Fun – Urban Suburban Mommy

Upgrade!

Recently, my husband was on a job out of town and had to spend two weeks living in a hotel. Not getting to see their dad nightly was hard on the boys. Dad’s hours are insanely long – he’s not a 9-to-5er and he’s only occasionally home for dinner during the week – but a whole 2 weeks with little more than a few Facetime sessions just wasn’t working for us.

Now we love a good hotel stay – and I’ve written about our staycations before – so the boys and I turned it into a good time. I was able to take some vacation time each Friday, and drive us out to spend some time together.

I did not have to make this bed

I can’t recommend staycations highly enough. You may think “Why on earth would I ever spend money on a room when I already have a home that I pay for, and it’s only a few miles away?”

Think about it differently. If you take a day off and spend it at home, do you really take a day off? Or do you use it to catch up on chores. Do you see the cobwebs in the corner and think “Wow, I have the time to take care of that!” Or get to the little reno/repair/redecorate project that you’ve been putting off. And at home, do the kids expect you to make dinner? Get them stuff? Are they feeling the fun?

Nope.

The Doubletree gave us cookies when we checked in (and then more cookies when we went late-night exploring)

Hotels don’t have to be expensive. Hotwire.com, Hotels.com, Trivago.ca, Expedia.ca – and a ton of others, from Groupon to WagJag have offers and deals galore. And you might be surprised to find that big cities and airport strips are especially full of empty rooms on weekends that no big events are taking place. They’d rather get something than nothing, and some of the deals I’ve enjoyed have been crazy. My best find was a 4-star hotel with breakfast, parking and free Internet for $72.

The fun of a hotel lays with the amenities. Room service. Breakfast in PJs. Late-night hotel exploring. Swimming pools. Games rooms. Having the whole family snuggling in front of one TV watching a movie – and many hotels have a movie service that offers movies still playing in theatres. A new release for a family of 4 $12 in the room as opposed to $50 at the theatre – what a steal! If you’re celebrating something and you let them know, they often offer you an upgrade or send a treat to your room. Even if you’re not celebrating, always ask about upgrades. If there really are a lot of vacancies they may try to win your love with a special suite. We’ve had huge jacuzzi rooms, double rooms, palatial rooms, dessert sent up and even wine brought to our room with the hotel’s compliments.

Just be nice.

And remember to tip.

: The Raddisson

: The Sheraton

: The Best Western Plus

: The Westin Bristol Place

Just goofing at the Hilton

Nobody expects you to make dinner. Nobody expects you to make a bed. Nobody expects anything! Turn off the cell phone, shut down the laptop and just relax, nobody can find you, nobody can bother you, and the kids are mesmerized by the different environment.

I love hotels. I always have – and they’re magical to kids. It’s fancy. It’s rich. It’s a treat-and-a-half. Remember jumping bed to bed, thinking that the complimentary soaps, potions and lotions were treasure, that having your parents’ full attention was the happiest time of your life?

Yep.

Late night at The Raddisson

Staycate. Try it. It’s the most amazing family getaway because it’s easy, convenient and really requires no planning. In fact, we’ve had completely unplanned staycations where we’ve been out and decided to just find a room. There’s an app for that, you know. A quick stop for bathing suits and toothbrushes were all we needed. I would never say no.

Your kids love to be entertained, but you can’t be the feature attraction 24/7. Birthday parties are an exceptionally good time to hire entertainment. Some entertainers are better than others. Some really know what will keep your child entranced – and how long they can hold that attention before that little body can’t contain it any longer. So what to look for in an entertainer? We caught up with professional child entertainers Sonshine and Broccoli to ask the questions you know you want to know.

1. Why are musical shows engaging for children?

I think we all remember our first concert. Mine ( Sonshine ) was the beach boys. Musical shows are extremely engaging for all kids, from the first clap, to the head bop, to the jump. Kids find music a freedom of their own expression.

2. What time of day is best for keeping kids interested in the performance?

I would say first thing in the morning or after nap time.

3. Where do you get the energy to entertain kids on a continual basis?

We could be having the worst day but the second we are on stage rockin’ out to an audience of kids, life is just great. The energy truly comes from them. Kids are excited , intrigued and engaged. We often feed off of their energy.

4. How do you know when you are losing the attention span of a child – are there signs?

Ohhh yes. Big signs.

We can plan a show one way and totally decide to change it part way through depending on the age and types of kids in the audience. Sonshine and Broccoli have been called “The Kid Whispers.” There is nothing better than getting their attention from the very first song. We have found that keeping the show very upbeat and interactive works great for us.

5. Should entertainment be at the beginning, middle or end of a party?

Entertainment should be after the first half an hour of a party. Let your guest come in – leave some time for the stragglers – and within 30 to 40 min of the called time it’s great to bring out the entertainment.

6. What size party works best with entertainment?

It completely depends on the party. For more intimate parties, 20 kids is great. For larger parties or events we bring equipment, plug in and rock out to a huge crowd.

7. Can you customize a show to my child’s age group?

Yes of course. Recently we performed where we were given very little information about a show. The kids happened to be much older than our normal audience. We quickly adjusted our set list and the kids, all the way up to 15, had a blast. We always have tricks up our sleeve.

8. Do you need a large space to have performers at a child’s birthday party?

Not at all. Any performer should be able to accommodate your space. I always say whatever you are comfortable with.

9. What can parents do to make the entertainment part go over well? Should it be hyped on the invite? Part of a theme?

Yes to both. It’s always great to let your guest know who will be performing. It allows the parent and child to go online, check them out on YouTube, get excited about who they will be seeing. I have seen so many fabulous themed parties, from a Far East theme where all the kids were given kimonos to Princess Parties.

10. Why do children love your music?

We have been writing and singing kids’ music for 11 years. When we started writing, the process was so natural: Just put yourself into the mind of a child; the innocence of so many first things , silly things, scary things. We have just released our 3rd album and our music has grown over the years. We are growing with the kids. This new album is a pop rock album and is in the new genre of kindie music. Indie music for kids. We feel that parent and child should really rock out together!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3U0BHzK2Wo&w=420&h=315]

Sonshine & Broccoli, AKA Lisa Sonshine and Brock (Broccoli) Burford, have been entertaining parents and their children for over a decade. They’ve just released their third album “It’s A Beautiful Day.”

Music, always close to the heart and ongoing for Lisa and Brock, is the subject of a documentary, “Learning To Play” currently in post-production. Developed by the multi-talented duo, “Learning to Play” emerged from seven day collaboration with other musical artists. A Juno nominated artist, a film/ TV composer, vocal coach, Sonshine & Broccoli song writing students and others, came together in an all ages storytelling look on the power of music in our lives. The interviews and music from this moving collaboration can be seen on Sonshine & Broccoli’s website. The documentary explores how an early learned love of music can connect people to each other throughout their lives.

Over the past decade, Sonshine & Broccoli have entertained children across the GTA with their high energy interactive shows, sold out performances, In demand Corporate & private events, as well as a Pop Stars songwriting workshop for kids aged 7 to 12 as an after school, PD Day, and camp program. The camp has been recently added to the Toronto Public Library’s Culture Days programming.

Sonshine & Broccoli brings out the song in all of us.

@s_bmusic

Urban Suburban Mommy

Tag Archives: Fun

Another great getaway

10 Questions with Child Entertainers Sonshine and Broccoli