I remember when I was in elementary school, saving up my allowance and being excited to bike to our local Jean-Coutu (a pharmacy in Quebec) and "splurge" on a Father's Day gift and card for Dad.  Back then, a tie or some kind of item that had "Best Dad" or "Dad of the Year" were things I thought were amazing gift ideas for Dad!

Funny how Dad never complained about not wanting yet another tie, coffee mug or pair of socks.  The purchase that made me the proudest was when I got Dad a bottle of Old Spice.  It seemed like all the dads wore it and it was in my price range.  Plus, my grandfather always wore Old Spice.

To this day, whenever I smell Old Spice, I think of my grandfather.  It turns out, my Dad wasn't much of an aftershave or cologne guy.  He wasn't really into fragrances period.  My grandfather was though!  It makes me smile when I think of how good my grandfather always smelled! Old Spice makes me miss my grandfather.

I was reminded of Old Spice and the memories of my grandfather and of my childhood when my four year old got hold of one of our monthly PGMom packages. I detected the scent of Old Spice and came running down from my office.  Little One was sitting on the couch, putting Old Spice deodorant on. She was shocked to see me and smiled, "I'm putting deodorant on, Mama! Now I smell good!"

I immediately thought of my Dad laughing if he saw what Little One was doing.  I also knew that if my grandfather were still alive today and saw Little One putting on Old Spice, he would have a good laugh too.

On Father's Day, we celebrate the men in our lives.  Of course, the first man I'd like to celebrate is my Dad. To the man who sat with us as we did our homework (and helped me as I toiled over math problems), and made sure to always have time for us after work...Thank you.  To the man who built ice forts with us and took us skating and tobogganing...Thank you.  To the man who taught us how to tie our shoes and ride a bike...Thank you.  To the man who taught us so many important life lessons and continues to do so...Thank you.

When I see the special relationship my Dad has with my four year old daughter, it makes my heart fill with joy.  I'm so lucky to have my Dad around.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, and a special Father's Day wish for my Dad!

Disclosure: I am a P&Gmom. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and special access to P&G events and opportunities. The opinions on this blog are my own.

There was a time when I used to blog for the love of blogging.  I moved to an island in the middle of one of the Great Lakes and needed an outlet to ward off isolation (though I was in love with the Island, I missed my loved ones) and to share my new life with my friends and family far away.

I blogged about my life on an island and in a small rural Northern Ontario town. Did you know that the Island is the world's largest fresh water lake island? The blog also served as a place where I planned my wedding details and asked readers for tips and advice. I asked about things like wedding etiquette, what kinds of bombonieres to give guests at our wedding, what kind of food to serve, music to play, etc. That was back in 2006. I had no idea that people other than my friends and family could read the blog until comments started filtering in.

Why would anyone other than my friends and family want to read a boring blog like mine?

All of a sudden, I had a core group of friends in the blogosphere whose blogs I frequented.  We commented on each other's blogs religiously.  We blogged for the love of blogging.  Things were different back then. I miss the daily banter between Ms.Mamma, JellyJules, Uncivil, Wisconsin Candy Dish, and Curiosity Killer.  The only one from that vintage who still corresponds via the blog regularly is CanineCologne.  Though I keep in touch with my old school bloggy friends, it's outside of the blog. Canine has actually visited us with her family twice in the past few years and is a regular fixture in our loves via email, phone calls, text messages and care packages.

Where was I?  Oh, right...

Then I ended up on complete bed rest for my high risk pregnancy, and to my surprise, blog friends around the world were watching, praying, giving me phone calls from California and New Zealand!  It's hard to describe the amazing friendships the blog brought me.  It was a community family that was built.  Genuine interest and genuine comments.

Little One catapulted herself into existence at 28 weeks gestation.  It the most difficult and the most terrifying time of my life.  Our life in the NICU lasted 72 days.  It was a long and challenging journey for us, yet she proved (and continues to prove) what a fighter she really is.

I had become a Mommy.

I was a Mom with a blog.  I guess by default, that made the blog a "Mom blog".  I blogged about life with a preemie, parenting, and everything under the sun.  The good, the bad, and the ugly.


All of a sudden, the blog morphed into something else.  It turned into a way I could supplement our family income.  I was able to put teaching English on the back burner because I was monetizing the blog.  I was shocked to see how the blog took on a life of its own.

There was a brief time a few years ago (I think Little One was two years old), when I wanted to shut down the blog.  I went on a brief hiatus.  It was turning into something that wasn't me.  I felt like I was losing my voice and losing the reason I started blogging in the first place.  Though the blog had been around since 2006, I didn't really start monetizing until 2009 and wasn't even seriously blogging until 2010.  That's when all the big opportunities started coming in.  The blog also became secondary to all the social media jobs I was getting as an offshoot of the blog.  My main job is with PTPA as their Social Media Community Manager on Twitter.  Had I not started a blog back in 2006, I wouldn't have opened up a Twitter account.  Had I not opened up a Twitter account, I would not have engaged and formed relationships like I did on Twitter.  Had I not done all of that, I wouldn't have been given the amazing jobs I am now happily working at.  It's almost dizzying to think of how one thing led to another and how so much has changed.

A girlfriend of mine shared her new blog with me and as I read, it was bitter sweet to me.  She recently moved to the Island and started her blog for pretty much the same reasons I did back in 2006.  Her blog posts made me smile.  Reading her posts made me wistful and nostalgic. That was me seven years ago.  Holy smokes! Seven years? That's crazy!

As I read my friend's blog, I remember a time when blogging was just blogging.  I remember a time when I blogged because I loved it.  I still love it, but sometimes I feel like the blogging world has turned blogs into something else.  It's not a bad thing - As long as we preserve our voice and continue to write about what we love and are passionate about.

I guess I just miss the older blogs where people used to visit and read each other's posts. I mean really read and comment.  Don't get me wrong.  I love each and every comment I receive and I adore my friends and readers.  There's a kinship I feel with those in my blogging community.  I do feel people who comment on the blog are genuine in their comments.  It's just that somewhere between the reviews and giveaways, and producing posts like you're a machine, I think we've lost something.  We may be gaining readers and followers, but part of me just misses the old school blog.

I love the blog and all it has given me.  It's an extension of me and something to keep for posterity.  It has given me so many incredible opportunities from ambassadorships and conferences, to sponsored posts and making fabulous friends (many of whom are not simply online friends, but in real life friends too). Feeling a little nostalgic and wistful tonight. Kind of miss the old school blogs.

Know what I'm sayin'?

End of rant.

Please show my friend, New Country Mama Manitoulin some love.  She's new around here. :)

With May being the month my Lola (grandmother) passed away last year, I've found myself making a lot of Filipino dishes. We're now into the beginning of June and I find I'm still cooking a lot of Filipino food. This has totally been done unintentionally.  I think it's perhaps because I really, really miss my grandmother right now.  I've also been missing her cooking and by me cooking up some of the food that remind me of her, it also brings me back to my roots.

My husband and four year old daughter certainly don't mind.  We had Filipino Bistek for supper tonight and it was a hit.

This is a family recipe that has been tweaked.  I didn't have *calamansi (citrus fruit native to the Philippines - looks like a little lime/lemon).  Since I can't get calamansi where I live, I use regular lemons.  It doesn't taste quite the same as the Bistek in the Philippines, but it does the trick!

Filipino Bistek

#WordlessWednesday ~ 4 Generations

I was finishing up some last minute work for a campaign when I looked at the clock on the bottom right hand corner of my computer screen.  All of a sudden an overwhelming sense of sadness washed over me. The date! The date made me burst out in tears. It was a reminder of the saddest day of my life.

My grandmother passed away a year ago tomorrow.

May 15, 2012. I still cry every time I think of her.

Sometimes I feel like I'm going bonkers, because one minute life is amazing and so many fabulous things are  happening for us. The next minute, I'm just so sad. Weepy...and missing her so very much.

My heart hurts so much, I feel like I can't breathe.



Still thinking of you each and every day, Lola.

Tonight we'll celebrate your life by lighting a candle for you, saying a prayer, and cooking some Filipino food like you used to make.

With Little One now in Junior Kindergarten, the Scholastic book order forms are something we get really excited about in this house.  Little One loves books. Loves them.

My friend Manitoulin Key Lime Pie started Little One's obsession with Laura J. Numeroff's adorable collection of books when she gave her If You Give A Moose A Muffin, If You Give A Pig A Pancake, If You Give A Cat A Cupcake for her 2nd birthday. At 4 years old, Little One is determined to own the entire series.  Uh huh. Guess what books we'll be ordering from Scholastic?

Okay, you're probably wondering what a book about giving a moose a muffin has to do with Singapore Noodles, right?

If you've read any of the books in Numeroff's collection, you'll notice a pattern.

If a big hungry moose comes to visit, you might give him a muffin to make him feel at home. If you give him a muffin, he'll want some jam to go with it. When he's eaten all your muffins, he'll want to go to the store to get some more muffin mix. 

The moose initially asks for jam to go with his muffin, and after stream of consciousnes-like events in between, the story ends up with something reminding the moose of a muffin and him asking for jam to go with it.

The stories in Laura Numeroff's collection are entertaining, fun, and follow a similar sequence so that children can have fun predicting what will happen. My four year old has all of her books committed to memory. I don't know why she bothers asking me to read them to her every night...multiple times.

Singapore Noodles. Right.

The other day, I posted my Curried Egg Sandwich recipe. Immediately after posting. the idea of curry made me crave Singapore Noodles. I had to laugh, because this totally reminded me of my daughter's books! These books also remind me of how Mommies can oftentimes start off at one point, get distracted by everything that goes on in the day (with work, with home, with kids, with activities, etc), only to end up right where they began. With curry. You know. Curried Egg Sandwich? Singapore Noodles? If You Give A Moose A Muffin? I can't believe you missed that connection.

Without further ado, here is my Singapore Noodles recipe.

Ingredients
5.5 ounces dried rice vermicelli
4 oz chicken, cut into thin strips
2 teaspoon soy sauce
2 tsp rice wine
2 Tbsp curry powder
2 Tbps fish sauce (optional - I often forget to use it and I only use it if I'm using shrimp instead of chicken or pork)
1 Tbps oyster sauce
3/4 cup chicken stock
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tbps ginger, minced
1/2 medium onion, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
4 ounces bean sprouts (if you have them)
3 green onions, sliced thin
oil for stir-frying

Instructions
Soak the dried rice noodles in very hot water for 3 minutes. Do not over-soak them or they will stick together and get mushy when you cook them.

Pull noodles apart as soon as they start softening. Rinse in cold water several times to prevent the noodles from absorbing too much water. This also gets rid of any extra starch.

Chicken to a bowl and season with the soy sauce and rice wine.

Add curry powder into a small bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the fish sauce, oyster sauce and chicken stock.

Make sure to have all your prep done ahead of time, because everything will cook very quickly.

Heat a wok over high until very hot then add a Tbps of oil, swirl to coat inside of wok, then add the egg, swirling then scrambling. Put the egg on a plate and set aside.

Add 2 Tbsp of oil, then add the garlic and ginger, and then fry until the fragrances come alive. Oh,  you'll know it when it happens! Add chicken, holding aside the marinade and fry until the chicken just loses its pink color. At this point, it doesn’t have to be all the way cooked.

Add the onion, red and green bell peppers, and bean sprouts. Fry while stirring vigorously. Until the vegetables are a bright color. Add the curry powder and stir-fry until fragrant, then pour in the chicken stock and fish sauce mixture. Stir, to combine, then add the noodles and return the egg to the pan.

 If the noodles start sticking, add some water.

Top with scallions, then serve your Singapore Noodles immediately.You can switch things  up by substituting pork or shrimp for chicken. I've even done this recipe with tofu for a vegetarian option. Add some spicy chili pepper for kick if you wish!

The funny thing is that I wanted to begin this post with something like:

• "Singapore Noodles: Memories of Lunch Dates with My Dad at Le Faubourg Ste-Catherine in Montreal during my university days"
• "Yes, I traveled to Singapore just to sample some real Singapore Noodles and a real Singapore Sling!"

Yes, both of those headers are indeed true.

 Merlion - Most likely the most photographed subject in Singapore! Photo from here via Google Images.

P.S. I know many will think I am crazy, but I wish I loved Singapore more than I do! All I remember was that Singapore was super hot (like please don't let me go outside because I'm going to melt & I NEED A/C kind of hot!), expensive, insanely clean (I was scared something might fall out of my pocket and I'd get caned to death for littering), and the cockroaches were the size of small cats. Maybe not that big, but they were huge! Being so close to the equator, I guess the climate is conducive to roaches? Anyway, Singapore is a beautiful place and there was a lot to see. Love the culture and chatting up with all the ex-pats from all over the world! Fun! Wow. I totally miss my carefree jet-setting days sometimes.

**One more thing. I used this for my Singapore Noodles recipe this time. Hubby and Little One did the groceries and this is what they picked up.

Disclosure - This is not a sponsored post. Janes Family Food gets a mention today because Hubby and Little One love their Janes Chicken. All the thoughts and opinions expressed on this blog are honest and my own.

One of my favourite sandwiches is the Curried Egg Sandwich.  Surprisingly enough, the first time I had ever eaten a curried egg sandwich was when I was in Japan!

There was this delightful little cafe my friends and I used to ride our bicycles to on our days off. Usually on a Sunday morning, we'd have brunch at this quaint little place. They specialized in an assortment of "different" bagels and sandwiches. The place also doubled as a shop that sold really cool items like the funkiest lighters and even Swiss Army knives. The menu, the ambiance, and the venue itself were all really unique and not what I would expect to find in the outskirts of Hiroshima.

How I wish I could remember the name of that place! *Edited to add: Thanks to Facebook, I was able to ask my former co-workers from Japan what the name of that place was! It's Darren Almond! Wonder if it's named after this Darren Almond? Must be!

Whenever I have a curried egg sandwich, I am transported to that special time in my life. Hard to believe my days teaching and living in Japan are so far away. Like fifteen years ago! Wow!

The original Curried Egg sandwich I had was served on a toasted whole wheat bagel and it had capers. Here's my version of the sandwich:

Ingredients

• 4 extra large hard boiled eggs
• 2 Tbsp of mayonnaise
• 1 tsp of curry powder
• 1/2 tsp of sea salt
• 2 Tbsp of chopped fresh chives (if you want to switch things up, you can use 2 Tbsp chopped parsley)
•  alfalfa sprouts or chopped baby spinach or watercress
• a few slices of cucumber (just because my 4 year old's favourite vegetable is cucumber)
• Slices of Dempster's wholegrain bread or Dempster's bagel of your choice. This time we used Dempster's Villaggio, because that's Hubby's new fave.

Instructions
Enjoy!

Disclosure - This is not a sponsored post. We just really like Dempster's bread! All the thoughts and opinions expressed on this blog are honest and my own.

When I was itty bitty, I had a neighbour who lived in the house behind ours.  She was two years older than me and was like a big sister to me.  Our parents have been best friends for over thirty something years now.  They spent Thanksgiving holidays with us.

The photo below is of my friend's daughter and Little One. Looking at our girls is like looking at the spitting image of ourselves. It's pretty surreal.

It's been a few weeks since my grandmother passed away.  Looking at photos and videos of my grandparents makes my heart hurt. Some days I'm just so wrapped up in work and family responsibilities that I forget the sadness. That feeling like something is missing always seems to resurface during the more quiet, pensive moments.

I guess this post isn't much of a "Wordless" Wednesday post after all.

Please feel free to link up your fabulous Wordless Wednesday posts!  A photo says a thousand words. It brings us back to special times, evokes memories, and makes us feel.


Looking forward to checking out and commenting on your posts!

At the risk of sounding depressing, I thought I'd post more of my "Grandma (aka Lola) posts".  I don't want to keep posting about my lola's death and have you think I'm dwelling too much on things.  I'm fine...for the most part. I have my moments.  I'm trying to convince myself that I know this is best for her and that she is no longer suffering.  I'm trying.

It's been a week since she died and almost two weeks since I last saw her and held her hand.

My last memory of her alive was me having some quiet time with her in her ICU room. I remember holding her hand, praying with her, and telling her "Mommy, you know I love your, right?". She nodded. I could tell how tired she was.  Tired of fighting for her life.  Tired of trying to stay alive for us. She just needed to finally be able to rest in peace.

I've also been trying to find out how best to deal with death and dying with my three year old.  She's been taking it pretty badly and has been asking demanding to see her great-lola again.  I get the tears and the "I don't want my great-lola to be dead! I want to see her NOW!" and it is heartbreaking.

Searching for info on "bereavement and children" has proved to be a little overbearing. There's just so much info out there, I don't know where to begin.

Since Lola's death my cousins and I have been corresponding back and forth on Facebook, sharing memories of our grandparents and of our childhood.  We're a tightly-knit family because of my grandparents.

I remember being in elementary school and high school and friends would say, "Wow. You hang out with your cousins?! I don't even know my cousins."  Truth be told, my cousins were all like siblings to me. They still are. When I lived in Montreal, we'd see each other all the time and hang out together. I always wished that my own children would have the same kind of relationship with their family that I had when I was a growing up.

It's not your typical Wordless Wednesday...

Three years ago today, I was on bed rest at Mount Sinai Hospital.  I remember being sad that I couldn't enjoy my pregnancy like most moms do. I would never become hugely pregnant. I would never experience my last trimester. Instead, I had to spend my days and nights on my back so my baby wouldn't arrive too soon. I was six hours away from my husband, family, and my home. To be honest, spending your days and nights in a hospital bed for weeks is not fun.

Thankfully, I  had friends and family in Toronto who came to visit me. Thankfully, my husband brought my laptop to the hospital. Thankfully, I had started blogging. I wouldn't have been able to cope with everything without the support network I had. A special thank you goes out to my aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who came to visit me in the hospital and help me pass a few hours here and there. Thank you to Dee, Fancy, AvoidEverything, SillyLizard, Humps 'n Bumps, and T!

Another big thank you goes out to my online friends for being there for me too. I love you, Ms.Mamma, Jeanna, Jimmy, J, CanineCologne, Merinz, et al. Your e-mail, cards, phone calls, words of encouragement really helped me get through those scary times in the hospital when every day was a roller coaster ride, not knowing if my baby was going to survive.

She did, and she's fine now.

Since those days in the hospital, blogging has become a part of my regular life. What's even more is that so many amazing opportunities have come out of blogging.

{FOR FULL POST, CLICK HERE}

Back in 1992, I had the opportunity to be part of the Voyageurs '92 program. Along with a dozen other youth from my community, I had a chance to see what life at the other end of our country was like.

I stayed with a lovely family in Victoria, BC. In exchange, my billet got to stay at my family's home in the West Island (in the province of Quebec). I remember learning all about BC and its wonderfully rich history and culture. The climate, flora and fauna also struck me as being totally different from what we experience in Quebec.

If I have to be honest, I'll say that what I remember most is how amazing my host family was. My billet and I quickly became good friends and had late night chats with her mom over yummy treats! Among those treats was this fabulous Chocolate Zucchini Cake! I had never ever heard of chocolate and zucchini together! It was such an odd combination!

It was the best chocolate cake I had ever had though! So moist!

Years later...Okay, let's do the math. That was Summer of '92 and it's now 2011. Many years later, I have been longing for that cake recipe. I've lost touch with my host family, but have found several chocolate zucchini cake recipes on the internet (thank  you, Google!). I've tweaked, played with, altered, incorporated, and have come up with a recipe I think is similar to the one my amazing host mother made for us back when I was 16 years old.

2 1/2 c  flour
1/2 c cocoa powder (for baking)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 c sugar (Substitute sugar with more natural sweeteners like agave, demerara, etc)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 c shredded zucchini (I used 3 c shredded zukes)
1 1/2 c vegetable oil OR
*1 jar prune puree (you can use the jarred baby food one if you don't make your own from scratch)

* Instead of using oil or butter, I used prune puree. If you want to use butter, use 3/4 c at room temperature.  If you want to use oil, 1 1/2 cups veg oil.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together your wet ingredients: butter/sugar or prune puree, eggs, cinnamon and vanilla.
Add flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, and shredded zucchini to wet mixture.
Combine all ingredients together.
In a greased Bundt pan, pour batter.
Bake for 50 minutes.
Cool in pan for 15 min (Trust me! If you take it out sooner, it will fall apart into zillions of pieces and  you'll never be able to salvage the cake! You won't have enough time to bake another for that important bake sale, bazaar, tea, fundraiser, or dinner party  you were going to bring it to!) and then cool on wire rack.

You can make a simple glaze or a chocolate ganache to add on top of the cake, but my toddler loves it just as it is...along with some homemade applesauce on the side!

Happy Anniversary, Hubby! Here's to many more wonderful years together.

As we approached High Park, my heart began to race with excitement and anticipation. In the distance, I could see the big bouncy castles and hear the children's laughter. The park was filled with families and their NICU graduates. I wasn't sure what to expect with this being the first Mount Sinai Hospital NICU Graduates Picnic we were able to attend.
I felt overwhelmed with happiness. All these families who had spent long days, weeks, and even months in the NICU were all together in one place, sharing in the celebration of all the babies who were in the NICU. The appreciation and thankfulness I felt for the doctors, nurses, staff, volunteers, and other families cannot be expressed in words. There are no words to adequately describe how I feel.

Tears poured, as hugs were exchanged. "Thank you for being there and helping us get through some of the hardest times we've ever had to experience" and "I don't know what I would have done if  you weren't in the NICU with me" could be heard by many of the parents. We all shared like experiences. We all had special little miracles. Some were born just over a pound at birth and are now happy, healthy, busy toddlers.


To be honest, though one can never forget those early days in the NICU, as the years pass and Little One grows, it all seems so surreal that we went through all of the scary, rocky times in our baby's first months. Little One is two and a half years old now! The date on this photo is wrong. It should have been November 19, 2008.



Being able to see the people who spent time in the NICU with us when Little One was there just brought back so many memories. It was a celebration, a reunion, and just a very happy occasion.
Little One is a healthy child. Developmentally, she is just like any other toddler her age. She is just a regular kid, but who had a rocky start.

It was fantastic to see all the preemies who were in the NICU with Little One. I cannot believe how much they've all grown! They are all doing so well! No photos of the picnic or families and children who attended the picnic will be posted on here (due to privacy reasons).

Thank you to everyone involved in making the Preemie Graduates Picnic 2011 a very memorable one.
* Photos of Little One at the picnic courtesy of the talented  www.beyondinfinitiphotography.com :) Thank you!

We went from reading books to Little One...

 ...to Little One "reading" stories to us.

 ...to being in a big girl bed!

 She's growing up so quickly and I have to say that I miss my little baby. I'm enjoying the toddler years, but cannot believe how fast the years are flying by! 2 years old already. That's crazy!

She mimics everything we do and she asserts her independence. She demonstrates her likes and dislikes, and she  has no qualms about letting us know what she thinks. She is into everything...a walking disaster waiting to happen...always making me clean the house very inquisitive. She says the funniest things like, "BABY!!!" while pointing at her grandmother's tummy. *sigh*

The time between babyhood and school age years is just so precious and short. I just want to savour every moment. We can never get this time with our kids back. Remind me I said this the next time I complain about how exhausted I am! ;)

what cartoon this is...
I am a product of the 80s. I grew up on cheesy TV commercials, TV shows with catchy (albeit also cheesy) music, pop artists who wore fluorescent t-shirts and skintight jeans, lots of blue eyeliner and fire engine red lipstick...oh, and we can't forget about the big, teased bangs held up by a full can of hairspray. Those were the days when we had magazine pics of our favourite TV actors and pop musicians plastered all over our walls in our rooms and on the inside of our lockers at school.

Those were the days when we actually looked forward to Saturday morning cartoons. Saturday morning cartoons were actually really good back then.

I'll give you $10 if you can name my favourite 1980s cartoon.

No? Okay, I'll tell you anyway. Remember Kidd Video? This cartoon is the epitome of everything that was 1980s. From the new wave fashions, big hair, and super "cool" music, this show is the perfect example of 80s pop culture. Do you remember the show at all? Kidd Video is about a band (three guys and a girl) who get sucked into a mirror by an evil overlord record producer, which takes them to the "flipside". All the while, they play their music - which just happens to be the best music of the 80s.

I also loved these shows:

The All-New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show 
Dennis the Menace  
Dinoriders 
Denver the Last Dinosaur 
The Flintstones 
Fraggle Rock 
Garfield and Friends
G.I. Joe 
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe 
Inspector Gadget  
Jem! 
Muppet Babies  
The New Fat Albert Show 
The Real Ghostbusters 
Smurf
Snorks 
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 
Transformers
Thundercats 
Tranzor Z 
Voltron: Defender of the Universe

I remember rushing home after school so I could catch the last bit of G.I. Joe. My brother, cousins and I would go to my grandparents after school, and my grandparents would have "merienda" (snack) ready for us after school. We'd watch G.I. Joe, and maybe one other cartoon, while we had our merienda and then we'd do our homework. If we were done our homework, we'd play outside with the neighbourhood kids before our parents came to pick us up after work. Those were the good ol' days. 1980s cartoons always remind me of this happy, innocent, carefree time. They also remind me of the time we spent with my grandfather before he died.

Which were your favourite cartoons?