April 2016 Island Parent

Island Parent Celebrating

28 Years

The Resource Publication for Vancouver Island Parents

April 2016

A Family Is a Family no Matter How Many Moms (or Dads)

Special Needs Programs & Services

Summer Camp Fun

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Optician: An Optician is an eye-care professional who is trained to design, fit and sell eyeglasses and contact lenses.

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Optometrist: An Optometrist is a doctor of optometry who performs comprehensive eye examinations for their patients.

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Ophthalmologist: An Ophthalmologist is a medical doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases.

Many ophthalmologists are also eye surgeons. They perform surgeries and laser treatments on the eye. You have to be referred to see an Ophthalmologist by either your Doctor of Optometry or Family Physician.

Not all diseases and conditions of the eye have symptoms.

Full health eye examinations for both children and adults are integral to help solve issues before they happen. All three of these professionals are dedicated to you and your eye health. Book your eye examination today!

May 20 - 29 2016

Curiosity • Diversity Exploration • Nature Play-Oriented Learning

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saanich.ca/recreation April 2016  1

Island Parent Celebrating

28 Years

on for Vancouver Island

The Resource Publicati

Parents

April 2016

A Family Is a Family No Matter How Many Moms (or Dads)

Special Needs Programs & Services

Summer Camp Fun

Please visit any of our valued partners to pick up your latest copy of Island Parent.

GREATER VICTORIA Greater Victoria Public Libraries Vancouver Island Regional Libraries Greater Victoria Recreation Centres Thrifty Foods All 25 Serious Coffee locations Island-wide Victoria Gymnastics Country Grocer Chapters Vitamin Shop The Bay Centre (info booth) Scallywags Royal BC Museum Buddies Toys Crumsby’s Market on Yates Market on Millstream Victoria Conservatory JamTots Lifestyle Market Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre

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For a complete list of where you can find a copy of Island Parent Magazine, go to

islandparent.ca 250-388-6905 2

Island Parent Magazine

Contents: April 2016 Articles She Says, He Says ........................................................................................... 8 A Family Is a Family..................................................................................... 10 Dispatches from the French Alps .................................................................. 12 Keeping Our Shoreline Clean ....................................................................... 16 But I Don’t Want to Share ............................................................................ 18 Summer Camp Fun ...................................................................................... 20 Oil Rig Dad .................................................................................................. 22 Spring Has Sprung ....................................................................................... 24 Special Needs Resources ............................................................................... 34 Preparing for Summer Camp ........................................................................ 36

Columns Editor’s Note .................................................................................................. 3 Dadspeak ..................................................................................................... 38 New Parent Pages ......................................................................................... 40 Is There an App for This? ............................................................................. 42 Book Nook .................................................................................................. 44 Healthy Families; Happy Families ................................................................ 48 Maternity & Beyond .................................................................................... 52 Nature Notes ............................................................................................... 54 Cut It Out .................................................................................................... 56

Departments IPM Notes...................................................................................................... 4 Party Directory............................................................................................. 23 Family Calendar ........................................................................................... 28 Around the Island ........................................................................................ 32 Family Services Directory ....................................................................... 46, 47 Preschool & Child Care Directory.......................................................... 50, 51 Business & Professional Directory ................................................................ 53 Island Parent Magazine, produced by Island Parent Group Enterprises Ltd., is a monthly publication that honours and supports parents by providing information on resources and businesses for families, and a forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher. Letters (max 250 words) should be emailed to the Editor at editor@islandparent.ca. No material herein may be reproduced without the permission of the Editor. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome and should be emailed to editor@islandparent.ca.

Island Parent Magazine is distributed free in selected areas. Subscriptions can be obtained by sending $35.00 (includes GST) with your name and address to the address below. Canada Post: Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement 40051398.

Island Parent Magazine

830-A Pembroke St, Victoria, BC V8T 1H9 Tel: 250-388-6905 Website: islandparent.ca Publisher/Owner: Mark Warner Editor: Sue Fast Sales & Marketing: RaeLeigh Buchanan Publisher’s Assistant & Sales: Linda Frear Distribution: Ray Cutts, Ted Dawe (Mid-Island) Founders: Jim Holland & Selinde Krayenhoff Production: Eacrett Graphic Design Printed at Black Press, Victoria Cover printed at Hillside Printing ISSN 0838-5505

On the Cover: Ruby (6), Stacey (42), Maureen (49) Cover Photo: Bethany Schiedel, Images by Bethany Photography, imagesbybethany.com

FoLLoW uS on FaCebooK & tWItteR facebook.com/IslandParent twitter.com/IslandParent IslandParent.ca

The Power & Pitfalls of Praise & Positive Thought

Y

ou’re doing great.”

Those three words are printed in chalk on the sidewalk out front of my next-door neighbour’s house. Written, I’m guessing, by one of the family’s three kids, the message makes me stop. Though it is intended for no one in particular, and anyone who happens by, it shakes me out of my internal looping to-do list long enough to re-assess my thoughts and look around. It’s a gorgeous spring day. The soft pastel pink of the surrounding cherry blossoms is the same shade as the chalked sentiments at my feet.

Praise and positive thought. Loaded words these days. What good is a don’tworry-be-happy attitude when there’s work to be done? And why praise our kids when studies have shown that doing so could lead to an over-inflated ego?

But as I stand there reading those words— “You’re doing great”—my mood shifts.

Like Chalk the Walk, a campaign designed to spread “joy, optimism and inspiration through the magical power of positive mes-

sages and sidewalk chalk,” my neighbour’s words will likely lighten another passerby’s step. And, as is the aim of Chalk the Walk, creating an easy way for people to smile and feel happy, even just briefly, releases stress-busting, immune-boosting hormones in our bodies. “It’s as good for our health as it is for our heart.”

Positive messages are one thing. Praise, however, is another. Whether it’s faint, overthe-top, well-deserved, or otherwise, praise is something we parents are often told to avoid. Too much of it and, according to a study out of The Ohio State University, we help create over-inflated egos. Narcissists, even.

The problem with a “rah-rah mentality,” according to a study published in Scholastic Instructor Magazine, is that it can take away from the sense of satisfaction that comes from genuine achievement. The downside of too much praise is that kids may start to focus on the reward rather than on their task or endeavour.

Even worse, writes Tara Parker-Pope in the New York Times article “Are Kids Getting Too Much Praise,” failure can be devastating and confusing for kids whose confidence is based on an inflated ego, rather than their actual abilities.

Editor’s Note Sue Fast This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t praise our kids or try to engender self-confidence, writes Parker-Pope. But self-esteem should be the result of achievement, not false accomplishments.

So “Good sharing!” instead of “Good girl!” And “Good turn-taking!” instead of “Good boy!”

But as I look down at the message laid out before me, “You’re doing great,” I am happy to have made it this far, even if that’s just down my front steps and to where I stand now outside of my neighbour’s house.

And I am convinced, it’s a message that both kids—and parents—could stand to hear a little more often: “You’re doing great.”

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April 2016 3

SUNRISE WALDORF SCHOOL

IPM Notes Daffodil Month This month, the Canadian Cancer Society is asking British Columbians to join the fight against cancer by making a donation and wearing the iconic daffodil pin. Let people fighting the disease know that they are not alone on their cancer journey, that they are supported by friends, family and the Society through its support services.

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4 Island Parent Magazine

Presale. Sellers automatically earn a pass for the Sellers Presale.

Seller registration and item entry ends April 5. Unload the items your family no longer needs in one weekend. Sellers receive their proceeds by transfer or cheque days after the sale ends.

If you have a family-friendly business, don’t miss out on the chance to get your products in front of moms, dads, grandparents and kids for as low as $50. Visit the Vendors section of the website for details and to reserve your space.

VKC Spring Sale schedule: April 8 Presales by Invitation 5-8pm; April 9 Public Sale 10am-4pm; April 10 Half-Price Sale 9am-1pm. Visa, MasterCard, Debit and Cash accepted. Admission and parking are free. Let Victoria Kids Consignment help you buy from local moms and shop with local moms. Visit VictoriaKidsConsignment.ca for more details.

Bowl for Kids’ Sake 2016 The Society delivers programs for individuals seeking cancer information, along with emotional support, and camps for children, youth and families. It also provides transportation services, accommodations and short-term financial assistance for treatment-related transportation and accommodation. Volunteers and staff deliver cancer support programs, cancer prevention information, and they advocate for healthier communities and fundraise for cancer research.

Help get the Cancer Society’s daffodil onto the lapels of British Columbians. Show those affected by cancer that they are not alone—we are fighting with them. You can find pins at retail locations across the Island.

For more information, visit fightback.ca.

Victoria Kids Consignment Spring Sale The Victoria Kids Consignment (VKC) Spring Sale will be April 8-10 at Eagle Ridge Community Centre, 1089 Langford Parkway. Along with the thousands of gently-used clothing, shoes, infant gear, bedding, toys, books, games and sporting equipment, VKC now offers brand new items from famous toy makers Melissa & Doug. Stock up all in one place. Shop early—the best items will go fast.

Sign up for a volunteer shift today to earn a Presale Pass and shop early. One four-hour shift allows you entry to the Volunteer

Big Brothers and Big Sisters (BBBS) of Victoria’s annual Bowl for Kids’ Sake fundraiser takes place on Friday, April 15 (5:30-7pm, 7:30-9pm) and Sunday, April 22 (5:30-7pm, 7:30-9pm) at Langford Lanes and at Miracle Lanes in Sidney on Sunday, April 17 (1-2:30pm, 3-4:30pm). Come on out, lace up your bowling shoes and join in as local businesses and community members come together, form teams, collect pledges and participate in support of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Proceeds from this event help BBBS reach its goal of matching local children with mentors. Together, we can help children reach their full potential. This year’s theme is “Hollywood.” Participants are invited to dress up as their favourite movie character or celebrity, and will have the opportunity to win prizes for best costume, most dollars raised and best bowling score.

Registration is free and includes two hours of bowling fun, food, pop, and shoe rental.

Each individual bowler is responsible for raising $60—that’s $60 invested in a child and in a relationship with the potential of sparking a lifelong friendship. Bowl for Kids’ Sake is at Langford Lanes, 1097 Langford Parkway and Miracle Lanes, 2375 Bevan Avenue. Visitbbbsvictoria.com/en/Home/ newsevents/default.aspx for more information and registration details.

Creatively Celebrating Community The 5th Annual Creatively United for the Planet Earth Week Festival, featuring world-class speakers on topics relating to inIslandParent.ca

dividual, community and global well-being, will be held on Friday, April 15-Saturday, April 16, at Royal Bay Secondary School, 3500 Ryder Hesjedal Way in Colwood, and on Friday April 22-Saturday April 23 at Royal BC Museum.

untary activities to reduce your carbon footprint and impact on the planet.

• Post and share your activities online via social media.

• Track your acts on a personal dashboard.

• See collective carbon impact on a national calculator.

• Be recognized for hitting milestone carbon reduction levels and share success stories online.

Earth Day Every Day launched last year on Earth Day, with 25 clean commute actions. Register at EDED.ca and sign the Earth Flag which represents the collective resolve of Canadians to do their part to reduce their carbon footprint.

4 Men, 4 Microphones, No Instruments

Friday, April 15 (6-10pm): gourmet farmto-table dinner, 10-piece family string band, dancing, art and silent auction.

Saturday, April 16 (10am-5pm): displays, talks, films, repair cafe, world cafe, ebikes/ cars, solar, permaculture, plant medicines, photography, silent auction, art, music, food trucks.

Friday, April 22 (7-10 pm): Sea Blind Victoria Film Premiere with local filmmaker Sarah Robertson and celebrity author/artist Franke James.

Saturday, April 23 (1-5 pm): International storytellers, Franke James Green Conscience Workshop, art-making, music and more.

Free and ticketed events. Childminding provided by Westshore Parks and Recreation. Please see creativelyunited.org for details.

Earth Day Every Day Clean Commute On April 22, Earth Day Canada wants you to clean your commute. Earth Day Every Day is an easy-to-use mobile-friendly tool that challenges and rewards people to take action to reduce their environmental impact at home, at work and at play. The goal: helping people in Canada reduce their carbon footprint 20 per cent by 2020, in line with global emission reduction targets.

Track your impact. Here’s how: • Go to EDED.ca.

• Choose from a range of simple, vol-

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On Sunday, April 24 at 3pm, the a cappella ensemble, Cadence, will perform at St. Aidan’s United Church, at 3703 Saint Aidan’s St. in Victoria. Based in Toronto, Cadence has been wowing audiences across the country and around the world for nearly 20 years. Whether performing at sold-out jazz clubs and concert halls, at music festivals, for educational outreach, or for corporate functions, the members of Cadence bring an infectious energy and uncanny verve to every song they sing.

The band is made up of David Lane (baritone and bass), Ross Lynde (tenor), Kurt Sampson (bass and vocal percussion), and Victoria born and raised Lucas Marchand (tenor). A graduate of Victoria High School and the University of Victoria’s School of Music, Lucas was a stalwart with the Vic High R&B Band, the Midnights, and UVic’s Chamber Singers.

Cadence’s four critically acclaimed studio albums, Cool Yule (2011), Speak Easy (2010), Twenty for One (2005), and Frost Free (2000) have won or been nominated for numerous awards, including three nods from the JUNO Awards and 10 from the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARA).

Doors open at 2:30pm and tickets range from $15-$17, available through Eventbrite or at the door. For more information about Cadence, visit cadence-unplugged.com.

A Fun-Filled Day at BookFest The 30th Annual BookFest will take place on Saturday, May 7 in downtown Nanaimo. BookFest is a wonderful, funfilled day for children and adults alike.

Renowned authors and illustrators from

Yoga, Support and Fun! April 2016 Schedule 975 Fort Street,Victoria | 250-595-4905

We have lots of classes, activities and support groups for Moms, Dads, Babies and Toddlers.

All classes are drop-in.

Come on down and try them out!

Sunday

Prenatal Yoga 10:30am Dads’ Group 12:30

Monday

Mommy & Baby Yoga 1pm Baby Massage 2:30pm Yoga for Labour & Birth 5:15pm

Tuesday

Early Bird Circuit Fitness for Moms 9:30am

Mobile Baby Group (9-18mos) 11:00am Mommy & Baby Strength & Stretch 1:00pm Prenatal Strength & Stretch 5:15pm

Wednesday

Songs and Rhymes for Babies 10:15am Postpartum Pelvic Floor & Core 11:30am Older Baby Group (4-9mo) 1:00pm Prenatal Yoga 5:15pm

Thursday

Toddler Yoga 10:15am Mom & Baby Yoga 11:30am New Baby Group (0-4mos) 1:00pm Prenatal yoga 5:15pm

Friday

Prenatal Yoga 10:15am Sing and Sign 12:00pm Pregnancy Happy Hour 5:00pm

Find more information on all of our classes and groups, on our website at www.motheringtouch.ca - bookmark it on your phone for quick access!

Are you about to become a Dad? Are you a Dad with a baby under one year?

Come and join our Dads’ Workshop A workshop for new fathers and fathers-to-be to discuss new roles, expectations, life changes the joys and woes, challenges and the deep pleasure of being a DAD! Wednesday April 27, 7pm.

See our website for more information.

April 2016 5

IPM Notes across Canada will present their work, tell stories about their creations and lives, and inspire youth through literature and art.

Presenters include Leah Dorion, Sheree Fitch, Julie Flett, Marie-Louise Gay, Arthur Slade, Ashley Spires, Jeremy Tankard, Chris Tougas, and Ria Voros.

The day is divided into three sessions of 45 minutes each. Each child who registers may bring a parent and pick three BookFest presenter sessions of their choice. The presenters use a variety of techniques to inspire creativity and enthusiasm for books in their audience: some use technology, some use story-blankets, and others may leap and bounce about. Audience participation is common, as the presenters ask children to help with future book ideas or assist with a new illustration.

At lunchtime, Camp Narnia will lead children’s activities, and Nanaimo’s own youth fiddlers, Fiddelium, will perform.

Books will be available for purchase on site or bring your own for the book signing following the last session.

All of the action takes place in downtown Nanaimo on Saturday May 7, from 10am to 2:30pm in venues surrounding and including the Diana Krall plaza. Tickets available through The Port Theatre in Nanaimo, by phoning 250-754-8550, or online at porttheatre.com. For more information visit bookfest.ca or follow Facebook and Twitter @BookFestNanaimo.

7th Annual Family Sport and Recreation Festival The 7th annual Island Savings Family Sport and Recreation Festival—A Celebration of Physical Literacy Fun for the Family, will be at the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence (PISE) on Saturday, May 7 from 11am-3pm. This free event is your pre-summer destination for introducing kids to new opportunities at the club and

6 Island Parent Magazine

community level, and for parents to learn more about keeping their kids engaged in healthy activities.

Brought to you by the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame and PISE, the festival features more than 30 activities for kids and families to try out including Adrenaline Zipline (by donation), outdoor rock climbing, tennis, rugby, adapted sports, and so much more. There is no cost for organizations to participate, or for families to attend.

The primary purpose is to inspire families to be more active, and to encourage youngsters to be more physically literate by getting involved in sports and recreational activities. Donations made to ride the Adrenaline Zipline will help raise funds for the SportStart Grant. PISE is located at 4371 Interurban Rd. Visit piseworld.com or call 250-220-2510 for more information.

Changing Families, Changing Needs Changes in family makeup have been a fact of life for many years. More and more families involve same-sex parents, single parents, co-parents, blended families and non-related parent figures. Much has been made of these changes, but what options are available to help adults and children cope with the complex implications of these changes, should any of these models start to come apart?

Family Services of Greater Victoria (FSGV), which has helped families deal with crises like separation and divorce since 1977, has evolved its services over time to reflect these changes and help adults and children cope with their unique challenges.

FSGV began as the Divorce Lifeline, then became the Separation and Divorce Resource Centre and eventually BC Families in Transition. Now FSGV is about more than just separation and divorce. Programs and services include legal support services, information services, group programs, counselling services, and mediation.

“We now see couples who are going through a rough period but don’t intend to split,” says Bruce McGuigan, executive director of FSGV. “We also provide parenting support and counseling for children and teens who are experiencing difficulties either from family life or the stresses of becoming adults.”

Visit fsgv.org for more information.

The Cridge Respitality Service The Cridge Respitality Service cares for families raising a child with special needs

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or a mental health diagnosis by caring for the caregivers. This service has partnered with 25 hotels and 25 businesses to meet the need for caregiver respite by coordinating complimentary overnight hotel stays or complimentary meals, theatre tickets, or gift certificates for parents who cannot leave their child for an extended period of time. Four hundred families a year are provided with a break from the chronic stresses of raising a child with special needs or mental health diagnosis. Parents return to their parenting responsibilities refreshed and rejuvenated, improving their ability to cope with daily responsibilities and maintain stability during crises. For more information, phone 250-220-8570.

Victoria Home Learner’s Network Are you curious about homeschooling?

Would you like to know more about your options? Then come to the Home Learning Info Night put on by the Victoria Home Learner’s Network on Tuesday, April 5 from 6-8pm at the Juan de Fuca Library’s Community Meeting Room. This free event runs once a year to give interested parents a chance to get all their questions answered by experienced home learning parents.

The Victoria Home Learner’s Network is a non-profit community group that functions to support home learning families throughout the Greater Victoria Area. The Home Learner’s Network offers parent discussion groups, family dances, classes, community meet-ups and more. Drawing from a membership of over 175 families in Victoria, you can connect with other families who have made the choice to support their child’s learning in whatever form suits them best.

One the great benefits of home learning is the wide range of options available for you and your children. Do you want to follow the local school curriculum, or do you wish to let your child lead the way? Or maybe you’re looking for something in-between?

What about homeschooling as a singleparent, or in multiple households? Maybe you have a teen who’d prefer to only take some classes through their high school, or not attend at all. Or perhaps you’re wondering about the day-to-day reality of this lifestyle; what does that look like?

These are the questions answered at the April Information Night. This event is free and open to any parent or caregiver who’d like to learn more about their home learning options. For information, visit vhln.org. •

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Learning within a group allows children to develop three main life skills: to learn about working and learning in a group environment, to learn how to regulate themselves within a social environment, and to develop relationships with peers through new interests and hobbies.

Registration is due by April 30, 2016.

Cancellations must be received at least 2 weeks before the group starts. Late cancellations will be charged a cancellation fee.

Early bird registration (before April 30): $550 per week Registration after April 30: $575 (if group available) Groups will most likely be run at the Dysart (Saanich) location, but if there is enough interest, a group may be run at the West-shore location.

Summer groups are available on the following weeks: July: Connections Jr. runs from 9 am to 12 pm and Connections Sr. runs from 1 pm to 4 pm.

July 4–8 July 11–15 July 18–22 July 25–29 August: Connections Jr. runs from 1 pm to 4 pm and Connections Sr. runs from 9 am to 12 pm.

Aug 8–12 Aug 15–19 Aug 22–26 Aug 29–Sept 2

For more information or to register for a group, please contact the office at 250-386-1171 or admin@mylittlesteps.net

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April 2016 7

Rachel Dunstan Muller & Matthew Dunstan

She Says, He Says An Environmental Debate

I

n many ways my brother Matthew and I are opposites. I’m an introvert, he’s an extrovert. I’m drawn to words and stories, he likes numbers and data. I lean to the left, he leans to the right. It’s hardly a surprise then that our conversations often turn into spirited debates. But even when we disagree, I appreciate his perspective. His arguments keep me honest, encouraging me to reexamine the assumptions that underpin my own conclusions.

Take our most recent discussion. As usual, I was standing by my assertion that personal accountability matters when it comes to the environment, and that both individual and collective conservation are necessary to avert the worst effects of climate change.

My brother argued in favour of a different way forward. As I listened, it occurred to me that our debate was worth moving to a more public forum. After all, I’ve had the opportunity to make my case monthly for seven years in this magazine. It’s time for a new viewpoint!

She says: There’s no question that Canadians consume far more than our share of the world’s resources. According to the David Suzuki Foundation, Canada uses more energy than the entire continent of Africa, even though Africa’s population is 20 times greater. And though we have less than half of one per cent of the world’s population, we are the world’s ninth largest producer of greenhouse gases.

Per capita we consume more of everything than the vast majority of the world’s citizens.

And every good we consume has a carbon footprint: from the extraction and production of raw materials, to the manufacturing process, on to transportation and distribution, and finally to disposal.

Our current level of consumption isn’t sustainable on a global scale, and spells disaster for the world’s climate. This is why the Canadian government has pledged to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.

Collaboration will be necessary to meet this target. While government officials and

8 Island Parent Magazine

industry reps are hashing out new policies, and scientists and innovators are developing carbon-busting technologies, we can get started as individuals. We can put on sweaters and turn down our thermostats. We can insulate and weatherproof our homes. We can drive less, take vacations closer to home, purchase locally-produced goods, support the secondhand market, and consume less meat and animal products. Our individual consumption patterns matter, both morally and practically. It’s time to take action!

He says: I agree that the average Canadian consumes far more energy than the average African but I would argue that the true problem for humanity is that the majority of the 1.1 billion Africans do not have access to enough energy to have all the basics we take for granted. Clean water, sanitation, refrigeration, transportation, education and health care are often unattainable without access to energy, which in most cases globally means the burning of fossil fuels.

Even if individuals in the developed world reduce their carbon footprint by 10 or 20 per cent it will not have an impact on the people in the developing world who need to greatly increase their access to energy to provide their kids with a basic quality of life. Over the last 20 years, China’s government has lifted 800 million people out of poverty by providing access to coal-powered energy, and they continue to build hundreds of new coal plants every year. India has followed this example, with plans to double their coal usage by 2020. What this means is that per capita CO2 emissions are globally increasing faster than any nation’s reduction strategy or pledges.

Given the scope of the problem, practicing conservation can play a part, but the majority of the decrease in CO2 emissions needs to come from replacing our use of fossil fuels with zero-emission energy. The most promising zero-emission energy sources include wind, solar and nuclear. Solar and wind have made huge strides in terms of cost and there is a general public perception that wind and solar are a carbon-busting technol-

IslandParent.ca

ogy. Unfortunately, the numbers and current research don’t support that hope.

In 2007 Google started the project “RE<C” with the express goal of making renewable energy cheaper than coal so we could drastically reduce CO2 emissions. In 2011 they realized that it wasn’t feasible. The Google engineers explained “Trying to combat climate change exclusively with today’s renewable energy technologies simply won’t work; we need a fundamentally different approach.”

To provide affordable energy to everyone and stop climate change we are going to need new ideas. Putting money into research and nuclear power seem the most promising.

France has a great standard of living and vastly lower CO2 per capita as result of having most of their electricity generated by nuclear power. If you are interested, Bill Gates has some great ideas on energy and is investing billions into energy research, including advanced nuclear.

I agree with Rachel that there can be value in individual actions. Consuming less and recycling more keeps garbage out of our landfills. Insulating makes our houses more comfortable and saves money. Shopping and vacationing locally keeps money in our communities. We can manage forestry and fisheries so they are around for our grandchildren.

However, when it comes to climate change, if the focus remains on government pledges, renewables and conservation, CO2 emissions will continue to rise. To reverse this trend we need people to become educated about this energy challenge and push for researching new approaches.

She says: Perhaps our perspectives aren’t so far apart after all. I agree that everyone on the planet must have access to sufficient energy for a healthy future, and I’m not opposed to technological solutions. But while our scientists and policy makers debate the best way forward, we can shrink our carbon footprints immediately—and by more than the 10 or 20 per cent my brother suggests.

By re-evaluating our transportation, food and other consumption choices, we can be part of the solution right away. So for now, that’s where I’m focusing my time and energy.

Rachel Dunstan Muller is the mother of five, and a children’s author. Her previous articles can be found at islandparent.ca. Matthew Dunstan lives in Nanaimo with his wife and two sons. He is optimistic about the future and likes learning about practical solutions to global challenges.

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A Family Is a Family No matter how many moms (or dads)     

M

aureen Bradley, 49, and Stacey Horton, 42, are at home—literally and figuratively—talking about being same-sex parents. Their daughter, Ruby, 6, is close by, sketching a picture of the cat, Kasha, and chiming in occasionally about what it’s like having two moms.

If asked, Ruby could tell you how her moms first met (at a party in Vancouver),

(“or the day before”) Barack Obama was elected.

The pair laughs now when they recall the process of getting pregnant and how, when Stacey first started trying to conceive, she was a little haphazard when it came to predicting the specifics of her ovulation.

Fly out mid-month, she told their Calgarybased donor on their first attempt at artificial

    

  Considering your first home purchase?

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250-891-6776 ConnieLebeau.ca ConnieLebeau@RoyalLePage.ca 10 Island Parent Magazine

Maureen (left) and Stacey (right) with Ruby. Photo: Bethany Schiedel, imagesbybethany.com

where they went on their first date (to Gambier Island), and what they ate (organic lamb). She’d tell you where they were married (“on a hill” in East Sooke Park) in 2007, the name of their sperm donor, Ruby’s biological father, (Gary, a gay friend of Maureen’s), and the reason Ruby wishes, from time to time, to have more men around (“they swing you higher”). She’d tell you that she calls Maureen “Mommy” and Stacey “Mom,” and that no one at school treats her any differently because of her same-sex parents than they do anyone else with the standard one-mom-one-dad.

Since Ruby was born, or at least since she started talking, Maureen and Stacey have made a point of being open and honest with her about their relationship and about Ruby’s conception.

What started with a trip to a fertility clinic back in 2008, where the couple was told they couldn’t use the sperm of a known donor, eventually culminated, three attempts later, in a successful do-it-yourself home artificial insemination and conception on the night

insemination. Then Fly out this week the second time around. Then finally, Fly out in the next day or two. Third time lucky.

Both Maureen and Stacey’s families have been supportive of the pair’s relationship and their decision to have a baby. Stacey still remembers the first time her mother introduced Maureen as Stacey’s wife. They both laugh now when they recall overhearing Stacey’s mom say to a friend: “Two women having a baby? That’ll be the day!”

That day for Maureen and Stacey arrived when Ruby was born in July, 2009.

As a media artist and curator, and a screen writing and film production teacher at the University of Victoria, Maureen parlayed part of the couple’s conception story into a feature-length film titled Two 4 One. Inspired by a warning about home insemination in the book The Essential Guide to Lesbian Pregnancy, Conception and Birth

by Kim Toevs and Stephanie Brill, the movie is about what happens when transgendered Adam helps his baby-crazy ex-girlfriend Miriam artificially inseminate and how they both end up pregnant.

IslandParent.ca

Kasha the cat

Ruby would love to have a sibling but both Maureen and Stacey have decided that they will stop at one.

That’s the reason for the cat. And for Ruby’s fascination with eggs.

After reading What Makes a Baby by Cory Silverberg, a book that explains how not everyone goes about making a baby the same way, Ruby took matters into her own hands. Cracking several eggs into a bowl, she said to Maureen and Stacey, “We’ll just whip these up and have a baby.”

Kids say funny things—things their parents will often share with Maureen and Stacey. One of Ruby’s fellow preschoolers, upon realizing Ruby’s family dynamic exclaimed: “Did you know Ruby has two moms? I want two moms!” The mom replied: “Who would you want to be your other mom?” Without hesitating, the preschooler answered: “Well, Dad!” The two-mom dynamic has caused confusion from time to time—when one mom picks up Ruby from a new activity one day, for example, and the other picks her up the next—but other than that, everyone else seems to take their relationship in stride.

As a same-sex couple, neither has ever felt judged or disrespected. Or like an anomaly.

“Am I different? I don’t feel it,” says Stacey, a choreographer and dancer who currently performs with the triPOD Dance Collective in Victoria. She feels grateful to have a child, she adds, and lucky her circle of friends, family and acquaintances have been so easy and supportive.

“I wish that could be the experience for everybody,” she says.

Having Ruby has been “the great leveller” in their relationships with other parents—and others in general, says Maureen.

“Kids—that’s what we have in common. We have all the same challenges and joys that other families have.”

Sue Fast

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IslandParent.ca

April 2016 11

Kate Wiley

Fun & Foolery

...Dispatches from the French Alps

It’s the stuff of dreams: A year in the French Alps! Thanks to the Deferred Salary Leave Program available to BC Public Service employees, Kate Wiley and her family of four are living the dream. Her two boys are enrolled at the local elementary school of just 80 pupils. Despite having its own ski hill that overlooks Lake Geneva, the village of Thollon-les-Mémises is mostly off the tourist radar. A little over halfway through their year living in the French Alps, Kate shares her family’s experiences in this installment, the second of a six-part series.

A

s I huddle over the laptop in my chilly basement office, I am wearing a jacket that reeks of cow manure.

“It’s the smell of money, that’s what Papa would say,” Dad assures the boys.

We’ve recently returned from a farm tucked away on a snowy plateau below La Chapelle d’Abondance. Chapelle is one entrance to Les Portes du Soleil, 293 skiable pistes that straddle the French-Swiss border.

The farmer who tended the cows and sold us an aromatic wedge of Abondance cheese was named Marie Jeanne. Her mother was Jeanne, her grandmother Marie, and her greatgrandmother Marie Jeanne. All four generations spent their lives working the very same farm.

12 Island Parent Magazine

IslandParent.ca

In further support of our dairy-rich diet, we purchased fresh milk from our local mayor last night. Regis can be found milking his cows (or at least manipulating the machinery that milks his cows) at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.—every single day. Surely his schedule violates France’s 35-hour work week. And yet there are a smattering of French villagers who stick it out, generation after generation. Two litres of milk cost us 1 euro—or roughly $1.50CAD. Clearly money is not the motivating factor.

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REGISTER NOW FOR SUMMER CAMPS One of the litres went into the crepes the children are consuming upstairs.

“Stuart aime le beurre de cacahuète,” my eldest explains to friends seated across the table.

His French companions, raised on Nutella, consider our peanut butter exotic.

Having Francophone children in the house over the course of the week has granted me an opportunity to listen in on my son’s maturing French.

Recent research has debunked the myth that kids have an inherent ability to learn languages better than adults. A direct link between age and the language aptitude has yet to be found. The ticket to learning a language as quickly as a child may be to simply act like one: ditch the self-consciousness, play with the language, and be willing to make mistakes.

As grown-ups, we are generally reticent to sound like a fool, but children aren’t bothered by others correcting their botched syntax. Admitting that you are a beginner (and being OK with that) is crucial to learning a new language. Much like travel, it hinges on leaving one’s comfort zone. Lord knows, I have become a pro at inserting myself into embarrassing situations in this close-knit village.

The most conspicuous example of my propensity for foolery came earlier this week when I was volunteered by Michel, the acIslandParent.ca

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cordionist/DJ at the weekly Soirée fondue.

I was instructed to insert my feet into straps on two very large “skis,” each of which supported five other adults. Now, ski! As we tried to sync up our steps, much to the amusement of the 300 other people gathered in the multipurpose room, someone in the line lost balance and next thing I knew, I had a 200-pound man on top of me as I got cozy with the stranger in front of me.

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Island Parent Magazine

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The residents of the Haute Savoie love this kind of spectacle, I’ve come to realize.

Once the fondue was transferred from the cauldron to our family-sized pots, the songs began. There were the classics like “Sur le pont d’Avignon” and “Tête, épaules, genoux et pieds”—both of which elicited tremendous crowd participation. But, without a doubt, the all-time Thollon favourite is “Les pouces en avant.” Picture a dancefloor full of children and adults alike in a contorted, downhill-ski position: knees knocked, thumbs up, eyes crossed and tongue out, mumbling “Et tchic et tchac et tchic et tchac et tchic et tchac et ra!”

Apparently my son has been practicing in class, at least the protruding tongue part.

When his teacher pulled me aside to inform me of the misdeed, I was equal parts disappointed and surprised—surprised that he dared to cross La Maîtresse. This teacher, who also happens to be the school’s directrice, takes her role as authoritarian very seriously. My husband and I have chaperoned our fair share of extracurricular activities (the most recent being a week of ski lessons), and witnessed La Maîtresse tear a strip off just about every kid under her direction. I also observed several kids sent to the corner with a notebook and instructions to fill two pages with “Je ne vais pas faire des bêtises” (I will not make foolish mistakes). All that was missing was the chalkboard.

IslandParent.ca

While Canadian parents might take umbrage at such heavy-handed disciplinary methods in the classroom, French parents are all for them. In fact, from what I’ve seen, they use similar methods in the home.

Not chewing one’s food properly can solicit a degree of wrath that I might reserve for chucking my favourite pair of earrings down the toilet. One Frenchman complained to me that English parents don’t even spank their children. “Well of course they are little princes!” he scoffed from his perch on the ski lift.

On a recent school day, as the teachers were shepherding students out the door to a cluster of waiting parents, a classroom aide emerged abruptly with a little girl dangling from one arm and a backpack from the other.

The adult slammed the backpack down on the ground and dropped the little girl with only slightly less vigor, uttering some explanation to the parent through clenched teeth. I expected the mom to be shocked at this unprofessional display, but instead she laid into her daughter: “Ah non! Qu’est-ce tu pensais?!”

So do French kids toe the line? Sometimes—but no more regularly than our kids. Admittedly, all the yelling has rubbed off on me; I’ve become more rigid in my parenting since arriving in France. But Ed and I hold firm to the belief that it is not in our children’s best interest to squash every little bit of naughtiness. When the timing is right, we let them run wild. Like their parents, the boys are exploring their world.

When Kate Wiley is not living with her family in the French Alps (which is most of the time), she calls Langford home.

IslandParent.ca

April 2016

15

Keeping Our Shoreline Clean E

16

We can make a difference by reducing our plastic use, and making an easy switch to plastic-free alternatives.

Make your own plastic-free kits to help you reduce your plastic use (aquablog. ca/2015/02/three-kits-for-plastic-freeliving).

Start a recycling program at your school or workplace. Having easy access to recycling for batteries, light bulbs, cell phones and other electronics, makes recycling these items easier. Creating your own drop-off recycling centre or space in your school or office will help ensure these items are sent to the proper recycling facilities, and stay off our shorelines.

Share your cleanup results (friends, social media, media, municipality). You collected valuable data during your cleanup. Share it.

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Island Parent Magazine

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very year, tens of thousands of Canadians participate in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. Jointly led by the Vancouver Aquarium and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Shoreline Cleanup empowers people to take action against shoreline litter through cleanups. It is one of the largest direct action environmental programs in Canada and the third largest cleanup in the world.

Seeing the amount of litter on shorelines can have an impact on those who take part in a Shoreline Cleanup. After doing one cleanup event, many volunteers want to do something more to help. These tips will help you keep your shoreline clean year-round.

Reduce your plastic use. Single-use plastics, such as bottles, grocery bags, and food wrappers, are some of the Dirty Dozen, top 12 items that litter shorelines across Canada.

• Talk with your friends and family about your cleanup • Share your cleanup results on Facebook or Twitter (@cleanshorelines) • Send your photos and data to your local newspaper and become a local celebrity • Take your data card to your municipality and discuss what you found Properly dispose of cigarette butts. Cigarette butts are the most common type of litter across the globe. Discarded butts can leach harmful toxins into the environment, and animals, like birds, can mistake them for food. If you smoke outside, particularly on beaches, take along a portable ashtray or a small container that can hold your cigarette butts until you can dispose of them properly.

Choose eco-friendly products. What goes down our drains eventually makes its way to our waterways. Choosing environmentally friendly cleaning products and detergents can help keep our waters free of harmful chemicals. Some toothpastes, soaps and facial cleansers can contain microbeads, tiny plastic beads that often cannot be filtered out by wastewater treatment plants.

Check product ingredients or learn to make your own products (davidsuzuki.org/publications/downloads/2011/QueenOfGreenGreen-cleaning-recipes.pdf).

Make your mark on storm drains. Storm drains on our roadways are a type of shoreline because they can empty directly into local streams. When we wash our cars, and hose down our driveways or sidewalks, what gets washed away will eventually end up in our water bodies. Mark local storms drains in your community with a fish stencil to remind people that their actions have consequences. Visit the Yellow Fish Road program from Trout Unlimited Canada to find out how (yellowfishroad.org).

Bring the Shoreline Cleanup into the classroom. Are you an elementary school teacher?

Continue the learning experience with the free curriculum guides (shorelinecleanup. ca/en/teachers).

Plan a follow-up cleanup event. Monthly cleanups are a great way to ensure that shorelines and waterways stay clean yearround. Organize a follow-up cleanup event (shorelinecleanup.ca/en/search/cleanups) at the same site or a different site. Bring a friend who has never taken part!

For a list of upcoming shoreline clean-ups or a list of available Island sites needing people to organize clean ups, visit shorelinecleanup.ca

IslandParent.ca

We’re new to the neighbourhood.

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THE VCM’S NEW SATELLITE LOCATION IN WESTHILLS, LANGFORD IS NOW OPEN! With classes for all ages and abilities in both contemporary and classical music, an exciting musical journey awaits you just minutes from your front door.

Check out our list of classes online and sign up today.

VCM.BC.CA/WESTHILLS IslandParent.ca

April 2016 17

Art Classes Spring Special

Introduction to Art For children 5–8 years old

Drawing • Painting Sculpture • Cartooning Portfolio Preparation • Day and Evening Classes • One or Two hour sessions • Technique Oriented • Ages 5 and Up

COMPLETE A PORTFOLIO COURSE – Ages 14 & Up, DESIGNED ESPECIALLY FOR YOU FOR ENTRANCE INTO: INTERIOR DESIGN, ARCHITECTURE, BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS, FASHION & MORE Register Now for Ongoing Programs

Artistic Statement Gallery & School of Fine Art Call Joan at 250-383-0566

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18 Island Parent Magazine

Catherine Carter Clark

But I Don’t Want to Share

Providing In-Home Child Care When You Have Children of Your Own

T

here are many benefits to offering child care in your home when you are a parent and genuinely enjoy being around children.

By offering child care, you can create a program that will include your own family. Your children can be at home with you while you work and they will have an opportunity to develop healthy relationships with other children.

But what happens if your children like the idea of having you at home but aren’t enthusiastic about sharing you and their toys all day with other children? It can be challenging, especially for young children, to share their parents’ attention with other children. Children under three years in particular, can be more focused on their immediate needs and desires so it isn’t uncommon for them to struggle with sharing toys or parental affection.

Empathy, the ability to share someone else’s feelings, is a skill that takes time to develop and nurture. Encouraging empathy in children helps cultivate the concept of sharing without forcing the issue while respecting the developmental growth of children. Children need the support and guidance of a caring adult to feel safe and attached. Creating a safe environment where children feel like they can return to you as their primary source for nurturance, reassurance, guidance and support throughout the day, will foster a sense of security for them to develop positive connections with other children as well.

As a care provider, being sensitive to the developmental needs of your children as well as the children in your care will help you be understanding and patient. You know your children best and this will help to develop strategies to make it easier for them to adjust to sharing you with other children.

Here are some suggestions to consider to help support children when providing child care in your home: Acknowledge your children’s feelings when it is hard to share toys and you.

If possible, make their bedroom off limits to other children during child care hours to respect their personal space if they are having difficulty adjusting to child care in the home.

Talk with your children about any really special toys they may want to put away in their room or closet until the end of the day.

Carve out some time at the beginning or end of the day to spend with just your children (it could be as simple as reading a book together or giving them a hug and thanking them for helping to make it a great day).

Talk to your children and the children in your care throughout the day acknowledging and supporting their feelings and stay connected to them and close by if they are upset. Speak to them at eye level if they are younger children. For example: I hear that you are sad because you want to sit on my lap but right now I need to change a diaper. Would you like a hug?

When I am finished, I will come back and we can read a story. Could you help choose a book to read?

Remember to breathe. There will be days that feel more challenging than others but try to take a moment during the day for yourself—even just having a refreshing glass of water or cup of tea while the children are resting can help you to feel rejuvenated.

Children look to you for guidance so modelling behaviour you hope to encourage goes a long way, but remember you may not see instant results. Time and patience are key as kids develop skills.

IslandParent.ca

If you notice there are certain toys that are very popular and seem to create sharing issues, try putting them away and rotate them with different toys. Bring them out another day.

Try having more than one popular toy to share especially with a younger group.

For example, if your group enjoys playing with toy cars, have enough for everyone to play with.

Stay close, connected and engaged to help support children in play; knowing you are near can be reassuring and encourages positive social interactions.

Check out your local library for books on sharing for children such as: We Share Everything by Robert Munsch

Carve out some time at the beginning or end of the day to spend with just your children (it could be as simple as reading a book together or giving them a hug and thanking them for helping to make it a great day).

Should I Share My Ice Cream (An Elephant and Piggie book) by Mo Willems I Want It by Elizabeth Crary The Berenstain Bears: Sister Bear Learns to Share by Stan and Jan Berenstain Tap into the many resources and toys and equipment available at your local Child Care Resource and Referral (CCRR) to bring fresh materials into your program. This can be especially helpful to have neutral sharing toys that don’t belong to your children but are special lending library resources that can be rotated.

Check in with your local CCRR for support and ideas for programming, too, and attend workshops and networking opportunities through the CCRR to connect with other providers.

For more information on the services the Child Care Resource and Referral (CCRR) provides to child care providers or parents and families contact your local CCRR. Catherine Carter Clark, MEd, BA, ECED, is the Vancouver Island Child Care Resource and Referral Regional coordinator.

IslandParent.ca

Glenlyon Norfolk School Marine Adventure Program Teen Marine Kayak Camps – Summer 2016 Ph 250-370-6852 Email dtyrrell@mygns.ca

Teen Marine Day Camps (ages 11–12): M–F, July 25–29, Aug 22–26

This 9:00–4:30 camp covers all the basics of sea kayaking for the younger paddler while exploring many of Victoria’s best paddling areas. The group (max. 10 kids) will enjoy kayaking games, activities, a Thetis Lake adventure, a lunch cookout together on the fifth day and much more. Be prepared to have fun, get wet and make new friends! Cost: $295.00

Teen Barkley Sound (ages 13–14): S–F, July 31 – Aug 5

Kayak Barkley Sound-Enjoy 5 days of sea kayaking on the rugged West Coast.

This adventure will treat you to eagles, seals, blowholes, intertidal explorations, sandy beaches, sea caves, sea arches, maybe even a whale, superb paddling, awesome food and much more! All food and paddling equipment provided. Lead by professional sea kayak guides.

Cost: $675.00 + GST

Teen Discovery Camps (ages 13–14): M–F, July 4–8, July 11–15, Aug 15–19

Our Discovery Camps are very full days including Paddling basics, wet exits and rescues, and a chance at a first try at your Eskimo roll. We’ll then take our new skills over to Discovery Island for a three-day camping adventure, complete with hikes, daily paddles, games and great food.

Cost: $355.00 + GST

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In our Claymation and Tablet Animation camps, kids create their own quirky animated movies. They learn to edit their own songs and videos in Music and Video Production. Our Intro to Coding, 2D Game Design and Build an App camps teache kids the joys of coding. And our 3D Animation camp introduces the next generation of PIXAR artists to the amazing world of 3D character modelling and animation. $250/ wk, 9-14yrs, bytecamp.ca, 1-888-808BYTE for more info.

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mrogersmusicstudio@shaw.ca!

20 Island Parent Magazine

Camp Qwanoes is a youth-oriented highadventure Christian camp celebrating a 50-year tradition of excellence in camp ministry on Vancouver Island. We are fully accredited and maintain standards of the highest quality. Choose from week-long co-ed camps for Juniors, Junior Highs, and Senior Highs, plus Family Retreats. Seeking to encourage, challenge, and develop the entire person, our well-rounded programs include over 75 activities, stimulating speakers, music & singing, Bible study, firesides, and of course pure fun! Qwanoes is an ideal place for fun-filled, life-changing adventure.

For a free brochure or more info: 1-888997-9266 or qwanoes.ca.

This summer, learn to sail at the Canadian Forces Sailing Association, Esquimalt Harbour. We offer 1 and 2 week courses for

ages 4yrs to adult, beginner to advanced.

CFSA is a wonderful place to learn sailing with a protected harbour and favourable winds. Questions about the program?

Contact our Program Manager Vassili at sailinginstructor@cfsaesq.ca or 250-5802670. Details and schedule at cfsaesq.ca/ sail_training or our Facebook page “CFSA Esquimalt Training.”

Christ Church Cathedral School’s Summer Program provides a safe and exciting summer for your child. We have a high supervision ratio, experienced staff, excursions every day, plus all the facilities of Cathedral School. This program runs from June 27-August 31 and is suitable for ages 5-10. Technology Camps also run throughout the summer. Lego Robotics and Minecraft themed camps for ages 9-12. Call 250-383-5125 for details or email office@ cathedralschool.ca. See cathedralschool.ca.

Community Living Victoria’s Autism Services offers dynamic community-based programs for children and youth (6-18 yrs) with autism. We offer 1:1 Behaviour Intervention, Social Skills Groups and spring, summer and winter day camps. Our skilled and caring team draws from various behaviour support models to customize programming for each youth. Fun programming within safe, supportive environments motivate youth to expand their interests, gain confidence, strengthen social and communication skills, and build friendships. 250-477-7231. communitylivingvictoria.ca.

The Marine Adventure Program at Glenlyon Norfolk School is beginning its 22nd season providing 5-6 day sea kayak camps for teens and youth. Small groups and experienced adult leaders create an ideal opportunity to experience sea kayaking and the marine environment while gaining skills in paddling, marine travel, navigation, marine life, and more. These active camps are full of games and activities and explore some of the spectacular beaches on our world IslandParent.ca

famous BC coastline. Contact the Marine Adventure Program at 250-370-6852 or email dtyrrell@mygns.ca.

Kate Rubin Theatre & Drama Studio specializes in dramatic training for children, young people and adults. Classes, workshops and individual coaching are offered throughout the year. Within a professional, experienced and supportive learning environment, students flourish with improved stage and screen acting skills, stronger confidence, creative thinking, public speaking skills, spontaneity and versatility in physical and vocal expression. For more info and to register, katerubintheatre.com. Contact katerubin@telus.net or 250-386-8593.

Little Steps. This summer we are hosting both our Little Learners group, designed for teaching preschool children school readiness skills, and our Connections group, designed to expose children to a well-rounded, multi-disciplinary group therapy program.

Groups are 3-hours long and run each day for one week. Registration ends April 15.

Late registrations may be accepted if space is available. For more information, or to register, please contact our office at 250386-1171 or admin@mylittlesteps.net.

Summer fun with the Oak Bay Figure Skating Club. OBFSC has exceptional programs for all levels of skating. The focus is on fun, participation, and basic skill development.

With NCCP Level 3 Certified coaches, OBFSC has skaters who compete to podium at Provincial and National levels. Summer Rink Ratz camps take place from July 4 to August 12 and are designed for ages 4-10.

The Rink Ratz program encompasses all the very best skate training available plus added time for summer fun activities. Programs are half day with flexible weekly registration.

Full day options available when combined with Oak Bay Rec Fun Unlimited. For more information and registration forms visit oakbayfsc.ca or email jamiemcgrigor@ gmail.com.

daughter will love our weekly themes: World Culinary Arts, Road to Rio: Olympicsinspired Sports Camp, Ocean-inspired Arts, Glee: musical theatre camp, STEM, and more. July 4 to August 12 (8am—5:30pm, Monday to Friday, minus stat holidays), or register week-by-week for more flexibility.

Options for girls K to Grade 6; does not have to be a current student. To register: asc@stmarg.ca 250-479-7171. stmarg.ca SMUS Summer Music Academies. Join students from across North America in this unique summer program with a solid arts pedigree. Youth age 11-17 can spend a week of intensive, hands-on learning with expert instructors exploring and enhancing their skills in a specific area of the performing arts. Program areas include: Opera, Band (concert band, jazz band, and switch band), and Musical Theatre. For details, visit us at: smus.ca/academies or call 250-370-6120.

Victoria Conservatory of Music. Choose from full- and half-day programs, ensembles, classes, and more. Whether you are a curious beginner, preparing for auditions or exams, or simply looking for a fun and creative way to liven up your summer, there truly is something for everyone. The VCM offers summer programming in voice, piano, strings, guitar, theory, and even has a summer camp for kids. Make your summer musical with the Victoria Conservatory of Music. Connect with us at vcm.bc.ca, phone 250-386-5311 or email info@vcm.bc.ca.

YMCA-YWCA Camp Thunderbird. We build strong kids, strong families, and strong communities. Campers participate in active, challenging and caring programs that build outdoor, leadership, and interpersonal skills. We have a strong reputation for wilderness programs such as kayaking in the Gulf Islands and canoeing on the Sayward Lakes. In camp, participants will enjoy rock climbing, swimming, campfires, boating, and archery. For details: victoriay. com/campthunderbird or 250-413-8859.•

West Shore Parks & Recreation

SPRING &

SUMMER PROGRAMS

MAY-AUGUST

Activity Guide

Available April 1st Registration Begins April 7th at 6 AM

250-478-8384

www.westshorerecreation.ca

This one’s just for girls. Summer camp at St. Margaret’s School provides fun activities in a supportive environment to build confidence and skills over the summer months. Your

IslandParent.ca

April 2016 21

Ashley Degraaf

Oil Rig Dad H

ow do you do it?

That’s a question I often hear when people find out my husband works away in Fort McMurray, Alberta and we have two small children.

My answer is I simply make the best of it.

That’s a pretty typical answer, too, from most moms I know in similar situations.

There are ups and downs and everything in between. But most importantly there are ways to cope and adjust.

It’s hard to pin point just how many dads from B.C. work in Alberta, but we know it’s trending. The most recent Stats Canada study in 2009 showed about 29,000 B.C.’ers work there. In just my circle of friends and acquaintances almost half have partners with jobs in the oil rigs.

That includes Duncan mom, Masika Allan, a photographer and mom to Keaton and Kienna. Her partner Cam has been working away for 13 years.

“The most challenging part was bringing home our newborn baby when our first child was only 14 months old,” said Allan. “I was left alone for four to five weeks at a time with a newborn and a one-year-old and it was very tough doing all of the household chores and tending to two babies completely by myself. I didn’t get any sleep at all.”

A typical challenge for me and a lot of moms I know in similar situations is the dads coming home and messing up schedules.

It may seem tedious, but mine is a rigid schedule. A schedule that was made because it had to be. And because I was essentially a single parent for several weeks.

“Once [the kids] were a bit older and on a set nap schedule I’d find it tough when he came home,” said Allan. “He would want to get out of the house all day and do fun stuff as he’d just been stuck in camp for a month. But if we did that we would just have fussy kids because they would miss their naps and their schedules were thrown off.”

In my experience, the situation often looks something like this: Husband/partner comes home, throws his bags in the middle of the living room.

He wakes up late because he needs to catch up on sleep. Or he goes to bed late because he’s been on night shift. He wants to do

22 Island Parent Magazine

activities with the kids that will mess up their nap times. He wants to eat out. He doesn’t care if the house is clean. He’s on his time off.

First-time mom Brittney Wilkes, also of Duncan, said the hardest part for her and her husband, Steve, is that he misses out on all of the firsts. Steve left to go back to work when their son, Brody, was three weeks old.

He is now one year old.

“He missed his first smile, his first giggle, his first steps and most recently his first birthday.”

The couple does their best to design their schedules so Steve can be a part of the various events, but it doesn’t always work.

Other common complaints can include kids acting out because they’re upset Daddy has left again, disciplinary issues as Mommy becomes the “mean one,” and communication glitches—for example, when your partner always seems to call at a time when you’re too busy to talk.

There’s also loneliness at night and missing someone to chat with about the day.

The hardest part of having an absentee partner is not the everyday stuff, like the craziness at dinner time or homework time, said Duncan mom Char Morris of raising an 11- and eight-year-old. It’s more “like an unexpected snow storm and the driveway needs ploughing or a rain storm and a gutter is plugged, or a flat tire, or getting two kids in two different places at the same time.”

Sometimes it’s just tough seeing how much children miss the other parent, especially when they don’t understand the reasons why the parent works far away.

But there’s an upside.

“He may be away for two weeks out of the month, but the kids get their mom pretty much full-time, and their dad fulltime for the two weeks when he is home,” said Morris. “When he’s home, he is taking them to school and picking them up, going to sporting events, going camping and really just being a full-time dad.”

Often families take advantage of squeezing in all the activities they would have normally done in their partner’s time off, whether that’s one week or two.

“Steve being able to have seven days with us solid, not a rushed weekend,” Wilkes said

is her biggest perk. “And being able to take larger chunks of time off in the summer and at Christmas.”

Financial stability is another perk.

“We are also very fortunate to have the financial stability and schedule to travel often with our children,” said Allan. “We

believe it’s important for [the kids] to experience new places and cultures.”

What helps for the stay-at-home parent is to take time out for themselves when the work-away parent is home.

“Me time,” is my coping technique.

“I hike, run, or ride my bike for at least an hour a day by myself or with a friend,” said Morris. “It gives me some free head space away from the craziness of being a mom.”

It works for Allan too.

“For a long time it was very hard for me to accept the offers of help from my family members,” she said. “This resulted in me being overworked and exhausted. I finally started to take people up on their offers of watching my children for a couple of hours so I could have some ‘me’ time. I would feel recharged and refreshed after and therefore able to cope with everything a bit better.”

And for Wilkes, it’s just going with the flow and keeping busy that helps.

“My best coping technique is not trying too hard to focus on the fact that daddy is gone,” she said.

“I just stick to our routine and try and keep us as busy as possible and have lots of play dates.”

That’s how it can be livable.

Allan, Wilkes, and Morris are appreciative of the perks just as I am and live great examples of the “simply making the best of it” attitude.

Ashley Degraaf is a freelance writer based out of the Cowichan Valley. She enjoys channeling her inner momma while chronicling her daily adventures with her children.

IslandParent.ca

Party Directory Birthday Parties!

ctoria

:: Gym & Bouncy Castle, themed parties: creative kids, girl power and preschool parties from Princesses to Pirates!

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at Henderson Recreation Centre!

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Also available: Princess, Pop­‐star, Fairy, Mermaid, Neon Dance, Spa Parties and more!

Pool, Skate, or Soccer parties at Oak Bay Recreation Centre!

Call 250-595-SWIM (7946)

www.recreation.oakbay.ca

250 590 5568 www.lizzyleeandme.com

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Book your Par-T-Pet Party!

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Create and stuff a deluxe plush 8" pet to take home! · Choose from 5 pets to adopt · Unique Par-T-Themes available or add on to any party · An amazing goody bag replacement and activity · Ask about our DIY Par-T-Box option—shipped directly to your door!

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250-380-2442 April 2016 23

Discover the Sailor in You at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club!

Our award winning sailing school will get you on the water where the horizon is the limit!

Sailing to WIN! Sailing for LIFE!

Just off Beach Drive!

3475 Ripon Rd ! (250) 592-6113 sailing@rvyc.ca ! www.rvyc.ca

Early bird pricing until April 30th

West-Mont Montessori Accepting Elementary Registrations

West-Mont Montessori School 4075 Metchosin Rd, Victoria t: 250.474.2626 e: info@west-mont.ca w: west-mont.ca

New Kids Dentist

Dr. Anita Gadzinska-Myers

is a Board Certified Specialist in Pediatric Dentistry and has a Fellowship in Special Needs Dentistry for children • Accepting new patients now (infants to teenagers) • Referral not needed • Member of Cleft Lip and Palate Team short wait list • intravenous sedation • hospital dentistry • nitrous oxide

Victoria Pediatric Dental Centre 206–1830 Oak Bay Ave

24 Island Parent Magazine

Spring Has Sprung Ideas for Sunny-Day Fun—Even in the Rain

A

fter the cold, dark days of winter, the arrival of spring is always a time of renewal and freshness.

On the Island, it usually means wearing a good pair of rubber boots and a raincoat when we go outside. Although curling up on a very wet day with a good book and the warmth of a fire keeping you cozy can be appealing, children thrive outdoors in rain or shine so grab a pair of rain pants or muddy buddies along with a raincoat and boots and get outside to splash in the puddles, too! Look for worms and the return of insects in the garden. Go for a nature walk and have your budding naturalists search for treasures along the way like pebbles and pinecones and see if you can spot any signs of budding bulbs popping up through the ground.

Fingerplays, songs, poems and stories with young children are a great way to build literacy skills. Here are a few seasonal poems for young children to try courtesy of I Don’t Want to be a Teapot! A Handbook for Planning Pre-school StoryTimes by Jane Cobb.

What’s In a Seed?

In the heart of a seed Buried deep so deep A dear little plant lay fast asleep.

Wake! Said the sunshine And creep to the light Wake! Said the voice of the raindrops bright.

The little plant heard And it rose to see What the wonderful outside world could be.

Falling Raindrops

Special Services:

www.victoriapediatricdentalcentre.ca

Catherine Carter Clark

250-383-2133

Raindrops, raindrops!

Falling all around.

Pitter-patter on the rooftops, Pitter-patter on the ground.

Here is my umbrella.

It will keep me dry.

When I go walking in the rain, I hold it up so high.

IslandParent.ca

For a fun outdoor art activity, try rain painting using crushed watercolour cakes, or powdered tempera paint outside in the rain with watercolour paper. Sprinkle some of the powdered paint onto the thicker paper and allow the rain water to splash onto the paper. Use several colours to allow for blending. This idea works best during a spring shower not a downpour. Take the paper inside to dry and see how the colours blend and mix with the rain marks. You can also try drawing with sidewalk chalk on the wet pavement and see how vivid the colours are and how they will blend when wet.

Children are magnets for puddles and mud so why not celebrate that? Pick up some second-hand muffin tins and spoons and create a mud kitchen outside. Float “boats”—like pinecones, or cork bottle tops—in puddles. Which boat goes the fastest? Try different materials to see what sinks and what floats in the water.

Check out your local library for great spring time activity books and story books for children. The library is a great outing on a rainy day and it’s fun to choose some books together as a family or child care program. Some of my favourite spring time suggestions include: The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss, The Very Hungry Caterpillar

by Eric Carle, The Mud Puddle by Robert Munsch, The Listening Walk by Paul Showers and Aliki, Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney and for older kids The Secret Garden

by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Spring time is a great time to plant a garden, whether it is raised beds or a small windowsill herb garden. Involve children in the planning and planting of seeds. Nasturtiums, radishes, beans and sunflowers germinate quickly and can be started in a clear container so children can watch the sprouting. There are endless ideas online but some good sites to check out include: kidsgardening.org/classroom-projects canadiangardening.com/how-to/gardening-with-kids Happy Spring!

Catherine Carter Clark, MEd, BA, ECED, is the Vancouver Island Child Care Resource and Referral (CCRR) Regional Coordinator.

Your local CCRR has a great toy lending library for registered child care providers which includes quality toys, books and DVDs. For more information visit islandfamilyinfo.ca.

IslandParent.ca

Lifetime Friendships…

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At Lifetime Networks we understand the importance of relationships. We build Networks of Friends, provide Continuing Education, Community Engagement Support, and Employment Preparation to enhance the lives of people with disabilities. Within inclusive, safe, welcoming settings we also offer groups for social opportunities, cooking, music and art.

Lifetime Networks is an organization we are proud of and that makes a difference in our community.

Wendy-Sue Andrew, Executive Director #102–4090 Shelbourne St, Victoria BC

info@Lnv.ca www.lifetimenetworks.org

Oak Bay Figure Skating Club

s p m a C ’ z t a R k ‘RiingnJuly 4 to Aug 12 runn

Learn and improve your skating skills! Age 4 to 10.

Half day camps, full day options.

For more information and registration forms visit www.oakbayfsc.ca or email jamiemcgrigor@gmail.com April 2016 25

26â&#x20AC;&#x192; Island Parent Magazine

IslandParent.ca

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April 2016 27

April 2016

Generously Sponsored by and

Family Calendar For calendar updates throughout the month visit IslandParent.ca FRI 1 Little Lego at the Library at Bruce Hutchison Branch Library. Listen to stories and have fun with the library’s Lego. Bring your own Lego for a take-home project. For ages 4-6. Parents are encouraged to attend. 3:30-4:30pm. Register at gvpl.ca or call 250-940-GVPL (4875) for more information.

SAT 2 NatureHood Storytime: Birds, Beaks and Babies at Sidney/North Saanich Branch Library.

The VIRL is teaming up with NatureHood Saanich Peninsula for a series of outdoor storytimes that celebrate and connect to the natural world around us. It’s Spring in the NatureHood! Birds are busy singing, egg laying, and feeding their babies. Come for a storytime and hands-on activities that will have you foraging like a Plover, Great Blue Heron, and a Northern Shoveler. Ages 3-5 (but everyone welcome). Drop-in. 10:30-11:30am.

Up the Blooming Hill at Lone Tree Hill Regional Park. Join a CRD Regional Parks naturalist for a hike to the summit of Lone Tree Hill. We will look at what’s blooming and other signs of spring. The view from the summit is spectacular and well worth the climb.

Meet at the parking lot off Millstream Rd at 1pm. 9+ years. 250-478-3344. crd.bc.ca/parks.

MON 4 Baby Chat at Central and Juan de Fuca Branch Libraries. Stay after drop-in Baby Time to learn

28 Island Parent Magazine

about baby care and other child development topics from Island Health practitioners. Drop in, space permitting. For babies 0-15 months and parent or caregiver. 11-11:30am. 250940-GVPL (4875). gvpl.ca.

TUES 5 Emergency Preparedness Workshop at Fairfield Community Association. Learn about the hazards that can affect Victoria, what to include in your home emergency kit, what you can do to minimize injury and protect your home from an earthquake, and how to reunite with loved ones after a disaster. An emergency kit will also come in handy in the event of a power outage or storm. 7-9pm. To register, email vema@victoria.ca or call 250-920-3373.

PrepareVictoria.ca.

THURS 7 DigiLab Training Session at Central Branch Library. DigiLab newbies welcome! DigiLab experts welcome. Basically, if you want to volunteer, this is the time and place to find out everything you need to know to make your program happen. Develop leadership skills, earn volunteer hours, and use your creativity and tech skills to help other teens use the new mobile DigiLab. If you would like to volunteer, you must attend a training session and complete a Teen Volunteer Referral Form. For ages 13-18. 6-7:30pm. Register at gvpl.ca or call 250-940-GVPL (4875) for more information.

FRI 8 – SUN 10 Victoria Kids’ Consignment Spring Sale at Eagle Ridge Community Centre. Baby/kids clothes, toys, gear and much more. Public sale: Sat 10am-4pm. 1/2 price sale Sun 9am-1pm.

Free admission. VictoriaKidsConsignment. ca for details.

SAT 9 Mega Garage and Bake Sale at Gordon Head Church. The sale raises funds for ArtsCalibre School, and is also a community outreach initiative. After the sale, leftover items are donated to the community support agencies in need.

Cash only (no ATM on site), and all sales are final. Admission free. 9am-2pm. For further info, contact PJ Fairfield, 778-430-8896.

Girls Learning Code: Programming with Ruby at St. Margaret’s School. Meet Ruby Robot.

You’ll teach her how to add and subtract, make a peanut butter sandwich, and play Mad Libs with you using the open-source coding language, Ruby. This full-day workshop is designed to introduce beginners to coding in a fun, interactive way. Play code-based games, solve puzzles, and complete online activities to help learn all about the language and make our computers follow instructions. For girls 9-13. 10am-4pm. 1080 Lucas Ave. Register online at stmarg.ca. Pay-what-you-can event.

Spring at Francis/King at Francis/King Regional Park. Check out what spring has to offer. Join a CRD Regional Parks naturalist and take a stroll along the universally acces-

IslandParent.ca

sible Elsie King trail. Meet at the Francis/King Nature Centre off Munn Rd at 1pm. All ages.

250-478-3344. crd.bc.ca/parks.

ents are encouraged to attend. 3:30-4:30pm.

Register at gvpl.ca or call 250-940-GVPL (4875) for more information.

Bedtime Shenanigans at Saseenos Elementary.

Come for pre-bedtime fun. Play games, enjoy snacks, and listen to a few delightful stories and songs. For children 0-5 years, and their parents/ caregivers. Activities take place in the school gym. Running shoes suggested, wear pajamas if you like. 6-7pm. sjolivet@sd62.bc.ca.

DigiLab: Green Screen at Central Branch Library. Have fun while learning a new craft or building skills. Meet new people who are interested in art and technology, just like yourself.

We’ll provide the art supplies, technology and instructions and you provide the inspiration.

For ages 13-18. 6-7:30pm. Register at gvpl. ca or call 250-940-GVPL (4875) for more information.

TUES 12

FRI 15

Speaking the Word with Ann-Bernice Thomas at Central Branch Library. Join Ann-Bernice Thomas, the current Youth Poet Laureate of Victoria, for an introduction to spoken word.

This workshop is open to both the casually curious and those more familiar with the art form. It promises dynamic exercises and a fun-filled exploration of composing poetry for the stage. For ages 13-20. 4-6pm. Register at gvpl.ca or call 250-940-GVPL (4875) for more information.

Lego at the Library at Juan de Fuca and Bruce Hutchison Branch Libraries. Listen to stories and have fun with the library’s Lego. Bring your own Lego for a take home project. For ages 7-10. Juan de Fuca: 2:30-3:30pm; Bruce Hutchison: 3:30-4:30pm. Register at gvpl. ca or call 250-940-GVPL (4875) for more information.

MON 11

WED 13 Speaking the Word with Winona Linn at Central Branch Library. Join Winona Linn, an award-winning artist, teacher, poet, and performer, for an introduction to spoken word.

This workshop is open to both the casually curious and those more familiar with the art form. It promises dynamic exercises and a fun-filled exploration of composing poetry for the stage. For ages 13-20. 4-6pm. Register at gvpl.ca or call 940-GVPL (4875) for more information.

Bedtime Shenanigans at Millstream Elementary. See MON 11 for details. For children 0-5 years, and their parents/caregivers. Activities take place in the school gym. Running shoes suggested, wear pajamas if you like. 6-7pm. sjolivet@sd62.bc.ca.

THURS 14 Little Lego at the Library at Esquimalt Branch Library. See FRI 1 for details. For ages 4-6. Par-

FRI 15 & SAT 16 Creatively United for the Planet Festival at Royal Bay Secondary. Farm-to-table gourmet dinner, live music, dancing, art show, auction, tradeshow, talks, films, repair cafe, ebikes/cars, solar, permaculture, and more. creativelyunited.org.

SAT 16 Repair Cafe at Central Branch Library. Need help fixing a beloved stuffie or a favourite toy?

Want to learn how to fix your broken toaster or lamp? Bring your broken household items in to the Repair Cafe and learn how to repair them with one of the skilled volunteers. Parent participation is required, and small donations for supplies are gratefully accepted. For more information, please visit facebook.com/ repaircafevictoria or email repaircafevictoria@ gmail.com.

DigiLab at Saanich Centennial Branch Library.

Have fun while learning a new craft or building skills. Meet new people who are interested in art and technology, just like yourself. We’ll provide the art supplies, technology and in-

TM

structions, and you provide the inspiration.

For ages 13-18. 3:30-5pm. Register at gvpl. ca or call 250-940-GVPL (4875) for more information.

SUN 17 Seymour Hill at Thetis Lake Regional Park.

See more of Thetis Lake from Seymour Hill.

Join a CRD Regional Parks naturalist on a springtime adventure through the woodlands and up to the hilltop. Bring water and wear sturdy hiking shoes. Meet in the main Thetis lake parking lot at 10:30am. 8+ years. BC Transit #50. 250-478-3344. crd.bc.ca/parks.

Cartoon Craze Skate at Panorama Recreation.

Meet some of your favourite cartoon characters, including Bob the Builder, Hello Kitty, and the Mario Brothers. Characters brought to you by Victoria Costumes. 1-2:20pm.

250-656-7271.

Cattle Point Seaside Geotour at Cattle Point Rocky Foreshore. Cattle Point is one of Victoria’s stellar geological sites, showing both fascinating bedrock features, and perfectly preserved traces of ice and meltwater streams from the last glaciation. Friends of Uplands Park has invited Geologists from the BC Association, to be on site, to show you how to recognize key clues of the ancient and not-so-ancient history of this area. Dress for the weather.

Cameras welcome. No hammers please… this is a natural work of art for all to admire and enjoy. Donations appreciated. 2-4pm. 250595-8084. friendsofuplandspark.org.

Spring Bulbs Make the most of your summer blooms When and where to plant? For the best results, plant your bulbs or tubers after the risk of frost has past—right up until the end of May. How deep to plant? A good rule of thumb is to plant the bulbs or tubers twice as deep as the bulb is tall. Exceptions to this rule are begonias and dahlias,which should be planted just under the soil surface.

Check out our Deer Resistant Varieties

Customer Care: 1 800 667 8280 | thriftyfoods.com IslandParent.ca

April 2016 29

MON 18

TUES 19

Sat 23 & Sun 24

Victoria Children’s Literature Roundtable at Saanich Centennial Branch Library. Meet Monique Gray Smith, a mixed-heritage woman of Cree, Lakota and Scottish ancestry and a proud mom of twins. Monique is an accomplished consultant, writer and international speaker, blessed to live on Lekwungen territory in Victoria. Join Monique for sharing and storytelling that focuses on indigenous children’s literature. She will explore the importance of children having their experiences reflected on the pages, and why factors that foster resilience are ideally woven into all books for indigenous children. VCLR is open to the public. Doors open at 7pm so you can browse the booksale items from School House Teaching Supplies and the Children’s Bookstore before the presentation begins at 7:30pm. Members free; $5/ drop-in; $4/students. For more information, call 250-884-1346.

Emergency Preparedness Workshop at Victoria City Hall. See TUES 5 for details. 1am-noon.

To register, email vema@victoria.ca or call 250-920-3373. PrepareVictoria.ca.

2016 Annual Native Plant Sale at Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary. Over 4,000 plants and over 100 species. 9am-3pm. See swanlake.bc.ca for details or call 250-4790211. 3873 Swan Lake Road.

Stories on Fern Street. The Victoria Storytellers Guild welcomes you to hear and tell stories. For people who love to tell stories, for people who love to listen, for people of all ages. Tea and goodies. Doors open at 7:15pm, stories start at 7:30pm. 1831 Fern St (park on Begbie). $5; $3/students. 250-477-7044. victoriastorytellers.org.

FRI 22 Crafts for Tweens: Upcycled CD Weaving at Bruce Hutchison Branch Library. Love crafts? Have fun while learning a new craft or build your own skills. We’ll provide the art supplies and instructions and you provide the inspiration. For ages 10-12. 2-3pm. Register at gvpl.ca or call 250-940-GVPL (4875) for more information.

Lego Stories at Sidney/North Saanich Branch Library. Use the library’s Lego to build your own creation while you listen to stories. Put your creation on display until the next meeting. Ages 5 years and up. 3:30-4:30pm. Please register by email: sidney@virl.bc.ca or phone 250-656-0944.

FRI 22 & SAT 23 Creatively United for the Planet Festival at Royal BC Museum. Sea Blind Film premiere, international storytellers, workshops, music and more. creativelyunited.org.

SUN 24 Beach Seine at Witty’s Lagoon Regional Park.

Join CRD Regional Parks naturalists on a beach seine. See what creatures live in the under water forest. Be prepared to get your feet wet (bring sandals or beach shoes). Meet on the main beach. Park in the main parking lot off Metchosin Rd and follow the 20-minute forest trail to the beach. Please note the trail to the beach is not stroller friendly. 5+ years.

BC Transit #54 or #55. 11am-12:30pm. 250478-3344. crd.bc.ca/parks.

Build a Bird Nest at Uplands Park. Do all birds build nests? Where do they build? Is a tree an apartment building? What materials do they use and how do they collect them? How do they hold their nests together? Join Friends of Uplands Park’s Margaret Lidkea, retired teacher from Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary.

Observe a collection of bird nests, participate in an inter-active presentation, and on a ramble, gather your own materials, like a bird and build your own nest. 1:30-3pm. Meet in the grassy field at Beach Drive and the entrance to Cattle Point. 250-595-8084.

Cover Photo Contest For the 2016 Family Summer Guide or Kids’ Guide to Victoria & Vancouver Island Send us a colourful, clear photo of your kids or family enjoying a summer moment on Vancouver Island, and it may end up on the cover of this year’s Family Summer Guide or Kids’ Guide.

1st Prize: Main cover photo on the Family Summer Guide and $100 Gift Certificate to the business of your choice on Vancouver Island. Runners up: five or more runners up will receive two IMAX tickets and their photos will be featured on the cover of either the Family Summer Guide or Kids’ Guide.

Only digital submissions will be accepted. Send a maximum of three photos of medium or higher resolution (preferably 2–3MB).

Photos must be colour shots of children or families in Vancouver Island locations. Contest is open to Vancouver Island residents only.

Entry deadline is Tuesday, April 12, 2016; winners will be notified by email by Monday, May 16. Winning photos become the property of Island Parent Magazine.

Send entries to: editor@islandparent.ca

30 Island Parent Magazine

IslandParent.ca

THURS 28 Baby Chat at Saanich Centennial Branch Library. See MON 4 for details. Drop in, space permitting. For babies 0-15 months and parent or caregiver. Noon-12:30pm. 250-940-GVPL (4875). gvpl.ca.

SAT 30 Forest to Seashore—Metchosin Biodiversity Day at Witty’s Lagoon Regional Park. As part of Metchosin’s Biodiversity Day (metchosinbiodiversity.com), join a CRD Regional Parks naturalist to explore the rich biodiversity of Witty’s Lagoon Regional Park. Follow the water course of Bilston Creek down through the forest and out onto the beach. Meet at the Witty’s Lagoon Nature Centre off Metchosin Rd. Please note, the trail to the beach is not stroller friendly. 10-11:30am or 1-2:30pm. 5+ years. BC Transit #54 or #55. 250-478-3344. crd.bc.ca/parks.

ONGOING BABIES, TODDLERS & PRESCHOOL Drop-in Storytimes at the Greater Victoria Public Library. Caregivers are welcome and encouraged to participate. Storytimes are free and drop-in. Please come early to find a space.

IslandParent.ca

For a complete schedule of drop-in programs, visit gvpl.ca or call 250-940-GVPL (4875) for more information.

Good Morning Storytime at Sidney/North Saanich Branch Library. Bring your littlest ones to the library for stories, songs, rhymes and lots of movement. For 0-5 years. Drop in. Thursdays April 7-June 1, 10:15-11am.

CHILDREN Volunteer Opportunities for Tweens at the Greater Victoria Public Library. Are you a tween looking for a volunteer opportunity?

Do you like working with children and enjoy stories? GVPL’s Story Buddies program provides an opportunity to volunteer and work with kids. To find out more, visit gvpl.ca/ about-us/work-with-us/tween-volunteers or call 250-940-GVPL (4875).

Toddler Art Drop-in at Burnside Gorge Community Centre. Explore your creative side.

Each week features a different craft designed with the preschooler in mind. Smocks and soap provided. Creative activities can be messy, so please dress children appropriately. Parent participation required. 9:30-10:30am. $1/child.

YOUTH Volunteer Opportunities for Teens at the Greater Victoria Public Library. The GVPL has great volunteer opportunities for teens.

For more information, visit gvpl.ca/about-us/ work-with-us/teen-volunteers.

FAMILIES Young Parent Drop-in at the YM/YWCA. The Y Young Moms Program hosts a free breakfast and drop-in for young parents in the community. Come enjoy a hot meal, socialize with other young parents, enjoy a kids’ craft, let your little one explore the fully equipped playroom, or have a look in the ‘free store’ for gently used children’s items and household supplies. 10am-noon. Call 250-382-1004 for more information.

Recyclistas Bicycle Repair Classes at Recyclistas Bike Shop. Affordable classes twice weekly. Learn how to safely and effectively fix, maintain and rebuild bicycles. Thursdays 4-7pm, and Saturdays 1-4pm. $25/adults; $13/ youth 10-18. Pre-register by calling 250-4188867. recyclistas.ca.

Guided Birdwalks at Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary. Bring your binoculars and walking shoes and meet in the parking lot for this informal and informative walk around the lake area. 9am. By donation. 3873 Swan Lake Rd. swanlake.bc.ca•

April 2016 31

MON 18

Around the Island Visit IslandParent.ca for these and other events and resources for families from Cowichan Valley north to Campbell River and west to Tofino

Pickleball Drop-In at Oceanside Place Arena.

Pickleball is a game for all ages. From beginner to competitive player, everyone can play.

Drop-in times are self-regulated. Bring your friends for added enjoyment. Nine courts will be available from 9am-3:30pm. Free. 250-2483252. rdn.bc.ca/recreation.

FRI 1

WED 6

WED 20

Nanaimo Community Home Learners (NCHL) Monthly Meet-up at Oliver Woods Community Centre. Resource library, gym time, and parent support. $5 drop-in fee/family or $20 year-long membership. nanaimocommunityhomelearners.org.

Glow in the Dark Skate at Cliff McNabb Arena. Skate in an atmosphere of dimmed lighting and special effects. Regular admission. Glow necklaces available for $2. 250-756-5200.

Glow in the Dark Skate at Cliff McNabb Arena. Skate in an atmosphere of dimmed lighting and special effects. Regular admission. Glow necklaces available for $2. 250-756-5200.

SAT 16

SAT 23

Ants on Parade at Beben Park (Breezeway).

Have you ever wondered what the mounds of dirt are in the forest and seen the moving ants march or forage? Come for ant crafts, experiments and more. This is a parent participation course. For 3-6 year olds. 10-11am. $8/person.

250-756-5200.

Show Me the Energy at Bowen Park Lower Picnic Shelter. Energy flows from the sun to the plants and animals. Learn what a food chain is and how they depend on the sun for energy. Learn where their food comes from and why plants are important. This is a parent participation course. For 3-6 year olds. 9:3010:30am. $8/person. 250-756-5200.

SUN 3 Bird Buffet at Bowen Park Upper Picnic Shelter.

Come explore the world of birds, and discover how they find food and what they like to eat.

Make a bird feeder to take home with you.

This is a parent participation program. For 3-6 year olds. 10-11am. $8/person. 250-756-5200.

Water Day at Qualicum Commons, Qualicum Beach. Interactive booths, workshops, speakers, kids’ activities, artists, food concession, live music. Call to pre-register for free workshops 250-248-3252. 10am-5pm. 744 Primrose Ave.

Water Safety Survival Day at Nanaimo Aquatic Centre. Bring the family for an afternoon of fun events and activities that promote water safety survival. 1-3:30pm. 250-756-5200.

BMX Bicycle Clinic at Marie Davidson BMX Track, Nanaimo. Come and explore the world of bicycle motocross (BMX), a sport for the whole family to enjoy. All levels encouraged to join. 5+ years: 10am-12:30pm; 2-5 years: 11am-12:30pm. Free. 250-756-5200.

HENDERSON PARK PAR 3 GOLF COU RSE

Children and Adult Lessons • Summer Camps • Daily Specials

Great Family Course Rates!

Follow HENDERSON PARK PAR 3 GOLF COU RSE facebook.com/RecOakBay

@RecOakBay

Henderson_Par_3

2291 Cedar Hill X Road • 250-370-7200 • recreation.oakbay.ca 32 Island Parent Magazine

Post photos from the Henderson Par 3 Course to Instagram #HendersonPar3 FOR A CHANCE TO WIN MONTHLY PRIZES! IslandParent.ca

Water Cycle: The Incredible Journey at Bowen Park Lower Picnic Shelter. The water cycle is not as simple as you think. The water you drink today could end up in the ocean tomorrow, or in the clouds in another country. For 6-12 year olds. 11am-12:30pm. $12/person.

250-756-5200.

FRI 29 Extreme Teen Swim at Ravensong Aquatic Centre. Things get extreme with activities geared to the teen crowd. Be prepared for exclusive access to the Dino Ribs inflatable toy, great music and more. 7-9pm. Regular admission. 250-248-3252. rdn.bc.ca/recreation.

Emmanuel Summer Camps 2016

SAT 30 Story Walk at Maffeo Sutton Park. Self-guided, interactive park activity and “If You Give a Pig a Pancake” Walk. 11am-1pm. Free. 250756-5200. nanaimo.ca.

ONGOING PRESCHOOL Mornings with LaFF at the Aggie. Staff and participants create play-based learning stations to explore and enjoy. Bring food to share & make a healthy snack together while making new friends. Monday to Friday, 9:30amnoon. $2 suggested donation per family. familyandfriends.ca.

Family Storytime at Cowichan Library, Duncan. Bring the whole family for stories, songs, rhymes and fun. For ages 0-5. Tuesdays 10:3011:30am. 2687 James St. krumohr@virl.bc.ca.

FAMILY Drop-in Science Studio at Departure Bay Eco School. At Nanaimo Science and Sustainability Society’s Science studio, kids are encouraged to explore the many interactive displays and activities. Activities include: 8 foot marble wall, 2,000 KEVA blocks, kid-friendly microscopes, wind tunnels, a high-powered air field, math puzzles, sign-out activities, and more. For safety purposes, children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. $4/child; adults free.

Tuesday-Thursday 10am-noon; Thursdays 3-5pm; Saturdays 9am-noon. Schedule subject to change, so please check nanaimoscience.org for most current schedule.

Please register according to your child’s grade this Fall. Children must be 4 yrs old by Dec. 31, 2016 to attend the camps.

Dates

Camp Themes

Ages

Fees

July 11–15 July 18–22

July 25–29 Aug 2–5 Aug 8–12 Aug 15–19

Dance & Music Camp, 9:00–3:00 Preschool Camp Jungle World, 9:00–Noon Science & Badminton, 9:00–3:00 Fun with ART & Activity, 9:00–Noon VBS: Deep Sea Discovery Wet & Wild Daycamp, 9:00–3:00

Gr 2–6 4–6 yrs

$98 $50

(Must be 4 yrs by Dec 31)

Gr 2–6 K–Gr 3 4 yrs–Gr 5 Gr 2–6

$98 $40 $15/ea $98

Register: 2121 Cedar Hill Cross Road

at the Cedar Hill Cross Road & Henderson entrance to UVic

Phone 250-592-2418 / Fax 250-592-4646 office@emmanuelvictoria.ca / emmanuelvictoria.ca

Maple Tree Children’s Centre “Where GROUP child care feels like family” 2 locations to better serve Victoria:

3130 Jutland Rd (near Mayfair Mall) and our BRAND NEW Infant/Toddler and 3–5 Centre at 100 Aldersmith Pl (near the intersection of Admirals and Old Island Highway)

250-588-0512

Lions Free Skate at Frank Crane Arena. Every Sunday noon-1:30pm. 250-756-5200.

10th Annual Golden Shoe Hunt in Oceanside.

Find the Golden shoe that will be hidden in RDN parks this spring. Clues for the shoe locations will be posted weekly to rdn.bc.ca/ recreation, RDN Facebook and RDN Twitter starting Friday, April 15.•

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April 2016 33

Special Needs Resources BeConnected Support Services. BeConnected supports children, youth and adults with diverse abilities to lead rich lives in our community. BeConnected’s services have expanded over the years, and include options for Employment, Residential Services, Shared Living, Respite, Community Inclusion, and other individual-centred options for children, youth and adults. Also, BeConnected is a Host Agency which means we will work in partnership with individuals and families who receive Individualized Funding (IF) through Community Living BC (CLBC) to help you create the future you desire. BeConnected serves the communities of Victoria, Saanich, Sidney, Sooke, Duncan and the Cowichan Valley, and Saltspring Island. Contact BeConnected in Victoria at 250-727-3891; and BeConnected in Duncan at 250-748-3858. Visit BeConnected on the web at beconnectedsupport.ca/. Find us on Facebook and Twitter. BeConnected: the supports you need for the life you want.

The Canucks Autism Network (CAN) provides high-quality, adaptive sports, recreational, social and arts programs for children, teens, young adults and families living with autism, while increasing awareness and providing autism training in communities across British Columbia. The CAN team consists of a diverse group of trained staff, experienced support workers, and dedicated volunteers, allowing for each participant with autism to receive 1:1 support.

Individuals across the autism spectrum are

34 Island Parent Magazine

welcome. To see all CAN programs offered on Vancouver Island, please visit: canucksautism.ca/VancouverIsland. For information on how to join, donate, or volunteer, please email info@canucksautism.ca, call 604-685-4049 or visit canucksautism.ca.

Community Living Victoria’s Autism Services offers dynamic community-based programs for children and youth (6-18 yrs) with autism. We offer 1:1 Behaviour Intervention, Social Skills Groups and spring, summer and winter Day Camps. Our skilled and caring team draws from various behaviour support models to customize programming for each youth. Fun programming within safe, supportive environments motivate youth to expand their interests, gain confidence, strengthen social and communication skills, and build friendships. 250-477-7231. communitylivingvictoria.ca

The Cridge Centre for the Family has a rich heritage and an even richer future. Founded in 1873, The Cridge Centre provides diverse services to children, adults and families to maximize their opportunities and enjoyment of family life and loving relationships, and to achieve their potential. The Cridge Respite Resource Service and the Cridge Respitality Service work together. Where Respite Resource helps parents of children with a special need find qualified caregivers, Respitality provides a free overnight stay at one of 25 area accommodation partners for parents while their children are cared for at home. To learn more about these services, please visit cridge.org. The Cridge Centre for the Family… because love is the bottom line.

In many ways, Discovery School is like any other school. We are Ministry inspected and have bright cheerful classrooms where children study the BC core curriculum. What makes us unique is that we are dedicated entirely to helping students with learning disabilities. Here elementary, middle and high school students work at their own pace in small classes under the direction of skilled, experienced teachers. For more information, please visit discoveryschool. ca, or call 250-595-7765.

Emmanuel Preschool is a welcoming and inclusive Christian preschool, where students with special needs have the support of an additional teacher. Our morning classes are offered either two or three days per week. Both programs are for 3 and 4 year olds and include stories, games, singing, arts and crafts, science activities, free play outdoors or indoors in our gym, and some field trips. We are a safe and caring place!

Phone: 250-598-0573 emmanuelpreschool. ca. preschool@emmanuelvictoria.ca.

Hampton Little League Challengers—Free.

Boys and girls with special needs playing baseball on teams with their buddies. Saturday mornings mid-April to mid-June. Each player receives a team uniform, photo, and year-end award. Hampton Little League is proud to host 2016’s BC Challenger Jamboree on June 18. Contact Challenger Coordinator Kristen Kay, klakay@shaw.ca.

Hampton Little League is celebrating its 60th “Diamond” anniversary this season. hamptonlittleleague.org. Play ball!

At Hands-On Home-Learning, we believe in an education that nurtures the whole child. We support children to learn at their own pace, in their own way. Our Special Education team applies this philosophy to help meet your child’s unique learning and developmental needs. We offer a flexible program with a desire to work collaboratively with you; as a parent, you are your child’s best advocate. We can work with any existing professionals as well as help locate additional services to support your goals. 250-383-6619; 1-888-383-6619; oakandorca.ca.

IslandParent.ca

Lifetime Friendships…Lifetime Supports…At Lifetime Networks, we understand the importance of relationships. We build networks of friends, provide continuing education, community engagement support, employment preparation and more…all within inclusive, safe, welcoming settings.

Through the many services of Lifetime Networks the goal is to increase the number of relationships in the lives of people with disabilities. Lifetime Networks is an organization we are proud of and that makes a difference in our community. info@lnv.ca. lifetimenetworks.org.

IslandParent.ca

Little Steps Therapy Services Ltd. We provide therapy services for children with developmental and learning delays. Our multi-disciplinary teams work to address the needs of the individual and can help with communication, self-regulation, motor, and social skills. Strong Point, our therapeutic learning program, combines education and therapy to help unique children learn successfully from kindergarten to Grade 6.

Please visit our website mylittlesteps.net or give us a call 250-386-1171 for more information; email: admin@mylittlesteps.net.

Monarch House offers an interdisciplinary approach that improves access, coordinates treatment and focuses on results. We meet the needs of families and individuals with behavioural, communication, learning and motor skills challenges. We provide the tools and therapies that make a difference in the daily lives of families, all under one roof which means no wait lists and faster access to services and available funding.

Contact us at 250-220-8999 or visit us online at monarchhouse.ca.•

April 2016 35

Preparing for Summer Camp The Do’s & Don’ts

P

reparing for camp can be an exciting time. It helps to understand what is needed for preparation—from packing to communicating, and all the in-between. This Do’s & Don’ts checklist is designed to help you prepare.

Do’s

Communicate: Let the camp director know if your child is reluctant, apprehensive or worried about heading off to camp. Counselors can help ease the camper into the first few days.

Paperwork: Ensure all registration and information forms are fully completed. This provides valuable and critical information on all campers. The counselors study this information prior to camp and are ready when the campers arrive.

36 Island Parent Magazine

Orientation: Attend a camp orientation or open house; this is a chance for you and your child to meet the staff and learn about their programs. Ask questions and make notes on important issues for you. (For example, is the camp equipped to deal with campers who have allergies?)

Connect: Check the camp’s website, social media links, DVD and information packages. Connect with the camp you’ve chosen through their social media profiles and keep important email addresses with you.

Get Involved: Talk to other parents and involve your child in the process from the start. The more they learn about camp, the less anxious they will be.

Update Information: Let the camp know if a regular medication has been discontinued recently. And if your child is getting over

any sort of communicable illness, the camp needs to know.

Label Items: Iron-on labels are great for fabrics while permanent markers or even colourful nail polish works for everything else. Send along extra labels, just in case.

Training Camp: Sleepovers can be great practice for avoiding separation anxiety, especially for first-timers. Also, some camps now offer family camp, where parents can accompany their young campers for trial periods.

Pack Wisely: It’s camp and kids will get dirty. Pack older clothes or items your child has almost outgrown.

Pack Medication: Send along prescription medicines, in their original containers, making sure instructions are on the label. If your child needs an EpiPen, asthma puffer or other special medications close at hand, they can be kept in a fanny pack for easy access. Remember to discuss these issues with the camp director and counselors.

Get Your Child Involved: Independence is a great by-product of going to camp, so have your children pack their own bags.

Help them plan what they will need: use a detailed checklist and oversee the operation, but let them pack. With youngsters, pack the bag together.

IslandParent.ca

Keep In Touch: Mail a letter to your camper a week before camp starts, so it arrives before they get there. Pack self-addressed, stamped envelopes so that they can write you back.

Don’ts

Force It: Don’t force your youngster to attend camp. Be sure they are ready, willing and able.

Make Promises: If your camper is reluctant, suggest that they “give it their best,” and tell them that you will re-evaluate for next year. Never suggest that you will come pick them up if they don’t like it. Instill the expectation that they will stay for the entire session. Even the most apprehensive camper will often surprise Mom and Dad with: “I want to go for a whole month next year!”

Pressure: Don’t set your child up for disappointment by overselling how wonderful the camp experience was for you. Stay positive but let them enjoy camp in their own way.

Worry: Stay positive about your child’s camp time. Don’t dwell on telling them how much you will miss them (though you will), and don’t overplay all the “fun” things you have planned while they are away. Encourage them to enjoy camp their way.

Send Valuables: Money, cell phones and jewelry are not needed at camp. Crafty campers will create their own new bracelets and other adornments.

Criticize: Don’t criticize or belittle your child if their camp experience isn’t totally positive. Be encouraging.

Overpack: Never overpack. Follow the camp’s guidelines. Each camp offers suggestions on what to pack and how to pack. They’ve done this before—heed their suggestions.

Burn: Don’t forget the sunscreen.

Be a Heli-Parent: Camp directors and counselors are focused on the campers.

Don’t send them daily emails, letters or phone calls to check up. If there are issues, they will contact you. If you need to touch base, once a session is sufficient.

Procrastinate: Don’t leave things until the last minute. Pack ahead of time.

Push: You’re a keen kayaker who also loves long hikes and wilderness excursions.

Your son prefers the arts and drama programs. Don’t push your kids to follow your trail. Let them blaze their own.

Serving Greater Victoria since 1873 … because love is the bottom line.

Licenced group childcare for children 6 months to 5 years Open 6:30am – 5:30pm 2758 Peatt Road, Langford 250-818-9225 or 778-265-5955 www.leapforwardlangford.com info@leapforwardlangford.com

Thule Urban Glide Thule Urban Glide is an all-round sports stroller with a sleek and lightweight design making it perfect for urban mobility or jogging on your favourite path.

Gliders & Furniture Evolving With Your Family Needs

For All Your Your Baby Baby Needs…

Needs… New, We Also Do&Rentals!

For Used Rentals Serving the Infants • Toddlers • Youth • Parents & Grandparents of Victoria

The Kiddies Store 3045–C Douglas St. (Rear) 386-2229 www.tjskids.com

Finlayson St.

St.

IslandParent.ca

Do you have a child with special needs? Do you need a break to rest and be rejuvenated? Then you need to talk to us. We can connect you with a respite care giver and provide you with a night off — all for FREE. Call Gyneth to find out more. 250 995 6412

s Dougla

Reprinted with permission from Our Kids Media. For more information on Summer Camps, visit ourkids.net.

The Cridge Centre for the Family

Larch St.

T.J.’S

(Under Sleep Country in the REAR)

April 2016 37

A New Kind of Joy

I

’ve been thinking lots lately about the differences between being a kid, being an adult without a kid, and being a dad. Being a kid, obviously, ruled. When you’re an adult without a kid, you think when you have a kid it will sort of be like being a kid again. And it is, except for the fact that it’s not really at all.

The same feeling isn’t there. And it shouldn’t be. You’re not a kid again, big guy, and you never will be.

One of my fondest childhood memories is of one Saturday morning when I had woken up early. My parents were still asleep and I took my Transformers and G.I. Joes and played with them in my closet, using the various shelves as different levels they could climb up and jump off. The house was quiet, no one was awake, and my toys were kicking ass.

There’s a feeling to that memory that is not quantifiable and is fully awesome, and it’s a feeling I’ll never get as an adult. Even as an adult with a kid. Because, and this is more than a bit disappointing, but being a parent doesn’t make you young again. Sure, some yahoo dad you’re suffering through a conversation with at a dinner party with might spew out some

junk about how his kids “keep him young,” but he’s full of it. They’re young, you’re not, stop midlife crisis-ing about it.

What I’m getting at is this: don’t be upset when that feeling doesn’t come back, the one where you could be completely amazed and overjoyed at life just by playing in your closet at 6 a.m. But the good news is that there are glimpses of that feeling, and it can fill you up with a whole new kind of joy. Neither Hallmark nor Island Parent are paying me to fill these pages with sentimental cliché, but it’s true.

It’s a new kind of joy when I come home tired after work and my daughter wants to play the board game Life with me; we go downstairs, I put on a kid-appropriate record (I push it a bit: The Replacements were the most recent, and it hit the spot perfectly), crack the window, lie down on the carpet with her, and play the game of Life. And it’s the best thing ever.

It’s a new kind of joy when my son painstakingly goes through every item of clothing I own (granted, that’s not a lot) to figure out which outfit would most resemble the Incredible

Hulk (torn grey shirt I still insist on wearing to bed, purple shorts) or Loki (yellow shirt, any pants, he’ll figure out the sceptre later), and then informs me which superhero/villain

Dadspeak GREG PRATT I’ll be the next day after work. It fills me with an incredible feeling.

You see, you get glimpses into the six-inthe-morning closet, even though you don’t go back to live there anymore. You can’t; you don’t fit. It’s not for you. As an adult without a kid, I kinda thought having a kid would reopen that door for me. It’s a bit sad to know now that it doesn’t, but it’s better knowing that the incredible door it does open allows you to catch a bit of that old childhood magic now and then.

Greg Pratt is the father of two children and a local journalist and editor. His writing has appeared in, among other places, Today’s Parent, Wired, Revolver, and Douglas.

In 2013 Little League International created a new Intermediate baseball program For the 2016 season, there will be Intermediate teams playing out of the various Little League Parks in Victoria.

Little League Canada will be holding a National tournament with the winner progressing on to the Intermediate Little League World Series in the United States.

Intermediate Baseball will be open to all players between 11 and 13 years of age. The player may participate in both the Major and Intermediate Divisions at the same time. Those players who complete 60% (12 game minimum schedule) of games played in each respective Division will be eligible for Tournament ball in the Division of their choice.

Getting Closer to Real Baseball

70' Base Paths 60' Pitching Mound Lead offs are allowed 7 Inning Games

Balk Ball 2-5/8” Bat Size On Deck Batter

Hampton Little League will host the Intermediate division for all Victoria teams. Those 13 year olds who are interested that are too old for the traditional Little League Divisions offered in Victoria can still sign up at their local League as well. Contact Hampton at www.hamptonlittleleague.org.

For more details, please visit the Little League website page at www.littleleague.org/Intermediate5070.htm

38 Island Parent Magazine

IslandParent.ca

2016 Summer Camps For children with ASD or developmental disabilities July 4-8 • Ages 13-16 • $600

SOCIAL COMMUNITY

In this summer camp, teens are given a budget for the week and will work together to plan activities that they would like to do and how to get there.

ART ATTACK

July 18-22 • All Ages • $450

Equal parts fun and therapy, this camp will allow your child to experiment with many different mediums of creativity while developing socially appropriate behaviour and self awareness.

August 15-19 • Ages 4-5 • $400

PRESCHOOL PLAY SKILLS

This camp aims to develop and improve communication, play and social skills and motor skills in a highly supportive and fun group environment.

LET’S GET READY FOR SCHOOL!

August 22-26 • Ages 5-8 • $400

This camp focuses on the skills needed for a successful school year, including social and play skills.

Contact us for more information or to register: MONARCH HOUSE VICTORIA 611 Discovery ST Victoria, BC V8T 5G4 250.220.8999 info@monarchhouse.ca • www.monarchhouse.ca

IslandParent.ca

April 2016 39

10 Things to Know About Being a New Parent

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esides teaching the basics of caring for a new baby, I teach expectant families how to navigate the life transition of becoming a new parent. I think it is so important to share how to handle the self-doubt and the feeling of overwhelm that can come along with parenthood, and that having a baby can take a toll on partnership and sense of personal well-being. I can now look back my own personal journey into parenthood through a different lens than what I had when I was wrapped up in the tornado of parenting babies. I’ve put together a list of the top things that are so important for new parents to know: You are not alone. The idea of “I thought this parenting thing would come to me more naturally”…“what have we done?!”… “everyone else seems to have it together, what is wrong with me?”… “I want my old life back.” Every parent I have spoken to has felt some variation of these thoughts.

Although these feelings are powerful, they are fleeting. Take comfort in the fact you are not alone.

Watch for and listen to your baby’s cues.

Put down those parenting books and ignore those websites and pay attention to your baby. While babies can only communicate through body language and crying, you will begin to notice behaviors and different tones of crying that are clearly trying to tell you something. For example: Babies will give you cues for hunger long before they cry, including signs like rapid eye movement underneath their closed eyelids, finger or hand sucking and reaching with arms and legs. When you notice any or all of those cues, feed your baby or crying will be next.

If your baby is tired, some of his cues might be pulling at his ears, yawning and/or quick, jerky movements. Pay close attention to those different cues and within a week or so, you will easily be able to decipher what it is your baby is trying to tell you, and most likely before he even starts crying.

Develop a support network. Find a group of other moms who are going through what you are going through, who can laugh with you and cry with you, who will have your back and help you out of a down time. Your

support network is the group of people who will always be there when you say “Help!”

It may be friends, family, or even colleagues.

Take time for yourself. Figure out what pieces of the “before baby” version of you that are the most important and hold on to them at all costs. It is also absolutely crucial for your well-being to take time for yourself. Every day make it a point to take a shower, put on clean clothes and eat at least two wholesome meals. Aim to get out of the house into the fresh air; a walk around the block does wonders.

Learn to ask for and accept help. When you are sleep deprived, overwhelmed, and don’t think you can make it another minute, reach out. If someone wants to bring over dinner, let them. If someone wants to come over while you take a nap and shower, let them. Graciously accept all the help you can get, because chances are, the person offering the help has been in your shoes before and knows a little help goes a long way during those first few months. You can always pay the favour back later.

Take care of your relationship. It is so easy to lose sight of your relationship with your partner during those first few weeks and months of parenthood. Between the exhaustion from the sleepless nights, the demanding feeding schedule and your normal household or work activities, it can be hard to find quality time to spend with your partner. However, it is crucial that you make time.

The key is not to build a new life around your baby, but to blend your baby into your existing life together Focus your energy on being prepared.

Life with a newborn can be completely overwhelming, but with a couple of key routines in place you will find that it doesn’t take up too much time or energy to organize your life. Before collapsing into bed, take a couple of minutes to re-stock your baby bag and diaper change area for the next day. If laundry is piling up in a mountain on your bed, break it down into small steps and do a load a day until you are caught up. Take a bit of time on the weekend to pack snacks

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for you and baby for the week in reusable easy-to-grab containers. In the morning, set out jammies and anything else needed for bedtime; in the evening, set out clothes for the next day. Keep extra diapers and wipes and snacks and a change of clothes in the car and/or stroller.

Trust yourself: You are the expert on your child. One of the most important things I

New Parent Pages Diana Hurschler, BScN teach new parents is how to trust themselves.

With so many online parenting resources and “how-to” books available today, most contradicting the next, don’t get caught up thinking these resources know better than you do. I cannot stress this enough: Trust what your gut and heart are telling you, because nine times out of 10, they are spoton. Go with your gut first. Always.

This too shall pass. When you find yourself in a difficult phase in your parenting journey, whether it be the cranky teething baby who refuses to sleep or the toddler tantrums, remind yourself that this difficult period will pass. Take a deep breath and surrender to this stage. When you find yourself in a tricky time, know that the best thing you can do is increase self-care while it passes.

Be gentle with yourself. In order to be the best parent to your baby, all you have to do is try your best. Parenting is filled with both triumphs and failures. Do not be hard on yourself or get discouraged if you fail. If you fall down, stand up, dust yourself off and try something else.

If I have learned anything as a parent, it is that parenthood is a journey filled with ups and downs. Just when I think I have it figured out, the game changes. But even still, I try to keep these tips in practice to this day. They keep me grounded enough to be the best parent I can be.

Diana Hurschler, RN BscN, childbirth educator, certified breastfeeding counselor, has been helping families in their childbearing years and beyond since 1998. Diana is the proud mama of four little ones. Email diana@hurschler.com.

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April 2016 41

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Writing for Island Parent Workshop Many of the articles in Island Parent are written by people just like you: parents who want to share their experiences, knowledge and ideas with other parents. We’re always happy to consider your submission, whether you’re a published writer or not. If you’re itching to express yourself but need a few pointers or a friendly nudge, come out for an evening of inspiration.

We’re holding a Writing for Island Parent Workshop on Tuesday, April 19th, 2016, 7:30–9pm, location TBA. Space is limited.

If you’d like to attend, please e-mail Sue Fast at editor@islandparent.ca.

Come out and get those creative juices flowing!

42 Island Parent Magazine

50 New Horizons B efore I had children, I assumed parenting would be limiting—that it would create boundaries in my life, prevent me from doing things, rule out opportunities. But as it turns out, quite the opposite is true. Instead of being restrictive, parenting unlocks a new world; 10 years in, I am continually impressed by the daily exercises that develop and enrich my skill set, life experiences, and sense of humour. For example, before I had children, I had never: Accepted a bouquet of dandelions Worn a plastic pop-bead necklace out in public Fallen asleep sitting up Used a toddler-sized fork to eat steak Fed applesauce to someone who was wearing only a cowboy hat Bribed someone to eat peas Become stuck beneath a side table while playing Hide and Seek Fallen asleep beneath a side table while playing Hide and Seek Climbed into a crib while I was nine months pregnant in an attempt to get someone else to sleep Fallen asleep in a crib while nine months pregnant Nursed a baby in a grocery store Nursed a baby while standing up stirring soup while reading to a toddler Sang Old MacDonald 17 times in a row to get someone to stop crying Pried pasta off my kitchen ceiling Been served frozen waffles covered in a 1/4"-thick layer of cinnamon, in bed Stolen Halloween candy from unsuspecting children and then blamed their father Peeled and quartered a grape Stored a potty in my car Unwittingly memorized the text of a Richard Scarry book Caught myself humming ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’ while vacuuming Cleaned pee out of a baseboard heater Brushed someone else’s teeth while holding them in a headlock Relocated a large hairy spider while pretending not to be horrified Had seven stitches to my finger while keeping two toddlers at bay by throwing gumdrops across a doctor’s office Carried a dump truck in my purse Carried a diaper in my purse Carried someone else’s dirty socks in my purse Arranged a plate of food into a face Memorized the words to every Raffi song ever recorded Read a book out loud while simultaneously changing a diaper

Refereed an argument over whose red crayon is more red Officiated at a caterpillar’s funeral Wiped someone’s nose with my sleeve Nursed a goldfish back to health

Is There an App for This?

SARAH MILLIGAN Spent 45 minutes examining a squashed bug Used baby formula as coffee creamer Used the phrase “We keep our penis in our pants at the dinner table” Bought a fishing magazine because my shopping companion chewed it Worn industrial earmuffs while rocking someone who would not stop crying Catered a tea party for a stuffed snail, a unicorn, and a family of plastic rabbits Waitressed at a tea party for a stuffed snail, a unicorn, and a family of plastic rabbits Driven to the park at 10:30pm in desperate search of a misplaced blankie Been hit in the head by a flying gumboot Chased a naked person down the sidewalk, in the rain, in my socks Explained where the sun goes at night Locked myself in the bathroom in order to have a conversation Read a book to someone while they peed Read a book to someone while I peed Peeled stickers off the windows, the walls, the fridge, the doors, the floors, the sink, the mirrors, the furniture, the cat, my face, and at least two thousand other places Been hugged 27 times before breakfast I could go on, but my point is made; for all the limitations parenting brings, it also gives us far more than we could ever imagine. And that is worth recognizing. So the next time you are feeling like your brain is dribbling out your ear as you play Snakes & Ladders for the third straight hour, I highly recommend making a list—you might be surprised at what you’ve gained.

This column was inspired by Jason Good’s highly amusing book This is Ridiculous, This is Amazing: Parenting in 71 Lists. If you like to read books that make you cry—with laughter—this is the one.

Sarah Milligan lives on Vancouver Island. She is grateful to her children for the joy they inspire, not to mention the endless writing fodder.

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April 2016â&#x20AC;&#x192; 43

A Tonth of Funth!

A

pril is National Poetry Month, and it’s tonth of funth. A bunth more funth than Dog Bite Month!

Or, is it?

Too many people find poetry boring. Or scary. Or corny. Flowery. Overwrought.

Why can’t the poet just speak straight? Why does she have to be so serious?

But, oh, poetry is wondrous. Perspicacious. Prismatic. Private. Potent. It’s a whole other language. A language you feel.

You feel it especially well if you learned some of its rhythms as a child.

If you don’t read poetry with your kids, National Poetry Month is a great time to start. Don’t read through a whole collection in one sitting, though. Good poems are dense, and rich, like chocolates. You don’t want to make your child sick from ingesting too many in one go. A poem is condensed language, crystallized thought. Start slowly.

Perhaps take east coast poet Sheree Fitch’s poem, “Most Excellent Advice” from the collection, If I Had a Million Onions: Sing a song of cinnamon A pocketful of spice.

Roll in ravioli.

That’s my excellent advice.

Sing a song of joyfulness.

Sing a song of sorrow.

Sing a song of whatyouwish.

Sing a song tomorrow.

Sing a song of doodledang.

Dance the hour away.

My excellent advice is this : Read a poem a day.

How those stanzas move. Like music, between the world you can touch and smell and taste—that ravioli – and the abstract.

It fools around with words—whatyouwish and doodledang. And, like any good poem, it isn’t afraid of joy or sorrow.

You don’t even have to read a whole poem to your kid. A line or two or a stanza will do. Here’s a single stanza of Fitch’s eightstanza poem, “sometimes”: Sometimes I’m dirty Sometimes I’m clean Sometimes I’m living Somewhere in between

44 Island Parent Magazine

And isn’t that right? Often we are between dirty and clean—what a relief to hear someone say it. A poem is a dive in to life’s subtleties, its gray truths that we usually mumble and rumble through, on our ways to the highs and lows. Poetry makes everything matter. It gives shape to our mumbling. Poetry teaches us to pay attention to every word we use. It is terrific practice in mindfulness.

There are many kinds of children’s poetry, from haiku to the long, narrative poem, but the silly kind usually gets the front seat.

Jack Prelutsky, the first Children’s Poety Laureate of the U.S., is one of the silliest poets around. Here is his poem, “I Wanted Macaroni,” from My Dog May Be a Genius, one of his 50 poetry collections: I wanted macaroni, and ate eleven bowls, and then a dozen donuts, including all the holes.

I ate a hundred onions, and wept a salty tide.

I ate two dozen carrots — I’m solid gold inside.

You could read this poem with your kid and talk afterward about math, or about rhyme (bowls/holes, tide/inside), about exaggeration (and how truth should never get in the way of a good story), about metaphor (that salty tide) or about pure gold (24 karats). You could invent a fabulous menu for yourselves—what would happen if you ate 365 apples? (The doctor would stay away for a year?) A good poem can be plummed—I mean, plumbed—over and over. You find a good number of Prelutsky’s poems at poetryfoundation.org Another silly poet, much like Prelutsky, is Alan Katz (“I wentist/to the dentist/…

He drillist/I squirmist”). Katz’s collection, Oops, is illustrated by the wonderful Edward Koren, the artist of those fuzzy New Yorker comics with people with big hair, big noses and shaggy coats. “I tried to teach my pup/to fetch. / He could not get / the knack. / So now I throw my boomerang / and it brings doggie back!” (“What a Catch!”)

As a kid, I pored over the marvellous limericks in Edward Lear’s Book of Nonsense: “There was a Young Lady whose nose, / Was so long that it reached to her toes; / So she

hired an Old Lady, / Whose conduct was steady, / To carry that wonderful nose.”

The entire Book of Nonsense is available at nonsenselit.org/Lear/BoN/. You’ll come

Book Nook SARA CASSIDY across some wonderful diction (that means words, in terrific places), and a few opportunities to talk about how sensibilities have changed since the 19th century. “There was an Old Person of Chester / Who several small children did pester; / They threw some large stones / Which broke most of his bones, / And displeased that Old Person of Chester.”

Mostly, though, don’t be surprised if your child starts writing limericks and then illustrating them—Lear is a great example of a singular creative storm.

When I grew out of Lear, I read American Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic. I liked his poems’ hilarity, their growly irreverence, also their tender thoughtfulness. On re-reading them, I find them even better than I remembered. I see now that much of what I liked was their anarchic nature. They are silly, yes. Deep, too. If you don’t want your children to think for themselves, or question the world, don’t let them read Silverstein!

But, what’s with the end rhyme all the time? In picture books it’s even worse. In rhyming picture books, the end rhyme is generally all you get for poetry. In good poetry for children, though, there are rhymes all over the place. You just have to know how to find them. I taught my kids when they were young that rhyme is simply a repetition of sounds. Alliteration—big bad blueberry—is rhyme. Frog, fray and free rhyme. Frog, bother and daughter rhyme.

And dither and gathering.

Ask your kids to come up with halfrhymes. Maybe for computer. Dumpster?

Comforter? Amputate? Once they’re freed from hearing only full rhymes and released from the tyranny of end rhymes, the world is their oyster. (Which is a metaphor. Something else that it’s never too early to teach your kid about—kids love coming up with metaphors.)

Poems for kids are often playful with the letters on the page. On the page, American poem Douglas Florian’s letters swirl and IslandParent.ca

fall when the poems talks about swirling or falling. His illustrations are captivating, too—they show things as if seen through a child’s eyes.

The collection In the Land of Words, by U.S. poet Eloise Greenfield, has some brave, literary, poems. They’re calm poems, in touch with how children experience the world. Kids aren’t silly all the time. Some kids are never silly. In fact, silliness can feel a bit dismissive after a while. In Greenfield’s wonderful poem, To Catch a Fish, a girl explains that a wish won’t get you a fish—bait will. But if the bait isn’t working, then you have to tell the fish how good the bait is—that will do the trick, “a whole / lot better than / a wish.”

“Flowers” is a rare tribute to stepfathers; I love how the poet lets the stepfather refer to his stepdaughter as “daughter.”

Poetry can help children learn new words, new ways of feeling. It can teach them to look carefully, to see. It can affirm and surprise, flip things on their sides. My favourite children’s poet is Valerie Worth, another U.S. poet, dead now for 20 years. Her deceptively plain, compact, crystalline poems sing about blue jeans and onions and hammers and nails. Here is “Lunchbox” in entirety: They always End up Fighting—

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If you can’t get to a bookstore or library soon, head over the British poetry website, childrenspoetryarchive.org, which has recordings of children’s poets reading their work. Or type Robert Louis Stevenson A Child’s Garden of Verses into the Google search bar, “I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me…”

Did I really write about children’s poetry and not mention Dennis Lee? Impossible!

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April 2016 45

Family Services Directory This directory, sponsored by Thrifty Foods, features not for profit agencies and organizations serving children, youth and families.

1Up, Victoria Single Parent Resource Centre (www.1up.ca) provides support, education and resources for parents in the Greater Victoria area through free counselling, volunteer training for peer helper positions, a mentoring program for single moms and a support group for dads.

The Centre also offers a variety of integrated life skills and parenting courses which are open to the whole community (fees are on a sliding scale). The Centre provides free toys and books, a clothing room and bread pantry for single parents. Donations of gently-used clothing, small household items, books and toys are welcome. Hours are Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri: 9-4, Wed: 12-7. 602 Gorge Rd. East; call 250-385-1114 or info@1-up.ca Beacon Community Services is a community-based non-profit agency providing social, employment, and health services to Saanich Peninsula, Greater Victoria, and Southern Gulf Islands residents. Beacon offers: child, youth, and family services; a drop-in family resource centre; counselling; employment services for adults, youth, and people with disabilities; home support; volunteer services and opportunities; community events; affordable assisted living for seniors; referrals, information, and resources; thrift shops. For Home Support information call 250658-6407; for all other inquiries call 250-656-0134, or visit beaconcs.ca.

Beacon Community’s Employment Services. Beacon Community Services provides a full menu of employment services to the Saanich Peninsula, Southern Gulf Islands.

We have been helping people find work since 1982! Our programs build on a client’s strengths and resolve barriers to securing and maintaining employment. Furthermore, we work in tandem with our employer network to support those residents looking for work. If you need help finding a job or need employees please pay us a visit! It’s FREE. 9860 Third St, Sidney, 250-656-0134, beaconcs.ca.

Boys & Girls Club Services offer after-school and evening social, educational and recreational programming for children and youth at 5 locations (Colwood, Langford, VicWest, Central Saanich and Esquimalt) and summer camps both in Esquimalt and at our Outdoor Centre in

through separation and divorce. Counseling, mediation, legal information and a range of group programs are available for children, youth and adults on a sliding fee scale.

Call us at 250-386-4331 or visit fsgv.org. We can help.

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Metchosin. We also offer support to parents through our Parents Together program and parent workshops.

For more information on all programs and services visit bgcvic.org or call 250-384-9133.

Canucks Autism Network (CAN) provides high-quality, adapted sports, recreational and social programs for kids, teens and young adults living with autism on Vancouver Island. Shawnigan Lake: Multisport day camp, bike clinics and family camp. Victoria: Swim, soccer, skate and physical literacy. Nanaimo: Swim and physical literacy.

Family events take place throughout the year! Become a member for only $25/year at canucksautism.ca/join. Call 604-685-4049, email info@canucksautism.ca or visit canucksautism.ca/VancouverIsland for more information.

CHOICES Adoption & Counselling is a licensed, professional, non-profit agency that provides services to adoptive parents, birth-parents, and adoptees. CHOICES arranges adoptions domestically and internationally. We are committed to providing a comprehensive, clientcentered adoption service which best meets the needs of everyone in the adoption constellation. Please contact us at choices@choicesadoption.ca, or call 250-479-9811 for further information.

Community Living Victoria’s Autism Services offers dynamic community-based programs for children and youth (6 – 18 yrs) with Autism. We offer 1:1 Behaviour Intervention, Social Skills Groups and spring, summer and winter Day Camps. Our skilled and caring team draws from various behaviour support models to customize programming for each youth. Fun programming within safe, supportive environments motivate youth to expand their interests, gain confidence, strengthen social and communication skills, and build friendships. 250-4777231. communitylivingvictoria.ca Family Services of Greater Victoria (formerly BC Families in Transition) is a non profit agency that has been serving families since 1978. We provide a full range of services to the whole family in supporting their relationship and

HappyBaby Sleep Solutions helps families create healthy sleep habits in babies and children so everyone is well rested and happy. Sukkie Sandhu, M.Ed., has worked with hundreds of families locally in Victoria and worldwide. Sukkie is a Registered Clinical Counsellor so the cost of a sleep consultation may be covered under your extended medical plan. For more information visit www. happybabysleepsolutions.com or call 250-857-1408 for a FREE evaluation. Let’s get started!

HeadWay Victoria Epilepsy & Parkinson’s Centre supports families living with seizures by offering parent workshops three times a year, educational presentations in schools and community groups as well as providing tutoring sessions and one-to-one professional consultations to help your child live up to their highest potential.

Keep up to date with the latest research about treatments, lifestyle, and safety issues for your child. We can be reached at headwayvictoria.com, or you can reach the Epilepsy Program Coordinator directly at 250-475-6677.

Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria (ICA) is a service agency for immigrants and refugees. Programs offered include cross-cultural counseling, parenting programs (child care available), family violence programs, employment services, interpretation and translation, diversity workshops and training, ESL instruction, volunteering, youth programs and tutoring, as well as intercultural arts programming. 930 Balmoral Rd, 250-388-4728, info@ icavictoria.org, icavictoria.org.

Learning Disabilities Association of BC, SVI Chapter, educates, supports and advocates for children and youth with learning disabilities and related conditions.

Services include a public lending library, individual/ group support for parents and children, professional/ educational workshops for parents and professionals. Child and youth programs include: reading/ writing, academic skills, social/emotional skill development and Fast ForWord. 1562 Fort St, Victoria, BC V8S 5J2. Ph 250-370-9513. Fax. 250-370-9421. ldasvi.bc.ca. knowyourrights.ca.

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Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC) provides programs and services to the military family community including: 24-Hour Information Line; Deployment Information and Workshops; Short Term Counselling, Crisis Support or Intervention; Welcome/Relocation Services; Childcare and Family Support Services; Assistance for Families with Special Needs and Responsibilities. Call the MFRC: 250-363-2640 (1-800-353-3329) for information or visit esquimaltmfrc.com.

Power To Be provides inclusive nature-based activity programs for youth and families living with a barrier or disability who need support to access recreation and their community. We create year-round programs to fit participant needs through activities such as kayaking, rock climbing, hiking, canoeing and more. Visit powertobe.ca or call 250-385-2363 to get involved.

Sooke Family Resource Society (SFRS) provides Family Resource Programs including: Prenatal Education and Outreach, Parent-Tot Drop-In Groups, Parent Discussion Groups, Family Support Groups and Outreach, a Toy and Book Lending Library, and Kingfisher Preschool. SookeWestshore Child Care Resource and Referral services, as well as all-ages counselling services are also provided

by SFRS. Services are provided from the Child, Youth and Family Centres in both Sooke and the Westshore.

Call 250-642-5152 for more information or visit our website at sfrs.ca.

SFRS’s Welcome Home Program is looking for homes that can support adults diagnosed with a disability looking to gain further independence. The livingsituations are varied and unique and can include living within a family home or a suite in the family home. The needs of the individuals are varied, dependent on the disability, but can include relationship building, life skills, meal prep, etc. For more information, please call 778-433-2023 or go tosfrs.ca.

Sooke-Westshore Early Years Centres provide information to families about children and family services, supports, child development and parenting. The Early Years Navigator will assist families with referral information for local early years programming, child care, public health, special needs intervention services, and social supports. The Sooke-Westshore Early Years Centres are hosted by Sooke Family Resource Society and located at the Child, Youth, and Family Centres in both Sooke and the Westshore and can be reached at 250-217-9243.

Additional information can be accessed at sfrs.ca/earlyyears-centre.

Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society (VIRCS) supports immigrants and refugees living in Greater Victoria. Services are free and include one-onone counselling, parent education workshops, youth life skills classes, a preschool program, art therapy, language classes and academic support, employment help, computer classes and fun community events like free yoga, tai chi, dance and cooking classes. Visit us online at vircs. bc.ca or phone 250-361-9433.

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April 2016 47

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Healthy Families, Happy Families

Child, Youth & Family Public Health South Island Health Units Esquimalt 250-519-5311 Gulf Islands 250-539-3099 (toll-free number for office in Saanichton)

Peninsula 250-544-2400 Saanich 250-519-5100 Saltspring Island 250-538-4880 Sooke 250-642-5464 Victoria 250-388-2200 West Shore 250-519-3490

Central Island Health Units Duncan 250-709-3050 Ladysmith 250-755-3342 Lake Cowichan 250-749-6878 Nanaimo 250-755-3342 Nanaimo Princess Royal 250-755-3342 Parksville/Qualicum 250-947-8242 Port Alberni 250-731-1315 Tofino 250-725-4020

North Island Health Units Campbell River 250-850-2110 Courtenay 250-331-8520 Kyuquot Health Ctr 250-332-5289 ‘Namgis Health Ctr 250-974-5522 Port Hardy 250-902-6071

www.viha.ca/prevention_services/

48 Island Parent Magazine

E

very 11 minutes, a Canadian dies from tobacco use. Every year, more than 1,000 Canadians who never even smoked die from exposure to tobacco smoke. Thousands more are diagnosed with illnesses related to tobacco use. By the end of 2016, more than 37,000 Canadians will die because of tobacco use. That’s more than five times the number of Canadians who die from traffic injuries, alcohol abuse, murder and suicide combined. And yet tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of premature death and disease in Canada and in the world. Tobacco products are the only legally available products that can kill up to one half of their regular users if used as recommended by the manufacturer. Every 10 minutes, two Canadian teenagers start smoking cigarettes; one of them will lose their life because of it.

Tobacco use and addiction usually begins in adolescence or younger; few people take up smoking after their teen years. It’s important that parents and communities work together to stop youth from smoking in order to prevent tobacco related illness and death.

How the tobacco industry interferes with public health efforts to reduce tobacco use is key to understanding how they attempt to attract children and youth to their products.

The tobacco industry includes manufacturers, importers and distributors of tobacco products and processors of tobacco leaf—an entire group of businesses whose only goal is to make profits, directly or indirectly, from tobacco products. Recognizing the surging global sales of electronic cigarettes as another way to acquire potential tobacco consumers, the tobacco industry has bought many e-cigarette companies to ensure their profits.

The industry uses its resources to weaken public health efforts whenever possible by: • plotting to take-over the political and legislative process • exaggerating the economic importance of the industry • manipulating public opinion to gain the appearance of respectability • fabricating support through front groups • attempting to discredit proven science • bullying governments with litigation or the threat of litigation

The tobacco industry advertises in magazines, promotes their products in convenience stores, and markets their brands through direct mail, websites and social media—strategies that are particularly effective in reaching youth. Internal industry documents show that they see kids as young as 13 years of age as a key market, that they have studied their smoking habits, and developed products and marketing campaigns aimed directly at them by: • tracking the behaviors and preferences of youth under 21 • placing advertisements in magazines popular with youth • sending direct mail pieces to youth without verifying their age • using youth-targeted flavours in their tobacco, smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes, such as Cherry Skoal, and candy-flavoured cigarettes and e-juices • promoting cigarette-sized cigars and pushing youth-targeted promotional items to promote their brands • portraying tobacco usage in the movies and on television as fun, exciting, sexy, rebellious or connected to wealth and power, sending an influential message to young people about tobacco use • promoting the idea that tobacco use is normal and acceptable, thereby encouraging young people to use tobacco Want more proof of the tobacco industry’s interest in attracting youth? Watch the YouTube video created by Misty Lawson, 17, at youtube.com/watch?v=oRNyWJQVOrM Federal and provincial tobacco control policies in Canada are aimed at counteracting the tobacco industry’s practices. The B.C. Tobacco Control Program partners with health authorities, communities, schools and non-governmental groups to support and deliver prevention, protection and cessation programs across the province.

Tobacco control advocates, and health professionals, have an important role to play in helping to educate the public about the health hazards associated with tobacco and holding their legislators accountable for developing public health policy. Parents and youth can help by:

IslandParent.ca

• learning about the ways the tobacco industry interferes and being vigilant • using social media to inform others of tobacco industry interference and sharing your opposition to it • denouncing tobacco industry interference when you see it • joining non-governmental groups working to stop tobacco industry interference

Healthy Families, Happy Families Child Y o u t h & Fa mily Pu b lic H e a lt h

Carla Kane

The tobacco industry is reaching our kids every day in convenience stores, in magazines, and online.

Counteract the tobacco industry’s interference by: • talking with your child about how tobacco companies try to influence ideas about smoking­—such as through advertisements or product placement in movies, creating the perception that smoking is glamorous and more prevalent than it really is • avoiding threats and ultimatums, if you

find out that your child is smoking. Ask a few questions and find out why they are smoking; he or she may want to be accepted by a peer group, or want your attention.

• talking about what changes can be made in his or her life to help them stop smoking • asking your child to think about how they’ve been manipulated and used by tobacco companies. This realization makes many young smokers angry and can help their motivation to quit.

• helping your child to do the math. Smoking is expensive. Help them calculate the weekly, monthly or yearly cost of smoking a pack a day and compare it with the cost of electronic devices, clothes or other essentials.

• supporting efforts to make public places smoke-free and to increase taxes on tobacco products. Make sure that the events that your children attend are smoke-free.

• thinking beyond cigarettes. Smokeless tobacco, electronic cigarettes, clove cigarettes and candy-flavoured cigars and cigarillos are sometimes mistaken as less harmful or addictive than are traditional cigarettes. Kids also often think that water pipe (hookah) smoking is safe. Not true.

All carry health risks.

World No Tobacco Day is celebrated around the world every year on May 31,

Resources: Health Canada: hc-sc.gc.ca/hcps/tobac-tabac/about-apropos/ index-eng.php BC Tobacco Control Progam, BC Ministry of Health: www2.gov. bc.ca/gov/content/health/managingyour-health/mental-health-substanceuse/quitting-smoking-tobacco-use/ tobacco-control-program Tobacco Industry Interference: A Global Brief, World Health Organization, 2012: apps.who.int/iris/ bitstream/10665/70894/1/WHO_ NMH_TFI_12.1_eng.pdf informing the public on the dangers of using tobacco, the business practices of tobacco companies, what the World Health Organization (WHO) is doing to fight the tobacco epidemic, and what people around the world can do to claim their right to health and healthy living and to protect future generations.

Carla Kane, RN, BScN, is a Practice Consultant with the Island Health Tobacco Prevention and Control Program 250-519-3445.

Creating Paddlers for Life Our vision is that every young person can experience the benefits of a lifetime involvement in paddling.

The Victoria Youth Paddling Club is a registered non-profit society dedicated to developing, promoting, and running programs leading to fun, fitness, skill development, and competition in kayaking and canoeing.

We offer a safe, affordable and fun water sports club for youth ages 9 and up. On-water activities are led by qualified coaches and are held on the Gorge Waterway. We run a year round program with two sessions: Spring/Summer (April through September) and Fall/Winter (October through March) and summer camps too!

See

vypc.ca for details IslandParent.ca

April 2016 49

Preschool & Child Care Directory CENTRAL SAANICH Chrysalis Child Care................................ 250-652-0815 A nurturing and stimulating environment for a small group of 21⁄2–5 year old children. Qualified ECE promotes learning through play. chrysalischildcare.ca.

Colwood/LANGFORD Goldstream Co-op Preschool................. 250-474-3011 Learning Through Play for 3 and 4yr olds! For registration information go to our website: goldstreampreschool.com.

Leap Forward Childcare......................... 250-818-9225 2758 Peatt RD. Licenced group childcare for children ages 6 months to 5 years old. Offering fulltime and part-time care. Open 6:30am-5:30pm. For more information please contact Amber: info@leap forwardlangford.com, leapforwardlangford.com.

Miles of Smiles Nature Junior Kindergarten.................... 778-265-4374 Come See Why Learning In Nature Rocks! Reggio Influenced Philosophy ages 3-5. Have Your Child Become a Nature Detective Today! Email mosnjk@hotmail.com.

RIA Early Learning Centre...................... 250-590-0781 Reggio Program—for Preschool aged children. A unique learning environment—encourages each child’s development. reggiopreschool.ca.

CORDOVA BAY Carrot Seed Preschool............................ 250-658-2331 Where children can discover, imagine, construct and learn through play. Wondrous natural playground. carrotseedpreschool.com.

Lakeview Christian Preschool/Daycare.. 250-658-5082 30 mths to Kindergarten entry. Small group. Experienced teacher. Full time and part time spaces. Mornings only or full day. Monthly DROP IN STORY HOUR. For information please e-mail lakeviewschol@shaw.ca.

ESQUIMALT Ciara Early Childhood Centre................. 250-386-7369 Education and Fun Hand in Hand! Exceptional care for ages 1-5yrs. Inclusive nature inspired kindergarten readiness program with Christian values. Facebook.com/ CiaraEarlyChildhoodCentre.

Island Kids Academy Esquimalt............. 250-381-2929 High quality child care (ages 1-5). Preschool curriculum offered within a warm, caring all-day program. Character development using the Virtues Project. Access to community programs including swimming, skating, Victoria Conservatory of Music. Part-time spaces available. islandkids.ca.

Child Care

Resource & Referral www.islandfamilyinfo.ca www.ccrr.bc.ca 50 Island Parent Magazine

La Pré-Maternelle Appletree Preschool.. 250-479-0292 A French Immersion Program. 30 months to school age.

Licensed Christian centre. prematernelleappletree.com.

Highlands

Recreation Oak Bay................................ 250-370-7200 Fully licensed, ECE Daycare, Preschool and Nature Preschool. Play based, child led learning. Afterschool care available.

SAANICH

Lexie’s Little Bears Child Care Inc......... 250-590-3603 Only seconds past Luxurious Bear Mountain our HIGHLY reputable Nature Program will not disappoint! Our NATURAL outdoor environment provides an experience like no other…in our own rainforest. Located on 2 acres of treed forest land, your child will learn and grow in NATURE! Our Brand NEW Infant/Toddler centre is tranquil and serene.

All the furniture, shelving and some toys have been hand crafted using the trees on our own property! Programs for 3 to 5’s and for Infant/Toddlers. Spaces avail. NOW! Visit our Facebook blog, and website at lexieslittlebears.com.

Call for more info. Cub House: 778-432-3600.

METCHOSIN Metchosin Co-op Preschool................... 250-478-9241 Est. 1960. Our school provides a beautiful natural play space and inclusive child led learning through play emergent curriculum. Two excellent ECEs per class provide loving and enriching family support. Half-day programs for 2.5-5 yrs. metchosinpreschool.com.

West-Mont Montessori School............... 250-474-2626 Preschool Montessori instruction in a beautiful natural environment in Metchosin. Ages 30 months and up. Providing a balanced approach to incorporating Nature, French, Music and Art into a complete educational program. Be a part of a community devoted to the development of the whole child. Open House: Thursdays 9-11 am. west-mont.ca.

North SAANICH In The Garden Childcare Centre............. 250-654-0306 A GREAT PLACE TO GROW. Offering preschool, full day care, before and after school care for children aged 2.5 to 12 years old. Open all year.

OAK BAY Emmanuel Preschool.............................. 250-598-0573 Children learn through play in our non-denominational Christian preschool near UVic. Bright attractive setting. emmanuelpreschool.ca.

Gonzales Co-op Preschool..................... 250-727-1003 Children explore their imaginations in our learning-throughplay environments and large natural playground. Our Reggio Emilia inspired program focuses on art, nature, music and friendship. Over 50 years serving Victoria’s families. Nuturing and highly qualified ECE and ECE Assistant. Parent participation level options available, nut-free and allergy-aware. Join us! gonzalescooppreschool.com.

Arbutus Grove Children’s Centre........... 250-477-3731 Formerly known as Goosey Gander Kindergarten. Half Day and Full Day Preschool Programs. Children’s learning is supported and nurtured through inquiry, exploration, play and creative expression. arbutusgrove.ca.

Camosun College Child Care Services......250-370-4880 Quality licensed facilities on both campuses providing children, newborn to 5 years, with rich early learning experiences in a learn through play environment. camosun.ca/childcare.

Carrot Seed Preschool............................ 250-658-2331 Where children can discover, imagine, construct and learn through play. Wondrous natural playground. Extended hours starting Sept. carrotseedpreschool.com.

Cloverdale Child Care.................................250-995-1766 Register now for preschool 4 year olds Mon/Wed/Fri 9:00–1:00 & 3 & 4 year olds Tue/Thur 9:00–1:00. Full time Early Learning Centre 7:00am – 6:00 pm 3–5 year olds.

Before and after school care. cloverdalechildcare@shawbiz. ca, cloverdalechildcare.com.

Full o’ Beans Preschool.............................. 250-360-1148 We offer ‘learn through play’ programming designed to foster your child’s natural curiosity and imagination. Flexible scheduling, 2.5 and 4 hour programs, qualified staff.

Registration is ongoing! saanichneighbourhoodplace.com.

Island Montessori House........................ 250-592-4411 Inclusive, integrated and nurturing Preschool and Kindergarten programs. Located in a lovely rural setting with a focus on nature and outdoor environmental activities such as gardening and composting. islandmontessori.com.

Lakehill Co-op Preschool....................... 250-477-4141 Where children’s development is nurtured through a child centered inclusive, play based program. Come visit our natural outdoor playground and meet our loving qualified ECE team. Multiple Levels of participation available, please enquire. lakehillpreschool.org.

Lambrick Park Preschool & Childcare.. 250-477-8131 Gordon Head’s only parent-participation preschool and childcare centre. Flexible options, play-based learning and outdoor play. Allergy friendly. Celebrating 40+ years. lambrickparkpreschool.ca.

Neighbourhood Junior Kindergarten..... 250-479-4410 Welcoming, culturally sensitive parent participation program in Lakehill School. Morning and afternoon.

For 3s and 4s. See website for details. neighbourhood juniorkindergarten.com

Looking for child care? Need help with subsidy forms?

Taking care of children? Need child care training?

Your community’s best source of child care information and resources.

Victoria & Gulf Islands: 250-382-7000 or 1-800-750-1868 Sooke: 250-642-5152 Westshore: 250-391-4324 Cowichan Valley: 250-746-4135 local 231 PacificCare (Ladysmith north): 250-756-2022 or 1-888-480-2273 Funded by the Province of BC

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Preschool & Child Care Directory Oakcrest Preschool................................. 250-472-0668 A welcoming, nurturing environment with a large, bright facility. Learn through play with 2 caring ECEs. oakcrestpreschool.org.

Castleview Child Care............................. 250-595-5355 Learning Through Play & Discovery. Licensed non-profit, qual. ECE staff. Since 1958. Preschool and full-time care. castleviewchildcarecentre.com.

View Royal Childcare.............................. 250-479-8067 Preschool structured, high quality childcare. Victoria Conservatory of Music classes. Part time spaces available.

2.5-5year olds. viewroyalpreschool@live.com.

Pacific Christian School – Pre-School... 250-479-4532 Your child will love the playful, safe environment and caring staff at PCS Pre-School. Come and explore Educational Excellence to the Glory of God. PacificChristian.ca

Centennial Day Care............................... 250-386-6832 Exceptional childcare and education 35+ years. Nature inspired, play based program. NEW central, “green” building. centennialdaycare.ca.

View Royal Preschool.............................. 250-479-8067 Exciting inclusive program in a safe and exceptional care environment. 3-5 year olds. Outside play and themes enrich this program. Full/part-time spaces available. viewroyalpreschool.com.

Rainbows & Dreams Preschool.............. 250-479-1966 Small classes for 3-5 yr olds in a safe nurturing environment. Children learn through play and fun–developing a sense of confidence, independence and creativity. Highly qualified ECE teacher.

Christ Church Cathedral Childcare and Junior Kindergarten......................... 250-383-5132 ECE and Specialist teachers provide an outstanding all-day, licensed program for 3–5 year olds. Spacious, renovated facility with a huge backyard in Fairfield. cathedralschool.ca.

Ready Set Grow Preschool..................... 250-472-1530 Inside Hillcrest Elm. in Gordon Head, we help children transition to Kindergarten. Licensed Preschool with highly qualified, warm ECE. heoscmanager@gmail.com.

Nightingale Preschool and Junior Kindergarten Ltd.................. 250-595-7544 We offer education through creativity and play, providing rich learning experiences through a well sourced and stimulating indoor and outdoor environment. Early years reading programme. nightingalepreschool.com. Arts/ Drama programme. kidsworks.ca.

Rogers Child Care Centre....................... 250-744-2343 Trusted High Quality Non Profit Care since 1991. Year Round Early Learning and Out of School Care. For more info go to rogerschildcare.com.

St. Joseph’s Catholic Preschool................250-479-1237 • A Christian child centre for 3–5 year olds.

• A warm nurturing and challenging program • Offered by St. Joseph’s Catholic School.

Wiseways Preschool & Daycare............. 250-477-1312 Quality, fully licensed, Christian preschool/daycare for 3–4 year olds. Experienced team of ECEs. Spacious facilities include large playground and indoor gym. Subsidized fees welcome. Call for a tour. wisewaysvictoria.com.

SIDNEY Acorntree Preschool............................... 250-686-1408 Balanced indoor/outdoor program, designed to stimulate natural curiosity and foster empathy and compassion towards others. We believe in the importance of both child and teacher directed activities. acorntreepreschool.ca.

Positive Path Early Learning.................. 250-655-7244 Located near the library and Sidney School, our program has earned a stellar reputation for quality child care and is growing as fast as the children we care for. Space is available for your child to embark on a journey of active exploration and discovery, enjoying a natural outdoor playground and an expansive indoor learning space. Experienced educators foster a lifelong quest for knowledge and guide children with Christian values and virtues. positivepath@shaw.ca.

Storyoga Preschool................................. 778-679-4004 Embracing and empowering children exactly as they are.

Storyoga Preschool is a nature and yoga based program located in Sidney, BC. storyoga.com.

VICTORIA ArtsCalibre Academy.............................. 250-382-3533 Comprehensive programs for Preschool through Grade 6, delivering academic excellence through music, dance, drama and visual arts. Outstanding educators, locations and facilities. ArtsCalibre.ca Babies to Big Kids Childcare......................250-590-2722 949 Fullerton Ave. Licenced group childcare for children ages 6 months to 11 years old. Offering full-time and part-time care. Open 6:30am-5:30pm. info@babies tobigkids.com, babiestobigkids.com.

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Parkdale Early Childhood Centre........... 250-382-0512 ECEs offer the highest quality care and positive learning experiences in our daycare and preschool. Full time or part time. Call for a tour or visit us at parkdalechildcare.ca.

Rainbow Express Daycare...................... 250-382-2314 A nurturing environment for children to learn through play and discovery in a natural setting. ECEs and specialist teachers. rainbowexpressdaycare.com. Close to city centre.

Ross Bay Preschool................................ 250-383-7445 Positive/supportive program motivating children to learn, discover and grow through play. Daily outdoor time, special guests and community events! rossbaypreschool @shaw.ca.

The Sir James Douglas Playschool....... 250-389-0500 Fun, creative and educational ECE program for 3-5 year olds to grow and develop life long skills. Come play and learn in our bright and modern centre in Fairfield.

Mill Bay / Cobble Hill Cedar Montessori..................................... 250-710-9007 A beautiful rural setting where children are lovingly supported to learn at their own pace within a stimulating Montessori environment.

DUNCAN Parkside Academy.................................... 250-746-1711 Providing high quality early learning and care from infancy to 12 years of age, in a stimulating, respectful, nurturing, nature based environment with fully educated and passionate early childhood educators. Visit parksideacademy. ca or find us on Facebook.

Queen Margaret’s School......................... 250-746-4185 Early Childhood Education Program. Co-ed nurturing curriculum to develop the whole child. Healthy snacks and lunch provided. qms.bc.ca.

Queen of Angels Early Learning Centre... 250-701-0433 We believe that the development of the whole child (physically, socially, emotionally, cognitively, and spiritually) encourages each individual to develop to their full potential. We offer an enriched full day program for 3–5 year olds based on Kindergarten readiness.

Sunrise Waldorf School Preschool........... 250-743-7253 A warm, nature-based Waldorf rhythm where wonder is nurtured. Led by Waldorf trained ECE teachers. sunrisewaldorfschool.org.

Chemainus

Victoria Montessori................................. 250-380-0534 Unique, innovative learning environment combining the best of Montessori and Learning Through Play. Open yr. round. 30mths–K. victoriamontessori.com.

St. Joseph’s Preschool........................... 250-246-3191 An enriching preschool program allowing children to grow as individuals in a safe and nurturing Christian environment.

YMCA-YWCA Child Care Centres.......... 250-386-7511 Enriched programs for children 10 months – 5 years. Our programs support healthy child development and future school success. victoriay.com.

Qualicum Beach

VIEW ROYAL Island Kids Academy View Royal........... 250-727-2929 High quality child care (ages 1-5). Preschool curriculum offered within a warm, caring child care environment.

Character development using the Virtues Project. Access to community programs including swimming, skating, Victoria Conservatory of Music. Part-time spaces available. islandkids.ca.

Little Wonders Preschool (View Royal OSC)..................................... 250-744-2718 A creative and supportive program that will prepare your child for a lifetime of learning! Out of School Care is also available for school aged children. viewroyalosc.com.

Children’s Discovery Centre................... 250-752-4343 Our program recognizes the uniqueness of each child and provides a nurturing, safe and creative learning environment. Licensed preschool, group care and out of school care. Early Childhood Educators. childrensdiscovery centre.ca. childrensdiscoverycentre@hotmail.com.

Little Star Children’s Centre................... 250-752-4554 Mother, Daughter owned and operated. Earth friendly preschool education inspired by nature. Infused with fun and creative daily yoga practices! Licensed group care.

Enthusiastic ECE instructors. littlestardaycare.ca

Port Alberni John Paul II Catholic School.................. 250-723-0637 “Where children grow and learn through play.” We provide a program that will inspire development physically, socially, emotionally, cognitively, creatively and spiritually.

A Secret Garden Preschool.................... 250-380-8293 Program built on Christian values. Monthly themes, weekly topics and daily activities. asecretgardenpreschool@ shaw.ca.

April 2016 51

Community Board Making our Community a Better Place to Live

1Up Victoria Single Parent Resource Centre 1-up.ca Art Gallery of Greater Victoria aggv.ca Camp Pringle CampPringle.com Child Care Resource & Referral childcarevictoria.ca Kaleidoscope Theatre kaleidoscope.bc.ca Royal BC Museum royalbcmuseum.bc.ca Silver Threads Service silverthreads.ca TC10K tc10k.ca Tri for MS Triathlon TriStarsTraining.com/ Beginner-Tri-for-MS Victoria Children’s Choir victoriachildrenschoir.ca Victoria Conservatory of Music vcm.bc.ca Enquire about non-profit brochure or magazine distribution in Greater Victoria:

publisher@islandparent.ca 52 Island Parent Magazine

Super Fan

W

hen I was a kid, I was a Raffi fan.

Meaning that I liked his cassettes and listened to them on a regular basis, along with Fred Penner, Charlotte Diamond, and of course ABBA. Then I got older and my tastes shifted. I was still a child, though by my estimation too grown up to be considered one. No more kid music for me. I discovered MC Hammer (my first tape purchase), then Columbia house, along with Nirvana and Pearl Jam. When Angus was born, Mike and I first thought we’d only listen to our music.

Angus would enjoy what he was exposed to, right? And then my mum delivered a Raffi CD. Who was I to deprive my child of Baby Beluga? The first time I played the disc, Angus was delighted. I had no idea what I had started.

We have every Raffi CD. The first ones were gifted to Angus, but the newer releases were purchased with his piggy bank savings—Raffi music being the only thing he’s ever spent his money on beside a marble maze. On long car trips, Angus likes to listen to his Raffi CDs one after the other.

As the official DJ, there is a precise order I need to follow. If I have forgotten a disc in the CD player in the house, my mistake will not go unnoticed.

Every time Raffi is on the stereo—at home or in the car—Angus holds on tight to the CD insert. Inevitably, his stack of Raffi songbooks will be on his lap, great antique treasures discovered by his Super Granny.

Though Angus has long since memorized the words to the entire Raffi catalogue, he likes to follow along with the sheet music.

He can’t read, and yet he can flip to the right page every time, even in the books without illustrations.

He wears Hawaiian shirts and calls them Raffi shirts, after Raffi’s 1980s album covers.

The best one is blue with a tropical ocean scene, including a mother and baby manatee that we refer to as the beluga family.

When Angus is really in the musical mood the CDs are not required. He takes out all three shirts and arranges them with his instrument collection on the couch, then he nestles himself in the middle with his Raffi books and begins his performance. On these days, I am usually the audience. It is advisable that I do not multi-task. An audience member trying to tidy the living room or write a grocery list is not a true audience

member. An audience member who closes her eyes “to listen better” is soon chastised for attempting to sleep through the show.

I’m not always an audience member, though. There are times when we become, in Angus’s words, “The Raffi Family.” When Mike and I (Big Raffi and Mrs. Raffi) join Angus (Mini Raffi) in the performance. This is when the music books come in handy,

Maternity & Beyond Laura TRUNKEY though I don’t always need to refer to them.

My brain is crammed with Raffi lyrics. They displace other information—like where I put my glasses down, or who I was supposed to phone.

Admittedly, I quite enjoy our family Raffi concerts. I have developed a renewed appreciation for Raffi with my son. Not just because of Raffi’s power over Angus—though the fact that I can vacuum the house without complaints while Raffi sings to Angus through his headphones is a great relief. Truthfully though, I like Raffi’s music. Often, after dropping Angus at preschool, I’m almost home before I realize the “Bananaphone” CD is still on.

“Bananaphone” is, in fact, blasting from the CD player and I’m singing along. And yes, when Raffi tickets came on sale last summer, six months before the January show that was Angus’s Christmas present, I swooped in immediately to grab those front row centre VIP seats before anyone could beat me to it.

Angus met Raffi after that show. He practiced in advance and still couldn’t get a word out. The photo of him and Raffi is taped on the inside of his refrigerator cave—a prized memento. Did I get a little misty-eyed when my son’s hero gave me a hug? Of course I did. Anyone who makes Angus as happy as Raffi does is my hero as well. And also, that man can sure sing!

Laura Trunkey is mother to the amazing Angus and the author of a forthcoming short fiction collection from House of Anansi. Email laurajtrunkey@gmail.com.

IslandParent.ca

Ad Directory

Business & Professional Directory

Arbutus Grove............ IFC Mary Rogers Artistic Statement....... 18 BeConnected Support

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Enriching Young Minds in Victoria since 2002.

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Call 250.544.1588 to learn more

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Early Care and Learning Programs for Preschoolers

Registering Now for r Septembe

• Licensed programs for 3 and 4 year olds • Part – time, flexible scheduling • 2.5 & 4 hour programs • Outdoor program options • Competitive rates, subsidy available • Qualified Early Childhood Educators Located at Saanich Neighbourhood Place, in Pearkes Recreation Centre For more information contact 250-360-1148 ext 101 Corinne@snplace.org

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Farm Store.............. 41 Saanich Dental............. 9 Community Living....... 16 Saanich Recreation....... 1 Creatively United

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Church................... 33 Thrifty Foods............... 29 Emmanuel

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Preschool................ 19 Today’s Lunch............. 10 Family Services of

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Greater Victoria...... IFC UVIC Vikes.................... 3 Four Seasons Musical Theatre...... IFC GNS Marine

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• Supervised Parent Time • Supervised Phone Calls • Supervised Exchanges • Professional Reports

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Office 250.590.4114

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Lifestyles.................... 36 Welcome Wagon......... 18 Lifetime Networks....... 25 West-Mont................. 24 Little Steps................... 7 Westshore Parks & Maple Tree Children’s Centre..... 33

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Recreation.............. 21

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I knew the southwest coast of Vancouver Island. However, hiking the trail I was surprised and thrilled by every beach—the tight sandstone curl of Cullite Cove, the sea stacks along Bonilla Point, and the long and slow bend towards Carmanah Point. Then there were the misty bogs, like something created from the mind of J.R.R Tolkein, the electric green of old-growth forests, and the

Wooed by the West Coast Trail

D

ay 5: • Ate lunch next to cougar paw print • Hiked along Hawai’ianesque cliffs, overlooking black sand beaches • Watched grey whales feeding • Bathed in a waterfall • Snoozed in the sun …and two more days to go.

Last September, I hiked the West Coast Trail for the first time. Each night, lying just far enough from the waves to avoid being swept out to sea, I would run through this unbelievable checklist in my head. Soaking in the light of the setting sun, with Tsusiat Falls roaring in the background and these incredible experiences fresh in my memory, I was entirely at peace.

It was a trip that was years in the making: a hike I have wanted to do since moving to Vancouver Island nine years ago. I had always put it off because it seemed a bit costly. Why pay to go hiking when trails like East Sooke and the Juan de Fuca Trail are free? As I found out, the cost of the trail is entirely outweighed by the value of the experience.

The fees (approximately $180.00 per person) pay for permits needed to access territories of the Ditidaht, Huu-ay-aht and Pacheedaht First Nations, the work

of the West Coast Trail Guardians and other Parks Canada staff, and the costs to build and upkeep boardwalks, ladders, and outhouses. Once I found myself descending over 200 rungs on a ladder down the side of a canyon any lingering qualms I had about paying a fee to hike dissipated, replaced by gratitude towards the unseen people who kept this ladder—and many others like it—in good repair.

The coast is stunning. Having spent a fair amount of time in Sooke, Port Renfrew, Bamfield, Ucluelet and Tofino, I thought

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Nature Notes LISa DuMouLIn steep walls of Tsuquadra Point north of the Nitnat Narrows. From these cliffs, it was easy to the spot spray of gray whales. We watched one and then another, feeding just off the continental shelf as we made our way north.

There were other, less conventional highlights. At Trasher Cove, I loved that we could see the lights of Port Renfrew but did not have cell service. It felt like a sneaky escape; we were still part of the world of electricity and email, but also apart from it. I also enjoyed the busyness of the group campsites. During the days my partner and I hiked alone, rarely seeing another person, but at night we had a crew with whom we could share stories, compare meals, and enjoy the fire. Finally, while we met some folks who were disappointed that their plans to “rough it” were interrupted by burgers and fresh crab available at the two restaurants on the trail, I was decidedly not one of them.

While undoubtedly challenging, the West Coast Trail can be an achievable and endlessly rewarding experience. With purposeful planning, you can hike it alone.

And you can hike it with a child. (We met a number of single parents or families hiking with their pre-teens.) You can push yourself to go hard. Or, you can savour life in the slow lane and take your time.

We hiked the trail in six nights and seven days. Next time, I’ll take 10 days if I can, leaving me lots of time to dawdle at the crab shack and then snooze away a day or two at Tsusiat Falls.

Lisa Dumoulin is the Education Program Manager for the Sierra Club BC. Enjoy our regular blogs at sierraclub.bc.ca/education.

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Cut It Out!

Tips from Parent Educator Allison Rees of LIFE Seminars

Reacting? Cut It Out!

I

f you are matching your child’s negative reactions with your own, you might want to Cut it Out! Kids can be blurters because they haven’t developed that internal editor that gives them a couple of seconds to reassess what pops out of their mouths. All children can have problems with their feelings simply because of immaturity. Many children get physical, tell their parents that they hate them, and say scary things like, I wish I was dead.

Sometimes it can be helpful to give them a second chance to reword something, especially if they have just called you a butt head (or worse). This is a compassionate approach and gives them an opportunity to practice being assertive. You can coach your child by using reflective listening which is sensing how they feel and why they feel that way. By accepting and articulating children’s feelings, we are helping them develop emotional maturity.

Children can learn that their negative feelings are guides that point them to frustrated needs.

When we can do this, it keeps us in an adult

role which our children desperately need from us.

Likewise, if you have a frustration or concern, “I statements” allow you to express yourself in such a way that it doesn’t attack your children and put them on the defence. If you can separate your children’s behaviour from their self-esteem, even only partially, it will make the behaviour that much easier to change. If you do anything—such as labeling—to increase the connection and make children feel rotten about themselves instead of about their behaviour, you will probably set up a mass of resistance that will make it impossible to change that particular behaviour.

Effective communication is a significant positive tool to create profound changes in our relationships. This in turn creates a spirit of cooperation. This kind of awareness allows us to come up with an intelligent approach or strategy to get our needs met rather than just reacting and creating more problems. When we improve our communication, we improve our relationship with our kids and everyone in our lives. This is a radical change in approach to the typical, habitual

ways of approaching discipline. All of us are on a learning curve with our communication.

We have been speaking a certain way all of our lives so be prepared to feel inadequate and phony. Just don’t give up, it matters!

LIFE Seminars has two books available, Sidestepping the Power Struggle and The Parent Child Connection. See lifeseminars.com.

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