Bayside MamaMag Aug/Sept 2019

BAYSIDE

mamamAg Aug/Sep 2019

WIN 1 of 8 FAMILY PASSES TO THE ROYAL MELBOURNE SHOW Food, health & wellbeing Welcome to your period Health and happiness The lunchbox dad Parenting boys

free Local fun for the Bayside mum 1

Prep 2020 Enrolments Now Open Meet our Head of Junior School and tour the School

OPEN DAY Friday 16 August ELC – Year 12 School Tours

Enquire today

www.mentonegirls.vic.edu.au Tel: 03 9581 1200

EMPOWERING GIRLS

wInter warmers Mama’s cold, really cold! I’m just not a Winter person!

Pop me in the sunshine any day of the week. Of course, I’m getting good at escaping the cold. Snapping up some cheap flights to Cairns a few months ago was clearly the best thing I’ve done all year. Port Douglas is one of my favourite Australian destinations, and I’d never taken the kids there, so a sneaky mid-term June trip was absolutely perfect. Bundled into the long weekend so the kids only missed four days of school, we were spoilt rotten at the fabulous Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort for five wonderful nights. In the Dec/Jan issue I’ll be sharing my Port Douglas adventures with you in full, but for now let me just tell you, there is so many amazing things to do with the kids there. The weather is around 26 degrees all Winter, so my sunshine cup was certainly filled. We snorkelled the reef, we even snorkelled through the rainforest! We zipped through trees, paddle boarded, took a sunset cruise and when we weren’t having all these adventures we were lounging by one of Sheraton’s three acres of amazing pools! Truly the best family holiday I’ve had! I can’t wait to tell you more about it!

Two weeks later, when the school holidays actually started, we went skiing at Mt Baw baw and my tan was quickly hidden under thermals and ski clothes as I embraced the cold head on! Baw Baw is such a great spot for kids to learnt to ski. It’s close, affordable and small enough for them to tackle almost every run.

Now we’re back in term three. Back to reality. Back to routine. Back to the gym for me, trying to stay fit and healthy! We’ve got lots of great health and wellness goodies for you this issue. It’s so important to take care of ourselves so we can be the best mums possible. It’s also important to help take care of those other mums who are less fortunate than us. I’m thrilled to be able to partner with Hunter Baby this issue to run a giant sale to raise funds for St Kilda Mums. Their clothes are gorgeous and a total steal for 50% off with HB donating a further 10% to St Kilda Mums to help mums in need. So if you’ve got kids under four, please get behind us and shop up a storm!

Check out page 13 for details.

@localmamamag

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Local fun for everyone • Bayside • Eastside • Northside • Westside

WIN

Contents The lunchbox dad

1 of 8 Family Passes to the 6

Insta sensation George Georgievski

Parklife 8 Harleston Park, Elsternwick

Health, Health and happiness

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Chats with Lauren Hannaford

Welcome to your period

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A teen’s guide to ‘that time’

5 great toys for language

Worth

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$80 ea

Language development helpers

Good for mama & the planet

ch!

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Our top lifestyle product picks

The leader of the pack

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How you can help your kids

Mama can cook

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Plant-based Nourish Box

Ranger Benny’s World

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Gumbuya World’s new YouTube star

Turn the page

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Mama’s top book picks

Wellness walks over cancer

12,500 copies per issue distributed bi-monthly across Melbourne’s South with 50,000 copies in total across all four MamaMag areas: Bayside • Eastside • Northside • Westside.

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The truth about biodegradable plastics

Colour to WIN

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Tickets to The Cat in the Hat

Betting wetting myths Which bits are true?

MamaMag Aug/Sep 2019

MamaMag® is published bi-monthly for the mums of Melbourne’s South by Grizzle Design Pty Ltd

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Mothering our boys

Don’t get greenwashed

For more show info visit royalshow.com.au

ABN: 26 042 138 550. PO Box 8018 Brighton East 3187 Phone: 1300 771 446 Email: info@mamamag.com.au www.mamamag.com.au | www.grizzledesign.com.au

Lollipops’ Cathy and Tony Maher

Boys are not tough

Entries are open to Victorian residents only. Competition starts Aug 1st 12.01am and closes Sept 14th 2019 at 11.59pm. Tickets are only valid for use during the 2019 Royal Melbourne Show, Sat 21 Sept - Tues 1 Oct. Tickets may not re-sold or redeemed for cash.

Visit www.mamamag.com.au/competitions for full terms and conditions.

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A mum’s cancer journey

We love a mother

Enter at www.mamamag.com.au/theshow

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Editor in Chief: Sarah Cavalier sarah@mamamag.com.au Local Advertising Manager: Olivia Wilson: olivia@mamamag.com.au National Key Account Manager: Clare Betts: clare@mamamag.com.au Want to write for us or have an article idea? submissions@mamamag.com.au The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the publishing staff.

Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited without permission of the publishers.

Health related articles are designed to be informative and educational. They are not intended to provide specific medical advice or replace one-on-one advice from your health practitioner.

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THE Lunchbox Dad When Geelong dad, to two gorgeous girls, George Georgievski took over the cooking and school lunch duties from his wife three years ago, he thought he was just doing every parent should do, parent. What he didn’t foresee was him becoming a world-wide success as the “School lunchbox dad”, with live TV appearances, over 120k Instagram/Facebook followers and a new cook book Lunchbox Express which launched recently!

George, tell us about that first morning you walked into the kitchen and found school lunch chaos.

It was like walking into a war zone. I used to leave for work before anyone was up so I had no idea what happened in the mornings till one day I was off sick. I was in bed when I heard screams from the kitchen, I jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen thinking someone had been shot. As it turns out is was an everyday normality and my girls and wife looked at me like “what’s up?”.

That was the moment everything changed, I remember saying that I love my little family too much to allow this chaos to continue in the mornings. I asked my wife how I could help and she suggested I take over school lunches, fast forward 3 years and it’s a different type of chaos.

What do you do work wise when you’re not being a whizz in the kitchen?

We recently sold our family business after 16 years, and now I’m a client relationship dude.

I look after a key account for a local Geelong business. I used to also give up a day a week to work as a barista for free in the best café called Coffee Cartel. I loved their passion for single origin coffee so much I had to learn as much as possible about coffee, even if it meant working for free!

Where did you find the inspiration to come up with these fun and exciting lunches?

I found inspiration in a few places, firstly, my cultural heritage is Macedonian, so growing 6

up I was exposed to amazing soul food from Macedonia. I wanted my girls to experience this so I simplified some of my mum’s recipes and made them my own. For a whole year on every Friday, I also created lunches inspired by different countries around the world. At one stage, when I did Polish food, someone in Poland saw it and I ended up on the front page of the Polish Gazette next to Donald Trump!

Adult food is also a source of inspiration, for example, when we’d go out to dinner we’d all enjoy ravioli, spring rolls, dumplings etc.

I figured if they enjoy those foods for dinner, how could I create them using simple bread and basic ingredients? So I did just that.

Simplifying adult food is something I do a lot!

How did you end up on Instagram? Did the girls have anything to do with that?

It was about 3 years ago, however I have a dad brain! From what I can remember I think one of my girls came home from school saying that either a teacher or a parent suggested that I put the lunchbox creations on Instagram.

Back then, I had no idea what Instagram was, so after some searching I downloaded the app and things went nuts pretty quick. So yes, it was all because of my girls.

Your book deal came about after a cheeky Instagram message to publisher MacMillan.

Tells us more about how this came about.

Yes, very true, one night I noticed that MacMillan Publishers started following me, and I thought that it would be cool if I sent them a cheeky message. The message read something like “hi thanks for the follow, now who can I talk to about a bestseller and cool dad style recipes”.

I then got a response, the funny thing was that I thought I was all cool and stuff till the publisher said that they never respond to those type of messages however they thought that my social pages had something special, so we caught up.

When I went in for a meeting I noticed they were all women, so right then I knew they’d get sh#t done and that I was in safe hands!

What’s the best thing that has come about from your new found ‘lunchbox’ fame?

Top five places to hang out with the kids when you visit Melbourne:

The changes that people have made for the better. At times when I get messages from people to tell me how their children’s behaviour has changed and how they’re more attentive just blows my mind. We are what we eat and to see positive change makes the journey we are on so worth it.

1. Queen Victoria Market – get them to pick their own fruit and veggies and make a day of it. Grocery shopping can be fun when everyone is involved.

2. Melbourne Aquarium – The penguins are always a hit, and the sharks always scare us!

Top five items to put in a lunchbox:

3. Melbourne Zoo – Always a fun place to hang out and a great day out.

1. Low salt popcorn, it’s a fun food with a heap of nutritional benefits.

4. V Junior Cinemas – kid friendly cinemas with slides and bean bags.

2. Creative sandwich, turn a boring sandwich into ravioli, dumpling or spring roll.

5. Fitzroy Gardens – there’s the fun of the tram ride there, history with Captain Cooks Cottage, the fairy gardens and heaps of open space to run around.

3. Non watery fruits like stone fruits, apples, and berries. They don’t leak.

4. Mini veggies like mini cucumbers, carrots and tomatoes.

5. Love, always make the lunchbox as though it’s the last. Use the rainbow colours with fresh produce. Inspire your little humans.

Find out more about George and his fabulous creations at schoollunchboxblog.wordpress.com You can meet George and check out his amazing new book at the Pregnancy Babies & Children’s Expo, Oct 18-20 at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC).

Parklife Harleston Park Elsternwick Mama has fond memories of Harleston Park, hanging out here often as a teen, as well as many fun play dates with my kids. With it’s giant metal slide and fun equipment, it was always a winner. But now... it’s an absolute winner! Glen Eira’ Council’s redevelopment of the playground is an absolute ripper. Hardly a surprise though.

These guys know how to do play. Remember Booran Reserve!

Not quite of the size comparison of Booran, but you’ll certainly recognise elements like the rubber soft fall stairs, this time in a fun burnt orange, leading up to a new giant metal slide.

I bet the locals asked to keep that element, but now you enter the slide via a fun climbing net.

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The whole park has a really nice natural element to it. The play equipment is mainly wooden with forts, bridges and cubbies to climb and play in, some over a giant sand pit. There are large rocks and wooden stepping stones to play on and pieces of equipment, like the swings, made out of imperfect logs instead of perfect posts or metal.

A half-size basketball court for the sporty ones, a super fun giant acorn cubby, music play, and of course the old creek bed is still there, but not currently running. It’s all topped off by a brand new toilet block. Winning!

Alison Road, Elsternwick

KOLEOS Copious amounts of space for the little ones Apple Carplay® or Android Auto® - to play those calming lullabies 458 litres of boot space for those long summer road trips Loads of safety features ...and is available in 4x2 and 4x4.

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Present this advert to one of the dealerships listed above and receive $500 worth of accessories when a new Renault Vehicle is purchased and delivered between 01.08.19 and 31.09.19. †5 year unlimited km warranty applies to all new Renault passenger vehicles ordered after 01.05.19, except Clio R.S. Demonstrator vehicles receive balance of new vehicle warranty. Roadside Assistance terms and conditions apply. Call our Customer Service Team on 1800 009 008 or view the Terms and Conditions statement at www.renault.com.au/drivingpeaceofmind for details. ◊Complimentary 12 months 24/7 Roadside Assist when you purchase a Renault vehicle (balance of 12 months for demonstrator vehicles). Further complimentary 12 month periods of Roadside Assist will be given from the date of each scheduled maintenance service at a participating authorised Renault dealer within 4 years of purchase (within 4 years from registration for demonstrator vehicles). ^ See https://www.renault.com.au/ownership/servicing/capped-price-servicing for details. #

HEALTH, HEART AND HAPPINESS The foods you eat and the lifestyle you lead effects your HEALTH, which directly effects your HEART and how you physically manage to live each day. This in turn effects your HAPPINESS and how you mentally cope from day to day.

One doesn’t function without the other and all three have to be in tune with each other to help you become the strongest, fittest you. To be the best parent we need to look after ourselves, but it can be hard to find the time and energy to eat well and exercise regularly.

So, let us introduce you to Lauren Hannaford.

As parents, we’ve probably all seen Lauren before, you just might not realise it. A former member of The Wiggles, she’s graced our TV screens as Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus and Wags the Dog, and is also lucky to call the Red Wiggle Simon Pryce her husband!

You might remember the two of them on Ninja Warrior Australia last year! Once an elite gymnast, Lauren moved into coaching and now runs her own online fitness program, FHIT

by Lauren Hannaford, to help others become the strongest, fittest and healthiest version of themselves, full of health, happiness and heart.

Lauren, what does your average day look like?

Each working day is pretty different for me, but I always wake up and do my best to beam out of bed for my morning workout. Of course, some days are harder than others, but I know how good I’ll feel once I start moving and get those endorphins going so I always try to workout first thing. My favourite days are when my husband Simon and I can work out together.

After I work out, it’s breakfast time, emails and a bit of a social media scroll through. If I haven’t got any interviews or shoots to do then it’s content, content, content creation time.

I always try to create as much

content for my FHIT members as I can so we are constantly growing and learning together.

Simon is on tour most of the year, so I try to go on the road with him as much as possible.

Tell us about why health and fitness is so important to you.

I think it’s fair to say that when we are feeling fit and healthy we tend to have clearer thoughts, and overall a more positive outlook to the day. Healthier choices make healthier decisions whether that be for family, socially or professionally. So for me fitness isn’t just about the physical benefits it gives but more importantly how good it is for my mental health and mental clarity it gives me.

What inspired you to create FHIT? There were a couple of reasons. The first being from the fact that I was doing so much travel with work and I didn’t have a regular routine or access to gyms. This inspired me to create workouts for myself that I could do anywhere, anytime. I then posted some of these workouts on my Instagram (@LozHannaford) and had so many people writing and wanting to do the same workouts. Secondly as my travelling slowed down a bit Simon’s travel continued as he is away 9-10 months of the year. I thought to myself, I want to be able to use technology and create something that allows me to connect with people all over the world and help them become the strongest, fittest and most confident version of themselves. The use of technology also meant that my workplace can be anywhere which gives me freedom and allows me to travel and see my wonderful husband. Hence the birth of FHIT!!

What’s your best advice on finding time to exercise?

Schedule it in so you stay committed to it but most importantly don’t over think it. We seem to have this autopilot thought that unless you go and slog it out at the gym for an hour then you’re not really going to achieve anything.

Break it down and take the pressure off. Any activity is good activity. You can do it anywhere,

anytime and you are only 15 minutes away from a good mood and improved physical fitness.

What makes your program so suited to mums compared to other online programs?

FHIT is so suited to mum’s because it is convenient to do anywhere, anytime and without any equipment. Whether it be when their child is sleeping or playing in the lounge room - each workout in the first three programs are only 15 minutes which is perfect for time poor mums. I so often have members writing saying that they love how invigorated they feel from a workout that is only 15 minutes long AND better still how many mums write to say that their children try to join in and do it with them. It is such a nice way to bond and show your children the positive effects of exercise.

What’s the one health or wellness treatment you can’t live without?

Massage!! This is one that has taken me a long time to understand as I always saw massages as just being a luxury treatment which I never allowed myself the time for. I have come to learn over time that just because it feels nice it doesn’t mean it’s about luxury. It feels good because it is good for your body and your body needs it to repair and recover. Just as we need to nourish our body with good food and water, we also need to look after our muscles.

I will graze on nuts and fruit throughout the day if my body is needing a little boost and for dinner I will have protein and vegetables.

I tend to go for chicken or fish with lots of carrots, broccoli and zucchini with half a cup of brown rice if I’m extra hungry.

On occasion I love a glass of red and some dark chocolate and I am also drinking looooadddss of water throughout the day.

And finally what’s your top 5 health and wellness tips: Drink lots of water - 3 litres a day.

Get plenty of sleep - 8 hours a night.

Exercise consistently. You don’t need to flog yourself. just stay consistent.

Cut as much sugar out of your diet as possible.

You will be amazed how much sugar is in the regular foods we eat.

Understand your WHY! Knowing the core reason of why you are wanting to make healthier choices in your life is the key to reaching your goals.

Find out more about FHIT at www.laurenhannaford.com.au

What does your day on a plate look like?

I eat very simply and clean, but I also don’t deprive myself of the finer things that our taste buds love. When I wake up in the morning (usually about 6am) I have two big glasses of water. Then I have a double espresso as I get ready for the day.

I always prefer working out on an empty stomach so after I train, depending on time I will either have a banana or shake on the go or cook some eggs with avocado if I have a bit more time. When lunch rolls around I will either have to graze on the go or I love a good pumpkin salad with lots of greens.

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in support of St Kilda Mums presents

The big

BABY & CHILD

super-sale

50% off everything! with 10% of sales going directly to St Kilda Mums

Use the code MAMAMAG50 at www.hunterbaby.com.au13

Welcome to your perIod Back in our day if there was a question about sex, periods or any other embarrasing topic, we just consulted the pages of our beloved Dolly magazine and asked ‘Dolly Doctor’. So what do the kids of today do (besides ask Google or Siri?) Well, if your pre-teen has questions about periods, turns out Dolly Doctor still has the answers for them!

Launched Aug 1st, Welcome to Your Period, is the ultimate menstruation manual for pre-teens (9-12 years) and is co-written by funny mama from Yumi Stynes and Dolly Doctor herself, Dr. Melissa Kang! Together they demystify everything from cramps to what to do with a used tampon, giving practical advice on surviving your period at school, at sleepovers or during sport, Welcome to Your Period is a complete guide.

Welcome to Your Period takes the weird, mortifying and messy out of getting your period for the first time by offering candid advice on how to handle this bleeding business like a boss! Here’s a little sneak peak of what’s inside:

Before you get your period Being prepared for something that’s never happened to you before is tricky, right? Luckily there ARE some things you can do to prepare for your first period.

1. Sort out your period pack.

Having your supplies on hand will help you feel ready for anything!

2. Try on a pad.

Place the sticky side of the pad down onto your undies, underneath your vagina. Pull your undies back up and walk around. How does it feel? Pat your bum - can you feel it?

Put your outfit back on and take a look in the mirror - can you see the pad through your clothes? Probably not, right?

3. Buy black undies.

Black undies are way better than light-coloured ones for hiding leaks and spills (and trust us, leaks and spills are going to happen from time to time).

We recommend phasing in LOTS of black ones - you might feel more comfortable wearing these on heavier days.

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4. Talk about it!

Ask your friends and the other period bosses in your life about their periods. We totally understand feeling a bit shy about it, but from experience we reckon you can always find a couple of menstruating adults who are up for a period chat! They may be able to share their experiences and give you some basic advice.

5. Read a book!

The best thing about novels is that they allow you to experience something before it happens to you. Here are some of our favourite books that actually deal with periods in a meaningful way:

•• ••

The Last One in the Universe by Chrissie Perry Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Bloom To Night Owl From Dogfish by Holly Goldbery Sloan and Meg Wolitzer And of course read this book! Knowledge is power!

Your period pack should include: Menstruation products: Whether you prefer pads or tampons, include three in your pack. If you’re not sure yet, pads are a good place to start, but it’s nice to keep a spare tampon in there. They don’t take up much space, and one of your friends - or a strangermight ask you for one.

Spare undies: It’s a good idea to keep these in a ziplock bag. If you have a period bleed on your undies then you can swap them for the clean pair and pop the stained ones into the ziplock bag to be washed when you get home.

Pain medication: If you sometimes take pain medication like ibuprofen or paracetamol for your period, add two tablets to your period pack.

Emergency chocolate: Just in case because chocolate is yum.

Keep your period pack handy so that you can easily grab it at school, on your way home, out with friends or at your after-school job. A special little bag might seem a bit fancy or fussy, but we strongly recommend it because your period supplies can get really beaten up if they’re bouncing around loose inside your schoolbag. Or they might jump out of your bag when you’re not looking!

This is an edited extract from Welcome to your Period by Yumi Stynes and Dr. Melissa Kang published by Hardie Grant Books RRP $19.99 and is available in stores nationally.

FIve great toys for language development Children learn so much through play. Toys are a great way to get kids talking! New toys and games can spark new vocabulary, longer sentences and more complex ideas. Here are my favourite toys for building language in preschool aged kids.

1. Pretend play kitchen and food Kids love to play shops! Without realising it, they are practicing greeting people, asking questions and learning new words. Join in and enjoy a ‘skinny latte’ or a bowl of soup! Kids love to see their parents play and be silly.

Collect some empty boxes and bottles to use in your shop. Use some plastic bowls and cups to set up a restaurant. You can get out some teddies and dolls to join in the fun.

2. Animals (and books): “What sound does a horse make?”

By age 3, most children know the sounds common animals make. They can now start using animals to tell stories. Match up some animal toys with a favorite book and act out the story together!

Put together a book basket, with some animals and your favourite books. For example, What the Ladybird Heard by Julia Donaldson is a great book to act out with animal toys. Collect up your farm animals and tell the story. Some Aussie favourites are Wombat Stew or Possum Magic by Mem Fox. 3. Blocks Blocks are fantastic to combine with other toys. Use blocks to create houses for animals or people. Talk about where you are putting things. For example, “the horse is under the

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bridge”. This helps your child learn new words and follow instructions. Sit together and talk about the house, the farm or the car that you can build with their blocks. Leave creations out for a couple of days so that kids can build on their play and talk about what they have added.

4. Doll play Lastly, doll play is another great way to build language. Children learn to use words that relate back to themselves through dolls. For example, “I’m feeding the dolly” or “Dolly doesn’t want to eat this”.

Kids benefit from the opportunity to role-play with dolls or teddies. Lots of preschoolers have new baby brothers or sisters and will surprise you with how much they know about babies.

Plastic dolls are great because you can give them a bath!

5. Toy libraries Toy libraries are a great way to introduce variety into your child’s play and offer a broad range of toys that help improve language skills.

A toy library membership is a cost-effective and space-saving solution that gives your child access to hundreds of toys. Find your local toy library here - www.toylibraries.org.au For more information about child language development, go to Speech Pathology Australia Gemma Holleran is a speech pathologist, mum and committee member at Caulfield Community Toy Library.

Be part of it

Register for our next Headmaster’s Tour to see how your son can be part of our single-campus community where every boy’s wellbeing is a priority.

Brighton Grammar Tours

Single campus • Boys • Anglican CRICOS Provider No. 00132K

good for mama good for the planet Activated Nutrients Grow Up and Top Up. All-in-one daily superfood powders for the whole family, with essential vitamins from organic wholefoods and clinically proven probiotics. Kid’s Grow Up from $29.95 Woman’s Top Up from $24.95. Activatednutrients.com EXYRA Sydney whiskey tortoise glasses. These glasses are specially designed to optimize vision when viewing content on digital screens by blocking blue light. No more sore, dry eyes. $98 exyra.com.au Who Gives a Crap premium bamboo toilet rolls.

Made with environmentally friendly materials, and they donate 50% of their profits to help build toilets for those in need. $56 for 48 rolls whogivesacrap.org Thankyou hand wash refills. Refill your existing small bottle again and again to reduce plastic. Clean, soft hands that smell ah-mazing, full of plant-based goodness like nourishing almond oil, and the zingy fragrance of orange. RRP $12.50 thankyou.co Biome stainless steel pegs. Stainless steel wire pegs last ages and save you money. Made from one piece of wire so they never break . You’ll find pklenty of other uses and they make a great gift! From $18.95. www.biome.com.au BioGone plastic bags. Clean up after your pooch and help save the planet. Landfill Biodegradable dog bags that get completely eaten away by natural microorganisms after disposal to a landfill, allowing the contents inside to breakdown. RRP $8.80 www.biogone.com.au Swisse Matcha Tea Anti Pollution Clay Mask. Formulated with green Australian clay for a cool and calming facial treatment. It protects the skin from impurities caused by toxins and environmental triggers, and restores. Great for sensitive skin. RRP $20.99. swisse.com.au Stay Tray. Stay tray is all about simplicity, style and sustainability. Made out of 100% recycled polypropylene plastic and BPA-free, it’s not just for carrying coffee cups, it can also handle drink bottles, juices, baby bottles, fast food drinks and small thermoses. staytray.com.au Pana Organic Chocolate mint. Chocolate that’s full of antioxidants, amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Vegan, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, refined sugar free and preservative free. 60% raw cacao with pure essential peppermint oil. You can’t feel guilty with this yummy treat.

RRP $6.90. Available at Coles.

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Onya Produce bags 8 pack. Convenient reusable produce bags for your fresh fruit and veggies. The bags come in a colourful pouch making it easy to carry them to the shop and reduce your single use plastics. $19.95 www.onyalife.com

Black Chicken Axilla Natural Deodorant Paste. Nasty chemicals in your deodorant is the pits! This unique blend of natural and organic ingredients target and effectively neutralise odour without harmful chemicals or sweat blockers. RRP $18.50 blackchicken.com.au Eco-store Ultra sensitive laundry powder. A healthier, cleaner wash for the whole family. This awesome laundry powder leaves clothes clean and fresh and is perfect for little ones with this sensitive skin option. From $8.99 shop.ecostore.com.au Bamkiki bamboo toothbrushes. In Australia, over 100m plastic toothbrushes are consumed every year. Aussie biz Bambiki have a biodegradable option that gives back to the planet too. 5% of profits go to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. 2 for $13.90 www.bamkiki.com.au Shampoo With A Purpose. This Aussie mum has replaced 6 bottles of shampoo and conditioner with this one, powerful little bar. You can use it on your whole body, saving water, time, money and the environment, with no plastic bottles.

RRP $15 www.shampoowithapurpose.com Pod Star Coffee Capsules. Reusable coffee pods are the most eco-friendly way to use your coffee machine. Choose your coffee beans, save money and save the planet.

Compatible with Nespresso, Caffitaly and Aldi machines.

RRP from $39.95. Podstar.com.au Bendie Straws. Make plastic straws a thing of the past with these funky non-toxic food-grade silicone straws.

Your new household staple for both kiddies and grown ups, saving the planet one beverage at a time.

RRP $16 www.wemightbetiny.com BBBYO Insulated Coffee & Wine Fix Cup 350ml (2pk).

Keep your wine cold or your coffee hot with this good looking 2-pack. Complete with two reusable stainless steel straws, straw cleaners and sipping lids, this set will have you ready for picnics and takeaways in zero waste style.

RRP $42 www.biome.com.au Wonky Fruit and Vegetables Playset. Teach kids that veggies don’t need to look perfect and practice cutting with the wooden knife, then stick them back together! The toys are made from PlanWood, leftover sawdust from toy production, natural glue and organic pigments, so the toys themselves are also contributing to less waste. www.modernbrands.com.au Eloments Organic Vitamin Tea. This Melbourne based tea is the world’s first 100% natural, certified organic vitamin tea. Each tea bag contains over 40% of your recommended daily needs of vitamin B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, C and zinc, with nothing artificial added.

Available at Woolworths. RRP $7.50 PATCH Kids Coconut Oil Bandadges. The natural alternative to wound care and perfect for those with sensitive skin.

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How to be the leader of your pack Lots of mums I know rush into getting their children professional help as soon as they see any signs of anxiety or low self-esteem. I get it.

Of course, we just want the best for our child’s mental health.

run around inadvertently giving power to our kids’ anxiety, depression etc., we’re creating an environment in their brains (and our own), where these emotions become, quite literally, physiological addictions.

However, don’t underestimate your motherpower to lead your family to wellness. Think of it as pack dynamics if you like, where you’re the leader of the pack. And as leader of the pack, it’s not about DOING something to give your kids resilience. It’s about BEING that counts.

You can’t make the choice to be happy for anyone other than yourself, not even your own child. However, by showing them that they have the power to make that choice for themselves, you’re giving them an extraordinary gift.

As mammals, we can’t fake it to our pack, our kids. We can’t lie. They KNOW on an instinctive animal level how we’re feeling.

Cells in the brain called mirror neurons produce an empathetic (mirror) response in those around us. So, in looking at our kids and thinking there’s something wrong with them, ask yourself how you’re feeling.

Want to power up on your pack leadership?

Step 1 – Be responsible for how you’re being The moment we take full responsibility for our state of being, we gain extraordinary power. BE the way you want your family to be – Calm? Relaxed? Positive? It’s easy to blame our state on things outside of us – the inattentive husband, the ‘difficult child’, financial circumstances…

If we really want to lead our pack, this blame game just doesn’t cut it. What’s more important to you? Having something else to blame for how you’re feeling, or creating an environment in which your pack can thrive? Remember, it’s not about showing them. It’s about being it.

Step 2 – Empower your kids to choose I see many adults pandering to the sense of powerlessness in their children, encouraging it, without even realising they’re doing so. If we 22

Step 3 – Give yourself permission to let go Watch unwanted feelings arise in yourself, and simply let them go. Surrender them. It’s as simple as that. There’s no need to judge them, or even understand why we’re feeling it or where it’s come from. Just let it go.

I’m not talking about suppressing feelings. No. When we suppress feelings, we become like a pressure cooker. The feelings get stronger and more intense. When you let go instead, you are letting go of thousands of thoughts which belong under the umbrella of that feeling.

You’re peeling the onion, layer by layer. It’s a process. Be patient with yourself here.

NEVER, EVER underestimate the influence you can have on your children and family through your own state of being. Before you go looking for a treatment for your child’s mental health issue, transform yourself and, as Gandhi so famously said: “BE the change you want to see in the world.” If you still need help , ask for it.

Just be sure to start with you. BE the leader of your pack.

By Sally Wilson. Sally Wilson Holistics South Melbourne. Sally works with clients in peak performance, and in assisting them to resolve anxiety, depression, PTSD and self-esteem issues among other things. www.sallywilsonholistics.com

PENINSULA’S PREMIER CO-EDUCATIONAL SCHOOL SATURDAY OPEN DAY 7 SEPTEMBER, 10.00 AM - 12.00 PM Please join us to hear more from our Principal and to explore how our school can shape the learning journey of your child. Please register your attendance via our website.

www.peninsulagrammar.vic.edu.au

To book a tailored school tour for your family anytime, or for information on our programs, please call 9788 7702 or email us at enrolments@pgs.vic.edu.au.

mama can Cook!

BBQ cauliflower tacos Ingredients

Tahini sauce: 3/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp black pepper Juice of 1 lemon 1/3 cup tahini 1/2 garlic clove 1 cup fresh coriander leaves, plus more to serve 1 tsp ground cumin Tacos: 8 tortillas, toasted 1 medium cauliflower, chopped into florets 1 tbsp cumin 1 tbsp smoked paprika salt and pepper 2 tbsp olive oil Purple cabbage 1 avocado, sliced 1 lime, cut into wedges 1 chill, sliced

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Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

To make the tahini sauce combine tahini, coriander, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, salt and black pepper in a small food processor or blender.

Blend until texture is similar to pesto. Gradually drizzle in 5 tbsp. water and blend until sauce is light green and creamy.

Next coat cauliflower with cumin, paprika, salt, pepper and olive oil.

Roast for 25 mins or until golden brown, tossing half way through.

Assemble tacos by filling each with roasted cauliflower. Top with shredded purple cabbage, sliced avocado, and drizzle with tahini sauce.

Garnish with extra coriander, chilli and lime.

Margaritas optional!

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Thai red curry noodle soup Ingredients

Method

1 tbsp. olive oil

In a large soup pot, heat a splash of oil then add your brown onion. Sweat for 5 minutes and stir often to avoid burning.

1 brown onion, finely diced 1 red capsicum, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 in. cube ginger, skin off, grated 1/2 tbsp. curry powder 1/2 tsp. cumin

Now add your capsicum and soften for 1 - 2 minutes before adding your garlic, ginger, curry powder and cumin.

Cook for a few more minutes until fragrant.

Add the pumpkin with a big splash of water and put the lid on for 5 minutes until the pumpkin starts to soften.

1 1/2 tbsp. red curry paste

Remove lid, increase to high heat, add curry paste, seasoning to taste, coconut milk, water, crumbled veggie stock cube, tamari, tofu and chilli flakes (if using).

1 400ml can coconut milk

Stir until combined and slowly bring to a boil.

3 cups boiling water

Once bubbling, add your noodles and reduce heat.

Cook for another 5 minutes.

1 cup pumpkin, cubed

1 veggie stock cube, crumbled 1/2 tbsp. tamari (or soy sauce) 1 heaped tbsp. nutritional yeast 350g pack of tofu, cubed Chilli flakes to taste 200g vermicelli rice noodles To garnish: Fresh coriander, lime wedges, red onion and chilli

Serve soup hot, topped with freshly chopped coriander, chilli, red onion and lime wedges to taste.

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Ranger benny’s world As more and more children are retreating to a digital world, Gumbuya World are using this as a way to reconnect these young kids to nature, and the remarkable animals that live in it, through their recently launched YouTube Channel.

We caught up with the channel’s host, Senior Keeper of the Wildlife Trail Ranger Benny, and chatted about his passion for animals and his new online role.

feeding on a carcass on the side of the road. We pulled up and moved in for a closer look, just hoping to get a quick photo before he flew off.

What happened next was so incredible that if I didn’t have the footage to prove it, you might not believe me. Long story short, I was able to climb up a tree and share a branch with a fullygrown adult wedgie and even got to feed him!

Easily my most amazing wildlife encounter!

Firstly, tell us a bit about yourself and your family.

We are going to be showing off all the wild and wonderful aspects of the Wildlife Trail and also showing people what it’s like to be a Wildlife Keeper. There will be informative aspects where we teach about the animals and introduce them to their personalities, there will be special guests and it will also highlight some of the great encounters and experiences you can have when you come visit us. Most of all, we just want it to be fun for the whole family!

I grew up as the second youngest of five siblings with mum but I also have another half-sister who lives in England and another handful of step-siblings through marriage. (I refer to it as the “family vine” as opposed to the family tree.)

My own family is a little easier to describe.

I married my wife Fi over 12 years ago and we have two children: our daughter Lyla who is 10 and son Eagle, 9.

How old were you when you first became fascinated with wildlife?

From as young as I can remember! The Aussie landscape is filled with bugs and lizards and all sorts of creepy crawlies and I would spend my childhood hours searching for them all!

More recently I really became fascinated by venomous snakes as I would encounter them fairly regularly in the kind of work I was doing and they have become my specialty.

Tell us about your most memorable wildlife encounter!

There have been so many but there was a definite standout just last year. I was travelling the Northern Territory with my family and we came across a huge Wedge-Tailed Eagle 28

Gumbuya World’s brand-new YouTube Channel has just launched, and it is fab! What can kids and parents expect when they tune in?

What do your kids think about ‘dad’ being the star of a YouTube Channel?

My kids love that Daddy works at Gumbuya World. I even saw that Lyla had written “My Dad is Ranger Benny!” on her hand the last time they visited. I think they are pretty proud.

Have you got a favourite native Australian creature?

Absolutely! That would have to be the WedgeTailed Eagle! That’s what made that encounter in the Territory so special. Whenever I come across them, they literally stop me in my tracks.

I get a lot of inspiration from the way they live their life. They are renowned for their vision and focus and when they find a partner, that partner is with them for life. It’s definitely an animal that I hope to work with in the future.

What’s your favourite thing about working with the animals at Gumbuya World? Any funny or scary mishaps?

See Benny in action at Gumbuya World where you can get up close and personal with more than 50 species of remarkable wildlife in the Wildlife Trail. www.gumbuya.com.au

My favourite thing is presenting the animals to our guests. I love giving people an up-close experience, especially when you know that you have provided them with an incredibly memorable encounter. It is always a pleasure to be able to provide that.

Presenting pythons can sometimes bring a laugh as they can get themselves into some very compromising positions, so let me just say as a recommendation to perhaps think about wearing tight fitting clothes for a python encounter!

When you’re not working with wildlife, what do you love to do as a family?

We enjoy the simple things as a family. Going to the park and kicking a footy or throwing a frisbee, having a cuppa at the local café, climbing trees (we should never grow out of that!) or just exploring. The beach is a favourite exploring place for us.

What do you think 10-year-old Benny would think of your current job?

He’d be shocked to find out that you can have a job where you get to hang out with animals and go on adventures. That’s why I make sure my children know that their future can be anything and they know that we will do our best to support them.

And finally, can you share with us what working so closely with such magnificent wildlife has taught you?

It has taught me to be really aware of the type of person I am. Animals are really good at picking up on the subtleties of our personalities and how we are approaching them. I’ve learned how important it is to be calm and patient, skills that can be invaluable when you have children!

You can check out Benny on Gumbuya World’s new YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/ GumbuyaWorldYT 29

Don’t get greenwashed Not all “biodegradable” plastics are created equal Going green is one of the fastest growing consumer trends today. Good news for the environment with eco-friendly consumers putting pressure on brands to create sustainable products. But extremely damaging when companies simply jump on the band wagon by using misleading labelling and packaging.

Buyer beware Be wary of any claim of being “Biodegradable” if there are no details on where it will biodegrade and how it will biodegrade. Ask yourself “where is it going to be disposed of for it to biodegrade? In a landfill? In a home compost?

Or in a commercial composting facility?”

And if it claims to be “recyclable”, ask yourself if it can be mainstream recycled – meaning it can go into your household recycle bin for council collection. If the answer is NO, then don’t buy it.

Know what the labels mean With no national requirement for product labelling, consumers are easy targets for misinformation. Let education be your best defence and learn what the labels mean.

Bioplastics are made from plant-based materials. Only a small portion of bioplastics are biodegradable, most of which require a municipal or commercial compost facility to biodegrade and they cannot be recycled.

Compostable plastics refer to “biodegradable” plastics made from plant-based materials like corn and wheat starch which will only biodegrade if composted in a municipal or commercial compost facility. PLA or Polylactide for example is a compostable plastic. Unfortunately, there are not many composting facilities available or accessible in Australia. In fact, there is no existing infrastructure to separate

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compostable plastics from other waste or to transport them to such facilities, resulting in them going to landfill. “Compostable plastic” will not biodegrade in landfill as the environment there is too cool. They also cannot be recycled.

Degradable plastics have nothing to do with biodegradation and microorganisms.

“Degradable” or “oxo-degradable” plastics use a metallic additive that sets off a slow chemical reaction and over 12-24 months which causes the plastic to fragment into little pieces. So, instead of one piece of plastic we end up with hundreds or thousands of little pieces of plastic which may not be visible, but create a worse result for the environment, particularly when marine animals easily consume these fragments. “Degradable” plastics cannot be composted or recycled.

Landfill biodegradable plastics incorporate an organic food source additive in the plastic at the time of manufacture. When disposed to a landfill they attract naturally occurring microbes that exist in there. The microbes seek out the food and in the process the enzymes they secrete break down the long polymer molecules where they can be digested too.

The resulting products of the biodegradation are a biogas and a biomass (humus). There is no plastic residue left or any toxic constituents.

“Landfill biodegradable” plastics can be recycled. They can also be composted in a municipal or commercial compost facility. Their results are verified by various ASTM testing methods.

NOTE: No plastic is good in the ocean. There are no microbes present there to biodegrade the material away.

By Dr Ross Headifen, educator of responsible plastic use and co-founder of Biogone. biogone.com.au

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turn the page A boy called Bob Becomes an AFL Footballer

by Bob Murphy with Tony Wilson This is the story of a boy called Bob. He’s a little scrawny, a little scruffy, and he likes to sniff footballs (weird). But he has the game in his veins and he’s determined to be one of the greats, like his hero from the mighty Tigers, Matthew Richardson. Follow Bob as he gets drafted to the Western Bulldogs at 17, slogs his guts out at training with the big Dogs and, finally, becomes one of the greatest football captains ever. 9 to 12 years.

Published by Piccolo Nero, RRP $17.99.

Welcome to your Period by Yumi Stynes & Dr Melissa Kang Getting your period for the first time can be mortifying, weird and messy – and asking questions about it can feel even worse. But it doesn’t have to be like that! This little book is packed with honest advice on all the things you need to know: from what cramps feel like to whether you can feel it coming out, to what you should do if your pad leaks onto your clothes. Welcome To Your Period is a frank, funny, age-appropriate guide for pre-teens about getting your period, from Dr Melissa Kang (a former Dolly Doctor) and Yumi Stynes.

Published by Hardie Grant Books. RRP $19.99

Into the Wild: Wolf Girl by Anh Do When disaster separates Gwen from her family, she must fend for herself, all alone in the wilderness. Luckily, she’s not alone for long… When a wolf puppy, a Labrador, a Chihuahua, and a greyhound want to make friends, Gwen discovers talents she didn’t know she possessed. It will take all her new skills and strength just to survive. Does Gwen have what it takes to be leader of the pack? 8+ years.

Published by Affirm Press Kids. RRP $14.99

Argh! There’s a Skeleton Inside You!

by Idan Ben-Barak and Julian Frost A funny picture book about a fascinating concept in science, by the highly successful duo who brought us Do Not Lick This Book (it’s full of germs) the award-winning author of Small Wonders, and the animator behind the wildly successful video ‘Dumb Ways to Die’.

An interstellar exploration of hands and what’s inside them!

Published by Allen & Unwin. RRP $19.99

There’s Only One Dad Like You by Jess Racklyeft There’s only one dad like you, Dad. My hero, friend and guide.

You teach me about this great big world and how to enjoy the ride.

Wise dads, caring dads, daring dads, creative dads – each dad brings their own sense of fun. Joyful, tender and heartfelt, There’s Only One Dad Like You is a celebration of the merry magic of dads. The perfect book for celebrating the magic of Father’s Day! Published by Affirm Press Kids. RRP $19.99 32

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Wellness walks over cancer Melbourne mum Atalanti Dionysus was living a busy, happy life when a diagnosis of breast cancer changed everything. With no history of breast cancer in her family she was completely in shock and found herself suddenly needing life-saving surgery and treatment. After surgery to remove the tumour, her prognosis was chemotherapy over five months, followed by radiation therapy, with more surgery to follow.

Life as she knew it had dramatically changed.

A cancer diagnosis brings with it significant anxiety, uncertainty and emotional upheaval.

Surgery, treatment, appointments, tests, scans and results all create stress for both patients and families. It can change you as a person and you often start to think about what really matters in life. You can feel vulnerable and misplaced. Atalanti felt like she was faced with her mortality and started evaluating her entire life. But beyond traditional surgery and treatment, wellness programs can help support patients through this difficult time.

Austin Health’s Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre (ONJ Centre), where Atalanti had her life-saving surgery and treatment, offer a wide range of wellness and supportive care programs to help cancer patients, and their families, to manage this challenging time in the best way possible.

These sessions are only made possible because of funds raised by the ONJ Centre community through events like The Wellness Walk and Research Run (WWRR), taking place this year on Sunday 6 October around the iconic Tan Track.

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The ONJ Centre offers wellness programs like music therapy, oncology massage and gentle yoga through to specialised support groups, financial advice and information sessions, and Atalanti particularly enjoyed the massage and art therapy.

“I really can’t believe that as a public patient I have access to so many wonderful programs which are helping me manage my treatment. I had an oncology massage which was so gentle and helped my body to completely relax. Since losing my hair I haven’t allowed anyone to touch my head, but the care taken was extremely relaxing and wonderful for my entire body.”

Participating in art therapy also helped Atalanti to understand the feelings she was having.

“At first you don’t realise the impact art therapy is having on you. As your hand starts to draw and release your feelings on paper, you soon realise it doesn’t really matter what you are drawing but you know you are letting things go. It’s very powerful. I feel very lucky to be able to have access to the services and treatment offered at the ONJ Centre. I think these programs are incredibly valuable to the recovery of patient’s health and should be part of every hospital!”

If you’d like to help raise funds to support these amazing programs, join Olivia Newton-John for the Wellness Walk and Research Run on Sunday 6 October, Alexandra Gardens Register and start fundraising today! wellnesswalkresearchrun.com.au www.onjcancercentre.org

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WE LOVE A MOTHER After a career of shift work taking 000 calls, then the birth of two kids, you could understand the need for a job that was a little more ‘fun’ and ‘lighthearted’. For Bayside mum Cathy and her husband Tony, the answer was to start a play center! They are now the proud pwners of Lollipop’s and Crazy Climb in Noble Park.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your family.

I am a mum to two amazing children, Abbey aged 15 and Grant who hits double digits turning 10 in August. I have been married to my husband Tony for 23 years and we work together side by side in the business and to our credit haven’t killed each other yet!

What were you doing before Lollipop’s and Crazy Climb Noble Park?

My life before playcentres and indoor rock climbing centres was a very different one. I used to work at 000 for Fire and Ambulance.

The shift work was gruelling and the jobs were more often than not very sad, it isn’t like people are calling on the best day of their lives. During my time there I received a medal for my contribution during the Black Saturday fires. Although this was a very challenging job, when you were able to give someone the tools to help deliver a baby or perform CPR to save a life, the fulfilment can’t be expressed or quantified. Doing this job and the training I received also gave me the tools and knowledge to save my own son’s life. When he was 18 months old he aspirated and stopped breathing, I performed CPR and resuscitated him until the ambulance arrived, longest and most traumatic night of my life and I still think I carry the scares from that event.

What made you go into the play centre business?

We decided to go into the playcentre business because after my previous role, I wanted to be surrounded by kids laughing and happiness all day and what child’s laughter isn’t infectious?

36 36

I was passionate about customer service, which is definitely something lacking at the moment. I wanted parents and kids to be able to go to a place to play where they were welcomed, felt safe, comfortable and more than just a customer, but part of our family. I wanted that for our staff too.

What did your children think about mum and dad running an awesome indoor play centre?

Our kids thought we were rock stars... for about 5 minutes, now it is boring to go to work.

Although my daughter, Abbey, now works with us and is by far one of our best assets to the business. Grant also helps out at the end of the day collecting balls and tidying up!

Tell us a bit about what kids can expect when they visit.

We certainly deliver when it comes to ensuring kids have the time of their lives.

Our huge centre includes the amazing Crazy Climb Indoor Rock Climbing facility and our enormous Lollipop’s Playland in the same building. It’s got everything kids could possibly want for hours of healthy fun. We’re open 7 days a week and cater for toddlers, pre schoolers and school aged children.

It can’t be all work, play is essential for healthy growth. Lollipop’s offers an exciting arena where children can fully enjoy themselves including climbing, sliding, jumping, spinning and our mechanical car ride is a crowd favourite. We have themed party rooms and also run disco and Build a Bear parties with a retail outlet inside the venue, not to mention the great school holiday activities that are always offered.

Crazy Climb which is under the same roofline but a separate section and is a fun and challenging indoor rock climbing arena with 26 individual climbs of varying difficulty and themes.

We want people who come to our centre to feel welcome and being treated to the best customer service. We want them to enjoy a clean, safe and fun day out as a family and walk away feeling like they are important to us.

What’s your favourite thing about being a mum?

Definitely the hugs are number one. Grant is a massive hugger. There are morning hugs, after school hugs, before dinner hugs and 10 minutes after the before dinner hug….. yes he names the hug as he is giving them to you.

A few other things, I love that my daughter comes to me for advice and support about difficult friendship situations or just general things teenagers go through. She told me over the weekend I was her best friend, not at school, which is gorgeous. And my all time favourite is embarrassing them beyond words and us all sitting around making fun and laughing at each other, within reason of course.

Where do you love to hang out as a family?

We love going to the movies, out to dinner and stage shows. We can’t wait to see Harry Potter together in August, although I did have to sell my left kidney for those tickets!

And finally, can you share with us what being a mum has taught you?

It has taught me to never take myself seriously, because my kids will point out all the stupid stuff I do. It has taught me that my house will never look like a display home again until my husband and children move out, and it has taught me that when playing catch with the kids, don’t “catch the floor” because they will never let you forget the time you fell over trying to catch the ball. Most importantly, and something I think mum’s don’t talk about because they are scared to admit the hard times, it has taught me that motherhood it is about 90% pain, torture, heartache, teeth pulling moments, for 10% of joy.

You can visit Cathy, Tony and the team at 6 Elonera Road Noble Park North.

37 37

Ph 9862 3410

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Two amazing venues under one roof!

26 exciting and fun rock climbing walls suitable for ages 5 to 95! www.crazyclimb.com.au

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Boys are not tough Male vulnerability in terms of health and wellbeing has been well-researched. This research continues to bring forward evidence that little girls develop faster and more thoroughly than little boys from conception.

Even before I became a mother of my four awesome sons, I spent a childhood with my little brother who was much gentler and often less brave than me. Maybe this helped me to realise that boys are not inherently tough, even though they have a larger amount of muscle than girls. Physical strength is one thing but mental and emotional strength that can impact cognitive abilities and linguistic capacities is something else.

Twenty-five years ago, Steve Biddulph wrote his first book about boys called Raising Boys and in it he explores this same notion of fragility, especially in little boys under five. Statistically, boys die in-utero at a higher rate than girls; they die at birth at a higher rate than girls and they die in the first 12 months of life at a higher rate than girls. This situation continues through life, however, there are lots of other reasons why this discrepancy happens so let’s start at the very beginning of life.

Technically, every embryo starts off female and sometime in the first 12 weeks of life, the massive flooding of hormones stimulates the embryo to either stay female or become male.

Fascinating information to start with.

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In Steve Biddulph’s latest, updated edition of his book, Raising Boys in the 21st Century, he explores a 2017 review of empirical research from highly regarded neuropsychologist Alan Schore, which suggests that the marinade of testosterone in-utero seems to slow down the growth and development of the male baby’s brain.

On top of the influence of hormones and social experience, Schore presents evidence that something else is happening in our baby boys’ development. His ground breaking work has shown that the delay in brain maturation makes boys more vulnerable in the long run to social stress (attachment trauma) and physical stress via endocrine disruptors or toxins in the environment. He goes on to say this “negatively impacts” their right brain development.

Basically, this impacts our boys’ social and emotional functioning, and their capacity to cope with stress.

The first thousand days from conception to the age of two are incredibly important and we need to nurture all babies and care for them as lovingly and calmly as possible. For our boys, though, it seems they are even more fragile, especially when it comes to attachment and bondedness — which influence our primary driver in life, human connectedness.

Belonging is another way of explaining attachment, which is the relationship between a key adult and a child, and then their wider community. Babies, toddlers and children need

to have primary attachments – ‘big people’ they can trust to nurture and care for them.

These people help guide and teach them all that they will need to know in life so they can become independent, capable adults.

It is helpful for parents of babies and toddlers to have a circle of caring adults who can share in raising children. This allows for support, guidance and respite, which helps every parent, especially tired mummies, cope with this intensive time.

For children who are in long-day child care, the early years’ educators who form a loving, caring connection to them are technically a source of primary attachment, often called secondary attachment figures.

If you take a look on YouTube at videos from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, they explain the concept of ‘serve and return’ interaction between a child and their significant adults, where children reach out for interaction and, when adults respond, it assists essential brain wiring to occur.

Attachment is the ‘super glue’ that holds a child in close proximity to a parent/caregiver. A child is meant to pursue proximity, which means being close to their big person so that they feel safe and are safe.

Attachment is as important to healthy child development as eating or sleeping.

Indeed, in much of the most recent research, strong attachment and bondedness can be shown to be the most significant influence

on emotional wellbeing, mental health and physical health for life and so if our little boys have a tendency to be more prone to the damaging effects of poor attachment, then this needs to be the number one focus of all parents of new baby boys. Maybe this needs to be spoken of in the prenatal classes given that we know the long-term negative consequences of this in our sons’ lives.

This new review of interdisciplinary research

by Schore supports the major premise that Biddulph made 25 years ago, where he wrote that he believed our young boys were more prone to separation distress and anxiety, and that they could become emotionally shut down as a result of feeling abandoned. This is also supported by research that shows that male adolescent violence is now strongly linked to neglect in early childhood, particularly a lack of physical and emotional nurturing (and, indeed, a lack of play).

These are things that we can fix with awareness, knowledge and, most importantly, action.

When we invest heavily in nurturing them, helping them to understand big, ugly feelings and teaching them ways to make better choices warmly and compassionately, we can change the future lives of tomorrow’s men.

This is an edited extract from Mothering Our Boys: A guide for mums of sons by Maggie Dent. Maggie is one of Australia’s favourite parenting authors and educators, and host of the new ABC podcast, Parental As Anything. www.maggiedent.com

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Busting Bedwetting Myths When your child is six or over and still wetting the bed at night – it might be time to consider treatment. Your child may eventually grow out of it – but at what cost? Bedwetting can impact family life, sleep quality, sleepovers, camps, holidays and more importantly – your child’s self-esteem, particularly as your child gets older.

Myth 2

There are treatment options that are very successful and very likely to get your child dry within around six to eight weeks. A largescale Australian study was conducted in 2018 reviewing 2,861 medical charts to determine the efficacy of the ‘Practitioner Assisted Bell and Pad Bedwetting Alarm’ approach . The findings revealed a success rate of 91% with this approach within the psychology clinic. A 77% rate of success was found overall across a broader range of settings.

Myth 3

Myth 1.

I’ve tried using an alarm and it didn’t work, so there is no point in trying the same thing again.

Wrong. Firstly, not all alarms are created equal.

The 2018 study, quoted above, examined only the Ramsey Coote Instruments bell and pad system, which is produced locally in Melbourne.

This product is designed for use under the care of a trained practitioner and it is robust, reliable and effective. Secondly, it is recommended that a child tries an alarm again after a period of time, and the research supports repeat use up to 2-3 times with a good success rate. Third, a practitioner assisted approach will help support, monitor and trouble shoot to ensure your child reaches success.

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It’s best if I just let my child grow out of it.

Wrong. A link between bedwetting and poor self-esteem has been well established. Those with bedwetting also have a poorer quality of sleep. If you take action to work out this issue your child will likely be more confident and better rested. Also, keep in mind that approximately 2% of children never grow out of bedwetting. Yep, that’s correct, approximately 2% of the adult population still regularly wet the bed.

If I pick my child up at night and take them to the toilet, this will help them learn what to do.

Wrong. It might help you get through the night without a wet bed, but doing this does not help your child attain long term dryness. The skill they need to learn is to eventually rouse themselves from sleep, in response to a feeling of a full bladder, or learn to hold on, rather than just wake up randomly during the night to empty.

Myth 4 It will help to reduce water intake.

Wrong. Reducing water intake in the afternoon almost never fixes the problem. Children take great satisfaction in hearing ‘your parents are actually wrong, you should be drinking MORE water!’ The recommended water intake for children depends of course on age, gender, temperature and amount of physical activity.

What is important is that your child starts drinking adequate water early on in the day and continues drinking a good amount of water throughout the whole day. This way, when it gets to the evening, children should not be excessively thirsty and seeking to make up for inadequate daytime water intake.

Myth 5 Bedwetting is always completely normal and they will just eventually grow out of it.

Wrong. This can be true but is not always the case. In children from 5 years and upwards the condition ‘enuresis’ can be diagnosed for children who regularly wet the bed.

Treatment at around six or seven years of age is recommended. This condition is multi-factorial, with genetics, difficulty rousing from sleep, delay in anti-diuretic hormone and smallish bladder capacities all implicated. However, it is always best to consult your GP, paediatrician or continence nurse as sometimes (rarely) there can be underlying medical conditions associated with bedwetting. Your medical practitioner may look at constipation, sleep apnea, bladder dysfunction, diabetes, malformations of the spinal cord and a range of other medical conditions which may be associated with wetting the bed. If your child suddenly starts wetting again after a period of dryness your GP may screen for

infections or may consider emotional triggers.

If your child has daytime lower urinary tract symptoms (straining, urgency, frequency, pain, poor stream) this is also worth raising with your GP. Your GP may recommend further investigations.

In conclusion Alarm therapy is a safe, drug free and effective approach to bedwetting treatment that gives the best likelihood of long term dryness. If you need help or support around bedwetting consult a medical professional. Useful information can also be obtained through The Victorian Continence Resource Centre.

By Maria Dhroso, the psychologist at Dry Time Kids, a treatment clinic for children’s night time bedwetting, based in Cheltenham. www.drytimekids.com.au The research referred to in this article was conducted by Apos, Schuster, Reece, Whitaker, Murphy, Golder, Leiper, Sullivan and Gibbs (2018) and can be found in the Journal of Pediatrics.

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