The Oakwood Hardware Food & Drink

Hello friends! I know it's been a while - it's so hard to write updates now that I'm back at work and I can't just blog during my son's naps! Thanks to those of you who are sticking around (all...two of you?); hopefully I can catch up on my posts at some point! Anyway, back in July (only a month ago!), my husband had been talking about trying Oakwood Hardware for so long so I agreed to give it a shot.

Restaurant: The Oakwood Hardware Food & Drink

Location: Wychwood

Meal: Dinner

Day: Saturday

Son's Age: 15 months

It's actually technically in Oakwood Village but there aren't really a lot of restaurants in Oakwood Village so I'm just grouping it into Wychwood. Also I'm not sure what the theme of the restaurant is because it seems to be trying to do a lot of things at once, but I suppose that could be a good thing if you are with a group of people who have diverse tastes. Plus the place is run by Chef Anne Sorrenti, who is a Chopped Canada champion, so that boded well. 

Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐

The restaurant certainly touts itself as family friendly. There is clearly room for strollers to come in, and they have several high chairs as well as a kids' menu and crayons. 

The washroom, unfortunately, has neither a change table nor counter space. In fact, the sink looks like one big tub. 

The good news is that it is in the back (ie not down the stairs) and it is quite large, so I'm confident that you could fit a stroller in here. If your stroller reclines, at least you can use that in a pinch!

Service: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The staff was extremely friendly and clearly accustomed to dealing with children. They came to check in on my son and gave him his own cup of water as well as his own plate (although I opted to bring his baby cutlery). They were very helpful with menu selections and they were cautious to keep hot plates away from my son.

Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I must say, the food was quite good, albeit confusing, as I said upfront. We started with drinks because we heard the cocktails were good here, and they have their own specialty cocktails.

I ordered the Pisco de Mora, which is made of Chilean Pisco, rum, sweet vermouth, blackberry and mint compote, lime, and egg white. This was such a refreshing drink with just the right amount of sweetness. I can't remember what my husband ordered but he really liked his drink too. For food, we started with the Oakwood meze.

This is obviously a Mediterranean inspired dish, served with fried cauliflower, naan with za'atar and cheese, baba ghanoush, and tahini. If you are unfamiliar with a meze, the description in he menu could mislead you to think the cauliflower was the star of the dish, when it was actually just a small portion. Everything here was delicious, though, and my son was a big fan of the naan. Mom tip: if your kid is like mine and just really loves bread and nothing else, remember that hummus has chickpeas and baba ghanoush has eggplants, so it's an easy way to sneak in some protein and veggies. With this particular dish, one watch out is that those little red pickled things are small chilli peppers and not mini tomatoes - luckily I tried one before my son got to it but he was definitely getting ready to eat one. Anyway, for my main, I ordered the lentil shepherd's pie.

This meal had stewed lentils, shiitake and cremini mushrooms, carrots, and celery, topped with mashed potatoes and cheddar and jack cheese, with a side of salad. It was such a comforting dish, and very filling, considering that it's a vegetarian dish. It's also a bit jarring to go from a Mediterranean appetizer to a British classic, but probably not as much as my husband ordering the KFC Korean fried chicken.

This was served with kimchi fried rice and sautéed vegetables. If you've ever had Korean fried chicken, you know it's way better than North American fried chicken, and I think this dish captured the distinct quality of the Korean version. It still catered to the local palate (I'm pretty sure I never saw sautéed vegetables in Korea), but the inspiration was evident. Overall, the food was all delicious and certainly a great introduction to different flavours, but I rated it as four stars because in trying to do a bit of everything, the food wasn't quite the best at anything.

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The place is rather baby friendly, and I found the service to be more than accommodating. The food is definitely worth trying, especially if you are craving different flavours at once. It's definitely one of the best restaurants in the area, so if you're bringing the family, this is worth a try. 

Isaan Der

A new Thai place opened up in the Junction that looked pretty interesting, so I was excited to finally give it a try.

Restaurant: Isaan Der
Location: The Junction
Meal: Dinner
Day: Sunday
Son's Age: 14 months

We originally showed up with the stroller, but upon assessing the space, I decided to put the stroller back in the car while my husband and son got a table. The hostess seated us in the back of the restaurant, which was nice because there was a little side table that I could put my diaper bag on.

Accessibility: ⭐⭐
In case you didn't get it from my opening, this restaurant is not stroller friendly, which is shocking considering its location in the Junction. There is a step at the entrance, and there is no room to park a stroller, let alone bring it to a table. They did manage to provide a high chair, though.

The washroom is located downstairs and does not have a change table or counter space, but there is a toilet seat lid.

It's not ideal, but better than changing a diaper on the floor. Then again, if you have an older baby, you could also change a diaper while your baby is standing.

Service: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The servers were nice to us and greeted my son as they walked by, commenting about how impressive it was that he eats Thai food. They also didn't seem to mind when my son decided he wanted to practice walking around after he finished eating. 

Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
They were out of papaya salad but substituted it with a mango salad, so we started with that and the golden bags.

The golden bags are deep fried pastries with water chestnuts, carrots, and mushrooms, served with chilli sauce. The mango salad was pretty much a traditional mango salad, so it was good but not extraordinary. The golden bags, on the other hand, were different and delicious. Next we ordered the pad Thai.

The pad Thai is made with rice noodles, chicken, bean sprouts, tofu, oyster sauce, chives, and lime. My son loves eating this, and I'd say it was quite good too, although similar to the mango salad, there wasn't anything about it that was especially memorable. We also got the guaytiaw gang. 

This was very good and I highly recommend it. It's rice noodles in curry sauce, bean sprouts, tofu, beef, and boiled egg. The curry sauce acted as a soup and was so hearty. My one caution is that I read a review that described this as the Isaan Der version of Khao soi, and I find that description inaccurate, as there isn't really anything that provides a crunch. If you don't go in with that mindset, though, the dish is really tasty. 

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐½

The food is good, and it's not just your typical Thai restaurant. The accessibility isn't ideal, though, especially if you have a younger baby and you are a first time parent. The service is decent, though, so if you have an older baby, this place is probably worth checking out. 

Pearl Diver

I am so behind in my blog posts that I am only now getting around to blogging about Mother's Day brunch! My husband and my sister wanted to treat my mom, my aunts, and myself to a nice Mother's Day brunch, and seafood seemed like a good bet because my family loves seafood. We opted to go downtown because we heard something about a lobster benny that sounded pretty exciting!

Restaurant: Pearl Diver
Location: Corktown
Meal: Brunch
Day: Sunday
Son's Age: 13 months

As with any Sunday brunch, it was super important for us that this restaurant took reservations, since waiting in line with a baby is never an ideal situation. They actually have a back area with two larger tables so we didn't have to sit in the middle of a crowded restaurant, which is nice.

Accessibility: ⭐⭐
This restaurant is not stroller friendly. To get to the back table, the path is quite narrow, and there is a step. Once we were there, we were given the option to park the stroller beside us or leave it at the front, and we quickly realized that leaving it next to the table would make the area very crowded. They also did not have proper high chairs, but instead had booster seats that strapped to their chairs.

This doesn't seem like an issue, except the back of the chair is curved so the strap doesn't actually go around very tightly, and the seat ended up being slightly crooked. There is an option to attach a tray table directly to the seat, but space made it very inconvenient to use. (And yes, that is my husband's wallet that my son is playing with - blah blah hygiene germs blah blah - his grandmother was present so trust me I already heard the lecture.) The washroom also does not have a change table.

The saving grace is that the toilet seat has a lid so you could still change a diaper if you needed to.

Service: ⭐⭐⭐

Service was fine, but not memorable. When we were struggling with tightening the booster seat onto the chair, no one offered to help, which is fine, but it means you can't rely on the service to make your experience of taking your baby to a restaurant easier. 

Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I am so torn about how to rate the food. We started with a dozen oysters for the table.

The special was supposed to be 6 east coast and 6 west coast oysters, but given the news about contaminated west coast oysters, we asked for all 12 to be east coast, and they obliged. The oysters were delicious, as expected, served with the traditional condiments of horseradish, lemon, cocktail sauce, hot sauce, and mignonette. For my main, I went with this famous lobster benny.

Let me tell you, these home fries were mind blowing. I could have just eaten a giant portion of home fries. Seriously, these might be the best home fries I've ever had. That sounds lovely, but I found the star of the dish was just okay and not memorable. There wasn't that much lobster, and it was so light that it got lost amongst the flavours of the egg, hollandaise, and bun. My husband ordered the PD classic breakfast.

This is a typical classic with eggs, bacon, toast, home fries, and salad. Again, amazing home fries, but also surprisingly the best toast I've ever had! I don't know what it is, but it was perfectly toasted and perfectly buttered, so it was just such a standout on the plate. So, overall I'm not sure how to judge the food, because if you like toast and home fries, you seriously need to come here. The rest of the food is fine but not great, so I've decided to net this out at four stars.

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐
This place is fine to bring your baby, and the food is pretty good. If you want the best toast ever, it's worth the effort, and being able to make reservations is definitely a plus, but I think there might be other places that are more worthwhile. 

Kub Khao Thai Eatery

We were visiting my mom and sister in Scarborough and decided to go out for lunch. I'm trying to have my son eat whatever I eat instead of bringing food with him, so I was looking for a decent place with baby friendly food (aka not sushi), and my husband suggested we go for Thai.

Restaurant: Kub Khao Thai Eatery
Location: Scarborough
Meal: Lunch
Day: Saturday
Son's Age: 13 months

Heads up: the location is weird. The restaurant is in this small strip mall and there is a gas station right in front of it. The parking lot is small too, although I suppose it's sufficient for the size of the plaza. I probably would have missed it except there were a couple girls standing in front of the restaurant taking selfies (in the middle of an open parking spot, I might add - grrr).

Accessibility: ⭐⭐
Since the place is quite small, they actually only have one high chair. I think I might have hijacked it by accident, because upon arrival, we said we needed a table for four adults and a baby, and they seated us after they seated a larger party with two children (not babies, I should add, but one was a toddler). A server started walking in our direction with the high chair and I immediately stepped forward and said thank you, and directed her to where I wanted it. She paused and clarified that I needed the high chair, and my mom and I both insisted that we did, so she placed it at our table before proceeding to apologize to the other table. In my defence, the adult chairs at my table were stools, whereas the larger party had a long bench seat. Anyway.

The moral of the story is that there is only one high chair. The good news is that they also have plastic plates and cutlery for kids, which my son found very exciting. As expected, the washroom does not have a change table.

There also isn't really any counter space, but the toilets do have lids if you need to change a diaper so that's useful.

Service: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Service was fine - as I mentioned earlier, there was obviously some confusion regarding the high chair, but once they gave it to me, the server immediately got a cloth and cleaner to clean the chair for me as well (I usually use my wipes to clean high chairs before my son sits down, and when she saw I was about to do this she intervened). She also was nice enough to provide the plastic silverware (is it still called silverware if it's plastic?) for my son, and she answered questions that we had about the menu. Overall the server was pretty hands off, so she doesn't really come back to check how we are doing once the food arrives, but that's fine by me.

Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I love that this restaurant has lunch specials because I like having smaller portions at lunchtime. I ordered the street lunch of grilled pork with sticky rice.

The pork was on skewers and the sticky rice was served in a little basket on the side. The pork had a nice sweetness to it without being overpowering, and the sticky rice was a great complement. My husband ordered a quick lunch, which was served with mango salad.

The mangoes were nice and refreshing and particularly great for my son, who is obsessed with all fruit. I don't know how I feel about the wonton crisps - they add a nice crunch but aren't particularly  special. For his actual lunch, my husband had the pad Thai with chicken.

It was a decent pad Thai that made for a satisfying lunch, made with eggs, tofu, bean sprouts, chives, tamarind sauce, and peanuts. My baby was a bigger fan of the chicken and tofu from here than he was of the grilled pork, but as a mom I was just happy that he was eating. Since we didn't know what my baby would eat, we also ordered a starter of chicken toast for the table. 

It comes with sweet chilli sauce, and let me tell you, this was delicious but totally not what I would order for a baby. The toast is deep fried with chicken on it, which is awesome for me but I would rather not feed my baby deep fried food if I don't have to. As a dish, I fully recommend it - just don't be fooled by the name!

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐½

This is actually a really good find for Thai food in Scarborough! It's not exactly designed to be baby friendly but the food is great so if you go at off-peak times, you might be okay bringing a baby here. 

La Banane

For whatever reason, this year, I can't help but notice that my son is getting sick right around any planned celebrations. We rescheduled our Paris trip because he was sick (celebrating my soster's birthday), we rescheduled my birthday dinner, we rescheduled my husband's birthday dinner, and my husband missed a wedding. For my husband's birthday, we decided to go to La Banane - about a week later.

Restaurant: La Banane
Location: Trinity Bellwoods
Meal: Dinner
Day: Sunday
Son's Age: 13 months

I wasn't sure how this was going to go because from what I had heard, La Banane is a fairly boujee French restaurant. They're actually known for their highly Instagram-friendly Ziggy Stardust disco egg dessert, but given that it's pretty expensive and way more chocolate than two people can conceivably finish, we passed on it.

Accessibility: ⭐⭐
No surprise, but the setup isn't exactly designed for babies. To their credit, they actually seated us at a table that had a bench seat on one side and a chair and high chair on the other. The host said it was so we could have options of where my baby could sit.

If you have a pre-toddler like mine who does not like to sit still, this option is actually perfect for while we order and wait for food to arrive. Once there was something to eat, we moved him to the high chair. 

Points for having a high chair, but there is no room for a stroller if you have one, and the washroom is located in the basement. 

There definitely is no counter space for changing a diaper here either, so your best bet unfortunately would be to change the diaper on the ground. Luckily I did not have to do that, but it's pretty much your only option if you need to do a diaper change. 

Service: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Service here was outstanding. The staff was extremely pleasant and accommodating, and some servers came by to coo at my baby, so I felt very welcome. Our server was also very helpful in answering questions about the menu and making recommendations, and the bread was served promptly as per my request. 

Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Since we were celebrating, we decided to start with some drinks. I got a glass of Chardonnay while my husband opted for a specialty banana cocktail. 

The bread is actually soft pretzel sticks with mustard, which was a nice surprise. My son, continuing his love of all things bread, really enjoyed this. 

For the parents who are concerned, don't worry, I only let him eat the inside and avoided the salt. Moving onto the food, what better way is there to start a meal than with some freshly shucked oysters?

The east coast oysters were served with the traditional accompaniments of lemon, horseradish, hot sauce, and mignonette. We then ordered the albacore tuna with brown butter, doll, and capers. 

It doesn't look extraordinary but the flavours were perfectly complementary and the dish was so light and savoury. We thought we should probably get some vegetables, so we ordered the white asparagus, served with mussels. 

I was really hoping my son would eat this, but he's very hit-or-miss when it comes to vegetables. Nevertheless, it was a great dish, and I had never had white asparagus before and didn't realize it would taste so different from green asparagus. I must say, though, that the pièce de résistance was the eurobass en croûte. First, they present you with the cooked fish encrusted in pastry. 

Then they take it back to the kitchen to remove the top and serve it with yuzu beurre blanc and zucchini medallions. 

This is just such a delicious dish and you really need to try it. The fish is perfectly cooked and the sauce is rich without being overpowering. We also got a side of the pommes aligot, which is pretty much puréed potatoes with cheese. The side goes very wel with the fish and my son liked both, although he appreciated the cheesy potatoes more, obviously. Each dish was light, but overall the meal was so filling that we didn't have room for dessert!

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The food and service are impeccable so I recommend you come here if you would like some good French food. Accessibility leaves a bit to be desired but I think the rest of the experience makes up for it. As long as you come at a reasonable hour so that your baby doesn't interrupt any romantic dinners or anything like that, I don't see why you can't bring the whole family here!

Tabule

For those of you who don't know, once your kid starts daycare (or school, if you forego daycare), you will probably end up taking your little one to the doctor a lot. I'm told that after a year, my son wil havethe best immunity system, and I'm seriously banking on that to be true. In any case, I took him to the doctor's office and then realized that I didn't have any lunch plans for him. My mother had decided to accompany me and we tried to find something nearby with food he would eat.

Restaurant: Tabule
Location: Bayview Village
Meal: Lunch
Day: Thursday
Son's Age: 12 months

Tabule is a middle eastern restaurant that has a couple locations in the city and recently opened in Bayview Village. I had been meaning to try it before and figured this was a good opportunity. Despite the fact that it was a Thursday, however, we had to wait. The good news is, you can leave your cell phone number and wander around the mall. The bad news is, other patrons are downright rude. I came back after I was called and I was shown in and an older lady yelled at me, saying that the next table of four should be hers and I don't need a table for four because there were only two of us (excuse me, but my son eats solids now, so yes he needs a spot at the table). I noticed in general that a lot of the clientele seemed very entitled overall, but that isn't really the restaurant's fault.

Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The benefit of going to a restaurant at Bayview Village is that the place is full of mothers and seniors, which means it's very accessible. I was given the option to keep my stroller at the table or park it at the front, and I was promptly provided with a high chair for my son.

As you can see, he was very excited and wouldn't sit still, which is pretty impressive considering he was too sick to attend daycare. The washrooms are individual and have a nice counter top.

 No change table, but you can easily change a smaller baby on the counter. If that makes you a bit nervous, the washroom outside the restaurant has a proper change table, not to mention a nursing room.

Service: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The other customers might have been a pain, but the service on all counts was excellent. The host was very open about the wait time and took my number to let me know when a table was available. She helped to bring my stroller to the front after I was seated. The server was very friendly too. When he served water, he would pour from a high distance to create a stream, and he intentionally ensured that my son had a good view every time. He even refilled my son's sippy cup when he finished his own water. I mentioned when I sat down that I needed my appetizer to come quickly as I was feeding my son, and he kindly obliged. I especially loved that he interacted with my son and asked him how he was enjoying the food. I suppose the servers are trained to deal with babies, which I really appreciated.

Food: ⭐⭐⭐
We started with a cold mezze sampler platter, and we chose hummus, baba ganoush, and of course, tabbouleh.

This is served with both white and multigrain pita bread. The dish itself was delicious, and my son really enjoyed the pita with hummus and baba ganoush. I also liked that I was giving him chickpeas and eggplant with his bread, so I had covered off three food groups! My one complaint is that the multigrain pita was quite tough, so I didn't feel comfortable giving it to my son. I was so concerned about feeding him that I forgot to take a photo of the mains, but my mother and I ordered the kefta and tawuk to share. Kefta is ground lamb and beef skewers and tawuk is chicken, and both are served with rice and grilled vegetables. I found the mains to be underwhelming, with the meat being a bit dry. The portion size is generous, though, so my mother was able to pack a takeaway box to bring home. The rice and vegetables were pretty tasty too, although they really aren't supposed to outshine the meat, in my opinion.

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
The accessibility and service make this a great spot to bring your baby, and the hummus, baba ganoush, and tabbouleh are fantastic, even if the meat was not impressive. I would recommend this as a good family friendly option.

Dirty Food Eatery

My son was getting ready to start daycare and I was about to start work, so I was treasuring my last days of maternity leave. I decided to meet my sister for brunch and try a new restaurant in the generally baby-friendly Junction.

Restaurant: Dirty Food Eatery
Location: The Junction
Meal: Brunch
Day: Monday
Son's Age: 12 months

Dirty Food is a relatively new restaurant that apparently is affiliated with Junked Food - I didn't actually know this at the time but my husband informed me afterward when he found out that I came here without him. I was just excited to have a new brunch place nearby.

Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The restaurant itself is quite small, and I didn't bring a stroller because I was able to find parking nearby. I saw that someone else had left a folded stroller at the front, though. They not only had a high chair for my son, but they also had a kids' menu and plastic cutlery for him!

I'll talk about the food itself later, but my so loves trying to use the knife and fork by himself. He wasn't particularly successful but it was cute watching him try to imitate my sister and me. The washrooms are in the basement, so not stroller friendly, but the larger stall has a change table.

It's more like a shelf (think of the change tables on airplanes if they were padded), but it gets the job done, and it's a good use of such a small space.

Service: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The servers are clearly prepared to deal with young children. Our server was extremely friendly and interacted with my son, and he was happy to answer all the questions I had about the menu also (specifically about the kids' menu). He checked in on us frequently to make sure we had everything we needed, which really helped to make the experience pleasant.

Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I really did not know what to expect, given that all I knew was that a new brunch place had opened up nearby. I couldn't decide what to order, so the server recommended I try the chicken 'n' waffle 'wich.

This is buttermilk fried chicken in a waffle sandwich with mayonnaise, candies jalapeños, and lettuce, served with jalapeño syrup, slaw, and fries. This is so delicious, and if you like chicken and waffles you will want to try this. The slaw was actually really good too. There's a fried drumstick separated from the sandwich so you can eat that with your hands without worrying about biting into bone. For my son, we got the kid size Jonny cakes.

These are cornmeal pancakes, served with some pineapple and maple syrup on the side. As you can see, my son was really eager to eat this that I couldn't even get a photo without his hand in the shot. I like that the syrup was on the side because I try not to give him too much processed sugar, but even without syrup he was a huge fan. The kids meals all come with a small drink, but I drank his juice because I haven't given him juice yet and he really likes drinking water.

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
This is a really great baby-friendly restaurant with delicious brunch food. If you are particularly reliant on your stroller, you may run into some difficulties, but otherwise I highly recommend you bring your baby here. 

OT: What to do on parental leave

Special blog post alert!


I am going off topic because I have had a lot of people ask me what I did to keep busy over my parental leave. I am not built to be a stay-at-home mom; I like having things to do, schedules to keep, etc. Any time anyone asks what to do in Toronto, people tend to point to Ontario Early Years Centres, which are great resources, but if you have no idea what they are, the information available online is pretty lacking. So I'm going to talk about what I did - no ratings, but just providing information that (hopefully) is a bit more useful than what you might find from the website. I'll try to break it down into groupings, but yes, this is going to be a long post.


Ontario Programs

Let's start here - the province offers amazing resources. Best of all, they are all free (or rather, if you paid your taxes, you've already paid for them)!


Healthy Babies Healthy Children

You can sign up for Healthy Babies Healthy Children when you are pregnant, but I didn't find out about it until a social worker at the NICU told me to sign up. A Toronto Public Health nurse visits your home about once a month to see how you are doing and give you information on how to raise your baby. You also get a home visitor that comes once a week to provide information and answer questions. I cannot stress enough how much this program meant to me - they actually managed to match me with a home visitor who was Asian and loved dogs. This might not sound like a big deal, but in addition to helping me with things like getting my son to love tummy time, reading to him, and introducing him to solids, she also explained some traditions and superstitions that the older generation might say and how to respond, plus she talked about how to get the dog accustomed to the baby. She also told me about free programs and events that she thought I would benefit from. I started out as a first time mom with post partum depression who didn't know what I was doing and was too exhausted/scared to leave my house, and she helped me become confident in my parenting abilities. Anecdotally, I have heard a lot of variance from other people who participated in this program - specifically, people who live outside of Toronto have not been happy with their home visitors. Obviously, the quality of the program is dependent on who your nurse and home visitor are, but based on my personal experience, I highly recommend it.


Ontario Early Years Centres

This is the place that everyone on parental leave will tell you to go. You can find information on the Ontario website, but as a new mom doing research, I found that this did not tell me what to expect. OEYCs have registered and drop-in programs for families. Some programs are for specific age groups - I've seen 0-12 months, 0-18 months, 0-6 years, 6-12 months, and more. Some of the registered programs I talk about later are run in OEYCs. No two OEYCs are alike, so I recommend you go to more than one. Information online is pretty scarce, so use the link to find the ones nearest you and give them a call to ask when the baby programs are. Typically, what you can expect is some time to socialize with other parents while your baby plays with toys, and then there might be a speaker about topics like dental health, sleep, introducing solids, homeopathy, etc., or there might be an activity like sensory stations, bubble wrap painting, or baby handprints. At some point, there is usually circle time, which is when all the caregivers and babies sit in a circle and sing songs, tell stories, or read books. Some OEYCs provide snacks for the caregivers and/or the babies. It's a great way to meet others, discuss concerns, socialize your baby, and get access to other resources. Drop-in programs mean that there is no commitment to go every week. If you go to one and you don't like it, I recommend trying another one before writing them off - I found there was one OEYC that my son felt extremely comfortable in, and another one that he never really warmed up to.

Toronto Public Health

The city runs some great parenting programs, and you can learn about them on the City of Toronto website. All programs run by Toronto Public Health provide TTC tokens, and they are run all over the city so you need to call to register for one close to you.

Living and Learning with Baby

LLB is a 6 week program for those with children 6 weeks-6 months. It is run by a Toronto Public Health nurse to talk about adjusting to parenthood. Each week covers a new topic about things like safety, child sickness, development, etc. It's a great way to ask specific questions to a health care professional, especially when the Internet has so much conflicting information. It's also good to hear what questions other people have - as a new mom, I didn't always know what to ask, and I'm a bit introverted so I liked to listen to others talk.

Making the Connection

This program is for 0-1 year, and the goal is to help you connect with your baby. There are no toys because the idea is that you are your baby's favourite toy. They teach you how to have "magic moments" with your baby, and you are given a photo album to fill with pictures of you interacting with your baby, comforting your baby, singing to your baby, soothing to your baby, etc. During the program, they take a video of you interacting with your baby and then you watch it as a group and talk about what you did that helped connect you with your baby. I have to be honest: this was my least favourite program. I kept going because I met some great people, but I don't like watching myself on video and it just seems a bit weird to me. If this seems like your thing, by all means, go for it.

Peer Nutrition Program

PNP has a separate link because it's considered a nutrition program rather than a parenting program. This is for caregivers of children 6 months-6 years and teaches you how to prepare nutritious meals for your baby and toddler. You also learn how to read Canada's Food Guide, how to read nutrition information, and how to budget for groceries. Child minding is available, which I liked because it helped me prepare my baby for day care once my parental leave was up. Once you complete the program, you receive a $50 food voucher and you also have access to a support site twice a month for up to a year. The support sites teach you other things like composting, growing your own plants, and positive discipline. You also get to take home a box of fresh fruits and vegetables once a month. As someone who doesn't know how to cook, I really liked getting some easy and nutritious recipes that I could make for my family. This program is available in different languages also, so for example, if you speak Cantonese and you want to learn how to make Chinese recipes, you can let them know when you register, as Toronto is such a diverse city that they are able to accommodate.

Nobody's Perfect

I really liked Nobody's Perfect. This is a registered program for caregivers of children 0-6 years old. You get a set of books with the following topics: Mind, Body, Safety, Behaviour, and Parents. Each week you discuss a different book, and it really helps you to learn how to raise your child with good mental health as well as take care of your child and yourself. I recommend this program after you've done the other programs, because for me, the other programs helped me feel confident that I could keep my baby alive, whereas this one helps me to cope with his behaviour in a positive way (my upbringing was much more authoritative, and while I think I turned out okay, there is definitely a permanent impact on my self esteem). Child minding is also available for this one, although they recently changed the rules to say that they cannot provide child care for kids under 1 year, so for the second half of the program I had to keep my baby in the room with me. Luckily, everyone was very understanding and accommodating, so this was not an issue for me.

Other Free Programs

Toronto Public Library

Check your local library! A lot of libraries have a Ready for Reading program, whether it is Baby Time or Family Time. It is a half hour circle time, where the leader reads books and sings songs. It is a great way to expose your baby to books, as it is never too early! Your baby can also get a library card right away, and you'd be surprised how many board books are available to borrow. Also, if you have a valid library card, you can borrow the Museum and Arts Pass (MAP), which gives you free admission for up to two adults and five children to a variety of places around the city, including the Royal Ontario Museum, the Toronto Zoo, and the Art Gallery of Ontario. If there are other free programs in the city, they are often advertised at the library as well.

La Leche League

I had heard about La Leche League but didn't actually attend a session until my son was 9 months old. I really wish I had attended sooner. If you are breastfeeding your baby, you want to go to these meetings. Obviously, this is specifically targeted at mothers rather than parents and caregivers. Each week there is a set topic on breastfeeding, but it's not fixed, so if you have any questions about breastfeeding at all, you can bring it up. The group is made up of new moms, experienced moms, and moms-to-be. I don't recommend attending when you are still pregnant, because some of the stories might sound a little scary, and let's be realistic, you aren't going to remember the useful stuff when the baby is born. It's a great resource to talk about latch issues, nutrition, pumping, going back to work, or even just venting frustrations. There was no judgment at the group I participated in - some moms supplemented with formula, and that's okay. If you are having trouble with breastfeeding, of course I'd say the first step is to see a lactation consultant, but after that, this is an excellent support group for the rest of your breastfeeding journey.

The Parent-Child Mother Goose Program

The PCMGP is a registered program where you learn different songs and rhymes to share with your baby. At the end of the program, you receive a songbook with everything that you learned throughout the session. If you want to sing to your baby but don't like singing the same songs over and over again, this is a great resource to learn some new songs and rhymes that are a little less common. I must admit that, given all the songs I've learned in other programs, this wasn't really necessary for me, and some of the things I learned were actually really weird. I met some great people through this program, though, and some of the other parents were really into it. Given that it's free, it's worth it for you to check it out and see how you like it.

Handle With Care

If you are concerned about how to raise your baby to promote mental health, Handle With Care is an excellent program. It is a registered program where you are taught strategies, best practices, and problem solving skills to build a strong foundation for your baby's self esteem. I attended this through an OEYC that ran this specifically for babies, although the program is typically for caregivers of children 0-6 years. Some of the things we did admittedly felt, to me, like a waste of time (for example, we had to create a mobile with coloured beads to represent happy memories that remind us of how much we love our baby), but other things were extremely useful (I would never have known the importance of communicating to my baby before he is old enough to understand). I can't promise that your kid will grow up with absolutely no mental health issues, but as a parent, I want to know that I am doing everything I can to prevent them.

Stepping Stones

I suspect that I have the totally wrong link for Stepping Stones, but if you are like me and you are particularly focused on your baby's mental health, this registered program specifically addresses dealing with your child's behaviour. The link starts at early adolescence but the group I attended were caregivers of children between 0-6 years old. While Handle With Care focused more on setting the stage early, Stepping Stones felt like the focus was on dealing with negative behaviour today and understanding what tools we have without relying on archaic and disproven models of child neglect or abuse.

Paid Programs

The city is full of parent and baby programs that you can register and pay for. The good news is that the majority of these allow you to take a trial class, so you can test it out to see if it's worth investing in the full registration. I am listing these in order of price point (lowest to highest), but depending on specific classes and locations, prices may vary.

Toronto Parks & Rec

There are a lot of city programs available through Toronto Parks & Recreation. I took my son to the Joseph J. Piccininni Community Centre, which has tons of great prenatal and post-natal programs. Specifically, I enrolled him in Jump & Play with Caregiver, which was great because they set up the entire gymnasium with baby friendly things like an obstacle course, a trampoline, some push cars, blocks, and musical instruments. The city programs are actually quite cheap (approximately $40 for 9 weeks), and some locations have free registered programs too. In my experience, though, they don't give you a lot of directions, so if you are looking to put your baby in swimming lessons and you are a nervous swimmer (that's me!), you might want to pay more for a more specialized class.

Stars and Strollers

Not a registered program, but Cineplex has something called Stars & Strollers at select theatres. You get to go see a movie where the volume is a bit lower and the lights are not so dim, and you get $2 off general admission. There is stroller parking available and a change table is brought into the theatre. Some parents bring the car seat and place it in a seat next to them, while others put out a blanket in the aisle for babies to play. It's a great way to go and see a new movie in theatres without feeling guilty about your baby crying and disturbing other moviegoers. To be clear, these are not movies for babies. These are movies for you. I personally saw X-Men: Apocalypse, Ghostbusters, and La La Land with my baby. If you are worried about screen time for your baby, I suggest you go when your baby is very young, as my son slept through the first movie and half of the second. If you bring a blanket and some toys, your baby might be occupied enough to not care about the screen, or you can meet another mom and give your baby an impromptu play date while you enjoy the movie. I never had a problem, and I love seeing new movies in theatres, so I really appreciated this.

Belly Bootcamp

I did a trial class of Belly Bootcamp and found that the workout was really great, and it was a great way to meet people, but it wasn't my favourite class. The focus is completely on the mommy, while the babies either sit on blankets or crawl around, depending on their age. If you needed to stop and change or feed your baby, that was totally fine, so I definitely felt very welcome being part of the class, but personally I had a better experience elsewhere (keep reading). Again, preferences are totally subjective so I encourage you to try a trial class.

Mommy Connections

If you are looking for mommy and baby programs, Mommy Connections is probably at the top of your search list as it keeps coming up, but the description doesn't really tell you much. This is another group that I took a trial class for. The location was convenient for me, but this is pretty much like a Tupperware party for moms. A group of moms get together and then they try to sell you a bunch of stuff. If you are into that, they have great coupons, and it's a good way to learn about other things you can sign up for, such as food delivery or baby sign language. I didn't find that the things they were trying to sell were worth the money, even with the coupons, but if money isn't an obstacle for you, there are some pretty cool things that are shared in the group.

Creative Brain Dance

Okay, so I'm going to acknowledge that the concept of Creative Brain Dance at the Ontario School of Ballet sounds really hokey. It's a ballet class for babies starting 6 months old, where they learn about movement and music. If you read the description, there's a bunch of stuff about energy and brain development, and I don't know if it's necessarily true. What I do know is that my baby *loved* this class. There are songs and rhymes, and depending on the age of your baby, you help them get into positions, or you dance around with them, and you teach concepts such as rhythm and flow. Sometimes you play with props such as scarves, shakers, milk cartons, and blankets. As a caregiver, you will also have to dance around (although this is NOT a workout class), modeling for your baby. My son was always so happy to be here, and I think he learned how to get up on his hands and knees from watching some of the older kids too. If nothing else, it's a great way to expose your baby to dance, and if you know you are going to miss classes, they are extremely accommodating about pro-rating class fees.

Mommy and Baby Fitness

So this is my favourite class and I strongly encourage you to check out any of the Mommy and Baby Fitness classes available. A friend recommended this to me, and you can start taking stroller fit once your baby is 6 weeks old. What sets this apart from other mommy and baby workout classes is that it's very circuit based, so you can choose how intense you want your workout to be, and it's easy to pause and tend to your baby as needed. Even better, the last half hour is 100% dedicated to your baby. There's a parachute that comes out and you do songs and rhymes with your baby, and you even get a songbook to take home. I love this because it makes me feel less guilty as a mom. To be clear, I think it is perfectly acceptable to do something that is just for you, because we all know that your whole world revolves around your baby most of the time. For me, personally, I felt guilty taking that time for myself, but being part of this group helped me to feel good about myself and also socialize my baby, so I wasn't worried that he was bored while I was working out. I also took the aqua play class, which is both a workout for mommy and swimming lessons for baby. You get so much more attention and instruction on how to get your baby to swim, and the water is shallow and heated. If you miss any of the classes, the makeup policy is very generous, as you can go to any other class at any other location to make it up, whether it's stroller fit, aqua play, boot camp, yoga, etc. Also, the instructor checks you for diastasis recti, which is something that apparently not all doctors check for (sometimes your abs separate while you are pregnant - fun times), and if you have it, the workout is modified for you accordingly. It really helped me get back in shape and feel re-energized, and I can't say enough about how much I loved this program.

Baby Hoots

Wholeplay's Baby Hoots program is probably the other program at the top of your search engine's list besides Mommy Connections. A friend actually recommended this to me, so I took a trial class. It starts with half an hour of songs, dances, and rhymes, complete with a ukulele, and then is followed by half an hour of parent discussion about specific topics such as safety, sleep training, and introducing solids. Conceptually, this seems like a great class, and I can see why my friend enjoyed it so much. It felt a little too folksy for me, and I don't know if it was the location or the ukulele or just something in the air, but my son was not having it. I don't think there is any other program I've taken him to where he was just downright miserable. Given that Toronto Public Health covers most of the same topics in their free programs, I don't feel that I missed out by not attending the rest of the classes, but if you take a trial class, you can find out for yourself if this is something your baby might like.

Mom and Baby Reformer

Body Harmonics offers prenatal and post-natal Pilates classes, which are actually done on reformers. I had only ever done Pilates on a yoga mat prior to attending a free trial class with a friend. I actually managed to get two classes out of this at two drastically different times. The first time I went, my son was very young, and somehow, the majority of the class also seemed to have young babies. People brought their strollers into the studio, and we were given instructions on how to use the Pilates machine while the instructor walked around to each stroller, pushing them back and forth if the baby was fussing or replacing a pacifier that had fallen out. I really did not like this - I don't like having my baby confined to the stroller the whole time with a pacifier to shut him up, as I would prefer him to have some tummy time if we are not moving with the strollers. The second time I came, my son was older and more mobile and they actually had a blanket in the middle of the room with cushions so people could place their babies there. I wish they had done this the first time as it is a vastly superior setup; however, because the workout is done on the reformers, you can't tend to a mobile baby. Luckily, the instructor did a great job corralling the mobile babies to keep them away from the reformers, but realistically, the place is not baby proof and my son was getting upset about constantly being pulled away from his mom. Since everyone is working out on their own machine, I also didn't feel that I made any connections with any of the other moms. If you like reformer Pilates, this is a great class to continue to do that, but if you are like me and would prefer your workout to be machine-free, you can skip this one.

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Whew! That was a long blog post. Hopefully that was a bit helpful for all the parents, whether you are a stay-at-home parent or a working parent on leave. After this, back to our regularly scheduled programming!