Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Itsabelly Baby Concierge - Now in Toronto

Whether you’re planning for the arrival of your baby or have a newborn at home, Itsabelly Baby Concierge will allow you to truly enjoy this special time in your life and reduce the amount of overwhelming stress in preparing for your newborn’s arrival. No more late nights of reviewing baby books, searching the web, or trips to the baby stores. Itsabelly Baby Concierge is a premier baby planning service helping you navigate the world of all things maternity and newborn with a green focus.

Some of the services your baby concierge can help you with are:

  • Creating a baby registry to suit your families needs based on personal budget and lifestyle
  • Designing your baby’s nursery
  • Selecting childcare (daycare, nanny, babysitter)
  • Finding non-toxic and eco-friendly baby products
  • Totally overwhelmed and not sure where to start? We’ve got the answers!

All of these and more are personalized services offered by your Itsabelly Baby Concierge. Tailored to your needs in order to make your life easier, less stressful, save you money and allowing you to spend more quality time enjoying the anticipation of your new arrival.

For a complimentary consultation,
Call Rishma at #416-319-7474

Monday, September 8, 2008

Farm Fresh - Connect with Local Farmers in York Region

This fall, you can take the whole family to re-connect with farm life and the farmer who grows your food. Show your children where their food really comes from.

The Farm Fresh Experience is more than nostalgia and education. It's fun. There are wagon rides, corn mazes, farm animals, demonstrations, and nature walks, and lots more.

First and foremost, the Farm Fresh Experience is all about the freshest farm products with the most flavour, from apples to zucchini, direct from the farmer to you. You can enjoy apple, pumpkin, and berry pies baked fresh daily and find honey, maple syrup, jams, jellies, fine wines, and creative country crafts. The York Region Farm Fresh brochure provides a listing of pick-your-own farms, markets and gardens throughout the Region.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Momstown.ca - Now in Markham

momstown.ca is for neighbourhood moms wanting to connect for support, conversation and just plain fun. Visit markham.momstown.ca to learn more.

Friday, September 5, 2008

What to do this weekend?

Milliken Children’s Festival - Markham
This year, the Milliken Children’s Festival is celebrating its 10 Year Anniversary! This festival is Markham's largest childrens event, featuring entertainment, crafts and activities for children from two to twelve in a parkland setting. The event attracts families from across Markham—last year’s record attendance reached 17,000!

The day is FREE to all and includes:

* Entertainment featuring an impressive line-up of children’s performers
* An interactive marketplace showcasing family-orient suppliers of products and services
* Face-painting and balloon creatures
* Hair wrapping and henna art
* Inflatable rides
* Community activities including: police safety bug, fire-truck interaction

Purchase a “Play All Day” Pass for only $5.00 and gain access to additional rides and activites including: a rock-climbing wall, pony rides, petting zoo and mini circuit.

The Milliken Children’s Festival is organized by the Town of Markham.

Grandparents Day - 10 ways to preserve your family’s unique story this National Grandparents Day

With Grandparents day coming up this weekened here are some tips from Hazel Cole Kendle, the 88-year-old first-time author of the just-released Cole Family Christmas. This year’s Grandparent’s Day will mark its 30th anniversary on Sept. 7.

“It’s a myth that young people don’t want to hear the stories their grandparents can tell,” said Kendle. “However, too often grandparents and great-grandparents feel like they must wait to be asked before telling those stories. Realize that family members often won’t ask for the first story, but once you start talking, they’ll be begging for more.”

Jennifer Liu Bryan of Alexandria, Virginia, Kendle’s granddaughter-in-law and co-author, points out that grandparents don’t have to stop with stories, either.

“There are many ways to pass along family traditions,” said Bryan. “Remember the favorite dessert your grandmother used to make or the dishes she received on her wedding day. Each item serves as a connection to the past, but we have to work to keep that chain from breaking.”

For this reason, Kendle and Bryan suggest 10 ways families can preserve their memories this Grandparents Day.

1. Construct a family memory book. Gather pictures of family members across generations and make a scrapbook by writing in the stories that have been passed on through generations.

2. Play a game the grandparents used to play. Kids had fun long before video games were invented. Play a game from the analog era to show the grandchildren how it was done.

3. Read a book your grandparents read when they were your age. Grandparents can make classic children’s literature even more rewarding by adding in details of what life was like at the time.

4. Learn how to cook grandma’s favourite recipe. Whether that’s a traditional holiday dish or her secret cookie recipe, spend time in the kitchen with grandma cooking a recipe that can be passed down to the next generation.

5. Take part in a grandparent’s favorite hobby. Whether that is painting, gardening, or putting together puzzles, spend time with your grandparents and learn about the daily activities that bring them joy.

6. Pick out one interesting, unique or strange family heirloom. Grandparents can explain the history of the item and why it is special to the family.

7. Learn where you came from. Drive through your grandparents’ old neighborhood and listen to stories about their old neighbors or family outings at the local park.

8. Go back in time to the movies. Rent a classic the grandparents enjoyed seeing on the big screen years ago. There are plenty of great old movies other than just the ones that run during the holidays.

9. Ask to look at your grandparent’s wedding pictures or high school yearbooks. Learn about their best friends and see pictures of them when they were so much younger.

10. Preserve a memory for future generations. Make a home video with them and let them discuss their favorite stories.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next Chapter Press has released 60,000 copies of Cole Family Christmas, a true, tender, and wholly unforgettable tale that has been passed down from generation to generation through a coal miner's family.



When one of Mama’s few possessions, a treasured purple glass bowl with fluted edges, is accidentally broken by exuberant children rushing in from the outdoors, and an unlikely blizzard prevents Papa from coming home after working extra hours at the coal mine on Christmas Eve, hopes for a picture perfect Christmas were quickly quelled. However, the hours that followed that turbulent Christmas morning created a joyful story that has lived in family lore for years.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Tips on Getting Your Kids to School

So, the first week is over! Hopefully, getting your family back into the swing of things went smoothly. Here are some tips from parenting expert Alyson Schafer on getting your kids to school on time.

Getting Kids To School On Time
by Alyson Schäfer

As I was putting together my "back to school" workshop for the teachers at Foundations Private School Adlerian K-8 school in Aurora I thought that if I am helping the teachers prepare, I should give some pointers to the parent community too. These ideas work best when home and school work together.

Perhaps one of the most universal issues for parents is the morning mayhem that ensues when parents fight to get their children to school on time. Typically, this results in a power struggle. The real issue is right in the name: a struggle for power. A struggle for power is the dance we do with our children to fight to establish just who has power over who. In healthy relationships, interpersonal power is shared and neither party acts as slave and tyrant to another.

The child who acts like a tyrant is fighting for power they perceive has been usurped by an adult who has attempted to "make them" mind. To pin point the power struggle, take a look at the roles and responsibilities of the parties involved. Chances are, a parent is sticking their nose in someone else's business.

Let's have a closer look at the morning situation:

Who's responsibility is it to get to school on time? The child's.

What happens when you get involved? You rob them of this responsibility and in doing so, take away a piece of their empowerment over themselves.

I understand your motivation. You fear that if you don't look after this responsibilty, your child won't either, and the thought of being late for school is abhorrent to you. After all - what would people say about you and your mothering? I promise you, there is no better way to get yourself angry than to make your success dependant on someone else's behaviour. No wonder you're fighting for power too. You just gave yours away with thinking like that!

I see it differently, and I'd like a chance to convince you otherwise too.

The first fact that you need to know: Children will not take responsibility for themselves UNTIL you abandon it. This is why very responsible parents raise very irresponsible children - because the parent can't give it up! You think it is your "job".

Second fact: Your child will not just jump right up and into perfect action when taking on a new responsibility. They will go through a few stages:

Disbelief Stage- they don't really think that you will follow through with letting them manage their morning on their own.
Testing Stage - they will enjoy taking their time, checking for your reactions, checking to see how long you can go before you jump in and take over again.
Belief Stage - with repeated experience of you not watching the clock, not shouting reminders, and allowing them to experience the consequence of their choices (namely - being late), they will start to understand that no one else has a vested interest in their problem except them! And TV is starting to get boring, and they are missing their friends at school, and no one fights with them at home anymore....
Mistakes Stage - when the child finally decides that it is in their own best interest to get to school on time, and that no one else is going to make this happen but them, they will start to figure out how to solve this problem for themselves. Being a neophyte at it, they will make errors in judgement, like not leaving enough time, or skipping breakfast to make extra time, or racing around last minute because they can't find their shoes, whatever. They will probably be late quit a bit during this particular stage. This is were parents must resist the urge to take over or rescue, but neither does that mean you have to be a meany. If they say "have you seen my shoes" you don't have to bark back in disdain: "I don't know, your shoes are YOUR job, If you would have put them in the right place and left more time you wouldn't be in this mess!" Its okay to have a look around for shoes if you have a moment, so long as it is not a pattern every morning, your child is asking for help, just as your spouse might.
Competence - the last stage comes down the road.
While it did cost the child many late passes, and missing some school each day, I think it is worth these gains:

A peaceful start to the day for your family - the best club you'll ever be in!
A child's sense of confidence and empowerment that they manage themselves
A child's sense of independence
A child's sense of maturity
A child's belief that their parents trust and respect them to look after themselves and their responsibilities
If you ask me, there is as much important education going on here for a child as would be covered in the classroom time they missed.

I know you are asking yourself at what age can you start this? I began with my children in grade one and kindergarten. They were late a lot in grade one. By grade two it was much less frequently, but by grade three they had it pretty well figured out. Now my kids are in grade 5 and 6. I love easy mornings. Sometimes it is the only time we are together as a family for the day. They don't like being late, and if they are late, it is a real rarity. They manage their mornings beautifully. Well worth the time I invested.
.

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Alyson Schäfer is a psychotherapist, parent coach and popular public speaker. She teaches parent education classes and works with parents one-on-one in her parent coaching practice.

"Breaking The Good Mom Myth" is Alyson's first book. Written with wit and wisdom, you'll laugh while learning how to let go of perfection and get on with raising great kids.

Alyson hosts The Parenting Show on Rogers TV (Show times). Visit Alyson's website!