids, you know the ones that I’m talking about, the ones that stay with you for years where you remember every little detail. These are the ones that always make you smile or elicit some other emotion.

Parents holding a child's hand
You guys know that I’m a shy one so since I didn’t want to make this all about me, I decided to reach out to Casey Palmer, Julie Elsdon-Height, Angela van Tijn, and Heather Lynne, some of my blogger friends, and ask each of them one question about a first experience or memory they’ve had with their kids.

I’ll go first, this is the first (and only) time we were called in to the principal’s office.

A few years ago I was working from home and my daughter was in school, grade 3 I think. The phone rang and it was the principal’s office asking if we could come in because my daughter had just punched a boy. Needless to say we were concerned so we headed over. When we got there we saw her sitting just outside the office looking quite sad.

The principal brought us into her office and explained that the class was having a scavenger hunt and this kid was cheating big time. My daughter kept telling him to stop and when he didn’t she decided to slug him. Of course I gave her the “we don’t hit” speech and took away some of her toys for a bit, but honestly I was so damn proud of her. She knew what she did was wrong but she stood up for what she knew was right and damn the consequences! If this happened again I’d want her to do the same thing.

public school

How did you feel when you dropped off your eldest for his first day of kindergarten?

Angela: When I dropped him off at kindergarten I had mixed emotions. I was a bit sad and I knew I was going to miss him during the day but I also felt happy and excited for him. I remember him not having any separation anxiety and no tears at drop off. I on the other hand got a bit tearful on the car ride home.

Has your daughter found her first job as yet?How are you helping your daughter prepare for her first job?

Heather: We knew she wanted to babysit so we signed her up for a babysitting course. She started practicing her babysitting skills by being a “mother’s helper” for her aunt, basically it’s watching her cousins while her aunt is at home but busy. She’s pretty responsible at home and her teachers  have said the same thing about her at school. Once she’s gone through that preparation, we think that she’ll be as ready as she will ever be, and it’ll be time to take the leap.

Tell me about the first time your kid made you really laugh.

Casey: So my kids are really into “telling secrets” these days. They’re not great – they just want to come whisper stuff in our ears to get reactions. So one day ‘I’ comes to tell me one and it’s genuinely hilarious! He tells me and I crack up. Now Sarah, who’s across the table, wants in on it too. She says “Hey! Why don’t you tell me too?” He says “I don’t wanna.” But she insists and finally he relents. He goes over to her and whispers in her ear, but loud enough for me to hear: “Sometimes mommy interrupts us!”

How did you know it was time for your eldest to get her first cell phone?

Julie: Ultimately it was based on who she was at the time. She’s a responsible girl who took pride in that. She naturally understood boundaries and respected rules. She was always surrounded by peers who had phones and I know how easily she would have exposure or the ability to borrow friends devices so we decided it was time.


This is just one of many reasons that parents have given for deciding to get their child their first phone. My daughter (the Slugger) got hers when she was around 13. She was at that age where she was travelling to and from school, and on some days she was at home alone after school. Recently I was talking to some of my friends at Rogers and they shared some interesting statistics they had compiled about children and their first cell phones.

They asked over 500 people how old their kids were when they got their first phone and found the average age to be 12.8 years. Another interesting point was that 61% of those surveyed said that safety and security was the main reason for getting a phone.  A lot of parents did have concerns citing increased screen time/distractions and cost of cell plans as their two biggest. These were the same reasons we got the phone for my daughter and we shared the same concerns. At a certain age kids need these devices but parents need to ensure that these devices don’t interfere too much with their lives. Thankfully the Rogers Share Everything Plans address some of those concerns, with the ability to control individual user’s data within your plan.

Remember I mentioned my friends from Rogers? Well they were in an extra generous mood and they decided to provide me with a brand new Samsung J3 Prime to give away to a lucky reader. If you know someone who’s just about ready for their first phone then this is the perfect one for them. It offers a slim design for ease of operation, vivid display and a camera that’ll allow your young ones to take as many selfies as they’d like. Scroll down to enter, and good luck!!

Samsung J3 cellphone

Samsung J3 Giveaway