inthekitchen withSteveBiddulph Getting kids Littlebigthoughts,emotions celebrations4thbirthday WIN withbigour SPRING 2022
2 SPRING 2022 www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au 12563691-JW36-22
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AboutUs has sprung! Yes, it’s a cliche - writing it made roll own eyes a littleme?The transition from cold and dreary months to this milder season really has put a spring in my step. This time of year is brimming with hope. Warmer days are ahead, flowers and foliage are bursting forth, andfingers crossed! - we’re on the other side of a hectic virus season. As the mum of a toddler, the prospect of spending more time outdoors is a literal breath of fresh air. Opportunities for her to stretch her legs and use her outside voice have been few and far between this winter, thanks to rain and cold and illness. A little extra sunshine helps us all to get off the couch and away from screens.Ifyou need more reason to put down the iPad, we spoke to Dr Michael C Nagel about how screen time is causing autistic traits in otherwise neurotypical kids.Spring does bring its share of rain, so we’ve found some great new books for your kids to get lost in. And speaking of great reads, our chat with the ever-honest Sophie Cachia about parenting is a refreshing look at modern parenting. Kidsafe has shared some timely reminders to keep our kids safe, and Lucy Stewart has found a healthy chocolate breakfast! So take a deep breath of that fresh spring air and enjoy its calming effects…before the festive season sneaks up on us.
Contents IT’S YOUR LIFE Make crunchy chocolate granola PAGE 4 Fashion to feel like yourself PAGE 5 Meltdowns turned to closeness PAGE 6 Tips to keep kids safe PAGE 6 Dads support skin and teens PAGE 7 Bush kinder supports kids PAGE 8 Students find hope in paint PAGE 9 Headspace opens in Malvern PAGE 10 Doc’s take on PND and anxiety PAGE 12 Sophie Cachia on family life PAGES 14-15 Sleep brand’s sales soar PAGE 17 Supporting Montessori mums PAGE 18 Community rallies for kids after fire PAGE 19 Angie meets The Mik Maks PAGES 20-21 FATHER’S DAY Rob’s a dad to everyone PAGE 11 HEALTH Organ transplant waiting list grows PAGE 16 Baby sleep warning PAGE 22 Mums turn to public system PAGE 23 Mums supporting new mothers PAGE 23 Epworth advice for new parents PAGE 24 Screens harming young brains PAGE 25 Tackling the myopia epidemic PAGE 25 DENTAL Taking care of teeth PAGE 26 Dental Monitoring shakes things up PAGE 26 EDUCATION Preschool and childcare shake-up PAGE 27 Early days make a difference PAGE 27 High performance sport starts at primary school PAGE 28 Penguin Squad promotes learning PAGE 29 Learning and discovery through STEM PAGE 29 Music making Mini Maestros PAGE 30 ACTIVE KIDS This Girl Can Week PAGE 32 REALITY BITES An author against the odds PAGE 33 Mental health support in schools PAGE 33 Linda’s rough road to Forrest PAGE 34 Grieving mum finds joy PAGE 35 BOOKS Teaching kids to take safe risks PAGE 36 Fergus the Ferry gets animated PAGE 36 Arabella’s Alphabet Adventure PAGE 37 Discover new children’s books PAGE 37 KIDS CALENDAR What’s on this spring PAGE 39
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stonningtonboroondarakids.com.au facebook.com/stonningtonboroondarakids instagram.com/stonningtonboroondarakids Stonnington Boroondara Kids magazine is a Star News Group Stonningtonpublication. Boroondara Kids will be published quarterly prior to each of the school holidays. Stonnington Boroondara Kids Cnr Princes Hwy and Army Road, Pakenham, 3810 PO Box 9, Pakenham, Victoria 3810 Phone: 5945 0666 Fax: 5945 0777 Editorial Melissa @starnewsgroup.com.aumelissa.meehanMeehan Photography Rob Carew Group Advertising Sales Manager Mandy Phone:mandy.clark@starnewsgroup.com.auClark59450608 Published by Star News Group Pty Ltd ACN 005 848 Publisher/Managing108. Director, Paul Thomas. All material is copyright to Star News Group Pty Ltd. All significant errors will be corrected as soon as possible. inthekitchen withSteveBiddulph Getting kids Littlebigthoughts,emotions celebrations4thbirthday WIN withbigour Cover Mum Jess Dempsey with her boys, Aston, 10, Freddie, 4, and Will, 8. Picture: Rob Carew
Take a deep breath, spring is here!
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CHOCOLATE for breakfast? Why not! This delicious crunchy chocolate granola is super easy and fun to make with the kids, and it’s a more nutritious way to start the day than anything you’ll find in a box at the supermarket. When it comes to kids, it’s true what they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Breakfast has the opportunity to provide kids with the fuel they need to be active and play, to be motivated, to concentrate and learn, as well as remember and harness new skills – how our kids start their day can greatly influence their success at school. Whilst cereal is the breakfast of choice for many kids, most commercial breakfast cereals are made with refined grains and high amounts of sugardelivering very little in the way of nutrients, causing blood sugar spikes and leaving kids feeling hungry and irritable, not long after. But a breakfast cereal that includes protein, fibre and fats will not only satisfy their hunger, it will keep kids tummies feeling fuller for longer, fuel their brains and sustain their energy throughout the morning. This crunchy chocolate granola is made with a mix of rolled oats, nuts, seeds, coconut and cacao to nourish growing bodies and brains. Raw cacao - commonly referred to as the ‘food of the Gods’ - is not only the highest food source of antioxidants, it also contains tryptophan (a precursor to moodboosting serotonin), a huge amount of phenylethylamine (aka the ‘love chemical’ that increases motivatingdopamine & serotonin) and is one of the most potent food sources of magnesium, a mineral that’s important for kids growth, development and energy production.Butthebest part, is drinking the chocolate milk that’s left at the end. cups rolled oats cup chopped almonds cup flaked coconut cup sunflower seeds ¼ cup pumpkin seeds 2 Tbsp cacao powder Tbsp pure maple syrup Tbsp olive oil Tbsp carob powder 1 tsp vanilla extract ½ tsp cinnamon Instructions oven to 100°C and line a baking sheet with baking paper. a large bowl, mix together oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flaked coconut and cinnamon. a small bowl whisk together olive oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, cacao and carob powder. Pour mixture over dry ingredients and mix together until everything is well mixture evenly over prepared baking sheet and bake for 20-minutes, turning halfway to ensure it cooks cool then store in an airtight container.
Well Fed Kitchen is a range of healthy snacks for kids that you can make at home.
1.Preheat
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www.wellfedkitchen.com.au @wellfedkitchen_snacks 12562712-LB34-22
Well Fed Kitchen provides an easy snack alternative to the sugar-laden, healthy processed options, guaranteed to fill kids tummies, satisfy their hunger, provide a steady release of energy and some essential growing nutrients too.
In addition to unshakable confidence, our goal is to develop your child’s character to ensure success in all aspects of life. Program: Responsibility, Health, Respect, Citizenship, Manners and Caring. We spend two months on each chapter and during each class we dedicate a few minutes to discussing the featured character trait and the simple things your child can do to make it part of their everyday lives. The secret to our success lies in a unique point based reward system that we created to excite kids about making daily progress!
At some point or another, every child will be targeted by a bully. The Gracie Bullyproof objective is to give your child the physical, psychological and verbal tools to overcome bullies. Our aim is not to encourage confrontation, but rather, to reduce fear and build confidence in order to reduce your child’s risk of being targeted.
To mums who want to break out of the maternity wear, Jess suggested moving the clothes on to another mum-to-be.“ThenIwould find something similar that’s not a maternity or breastfeeding piece,” she said. “If you like a striped oversized T-shirt, go to Decjuba or Country Road and find something similar.
Jess Dempsey with her boys Aston, Pictures:andFreddie,10,4,Will,8.RobCarew Jess Dempsey. “It’s about you, what makes you feel good, what you feel you look best in, rather than following that trend. “If you feel comfortable, you radiate that.”
POWERFUL CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO GRACIEKIDS.COM
It’sYourLife
www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au SPRING 2022 5
“That’s their first step of moving away from that maternity identity.” And the clothes that don’t quite fit your new post-baby shape? “There’s no point holding onto something in your wardrobe taking up space,” Jess said. “Move them on to a friend or the Salvos and look at embracing you now. “Life’s too short to worry and stress about ‘I can’t squeeze into these’.” Buy a new pair of jeans in a size that’s comfortable and makes you feel good“Getnow.something that’s fitting and flattering, rather than holding onto something that might not ever be,” she said.“Those ripped skinny leg jeans might not be cool anymore anyway…”
Style that makes you shine
“I was hesitant to talk about my pregnancy and show my pregnancy, but as time went on my audience was growing with me,” she said. “I started sharing slowly about being a mum and the fact that I could still be fashionable but still be a stay-at-home mum.“People started to feel that connection, people started to jump on to relate to me. “It wasn’t until my third son that I documented my entire pregnancy journey.“Myaudience were hanging out to hearJessit.”said her boys had always loved doing photos with her, but she listened to their opinions and took no for an answer.“Things have evolved. I haven’t blogged about parenting for a long time,” she “Sharingsaid.afew little things on Instagram about my wild little child or the way he’s grown through that - it’s all about the connection.
“Before kids I was trend-driven,” she said.“It’s actually not about trends, it’s about what looks good on me.” Still hanging around in your maternity and breastfeeding clothes? “I think it’s OK,” Jess said. “If that’s what makes them feel good, they’re doing it for a reason. “Maybe those styles suit them. “Maybe they’re concerned that they’ve got a tummy they haven’t had before, and they feel better.”
So Jess paused and gave herself a moment to think about herself. “I could be a little bit more confident knowing I’m not just this newborn baby’s mum, I’m me too,” she said. “I had that revelation and looked in my wardrobe and thought ‘right, what fits me? What’s really my style?’ and tried to reconnect with my personal styleJessagain.”searched for items that made her feel good and fit her new body.
“They want someone to relate to. “Of course I’m careful with what I say, what I show, what I do. “There’s a lot that I keep private.” Jess was wearing leggings, runners and a jumper when we caught up with her.“It got me out of the house by 8am with three children, off to school and kinder, and off to pilates,” she said. She said mum fashion was about what worked and “that grab-and-go outfit”.“Itdoesn’t have to be anything fancy, it just has to be something that you’re happy to be out and about in,” she said. “Mums are fashionable now. Mums know how it works. “It’s not about what other people are wearing.
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Once your child is enrolled in the Gracie Bullyproof program, you qualify for a FREE subscription to GracieKids.com. our interactive online learning center for Gracie Bullyproof. With comprehensive videos covering every technique your child learns in class, you and your child can use your online access to review past lessons and learn new techniques from home!
FASHION is generally the furthest thing from a new mum’s mind. But Jess Dempsey says feeling comfortable and confident helped her reconnect with herself post-kids. The Armadale mum of three boys and fashion blogger was in that familiar “mum“You’rerut”.stuck at home, you haven’t slept, you’ve got this newborn baby and you’re still trying to come to terms with what you’re doing,” she said.
Jess’s eldest, Aston, is now aged 10. Will is 8 and her youngest, Freddie, is 4. She was 28 and one of Australia’s first fashion bloggers when she had Aston.
3. Store poisons out of reach, inside and outsideAspart of any spring cleaning, take the time to go through your cupboards and ensure that any potentially poisonous products are stored up high in a locked cupboard, out of the sight and reach of children.
■ Is the gate or door still self-closing and self-latching? ■ Is the gate propped open?
4. Secure curtain and blind cords
■ Check that items of furniture such as cots, beds and high chairs are kept away from windows where children can reach the curtain or blind cords. For more Kidsafe tips and advice, visit kidsafevic.com.au.
How to turn meltdowns to moments of closeness
THE hardest thing with small children, and sometimes big ones, is that they just dpn’t always do what we ask! Our lives have become busy, and so we want our kids to move quickly and smoothly through the day, eating, dressing, getting in and out of cars, going to and from school or kindy. We want them to co-operate in our busyness, and often the little blighters don’t. Or sometimes, can’t. Our worst moments of the day are often when our kids suddenly have “big feelings” and go into meltdowns of tears, or rage or anxiety, and make a train wreck of our plans, let alone our image of a well run family! What a nuisance! Of course, these worst times might be good times to remember something important. To take a deep breath or two, get our own feet steady on the ground, and remind ourselves that the aim of parenthood isn’t to get it over with. Our goal in life is not, however nice it sounds, to rest at the end of a day when nothing went wrong. Because there is no such day. The aim of parenthood, and of family life, is to nurture a small person into a big one who other people will find trustworthy, loyal, loving, and empathic enough to love, and value as a friend, team member, spouse, or mum or dad themselves. Someone, in short who will have a good life, and be good for other lives. So, dear reader, check before you read on - is that your goal? Am I making this up? If your aim in parenthood is to take good photos for Insta, from their birth to their glamourous wedding, then this is where we part ways. Be off with you. But if you are still reading, then here is the thing. Kids have meltdowns and big emotions and make our plans fall in a heap, not because they are defective, or want to make our lives hard. They do it because they are busy growing their brains. And they need our help with that.
There are four main safety issues which are important to regularly check and maintain:
■ Are there any climbable objects near the pool barrier eg barbecues, outdoor furniture, trees Poolsetc? are not the only bodies of water that you need to be mindful of. Toddlers can drown in just a few centimetres of water, which means that fishponds, eskies, buckets, laundry tubs and even pet water bowls all pose a drowning hazard.
Kidsafe Victoria has launched its new Baby Safety Guide to reduce the overwhelm you might experience as a first time parent. The Baby Safety Guide takes the guesswork out of your parenting journey by providing information and advice on products such as cots, prams and high chairs, including what to look for when purchasing these products and how to use them safely.The second module covers other important information on home, road, water and play safety to help keep your baby safe as they grow. To access the free Baby Safety Guide, visit Kidsafe Victoria’s website.
Common poisonous items include medicines (ie prescription medicines and paracetamol), cleaning products, dishwasher powder/liquid, bleaches, fertilisers and pesticides, swimming pool and spa chemicals andYoucosmetics.mighthave a shed or garage which has tins of paint, petrol, weed killer, rat bait, power tools and other gardening supplies lying around. Again, make sure any outdoor poisons or tools are locked up well out of reach of the hands of our little helpers, including unplugging any power tools and/or removing batteries.
Loose curtain and blind cords, particularly those with loops, pose a significant strangulation hazard for children as they can place the loop over their head and/or become tangled in the loose cords. Whether you live with children, or might have an unexpected little one visiting one day, here are some steps you can take to help ensure that your curtain and blind cords are safe:
■ Check each room of your home for any loose or looped curtain and blind cords and secure them out of reach of children - at least 1.6m above floor level - with cleats or cord tensioning devices. Depending on the type of cords, these can be ordered free through Consumer Affairs Victoria or purchased from your local hardware store or curtain and blind cord retailer.
Karen Young, an excellent psychologist who writes about kids emotions, points out that just as you won’t let a five year old cross a busy street, because their brain just isn’t ready, you can’t expect small children to be able to self regulate emotions either. The busy streeet of their own brain is sometimes way too much, and their own emotions come at them like a semi-trailer. They need you to hold their hand. What does that mean in practice. Well, it looks like this. You are on the way to ofgetthink)(youneedingandsomewhere,goingsomething,doingortoabita wriggle on. And suddenly your small person is in tears, or digging their heels in, or has gone all wobbly. You run a quick check. Are we being chased by a bear? Fleeing a volcano or a terrorist attack? If the answer is no, then perhaps you can spare five minutes. This chance might not come again. Breathe a big slow breath, if it comes out sounding like a sigh that’s still alright. Soften your heart, and remember that we are all soft and fragile beings who get out of our depth. And then crouch down or sit down or bend down nearer to your child, and ask them “are you feeling a bit rough right now?” “where in your body are you feeling it?” and perhaps “sounds like something in you is a bit angry now (or scared, or sad)”. Find the words that are most natural to you, as long as they are reaching out to their inner storms with a compassionate energy that says “I understand”. Ask them to telll you about what is going on for them. Perhaps they will need to sob, or shudder, or rant a bit about something that was unfair or mean or unjust when seen through their eyes, and you should make room for that. Don’t try and talk them out of it. Perhaps what they tell you might bring a change of plan. Perhaps you might have to strike a compromise. Perhaps nothing changes except they are calmer and are okay to move on. You will know you got it right when you feel closer to them now, and they to Learningyou. to “regulate” your emotions - to give them space, and make them welcome, and take them on board, even in a harsh and often uncaring world, depends on having a few people around us who can cope with our messy side. Who don’t put us down or go all cold or hard when we aren’t coping. Gradually your child will become better able to ride life’s bumps, and use words to join their heart to yours, or otherHowpeople’s.longdoes this process take? My guess is about 90 years! But you can get much better at it, and having a parent’s help is what makes the difference. Long after you are gone, they will have you inside them saying “its okay, you’ve got this”. They will carry your love in their bones.
2. Check pool barriers for wear and tear When was the last time that you checked your pool barrier and the surrounding area? Pool barriers are exposed to the extremes of weather all year roundthis can lead to rust, damage, missing parts and wear and tear over time.
It’sYourLife
Springtime safety from Kidsafe Victoria
6 SPRING 2022 www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au Little Kids, Big writesFeelings, STEVE BIDDULPH
FINALLY, the weather is starting to warm up and we are looking forward to enjoying more outdoor time with the Asfamily.wemove towards the brighter colours and sounds of spring, Kidsafe Victoria has provided its top four tips to help you keep your family safe this 1.season.Signup to Kidsafe Victoria’s Free Baby Safety Guide If you are expecting your first baby, then this one is for you!
It’s important to empty any objects that can hold water straight after use, and to restrict access when an adult isn’t able to actively supervise children.
Little Kids, Big Feelings
■ Are there any gaps, holes or spaces in and under the barrier which a child can get through?
Steve Biddulph is the author of Fully Human, Raising Boys, and The Raising Girls Workbook. He lives in the Tamar Valley in Tasmania, and is very very old.
By Melissa Meehan
Unlabelled is a social enterprise developed by award-winning skincare professionals, Anthony McDonough and Chris Glebatsas, who turned their backs on successful corporate careers to focus on helping future generations instead.
“These kids were isolated and alone and away from their friends and school,” Chris said. “So what we had heard from Grace is that some, who had no mental health issues prior to the pandemic, had developed eating disorders and depression… and that was only the tip of theDumbfoundediceberg.”
A loud and proud range of hand and body skincare products is encouraging young Australians to just be themselves, without the need for any labels.
The South Yarra dads were inspired by their 18-year-old daughter Grace. She completed her final two years of high school during the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns and while Anthony and Chris say they are lucky to have a strong relationship with her, some kids aren’t so lucky.
A recent study by headspace found that social exclusion was one of the biggest challenges faced by young people in Australia. So Anthony and Chris decided to ensure their products didn’t exclude anyone.“Wesay your identity is you – it’s unique and you can be whoever you choose without a label,” Anthony sad. Unlabelled celebrates diversity and helps tackle youth suicide, donating 100% of its profits to Black Dog Institute, QLife, Headspace and Kids Helpline. Their focus is on dealing with identity, body image, anti-bullying, depression and LGBTQIA+ issues that can lead to youthAnthony,suicide.an organic chemist, wanted Unlabelled hand wash, body wash and body bars to have a luxurious feel that invigorate the senses, using Tasmanian Sea Kelp Extract (Marine Collagen).Theirproducts are natural, vegan, cruelty-free and proudly Australian
www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au SPRING 2022 7 For a wide range of quality Toys including: construction sets, craft kits, dress ups, puzzles, games, outdoor play and Australian made products 12554097-SN36-22 Be the punk who Beethovanlikes
by the issues so close to home, after experiencing bullying themselves as teens, the couple put their heads together to come up with a way to help – and Unlabelled was born. They chose body and hand wash because it was something that everyone uses every day. The next step was to decide how to brand it, and again Grace came to the rescue.“Wewere talking to Grace when we were walking The Tan together and we were asking her about her generation and she was like, we just don’t want to be labelled,” Chris said. “She said they want to be able to kiss a boy or girl and not be labelled for it and we thought that was perfect, and it goes beyond sexuality too – teens are labelled for their race, religion and body type too.”
It’sYourLife
Chris and Anthony with their daughter Grace. made, and the bottles are made from 100% recycled post-consumer waste plastic.Thenew packaging will be hard to miss in the aisles, with playful positive messages; like, “be yourself, everyone else is taken”, “be the goth who likes colour” or “be the punk who likes Beethoven”.“Wewere looking for a way to help kids who are locally impacted,” Anthony said. “We didn’t want some high and mighty vision to end world poverty, we wanted to make a change in our own backyard.”100%ofprofits go to charity and the products can be purchased at Chemist Warehouse.
“Teachers also need to know when to ‘jump in’ and help guide the learning, but also when to ‘stand back’ and allow children to discover and drive their own learning.“Theteaching supports children to take and manage risks.
Another asks: “Why are the birds being so loud? What are they saying?” The questions come thick and fast. “Why are there so many bugs living under the big rocks and wood? What are those bugs Kindergartencalled?”teacher Darren Halim says this is a typical scene during the weekly nature play program at Highgate Early Learning Centre in Ashburton.Theanswers and advice ring out, too.
“Children possess an intuitive ability to make their own risk assessment as children will only climb up as high as they are comfortable,” he says.
“Children are also more likely to climb up as high as they are prepared to fall.”
Mr Halim explains that forest school or nature play programs derived from European countries, such as the Scandinavian nations, in the 1950s.
“How can you tell if this is astick or a branch?” asks one.
“Not limited to only actively supervising children, our teaching team believes in adopting a ‘co-investigator’ and ‘co-player’ role, where we investigate and guide children to find the answers to their questions.
“As children gain more exposure and experience outside, they begin to transfer their past learning to new situations and develop their own risk management in looking after themselves.”MrHalimsays children are more likely to be hurt falling out of bed than falling from a tree.
And the benefits don’t stop with the children.“Educators can have better understanding of children’s skills, interest and build stronger relationships,” Mr Halim says. Kids learn to assess risks.
“Don’t touch the mushrooms, we don’t know if they are poisonous or not, just look at them from here,” the kids hear, and, “I know not to climb on the branches that are smaller than my arms, because it can break and I can fall and hurt myself.”
8 SPRING 2022 www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au 12535544-JW11-22 It’sYourLife
Children explore and question their surroundings.
“Children learn to assess different kinds of risks, learn about safety precautions, explore, discover, and investigate the different flora and fauna they see, create deeply imaginative play, friendship bonds and much, much more,” he says.
theDiscoveringoutdoors
A GROUP of kindergarten kids are climbing and sitting on a tree, hanging onto a Somebranch.oftheir classmates are jumping in puddles, splashing muddy water all overOthersthemselves.aresquatting to look at insects, and some are collecting sticks and piling them up to make a ‘bonfire’.Thechildren are bringing items to their educators, asking questionsabout what they’ve discovered.
Bush kinder benefits both kids and educators.
“My symbol incorporated elements of music and the outdoors which both had a significant influence on improving my wellbeing throughout the lockdowns.
Amelia said it was very exciting to see the mural unveiled and available for the public to see.
www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au SPRING 2022 9 12555723-JC36-22
It’sYourLife
With isolation comes hope
The artwork was designed by the students alongside resident artist, Nicole van Dijk, who painted the final artwork.
“In particular, playing the piano and discovering the local environment helped me to relax at this challenging time and instilled hope for a time when the lockdown would be over.”
Year Nine student Amelia McIntosh, said the idea of the mural began during an online activity.
“What I love most about this mural being visible to the public is that it allows us to contribute as young members of the community,” she said. “Not many school students have the opportunity to have their ideas and artwork displayed in public in the local community. It’s amazing to have our thoughts and creative input represented in this way.”
FOR many teens, the Covid-19 pandemic meant cancelled parties, milestones and other coming of age episodes.Butthere were many things during the countless lockdowns experienced by Melburnians that inspired hope during a time where many felt isolated and alone.Last month students at Strathcona Girls Grammar officially launched their 37 metre long mural, “Hope is not cancelled” inspired by their own experience during the pandemic. The mural, which has been painted on the Canterbury underpass, contains beautiful images of the items and activities that inspired home in each year seven student during Covid-19. These include skateboarding, family pets and sunrises.
By Melissa Meehan
From left Mural artist, Nicole van Dijk, Student Tyler, Student Amelia (Q&A), Mayor of Boroondara Jane Addis, Student Mikaela, Strathcona Girls Grammar Principal Marise McConaghy.
The year seven cohort was asked to design a symbol that could be included in a“Wemural.each generated ideas for a symbol that represented to us how, despite the pandemic, hope was not cancelled,” she told Kids Today.
From left Students Mikaela, Tyler and Amelia (Q&A). The Heart decoration above Amelia is by Her.They hold items, Mikaela with a plant, hiking boots, Tylers Dog and Amelia with a musical score.
Get
Headspace Youth Advice Group Members from left, Ria, Nancy, Kate, Claire. Therapy Dog.
headspacesomeinMalvern
“Access to a welcoming and confidential environment at headspace Malvern will make it easier for young people in Stonnington to seek support and ease the stigma that surrounds mental health,” Cr Klisaris said. “Providing early intervention at headspace Malvern will help to reduce the serious symptoms of mental illness and improve quality of life in our community.“Thisisan outstanding resource for people aged 12-25, where young people can access free and confidential mental health support, health advice, and general Headspaceinformation.”Malvernislocated at 1257 High Street Malvern (behind MalvernHeadspaceLibrary).Malvern is funded by the Australian Government through the South Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network (SEMPHN).
The new service is being delivered by Access Health and Community, in partnership with the City of Stonnington, City of Boroondara, JobCo, St Vincent’s Mental Health Service, Star Health and Uniting.
It’sYourLife
10 SPRING 2022 www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au
The news was celebrated with a launch party with food, music and art in June.Over 70 people attended the party which kicked off with a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony performed by Uncle Colin Hunter Jr, followed by speeches from special guests from headspace National, Access Health and Community, South Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network, Federal Parliament Member for Higgins, headspace Youth Advisory Group and the City of Stonnington. City of Stonnington mayor, Jami Klisaris said it was great to celebrate the opening of headspace Malvern with a party acknowledging the collaboration between Council, headspace and Access Health and Community to bring this important resource to the community.Foryoung people, mental illness is a risk factor for not completing school and may lead to more serious mental and health problems as they get older that impact on their families and others.
Headspace Malvern is officially open.
ACCESS Chief Operating Officer, Jane Seeber.
“YOU got this. I love you. I’m proud of you.”It’s easy to see why Rob Kenney has become a father figure to millions of people through his YouTube channel ‘Dad, how do I?’.
The 50-something father of two, based near Seattle in the US, shares how-to videos for many basic tasks, with plenty of dad jokes thrown in with his earnest fatherly advice. When he was a kid, Father’s Day was “a pretty normal celebration” of his own dad.“By the time that I became a dad, my relationship with my dad was pretty distant, because he left the family when I was 14, so it was more my special day,” he said. “It’s a time that I get together with my wife’s family, and we celebrate all of the dads.“Ithink it’s cool to be a dad, and I hope to encourage other dads to see what a great privilege they have (if they don’t already know).”
“Had I known that my videos would have so many views, I would have paid closer attention while I was filming. “I have no prior experience, I was just trying to talk to the camera like I was talking to my own kids.
“Anything I can do to help the next generation to be encouraged, empowered, and to be good humans, I am all for it!”
Rob’s a dad to millions
“I have several years’ worth of content that I would like to share on my channel, but I also am keeping track of the many suggestions that I receive,” he said.He said the response was completely unexpected.“Ididn’tstart my channel to switch careers, so I had to grapple with what my new life looked like,” he said. “Now that we’re two years into it, I finally feel like I am in a good place with it.
One reason Rob started the channel was to pass along things he “had to learn the hard way, to save others some of the struggles that I went through”.Fromjump-starting a car to tying a tie, he’s helping people of all ages and walks of life to learn new skills.
www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au SPRING 2022 11 12562636-ET36-22 Father’sDay
By Casey Neill
Rob Kenney is a dad to millions.
“I honestly thought that I would have 30 or 40 subscribers.
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Here are some other great resources: National helpline (Mon-Fri 9am – 7.30pm) – 1300 726 306 PANDA website: www.panda.org.au MumSpace website: www. mumspace.com.au Center of Perinatal Excellence website: www.cope.org.au Blue website: www. beyondblue.org.au Dr is a GP and founder of The Happy Baby Sleep and Settling Clinic in Moorabbin.
HAVING a baby is a huge life change –and it’s often underestimated. Many mums and dads suffer from postnatal depression and anxiety.
The first step is to see your GP for advice, they can offer a mental health care – which means you can access Medicare rebates for consultations with a psychologist.Andsomepsychologists are still offering telehealth appointments – so you won’t even need to pack up the baby and head out to your session.
Dr Elizabeth Maher says not only is there suddenly an enormous amount of relentless responsibility, but there are dramatic hormonal shifts, constant and often unwanted parenting advice from you know and sleep deprivation.
“PANDA is another fantastic resource we have here in Australia, for both mums and dads,” Dr Maher says. “They have a website packed with information, they offer free telephonebased counselling and have a national helpline open every week day.”
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It’s OK to not be OK It’sYourLife
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By Melissa Meehan
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“Social isolation has added another level of stress to new parents, who have suffered from a lack of support when they needed it most.”
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12 SPRING 2022 www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au
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The good news is that there is help out there.
Dr Maher said for many, by the time they seek help, they are no longer able to function.Shesaid some feel like it’s a sign of failure, but she assures them it’s not. Asking for help is a sign of strength, she“Itsays.takes courage to acknowledge something isn’t right and to do something about it,” she said. “That feeling of helplessness can be a symptom of depression.”
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“But no matter how bad it is, there are effective treatments out there,” she said.“If you are suffereing from perinatal depression or anxiety, you are definitely not alone – the more you reach out and talk to people about it, the more you will hear similar stories.”
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Current statistics show that one in five mums and one in 10 dads in Australia suffer from perinatal depression and/or anxiety.“These numbers are far too high,” Dr Maher“Theresaid.are so many pressures on new parents, from keeping up with social commitments, pressure from others to return to work or stay at home, keeping the house perfectly clean… all while posting photos of a perfect life on social media? It’s not possible.”
The important thing for new mums to remember is to see out help earlier than later.The longer you wait, the harder it can be to engage with therapies that can help, according to Dr Maher.
Some people are more at risk of PND than others. These risk factors include: Being isolated from family and friends Suffering from mental illness in the past A family history of mental health issues A perfectionist personality A traumatic birth or complications during pregnancy Relationship difficulties including family violence Financial difficulties.
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Dr Elizabeth Maher.
Dr Maher says many mums and dads who need support, and have noticed that more and more patients with perinatal (during pregnancy or in the first 12 months after birth) depression and anxiety over the past two years. “The pandemic has definitely had an impact, beaseline levels of anxiety have been higher for most people due to the constant feeling of uncertainty, rapid change and worry about their own health and the health of their loved ones,” Dr Maher told Kids Today.
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It was a gentle and slow approach not only for them, but because the reality was it was also something we needed to do softly to ourselves too. I recall having a discussion with Bobby about Daddy possibly having his own house one time, and that Bobby would have not one but TWO bedrooms which he was excited about.We’ve always been very upfront and honest that just because we wouldn’t be ‘married’ anymore, that we are always family and highlighted the different types of ‘families’ that exist.
It’sYourLife
How and what did you tell Bobby and Floss about the end of your marriage to Jaryd?
14 SPRING 2022 www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au
Karon, Karon Photography Sophie and Maddie with Bobby and Florence.
Florence was too young to comprehend, so it was Bobby that I had to focus those gentle conversations with more and his emotional maturity is so advanced, he took it on board so well. What did you learn from the experience that other parents might find valuable? That kids certainly notice more than what you give them credit for. Bobby often knew things already before we told him and he would pick up a lot of our conversations in moments where we thought we were talking quietly or out of reach of their ears. Don’t treat them as naive. Be open and transparent with them but always speak about the other person with respect.Inany moments Jaryd and I even became heated, we were always able to put our egos aside and say ‘can we step outside for this conversation?’ or continue it later in order to save the kids from any distress through difficult moments. How did you introduce them to Maddie, and how did they react to seeing you with someone new? Very easily. When she first started coming around, I assume they thought she was just another of Mummy’s friends. They took to her SO well (and even at times when we had broken up and were apart, they continually asked about her and when they could see her again).Asour relationship developed, I asked them how they felt about her living with us and they were so excited. Bobby asked ‘is Maddie now my step-mum?’ and I said ‘Maddie can be whatever you want her to be, darling’. I imagine your kids were less fussed about you having a female partner than many fans and followers werewas that the case? Absolutely! My kids didn’t even bat an eyelid, and that’s simply down to the parenting Jaryd and I provided them with from such a young age. Even as a happily married couple and before I discovered my sexuality, we openly spoke about all types of humans in our home - whether that be gender-based, cultural, identity or sexuality - and the need to accept humans as they are. My kids have been raised to know and accept humans in all forms, and as we both have quite a lot of friends in the LGBTQIA+ community, there was no shock factor when I said ‘Mummy has a girlfriend’.Kidsonly have prejudice and judgment if it’s taught to them, and that didn’t exist within our home. How have you navigated co-parenting with Jaryd, Maddie and Jacinta, both in logistics and being on the same page with discipline? Discipline is difficult, but that’s not because we are separated, that’s simply down to being humans and all being wiredJaryddifferently!andIwould parent and discipline differently at times even when we were married, so that hasn’t changed now we are apart.
Maddie and Sophie with Florence and Bobby.
Sophie Picture:Cachia.Regina
SOPHIE Cachia is a Melbourne mum, entrepreneur and author with a huge social media following. Meeting basketballer Maddie Garrick while happily married to former AFL player Jaryd Cachia turned her life upside down, as detailed in her new memoir Then There Was Her. Soph spoke to Casey Neill about navigating her new-look family life with son Bobby, daughter Florence, fiance Maddie, and Jaryd and his partner Jacinta.
Finding new family
Bobby and Floss clearly have a beautiful bond. How do you foster that? The way I love them, I hope, fosters that love amongst each other. They are your typical siblingsbickering and fighting over who gets the blue cup at dinner and who gets the bloody yellow - but in moments of sadness, the way I see the other look after their sibling shows me that I am doing something right. I teach them to love with respect and boundaries, allowing mistakes to be made and forgiveness to be provided; to respect each other’s things and spaces. Words such as ‘fat’, ‘idiot’, ‘loser’ etc are strictly banned in our home and their vocabulary. How do you talk to your kids about your fame, and potentially following in your footsteps? I really don’t talk about it, they just pick up on it. Kids at school regularly tell Bobby that ‘my mum follows your mum on Instagram’ or ‘we have your mum’s pjs at home’ so he’s used to it.
Bobby, Florence and Sophie.
I have a more gentle approach, a more ‘sit down and communicate’ style of discussions, feelings and why someone may have behaved in a way.Jaryd is more traditional ‘right from wrong’ and that’s OK - we are allowed to beButdifferent.regardless of our styles, we all have the same end goal and it’s to encourage our children to be the best versions of themselves they can be, knowing that as humans we all make mistakes along the way. What advice would you give other parents navigating ‘unconventional’ family units? I strongly believe the word conventional family is soon going to be a thing of the past. Yes, they will still exist, but all families - no matter how they present - should be accepted. Nothing has changed about the fact I am their mother and Jaryd is their father. We just live separate lives now but we still love and care for our children. What’s your favourite thing about being a mum? That no matter how sh***y, stressed or tired I feel, a cuddle at the end of your day from your children can instantly put everything into perspective and make it all go away. What aspect of motherhood have you found most challenging?
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Honestly - right now - it’s keeping up with school commitments, homework, excursions, after school sports etc! Bobby’s only 8 and Florence is just 5, and I feel like it’s stepped up a notch and I am hopeless at keeping up-to-date with school admin. I know it’s only going to get busier the older they get, so please send help haha!
I don’t really think Florence gets it, but Florence is more often than not in Florence’s world so that doesn’t surprise me haha. Bobby is a super cool, quirky kid who loves gaming and collectables and tells me he wants his own YouTube channel one day.
Florence will most definitely end up on Broadway! Was your kids one day reading your book on your mind as you wrote it, and did that make you change anything? It honestly didn’t cross my mind during the entire process, but if that day comes, it doesn’t bother me. I wouldn’t put things in a book that I was uncomfortable with anyone reading, including my children. I encourage them to own their lives and be proud of who they are regardless, so I act exactly the same and own my story. What do you hope other parents take away from your book? That true love is allowing your children to be whoever they want to be. To know that life can change at any point, even when you didn’t necessarily want it or chose it to. That you can still love someone so deeply, but not romantically. That respectful co-parenting situations can exist - you just have to both make that choice. That there are no rules in life - it is yours to write.
“We know many religions and cultural groups support organ and tissue donation and we need organ and tissue donors from all these communities and cultures,” he said.
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DESPITE Australia being a world leader for successful transplant outcomes, the Royal Children’s Hospital says there are more children on the waiting list for transplants than there are organs available. Fatima Halloum speaks to the family of an organ recipient about the life-changing procedure.
When Hussein was about eight years old, his condition further worsened, and he was placed on a waiting list for a newFourkidneyyears later, Ikram was startled awake by her mother’s screams in the living room.
“Blood and tissue types need to match for a transplant to be successful, and while ethnicity is never a consideration in either donor or recipient selection, having more diversity in organ donors can help with finding a match.“Itdoesn’t matter how old you are, your medical history, your lifestyle, what country you’re from, or how healthy you are – you can still register as an organ and tissue donor. Even if you’ve had Covid or the flu, you can register.”Hussein is now 15-years-old, and Ikram is in her last year of studying nursing.Shesaid the selfless act of a donor meant her younger brother got to experience life.
“I wanted to see what was going on and I just saw a massive smile on her face, but like, tears quickly coming down from her eyes,” she said. “It was like, ‘is it possible?’ and then we found out that obviously she got the call.”Not only was Hussein finally going to receive a kidney, he was scheduled for surgery that same day. “We were just crying out of pure excitement and happiness,” Ikram said. That day was the first time Hussein cried,“Wetoo.don’t know who the organ donor is, but we’re just obviously really grateful…always keeping them in our dua (prayers),” she said.
Health atchanceaDonatingsecondlife
Hussein’s experience inspired Ikram to study nursing and register as an organ donor. “I’d love to help people as much as they’ve helped my family, and sort of repay that favour,” she said. “Your registration as an organ donor can have a major effect on a person’s life.”DonateLife state medical director Rohit D’Costa is renewing calls for people to sign up. “We’ve seen about a 25 per cent decrease in donation and transplantation over the past two years due to the impacts of Covid-19,” he said. “This is why it’s never been more important to encourage more people in the community to register as organ and tissue donors and to have the conversation with family.”
Ikram Ahmed said it was very hard to see her brother HusseinIkram,struggle.10,Hassan, 6, Huda, 8, and Hussein, 4, in late 2010. Hussein and Ikram a year after the transplant.
“He tended to attract a lot of attention, and he didn’t like that at all. He didn’t like people kind of treating him differently or just singling him out,” sheTheresaid.are some illnesses that are easier to hide, but when Hussein was diagnosed with nephronophthisis in 2013 and his kidneys began declining, doctors attached a nasogastric tube to the young “Essentially,boy.it’s a tube through his nose which goes all the way to his stomach, and he had nutrients that he took at night that helped him grow, because he wasn’t growing,” Ikram said.
Sleepless nights and constant trips to the hospital became normal in the Truganina family’s household. Ikram said her brother’s kidney function levels rapidly decreased, and he was put on dialysis for about two years.“He was always aware of his condition, he would take everything as it goes,” she said. “He’s a very firm believer that God does not burden a soul beyond what it can bear.”
Dr D’Costa said about 1750 Australians were on the organ transplant list, an additional 13,000 people on dialysis who could benefit from a kidney transplant, and others who required an eye or tissue to improve their quality of life.
Zooming down slides at playgrounds and splashing in the shallows of a public pool are some of the simple joys of childhood.Atonlysix-years-old, Hussein Ahmed knew he couldn’t do what other kids could.Hisolder sister Ikram said her brother was desperate to live a normal life.
By Melissa Meehan WITH a head full of knowledge and a passion to work while raising her twin boys, Brighton East mum Sherri Kiernikowski started Wanderluxe Sleepwear and it’s gone from strength, MELISSA MEEHAN spoke to her about how it all started and if its possible to find a work life balance. Tell us a bit about yourself; are you a mum, where are you from, and what is your business background?
Maternity leave turns to dream come true It’sYourLife
Sherri Kiernikowski, her brand is
Starting my own business and having a young family was a bit of a juggling act. It was my supportive husband and family who believed in me, which is what made it Wanderluxe Sleepwear possible.
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I grew up in Melbourne immersed in my family’s business - the fourth generation of a men’s suiting business which started back in 1907. I spent the beginning of my adult life working corporate roles in telecommunications and it was when I was on maternity leave after having my twin boys that I decided I didn’t want to go back – that it was time to do something for myself and see how far I could push myself. It was my background in men’s tailoring that is where I came up with the concept ‘His shirt for Her’ in the form of pyjamas and where the idea of Wanderluxe Sleepwear began. What is Wanderluxe and how did it come about? After maternity leave from my corporate role, I decided that I wanted to do something on my own where I could be flexible with my hours. With twin boys, I spent a lot of time at home and a lot of time in pyjamas. During this time, I couldn’t find any pyjamas I liked that were comfortable yet stylish in which I would be happy to answer the door in or have friends and family visit.
Leveraging my background in men’s suiting and the fact I couldn’t find any pyjamas I liked, it inspired me to develop a range of sleepwear based on the principles of suiting and Savile Row Tailoring. From here, I came up with the idea of “his shirt for her” in the form of pyjamas. As I started to research this concept, I realised you couldn’t sleep comfortably in a business shirt and I just didn’t like any of the fabrics available. So I spent a couple of years researching and ultimately developed my own bespoke fabric. I designed the perfect blend for comfort and style – a custom cotton-modal blend. After many rounds of handlooms and sampling, I launched my first collection. Have you always been interested in fashion? I have always loved fashion particularly fine detailing. I love how it’s the little details that can make one piece different from the next. I am
Starting my own business and having a young family was a bit of a juggling act. Trying to be the best mum I can be while running my business puts my multitasking skills to the test!” always looking for everyday pieces where comfort and style coexist and thought why can’t I have the same feeling with what I wear to bed. How did you start the business? Were there many hurdles? After coming up with the idea of ‘His shirt for Her’ in the form of pyjamas, I start researching fabrics and designs to ensure the perfect blend of comfort and style. This was a lengthy process as I struggled to find fabrics that made sleeping in a man’s shirt comfortable. Ultimately, I decided to design my own range of bespoke fabric; a custom cotton-modal blend. Picking the right fabrics took months and months of going back and forth. We not only had to get the blend right, but we also had to make sure it passed the wash test and stood the test of time. After extensive testing and sampling, it was from here that I launched my first collection. How did you manage being a mum and starting your own business?
Is it hard to find a work life balance? Does it even exist? Finding a work life balance is always something I am trying to manage. Trying to be the best mum I can be while running my business puts my multitasking skills to the test! In saying this, I love the fact that running my own business means doing things when I want, whether it be starting at 6am or 10pm. Just having that flexibility helps. I always make sure the kids have what they need before turning my focus to the business. What is next? Recent events have seen a surge in our PJs as people are spending more time at home, working from home and understanding the importance of a good night’s sleep more than ever. We have received a lot of requests to create a luxe loungewear collection...
She said it was very clear that kids barely play with plastic, noisy and flashy toys – because put simply, they areTheoverstimulating.businesswent live in May 2021 and is going from strength to strength –the toys, for now, are only available on herhttps://www.ninomondo.com/website.
It’sYourLife
“I just love the philosophy of supporting independence in children, which is why we send our daughters to a Montessori school,” Ms Dsouza told Kids“ButToday.noteveryone can access a Montessori school due to cost or location – so I wanted to create toys for those who can’t access it.”
Let your kids play and learn without the flashing lights
18 SPRING 2022 www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au
WHEN Tribly Dsouza lost her job during the Covid-19 pandemic she decided it was time to do something for herself. So the Bentleigh East mum, who follows the Montessori philosophy for her two daughters Ezme and Ife, started Nino Mondo.
By Melissa Meehan
Ms Dsouza said Montessori education was first started for underprivileged children, but is sadly only available to people who can afford it. It’s something she doesn’t like, but can’t change. “I came from India, so education is very important to me – so I thought this is a space that I can do something in,” she said.
She began the business with another parent, who was a qualified Montessori teacher, but her friend has since returned to teaching and is no longer a part of the business. It’s a lot of work, especially because Ms Dsouza holds a full time job too.
Nino Mondo is her side hustle, she often works on the business from 5am and then once she’s home from work and the kids are asleep. “I’m very passionate about it, and my boxes and toys are nothing like you can get from a large department store,” she said.“They are made for each developmental stage and don’t have instructions or the right way to use it. It allows the children to learn and explore on their own.”
Mum Tribly Dsouza with Daughters Ezme (4 in pink) and Ife (7 in blue).
Students were lucky to only miss a day of school, the day of the fire, but were able to return with some reshuffling of classrooms and the use of the school’s multipurpose hall. The wider school community also pitched in, with schools as far away as Geelong and Bacchus Marsh offering support and some even sent morning tea.“It was truly heart-warming,” Mr Andary said. “The kids were really resilient too, many of them didn’t see the fire because it started so early in the day – but they’ve taken the changes in their stride.”The church will rebuild in due course and the school will continue to house the preps and Grade one’s in the main school and move the kinder kids into the current prep building before taking on a new portable (passed on by another school) before school starts in 2023.
AN early morning fire sent thick smoke over Melbourne and partially destroyed a South Yarra church building that was being used as a kindergarten.
Principal Neil with the Fire damaged ELC Building.
Christ Church Grammar School principal Neil Andary said the fire, in May, completely destroyed the part of the church building leased by the school for their Early Learning Centre. As many as 100 children used the centre and its loss was devastating for the whole school community.
The followingrepurposedhallschool’swasthe fire.
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“The parents and friends were just wonderful,” Mr Andary told Kids Today. “They really rallied to support us in the first 24 hours and that extended into the first week and beyond. “We were very blessed with the support we got from our community.”
Community pulls together after ELC fire It’sYourLife
By Melissa Meehan
Music was never really at the forefront for us until we became teenagers.Itwassort of quite late into our twenties when we realised ‘hey, we could do this for a living’.
Al: I also moved to Ballarat to study secondary teaching, taught for a few years in Ballarat then went overseas. I spent a couple years in England and in 2005 moved back to Geelong. By that stage, the other three boys had already made the move from the farm to Geelong as well so that kind of became our base. We all lived within a suburb of each other, so always kept that brotherly friendship going. Dean and I also started our cover band Good Faces For Radio in 2006 which is still going today.This is how we discovered Drums the Panda (Adam Giles). He randomly said to us one day, “I’ve always wanted to drum in a panda suit”. How did you meet the loves of your Joel:lives?
Joel McInnes, Ava McIness, Al McInnes, Isla McInnes, Jaz McInnes. Picture: Louisa Jones
Tennille and I met at a wedding. She was a bridesmaid and I was the bridesmaid car driver. We met at the wedding a few days after I got her phone number off the bride and the groom and I invited her to thisSheparty.said, “no, I’m already going to the party”. And I said, “How? you don’t know anyone this party?” And she said, “No, I’m going with the best man from the wedding”. I didn’t know that her and the best man had shacked up that night. (laughs)SoIwas like “oh no. So, sorry. See ya.” That’s the story, but things obviously didn’t work out with the best man, and she called me up a few days after that. How about you Al? Al: Shanelle and her family owned The Max Hotel. I taught her younger brother as a secondary teacher in Ballarat in the Year 12 outdoor ed class. I walked into the Max one day to see about getting a gig and her brother Ricky was working behind the bar. He yelled out “Hey Mr Mac!” so I got the gig and met Shanelle. Now on to your babies…I often get birthing stories from the ladies I interview, but I’d love to know the husbands’ perspective from the birthing Al:suite?All of my children’s births were memorable, but Layla my first child was definitely the most eventful. Shanelle my wife was in labour for two days and by the end I was waking her up for the contractions, she was so exhausted.Fromthere, our other two kids were caesareans.Whowould want to go through that again? And Joel, what about your birthing Joel:experience? Oh, it was simply incredible, it’s just something that you never, ever forget.With the first one there was a lot of fear.Ikept thinking ‘hurry up, because this is going to kill her’. It was so foreign. You can do all the courses but nothing prepares you for seeing your wife in so much pain for so long.Tennille was always in control, she did an incredible job. All three were a natural births and unassisted and she was just brilliant. They were nice sizes ranging sort of between seven to eight pound.
Al: A box of chocolates.
Joel: We were born and bred on a farm in a little town called Wickliffe, population of 30 to 40 people. It was very community focused where the town would all come together around sport. Being on 700 acres Mum always had that luxury of saying ‘get outside, go and do Theresomething’.werenodevices to play on but there were plenty of trees to climb, balls to kick and neighbours to visit over the back fence.
Who was the naughtiest? Al: Brian or Dean? It wasn’t us! (laughs) No, we were pretty tame. Brian broke the ice as the eldest. He got in the most trouble and I think Mum and Dad just gave up a bit over time and became more chilled –especially by the time Dean came along.Hewas definitely the naughtiest, but never got in as much trouble being the youngest. Would you say you had a strict Joel:upbringing? They liked us to make our own mistakes, which was wonderful. They really let us have a bit of rein and gave us the freedom to make our mistakes in a safe environment. It must have been a big step to leave such a small town. Where did you head after Wickliffe?
Joel: I did my teaching degree at BallaratCameuniversity.out,taught for a couple of years then did the overseas thing to the UK and worked there for three years, which was a wonderful experience.
It’sYourLife
By Angie Hilton MEET Al and Joel McInnes. Two of the loveliest blokes you’ll ever comeTheseacross.arethe men who might help you sit down and have a cup of tea, or go to the toilet in peace, or get your washing folded. Yes, many parents have bucket loads of gratitude for these guys for creating The Mik Maks! Endless amounts of mesmerising tunes and video clips that our young ones just can’t get enough of. Free NotHallelujah!!babysitting.tomentionthe bonus joy they bring when the parent finds themselves walking around the supermarket singing about bellybuttons! It’s mind-blowing to think just a few years back, that while sitting around a campfire (and after a couple of drinks) they pulled out the guitars and jokingly wrote a song about a hairy crocodile calledNow,Bruce.who could have ever predicted that in a few years’ time they would shoot to internet fame with 5.5 million YouTube subscribers (FYI The Wiggles are at 2.45 million) and streams of nearly 5 billion. That’s the second top channel in the country!Chatting with Al and Joel, you get a real sense of just how tight their family unit is and what a loving, humble, values-based upbringing they must havePure,had.respectful gentlemen. But for all the success, they have also faced heartbreaking sadness with the tragic loss of their youngest brother and Mik Maks front man, Dean, in 2018. The boys at a glance… Al:Family? Kids: Layla 14, Jaz 12, Isla 6. Wife: Shannelle. Joel: Kids: Ava 14, Willow 12, Sam 9. Wife: Tennille. Guilty pleasure?
It was a very stable, secure childhood where all the values of hard work were instilled. Dad was a very hard-working, quiet, sensitive, shy kind of man and still is - he’s 72 and still exactly the same. He was very principle-based, very proud. Was mum the musical influence? Where did the talent come from? Al: Yes it was mum who instilled the musical bug into us from an early age. She’d get us in to perform at Christmas events for the community or the church. Mum still performs to this day. She has directed the town plays back at our local community for probably the last 15 years. I’m actually heading back tonight to watch her in the Lake Bolac town musical.It’samateur theatre but they have a lot of Thefun.prompter is the busiest person in the whole show (laughs).
Bucket loads of entertainment
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Joel: Slow-cooked Texan beef brisket. Go-to karaoke song? Al: Africa by Toto. Joel: Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice. Three people living or passed you’d like to invite to a McInnes barbecue? Al: Walt Disney, Keith Urban, Dean McInnes. Joel: Hugh Jackman, The Norris Nuts, Dean McInnes. Growing up in a household of four boys must have been a hoot! How would you describe your childhood?
Yes, at different levels. They have different confidence levels and different skillTheylevels.also have such different passions, which is great. But just to stand in front of a camera and speak or act, they can all do that incredibly well.
Joel: If he had have been on the earth longer, he would’ve been playing lead guitar in some famous rock band. Al: Or he would’ve been a famous country artist by now. All of us will inevitably face major challenges in our lives, was there anything that really helped you get through at the time that you could share? We leaned on a lot of people, especially early.And we took our time to grieve and work through the process. One of the best bits of advice I was given was from Carl Waddell from Rivers Gift, who lost his son a few years before that - he said, “Right now you wonder if you’ll ever smile again, but trust me in four or five year’s time you will. Don’t rush it. Just know that it will feel better.” Favourite quotes?
Joel McInnes, with his daughter Ava McIness Al McInnes and hisIsladaughters,andJaz.
Subscribers are sitting around five and a half million and actual streams we’re approaching 5 billion. Our YouTube strategy is all about finding new audiences and getting into different countries. I mean one stat is that only 1 per cent of our audience on YouTube is Australian.TheUSis the biggest market at about 17 per cent. The next biggest is probably 6 or 7 per cent, which India, Brazil, India, Philippines.Wegetmore streams in Los Angeles a day than we do in all of Australia. Often it’s countries where English is the second language that we often receive messages from parents saying “Thank you for teaching my child how to speak English”. How big would you like to get, or is the sky the limit? In our niche, we’re still ranked about 30 or 40th CocoGlobally.Melonis YouTube’s biggest kids channel and they have 120 million subscribers.It’sjustendless how far you can take it. I think the main thing is that we are family first. I can’t imagine being in the days of The Wiggles when they were starting out.They were on the road 24/7. You read Anthony’s book and he talks about family breakdown and depression and health and that sort of stuff. For all the success you have certainly had indescribable heartbreak to work through with in the tragic loss of your brother and front man Dean in 2018. How did you cope with such a big loss?
Joel: They can all sing pretty well with the exception, of a couple who have to work extra hard and find it far more confronting.Mydaughter Ava has joined the team and is doing a great job. How would you describe your parenting Joel:philosophies?
There were about three years for me of pretty sleepless nights. You go from having left a great job, with great security, great pay, great conditions, great for the family and then cutting that rope. Taking the chance and putting everything at risk to do this. But it’s been through our strategy with online streaming over the last three or four years that’s really taken that pressure off.
It’s been a lot of ups and downs with it, but having our own kids really step up and be more active with it all has really helped as well. He has left a wonderful legacy and the Mik Maks is a big, big part of that for him. How would you describe him as a Al:person? He was just cheeky with a big beaming smile. Kids loved him, mums loved him, parents loved him. He had this really infectiousEveryonelaugh.wanted to be his mate, because he just had that kind of personality.Andhewas unbelievably talented.
Al: Forrest Gump: “Life’s like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Al: I feel like I’m still learning where the line is as to how much we encourage them to do something and then how much we allow them to just be their own person. I think the most important thing is to just be involved. I personally find the biggest challenge of what we’re doing is to balance being part of this growing business with being a parent to three kids who have completely different interests and share your time equally. And especially with teenagers when you feel like they’re not listening to you at all - they are. I’ve learned that even though they might shut you out and walk away, they’re still taking it in and just don’t want to admit it. Tell us about the birth of The Mik Joel:Maks.I guess it was initially my idea. Tennille and I were sitting on the balcony one day and she said, “Joel, if you won tattslotto tomorrow and you never had to work again, what would you do?” and I said, “I’d play music for kids.” And she said, “Why don’t you do it now?”Forsome reason, it struck a chord and I thought I’ve got these brothers that are very talented musically and have got all the experience. So I floated the idea past them while we were camping. I said, “Hey let’s write a kids song.” We had the guitars out and may have had a couple of beers under our beltwhich is often the secret to great kids songs (laughs) - that or lots and lots of coffee.And we wrote Bruce the Hairy Crocodile within two hours. We shared it with some of the kids in the neighbouring caravans and the response was instant. We continued to share some ideas and about six months later we’d had about 10 songs. So this was in January and then by October we had enough content to put together for our first stage show, which was at the Anglesea Music Festival. The three of us got up there with an acoustic guitar and we just basically performed and the feedback was instant. It just lit a flame. To look back and see yourselves writing Bruce the Hairy Crocodile around a campsite, I’m sure you would never have imagined turning such a fun activity into a thriving global business. Can you give us a snapshot of the Joel:journey?That’s right. It was fun and we could see all the potential from the responses, but there were moments where we really had to weigh everything up. We sat around the table we’re at right now just banging our heads against the wall as to how we can make this sustainable without having to be doing live gigs constantly.
Joel: Plato: “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind and life to everything.”
Al: Now a lot of our business is almost passive.Youdo an hour of work filming and creating content, but then you get paid small bits of revenue for that hour’s work over the next few years, which is a great business model. Tell us about your success on YouTube, where are you sitting at the moment?
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Pictures: Louisa Jones
And are your children drawn towards Al:performing?
Joel: It was our most challenging moment as a family when we lost him. We were all lost. The music kept us connected to him. Because so much of his energy and his creative work went into the Mik Maks songs. So when we finally got back on stage, about eight to 10 weeks after Dean passed, we really felt that connection with him and we knew that that’s what he would want us to do. It’s been really cool having this enormous catalogue of Dean performing.Especially for his young son Max to watch clips of his dad doing what he loved to do best and what he was incredibly good at.
Growing up where we did, there are obviously some amazing opportunities for us, but we also missed out on a lot. We were all so keen on our sport as young kids, but we didn’t have the opportunities like coaching and facilities and mentors and all those sort of things.Tennille and I have the philosophy that we’ve got all these amazing opportunities around us here in Geelong of things to go and try. So we probably lean towards pushing the children into areas of interest, not being afraid to say go and do this for a month and just do it intensively and see what you think and learn from it.
”We also want to ensure families with children, who have weighted blankets for adult use, are mindful of where they are kept and ensure they cannot inadvertently fall on a child or infant leading to catastrophic results.”
Red Nose Australia said online retailers were selling the weighted sleeping sacks, which were like weighted blankets. They are incredibly unsafe for babies - they can compress a baby’s chest, leading to a lack of oxygen. Weighted sleeping sacks can also cause overheating - a well-known risk factor for SIDS.
“It is incredibly alarming to see weighted sleeping bags and weighted blankets being marketed directly to parents of infants, who are told these products may help their baby sleep better,”
Weight of concern over blankets
Health
Red Nose Australia CEO Keren Ludski said Australian parents needed to know that babies overseas had died from the use of weighted blankets.
Red Nose Australia research officer Charis Brown said. “There is no research to support these claims.“The reality is that these products can actually be unsafe for babies and Red Nose is urging every parent to please never use a weighted sleeping product on their baby.
PARENTS are being warned to steer clear of weighted baby sleeping bags.
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The Red Nose Safe Sleep Advice Line recently received a number of calls from parents of newborns asking for safety advice about weighted baby blankets and weighted baby sleeping bags.Inresponse, Red Nose released specific online advice for parents about weighted blankets, at 1300Safearticle/weighted-blankets.rednose.org.au/ParentscanalsocalltheRedNoseSleepLinewithanyquestionson998698.
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Specially trained volunteers are matched to new mums - not necessarily first-time mums - and pregnant women, with the goal of developing secure, trusting relationships. They meet weekly for up to 12 months.Thevolunteers become mentors, cheerleaders, bearing witness to, and walking alongside her ‘mum.’
FORCING women into top-level private health insurance for birth and pregnancy cover is a form of gender discrimination, the peak group for obstetricians claims. National Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists president Gino Pecoraro says it’s the only service excluded from lower-level health insurance based on gender, and he’s taken the matter to the Human Rights Commission.
A spokesperson for the commission said it is not able to comment or provide any information about complaints it has received.
Health fund hurt
Private Healthcare Australia says the tiering of health insurance products into gold, silver, bronze and basic was introduced by the previous government.
HOW close is your dream of motherhood to your Fromreality?thetime a woman finds out she is pregnant she begins to make plans. She dreams about the birth and about what life will be like with this new baby.Ifthe baby is not her first, she will be imagining what it will be like sharing herself with all her children, how they will play together and be best friends. The dreams keep on coming. Dreams are wonderful – they help us to find direction, set goals and to prepare ourselves for what we imagine liesWhatahead.happens when our dreams do not become our reality? Caring Mums knows that many women struggle with their reality not being their dream. The Caring Mums program was created 10 years ago to emotionally support new mothers on their journey, to share in the joys and the challenges and encourage them as they transition into their new role. Many programs are out there for mothers that offer medical or practical help, Caring Mums offer emotional support, and few programs do this.
“These claims are high because often the mother and baby need to be in hospital for a prolonged period. This does not occur in male reproductive health.”Tiering has made health fund products easier for consumers to understand, but much harder for funds to spread this risk across the insured population, which has made gold hospital cover more expensive, they said.Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said gender bias in the health system was an important issue.
AAP
Many new mothers - especially now, due to the pandemic - feel alone and isolated as their own families may not be able to be present at a time when a woman most needs ‘her village’.
A safe space is created in which the mother can share the joys and challenges of her new role without fear of being judged or instructed.
New mum Lara with mentor Ray. Caring Mums helps fill that void. The goal is to support the mother in a way that empowers and builds confidence.CaringMums offers someone to talk to that is outside of the mother’s inner circle.Itsfocus is the mother because if mum is well nurtured, she will then be able to be a better nurturer herself.
“Other issues go to the nature of research and the nature of clinical trials, including devices that are generally designed around a male body,” he told AAP.“The Albanese government is having a range of discussions about our approach to this issue.”
Dr Pecoraro said more needs to be done to lighten the load on public hospitals, and widening access to private care through cheaper insurance policies would help. He said many were shocked to discover women were forced to pay extra to get cover for reproductive health, when men’s reproductive health issues were covered at a lower level. Almost all policies cover testicular tortion or cancer and prostate issues, but pregnancy and birth were only covered in top-level cover, he said.
Dr Pecoraro said the association made a complaint to the Human Rights Commission a year ago but has yet to hear back.
forEmotionalsupportnewmums
“Pregnancy is covered in the highest tier because the risk of something going wrong is very costly. The cost of preterm labour and delivery often exceeds $200,000 to $300,000 for example,” a spokesperson told AAP.
A spokesperson for the AttorneyGeneral’s Department said the government “was committed to eliminating discrimination against women”.
“From the moment I met my Ray, I knew that this program was going to be a huge beacon of support for myself and my family,” mum Lara said. “Ray’s natural, calm way when she spoke to me, as well as her ‘words of wisdom,’ were so helpful during this daunting, yet exciting chapter in our lives.”Caring Mums is a program of NCJWA Vic, a not-for-profit organisation committed to empowering women to achieve their potential and improve the quality of life for all women, girls and their families. If you are pregnant, a new mother, or if you know of someone that would like to add to her village of support, visit caringmumswww.ncjwavic.org.au/orcall0481081 242.
Health
The federal Sex Discrimination Act made it unlawful to iscriminate on the basis of pregnancy or potential pregnancy, they said, reasonablebasedforexceptionsbutincludeinsuranceondata.
“It’s criminal in a country that prides itself on trying to eliminate gender discrimination,” Dr Pecoraro told AAP.
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When it’s time for bed, try establishing a routine that might include drawing the curtains, swaddling and a kissLearngoodnight.toread your baby’s tired signs, such as: rubbing the eyes, yawning, being movements.andstaring,clenchingfussy,fists,frowning,jerkylimbIt’seasiertoget a baby to sleep if they are not over-tired. It’s vital you have a safe sleeping environment for your newborn. Always place your baby to sleep on their back. Keep their face and head uncovered by ensuring any blankets are firmly tucked in. Have a smoke-free environment before and after birth. Put the baby to sleep in their own safe sleep space in the parents’ room for the first six to 12 months. Research has also found that breastfeeding can reduce the risk of SIDS.
Learn to read your baby’s tired signs. for you and your baby. A schedule that’s time-focused and rigid generally don’t work for newborns. Find a schedule that works for you and your family. Click on the QR code to order your free copy of Bump, Birth and Bub – the ultimate resource for pregnancy, childbirth and those early days with a new baby, by Epworth Maternity midwives.
FOR the first three months, newborns spend the majority of their time sleeping or feeding.Theyhave only short periods of alertness as they adjust to life outside yourSomewomb.babies take longer to learn to be awake in the day and to sleep at night.Tohelp your baby adjust and settle, try gently rocking, swaying and walking around with your baby. Swaddling your baby can help your baby feel secure. Hold your baby close to you so they can hear your heartbeat and gently stroke their face around the hairline. Minimise stimulation, including TV and engaging toys.
The early days are a time of learning to settle your baby
Health How
Many parents find that a basic routine can help their baby know when it’s time for sleep and help them wind down. Feed, play, sleep. In the early days, your baby’s play time might be very limited. Play might be as simple as watching the leaves in the trees outside, or reading a story together.
Health
Dr Michael C Nagel has co-authored Becoming Autistic: How Technology Is Altering the Minds of the Next Generation, with Dr Rachael Sharman. The University of the Sunshine Coast academics explored the effects too much screen time and too little social time had on the developing brain. Specifically, autistic traits are showing up in otherwise neurotypical children.“I’vehad concerns about technology and the impact on child development for more than a decade,” Dr Nagel said. “It may be having an impact we don’t quite understand yet.” He said he’d come across worrying studies suggesting a rapid rise in the diagnosis of autism in the Western world.
■ The age & maturity of the child ■ The shape of the cornea (the front lens on the eye)
The various points to weigh up when deciding on which course of treatment is best are many, however a broad list might include:
“It’s really important for parents to remember your child’s social queues develop when they’re looking at your face,” he said. “There are too many missed opportunities when parents are on their phones.”Orhanding their children a phone in a cafe.“Ifyou’re doing it continually, you’re taking away opportunities for the child to learn,” he said.
“Whether that’s reversible or not is still unknown,” he said.
“There seems to be a connection between screens and young, developing brains,” Dr Nagel said. “The brain doesn’t fully mature until we’re well into our twenties. “It’s susceptible to all kinds of environmental assault.” He said data showed structural changes to the brain as a result of screen use in children.
“We tried to map out what we think is happening based on evidence, and what you can do about it. “We don’t think we can talk about how much time is too much time. “We can’t create a controlled environment to test that.” Rather, he said, they talked about what children needed for healthy development.“Ifthere’sany silver lining in the Covid cloud, it reaffirmed for us that people need to be with people,” he said. Decades of research, he said, supported kids being with other children in real time, and able to read other people’s faces. “The message to parents is: be mindful of what your children need,” he “Havingsaid. a phone didn’t suddenly become a right. “You have to parent technology.“Youhave to set up boundaries, and it’s much easier to do when kids are younger.“Withteens, you have to wean them off slowly and create boundaries and thesteppingscreenscansaying“It’sborders.notabouttokids‘youneveruseagain’.“It’snotaboutbackintodarkages.”Andit’snotonly their own device use impacting kids.
■ The preference of the parents ■ The rapidity of the myopic change Generally, if there is a strong family history of myopia, and the child becomes myopic at an early age, treatment can be more aggressive to try to curtail the abnormal growth of the eye. In these cases, combination therapies work quite well, as the mode of action of different treatments work via different actions and therefore can be additive in the overall reduction of growth effect. Ideally children should be assessed around Grade 1, or earlier if there is a strong family history of myopia in siblings/parents. The earlier the detection, the better the prognosis is liable to be. Ashburton Eyecare is located at 196 High Street, Ashburton Myopia epidemic
■ Pharmaceutical eye medication Which(Atropine)method is best will depend on a number of factors that can be determined by a suitably qualified Paediatric Optometrist.
www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au SPRING 2022 25 12395537-DJ37-18 www.ashburtoneyecare.com.au
YOU may have heard that the world is in the midst of a myopia epidemic. Myopia is the elongation of the eye globe that causes what is commonly known as being “shortsighted” or “near-sighted”. Like the name implies, myopic people can see better at “short or near” distances, and have trouble seeing things far away clearly. The prevalence of myopia is much greater in younger children than ever before in known human history.Myopia not only results in blurry vision, it also increases the risk of a number of related pathologies such as having a retinal detachment and myopicThesemaculopathy.relatedpathologies can lead to permanent reduction in vision, not correctable by glasses, contact lenses or laser refractive surgery.
He said TVs also contributed, but were much more passive. “It does add to the overall length of screen time,” he said. “If kids are on screens before, during and after school…”
Dr Rachael Sharman
By Casey Neill “IT’S time to think about screen use.”
The big difference today is that Paediatric Optometry has the means to reduce the amount of myopia a child will end up with as an adult. The literature generally states that a child’s myopia can be reduced in progression such that the child will end up with about half of the myopic error that they would have had without treatment. We call these treatments “Myopia Management”.MyopiaManagement is most effective when started early. There are many different types of Myopia Management, but typically it will involve one or more of the following:
Screen time is mindsshaping
■ Specialised Glasses ■ Specialised Contact Lenses (soft contact lenses or Orthokeratology)
The ADA says it’s important to limit your child’s sugary food and drink intake to decrease their risk of developing tooth decay.Breast milk, water and milk are the best drink choices for healthy teeth and are the only liquids that should be placed in a baby’s bottle. If you give your toddler some fruit juice, place it in a cup rather than a bottle and limit the amount provided to half a cup (125ml) per day. Tooth health You can check your child’s teeth by lifting their top lip and rolling down their bottom lip. If you see white, brown, or black spots on the teeth that do not rub or brush away, make an appointment with your dentist as this can be a sign of toothYoungdecay.children learning to walk and move often experience bumps and falls. If your baby or toddler knocks a tooth from their mouth, do not replace it as this might damage the adult tooth developing under the gum. Take your child and the knocked-out tooth to a dentist as soon as possible. They will review the tooth and check for damage to the surrounding bone, lips, cheeks and any other teeth.
Dental app advancing care
Taking care of young teeth
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A BABY’S teeth start developing while they’re still in the womb. So setting children up for good oral health starts early, the Australian Dental Association (ADA) says. Baby teeth usually start to appear when babies are about 9 months old, often with the central bottom teeth. But that timing can range from 3 to 12 months and the teeth can arrive in any order. If your child doesn’t have any teeth by 12 months of age, the ADA says it’s best to have a check-up with a dentist.
Teething Teething symptoms can include drooling, gum rubbing, biting or mouthing objects or being more irritable thanSymptomsusual. that should not automatically be associated with teething include difficulty sleeping, a loss of appetite, coughing, rashes, diarrhoea, vomiting, seizures, or a very high fever.
Introduce a toothbrush when your baby gets their first tooth, brushing their teeth for them to ensure all surfaces are cleaned.TheADA recommends using a toothbrush with a small head and soft bristles.Aschildren get older, start brushing with the aim of reaching two minutes. Play a song, use a phone app with a brushing timer, or use a sticker chart.
Dentist visits Babies should first visit the dentist when their first tooth appears or by about age 1.
The ADA says it’s best to see your doctor if your child is experiencing these symptoms to rule out other illnesses. Ways to soothe teething include cuddles, chilled teething rings and washcloths, rubbing a back of a cold spoon over the gums, or using a dummy.
Modern Orthodontics received positive feedback from one user, Max Funding CEO Shane Perry. “I’ve been using the Dental Monitoring app for a couple of weeks, and it was very beneficial to my progress,” he said. “The steps are easier to follow than anticipated, and I can track them directly in real-time.“Asaresult, my teeth have grown closer together, and my smile has“Thislivened!app is fantastic.” Book a consultationfreetoday to achieve that dream smile, com.au.modernorthodontics.at
Teething gels can provide relief at first, but the ADA warns this might only last for a short time as saliva washes the gelInfantsaway.can swallow the gel and this can cause throat numbness, which is a chokingAmberhazard.beaded necklaces or bracelets are a potential choking hazard and the ADA says they’re unlikely to provide any pain relief for your teething child.
The ADA says the average Australian child’s first visit to the dentist is at age 4, by which point they might have already developed tooth decay.
Modern Orthodontics takes pride in keeping abreast with these developments through ongoing training and education initiatives. When innovative technologies or approaches are put into operation, the Modern Orthodontics team assesses them to see how they can improve patients’Dentalexperiences.Monitoringis an AI-powered orthodontic tool that helps your orthodontist remotely track the progress of your Invisalign care. You can cut down your trips to orthodontic clinics by having the monitoring done remotely, minimising the interruption of your everyday routine.Inaddition, the application is designed with a chat tool that enables you to immediately contact your dentist if you have any concerns about your care.Orthodontists recommend the Dental Monitoring app to patients undergoing or about to undergo orthodontic treatment.Patients can download it free of charge from the Google Play Store or AppOnceStore.your monitoring begins, your orthodontist will send you an authentication email with all the information you’ll need to get started. Users scan their teeth using a supplied cheek retractor and scan box, then upload them to the app. The snapshots are categorised, cropped, organised by date and perspective, and protected so your orthodontist can track your progress. Your orthodontist can gauge your success remotely by analysing the progression of your smile from varied angles.
Attending the dentist regularly from an early age can help to detect tooth decay early, prevent it from occurring, and help your child become comfortable with dental visits.
DENTAL
ORTHODONTICS has become a dynamic and ever-evolving field, with new developments introduced constantly.
Toothpaste should be introduced at 18 months, with low-fluoride toothpaste recommended until age 6. Cleaning between your child’s teeth using floss is also recommended from about age 2. Food and drink
Brushing and flossing
our
The typical household is spending 20 per cent of its income on childcare fees, and some women who wanted to return to work were staying home because of thisMrcost.Andrews said our economy missed out on their skills and experience.Hesaidbeing a stay-at-home parent was a legitimate choice, but it should be based on what worked for individual families, not forced by the childcare system’s limitations.
THE neuroscience is clear; the most important time in lives are the first few thousand days. It is during this time that we develop most of our understanding of the world were born into, and it is the environment, and the people we associate with, who nurture, guide and role model, that plays a significant role in predicting our success later in life. It goes without saying then that the right early learning environment and school is critical to a child’s development. At Christ Church Grammar School and Early Learning Centre, we understand the nature of relationships on nurturing a young child’s needs and development.
Freechildcaremorekinder, Education
“At the same time, it will benefit hundreds of thousands of working families. Helping more mums and dads return to work on terms that work for them,” he Thirdly,said.theState Government will establish 50 government-owned and affordable integrated childcare centres in areas with the greatest unmet demand, with the first to open in 2025. Where possible, they’ll be co-located with schools to avoid the double-drop off, and alongside hospitals, TAFEs and major employers to create convenient access for working parents.
It is what stands us apart. Our team not only loves to educate, they love the children too. And the children love learning because the adults supporting them take the time to know them, to understand them and guide them. I invite you to come and meet our team, speak with them, and watch them in action as they guide and support the young children in their care. You will be surprised at the difference!
Four-year-old kinder will become Pre-Prep.
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Where there is demand, centres will operate extended hours and on weekends so parents working in industries like hospitality and healthcare have more support and more options.
Early days make a difference
Neil PrincipalAndary, Christ Church Grammar staff are experts in ensuring your child enters a safe, happy and supportive environment to begin their early education.
we
AN early childhood education and childcare overhaul will roll out in Victoria over the next decade.
Our staff are experts in ensuring your child enters a safe, happy and supportive environment to begin their earlyAftereducation.ourrecent fire that demolished our buildings, it was our staff that within 24 hours had repurposed rooms in our main school and welcomed our children into a new but familiar environment. Our school hall and music rooms were repurposed, but it was the familiar face, warm smile and embrace of our staff that ensured our children didn’t miss a Leavingbeat.your child in care is always a stressful contemplation, and I am often asked what to look for in an early learning centre or school. The answer is always the quality of the relationships between the educator and child and educator and parent. It’s nice to have a beautiful building and awesome playground, but none of these matter as much as the warmth, care, and love of the educators.
The Best Start, Best Life program expansion is designed to save families money and help women return to the workforce.Firstly,from next year kinder will be free, saving up to $2500 per child every year.Secondly, over the next decade four-year-old kinder will transition to Pre-Prep – a universal 30-hour a week program of play-based learning for every four-year-old child in Victoria, delivered through kinders and long day care Premiercentres.DanielAndrews said it was a year dedicated to growing and learning, new friends and new experiences, giving them the skills they needed for school and life.
“Our childcare system isn’t working for women – in fact, it’s holding them back,” then-Minister for Women Gabrielle Williams said. “Affordable and accessible childcare is vital to giving women more options –meaning they have more economic power and driving gender equality across every aspect of work and life.”
It’s important that students enjoy their sports and have the opportunity to identify their strengths and weaknesses in a variety of sports options, so they enter Year 7 with a sense of confidence.
Term 1 commenced with a 6 week Harold Holt swim program, closely followed by the Dendy Sports program in Term 2 which included weekly AFL, netball and soccer. De La Salle’s Year 5 netball team won its grand final, while Year 6 netball and AFL came runners up in their respective competitions.InTerm3,primary students competed in the Basketball Victoria Hoop Time tournament with outstanding results.Primary students have also had the wonderful experience of touring the MCG, speaking with Sydney 2000 Olympic bronze medalist, Dean Pullar, and also attended fitness classes at Harold Holt and Infinite Cycles. This wholistic approach to sports is the pathway to students having even greater opportunities in secondary to consider high performance teams including the Kennedy Club, the De La Salle Dolphins, Agar Academy for cricket and the Di Medio athletics squad. Be your Best at De La Salle College. Visit www.delasalle.vic.edu.au.
Introduced early this year, the college’s High Performance Sport program provides students from Years 5 to 12 the opportunity to experience specialist coaching and mentoring from industry professionals in a variety of sports.The High Performance AFL program is a litany of well-known AFL footballers and coaches, including Andrew Raines (founder of One on One Football, former AFL player and Gold Coast Suns Academy head coach), Michael Barlow (former Fremantle and Gold Coast Suns AFL player), Brett Deledio (former Richmond and Greater Western Sydney AFL player), Dom Tyson (former Greater Western Sydney, Melbourne and North Melbourne AFL player) and Shane Watson (former Collingwood AFL player).
This season has already seen the results of such high performance tuition and coaching, including the senior De La Salle AFL team winning the Associated Catholic Colleges (ACC) premiership.TheOpen golf team, Year 8A soccer team and Year 8B AFL team are also 2022 premiers and there has been a notable upsurge in players’ skill, commitment and results. If your son loves his sport or is keen to improve his sporting prowess or desire to be supported into high performance level sports, De La Salle offers a selection of sports starting at Year 5 that seamlessly continue into secondary year levels with strong support from coaches and sports co-ordinators.
startssportCreatingstarsyoung
The High Performance AFL program is a litany of well-known AFL footballers and coaches.
Education
28 SPRING 2022 www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au | www.delasalle.vic.edu.au1318 HIGH STREET, MALVERN VIC 3144 | PH 03 9508 2100 At De La Salle College Applications closing soon. Educating boys Years 5 -12. LEARNLIVELEAD there is a pathway for every student. Our innovative curriculum, high performance sports and focus on student wellbeing, personal development and social justice, supports your sons in becoming quality and respectful young men. 12562474-SN36-22
The Year 5 and 6 Primary students have had a fun and successful year so far with the Primary Sport program.
Primary students competed in the Basketball Victoria Hoop Time tournament with outstanding results.
DE La Salle College offers an extensive range of co-curricular opportunities to complement classroom learning.
Thanks must go to Parks Victoria and Earthcare for their collaboration with St Michael’s to provide this wonderful opportunity to the St Michael’s Year 3 students.Thislearning experience would also not be possible without the dedicated junior school staff who are overseeing the program and ensuring its success, by creating an engaging learning environment for St Michael’s students.
“These areas of learning are incorporated into our early learning program and provide opportunities for our young learners to satisfy their natural curiosities.”
Penguin Squad dives deep
Forging a unique connection with Earthcare and the St Kilda Penguins allows the school to offer a rich educational experience to their Year 3 students.Thefield work they engage in will form a large part of their investigations in the Studentsclassroom.participated in this immersive experience with enthusiasm and excitement and are looking forward to their continued learning back at school as they wonder and learn more about these beautiful birds.
STEM discoveries
To discover more about the St Catherine’s early learning centre, visit www.stcatherines.net.au.
ST Michael’s Grammar School, in Chapel Street, St Kilda, has embarked on an exciting new program with Earthcare and Parks Victoria. Early in term three, the school launched its Year 3 signature program ‘Penguin Squad’, which will see the students engaging with the St Kilda penguin colony. The students are taking a deep dive into learning about penguins, where they live, their needs, and how they survive.StMichael’s is developing a range of signature programs to be offered at every year level, to support its educational vision to nurture creative, inquiring minds to learn from, with and for the Theseworld.programs draw on evidence based experiential learning processes relating to the connection of learning, experience, and reflection. Through the Penguin Squad program, students will investigate the ecosystem in which the penguin colony exists and the penguins’ life cycle.
www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au SPRING 2022 29 ST CATHERINE’S SCHOOL www.stcatherines.net.au | Toorak VIC Great education starts early at St Catherine’s Limited ELC places for 2024 12560243-SN36-22 At Andale School, we provide a positive learning environment for children who experience language and learning challenges, within a welcoming community that recognises and celebrates their learning achievements. Contact us for more information 84andaleschool@andale.vic.edu.auCharlesStreet,Kew,3101|+613 9853 3911 Educationandale.vic.edu.auEmpowered 12544875-JC24-22
The students have selected four nests where cameras have been installed and will use this footage back at school to learn more about penguin behaviour and the conditions in which they thrive.
THE practice of questioning and trying new experiences lays the foundation for learning in early childhood and continues throughout children’s“Younglives.children are naturally curious to explore the world around them,” St Catherine’s School head of early learning Sarah Bethune said. “When our young learners explore their surroundings in a hands-on manner it ignites questions and a desire to “STEMinvestigate.istheexploration of the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Ms Bethune explained that opportunities for children to engage in STEM learning occured in both planned and naturally-occurring ways.“Through STEM, the children’s observations, investigations,explorations,experimentations, and play are enhanced,” Ms Bethune said.“The children are naturally curious and amazed by the discoveries they make.“This sparks a genuine love for learning that continues with them as they progress through their school life.”
Education
Children are naturally curious and amazed by the discoveries they make.
■ Almost all parents (98 per cent) stress the importance of building their child’s resilience this year ■ Over half of parents say their child’s learning progress has not been impacted due to COVIDrelated disruptions over the last couple of years ■ Some 87 per cent of parents trust their child’s school and teacher to assist with NAPLAN preparation ■ Three quarter of parents (76 per cent) agree kids need to further study for exams beyond the homework given Parents would find NAPLAN a struggle
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3. Experience and share in your child’s developmental breakthroughs. Mini Maestros offers fun and educational music classes for babies through to 5 year olds. The classes build confidence; nurture whole-brain development; provide social interaction for parent and child; are age-specific for children’s developmental stages; and provide classroom experience in preparation for kinder and school. New students are welcome to join at any point in the teaching term, subject to availability.MiniMaestros also has online courses for babies to 5 year olds, so that you have the opportunity to share the learning and fun with your child at home in your own time. Enrol now and support your child to thrive. Call 9850 5566 or www.minimaestros.com.au.visit
Education
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COVID-related school lockdowns showed parents just how little they actually know about what their children are doing at school or how they learn, so it’s unsurprising there is confusion about what NAPLAN is or how it fits in with the school curriculum.“NAPLAN stands for the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy which aside from maths skills, also tests for skills in reading, writing, grammar, punctuation and spelling,” Dr Selina Samuels, Cluey’s Chief Learning Officer, said . “Students may be covering a lot of material in class that’s not directly tested, so there may not be much obvious correlation between what they’re doing at school and NAPLAN tests.”DrSamuels stressed parental frustrations over homework are understandable.“Insomecases, methods of instructions have changed, and – let’s face it – it’s not easy to remember how to do long division after 30 years,” she “Moreover,said.it’s well-known that it’s extremely difficult to teach your own children. The role of teacher and parent are entirely different.” She said there are various ways parents can get up to speed with NAPLAN and homework.
Support your child to thrive
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ALMOST half of all parents say they aren’t entirely confident they could pass their child’s NAPLAN tests, according to new research. In a nationwide survey conducted by online tutoring company, Cluey Learning, 39 per cent of parents say they could ‘possibly’ pass the test whilst 9 per cent say they were ‘not confident’ at passing. What’s more, a third of parents say they don’t know why their kids are required to do NAPLAN or are unsure about it, and 61 per cent admit they don’t know what the word NAPLAN actually stands for. General confusion about NAPLAN testing for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 is still widespread with one parent surveyed saying, “I would like to know what work is being done in class and exactly what kids are learning and what will be tested.”
www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au we do moreEnrolling now Discover our Early Learning Centre and Primary School. See what makes Christ Church Grammar School the best performing, inner-city, co-educational, Independent Early Learning and Primary School in Melbourne. Book a school tour to see our uniquely wonderful primary school in action. Learn how we specialise in the yearsformativeofeducation. www.ccgs.vic.edu.au An independent ELC to Grade 6 co-educational school in South Yarra 12553959-DL36-22
VicHealth social marketing and communications executive manager Rebecca Ahren said they were everyday women with real stories and realistic bodies.
Local ambassadors across the state are leading the way and empowering girls and women to follow their lead.
32 SPRING 2022 www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au ActiveKids
Chiquita, from Berwick, never thought she would be the kind of person to play sport, but things changed as she approached her forties.
GIRLS can do anything, especially when it comes to physical activity. And there’s a whole week dedicated to spreading that message to girls and women of all ages, from 12 to 18 September.ThisGirlCan – Victoria is an uplifting, energetic and empowering campaign. It’s designed to overcome the fear of judgement stopping too many girls and women from joining in and being active to improve their health.
During This Girl Can Week, physical activity providers, clubs, gyms, facilities and organisations offer fun, beginner-friendly and come-and-try events to help get more girls and women walking through their doors and trying new ways to get active. Whether it’s walking, hiking, cycling or chasing the kids around the park, there are fun ways to get active this spring.
It has a message for all girls and women, no matter their age, background, size or abilities: focus on how physical activity makes you feel, instead of on your fears.
“We hope other women will relate to their struggles and triumphs and think ‘if she can, I can too’,” she said.
“As I believed in myself more, I thought ‘stuff it, I’ll give that a go’,” she said.Now outrigger canoeing – or ‘waka ama’ – connects her to nature and her Polynesian culture.
“It’s calming, you’re just looking towards the horizon, and once we get that stride, that’s when we fly,” she said.Every time she gets active, bodypositive personal trainer Natasha, from Monbulk, is blown away by how great she“Therefeels. are 100 reasons to exercise and trying to look a certain way doesn’t have to be one of them,” she said.Natasha once had doubts about running a fitness class because of how her body looked. “I’ve had my moments where I’ve gone, ‘should I really be running a fitness class – do I look fit enough?’” she said.“My body is my business card and it’s a bloody brilliant business card because it’s a real body – it’s not photoshopped, it’s not flawless, but it’s perfect!”Sue,from Murrumbeena, always wanted to play Australian rules football but was repeatedly told she couldn’t –at school, by her dad and even by her daughter.Inspired by the launch of AFLW, at 53 years old Sue finally made her footy debut.Sue has continued to play alongside five of the women she met at the original ‘come and try’ day for AFL Women’s Masters.
Every girl can
“At the age of 53 I debuted. It’s liberating to be breaking that stereotype that girls can’t do it.” She wished AFLW had been around when she was a kid, “‘cause I’d have been there in a flash”. Sue, from Murrumbeena, took up AFL at age 53.
This Girl Can research shows more than half of Victorian women are worried about being judged while exercising and 41 per cent of Victorian women were embarrassed to exercise in public.Theyworry about being judged for how they look, how good they are or how they prioritise their time.
“I alternate between absolute exhilaration and fear of making a fool of myself,” she said. “I realised it wasn’t like I was bad at sport, it’s just that I never gave myself the chance to be any good.”
Angela Dalla Rosa.
Chiquita, from Berwick. Body-positive personal trainer Natasha.
Angela thought she was too uncoordinated to play sport until she saw her sister run a marathon, and realised she could too.
Ambassador Angela Dalla Rosa, from Burnside Heights, is taking a break from football this year, has taken up cricket in the role of captain, and also recently completed a marathon.
“Whether it’s religion, or disability, or race, or whatever the reasoning is, we should treat everyone the same. Same same, but different.”
Artist expectationsdefies
“I’d like to think that if there are other disabled people out there, or other people who are diverse and struggling, that they can see my story and go, well, she’s doing it, I can do it as well,” she said.“If I come up with an idea, I follow through with that idea, and maybe I can change a few other lives in the process.”
“We know the earlier in life young Victorians get mental health support, the better their chances of staying happy and healthy throughout adulthood,” he said.
By 2026, 1800 school campuses will employ a Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader to implement a whole-school approach to wellbeing.
www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au SPRING 2022 33
Justine Martin and Pansy, the star of her new children’s book Same Same But Different. Picture: Ivan Kemp
“We’reservices.making sure every Victorian child has access to safe, tailored care through their trusted school environment – giving them the care they need, when they need it, close to home,” then-Mental Health and Education Minister James Merlino said. The program builds on a successful pilot with 100 schools across Victoria in partnership with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne.Morethan 95 per cent of Mental Health and Wellbeing Leaders said the model improved their school’s capacity to support students’ mental health and wellbeing needs. The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System found schools played an important role in identifying children with mental health and wellbeing challenges, who could then be referred to treatment, care and support.Every government secondary and specialist school already has a mental health worker, but the Royal Commission encouraged the State Government to expand the primary school pilot.
The $200 million investment will support individual students, help teachers better identify and support at-risk students, and build relationships and referral pathways to local mental health
Ms Martin runs the Justine Martin Corporation, under which she manages six businesses, including the recentlylaunched Morpheus Publishing, through which she now publishes her own books. Same Same But Different is the first of a series of four books that Ms Martin intends to publish, with Pansy as the star, and she said she hopes to serve as an inspiration to others who might have been told they can’t achieve their goals.
THE Mental Health in Primary Schools program is expanding to every government and low-fee nongovernment primary school in Victoria.
By Matt Hewson JUSTINE MARTIN believes anyone can turn their dreams into reality if they set their mind to it, and has demonstrated that belief with the launch of her first children’s book and a publishing company.BookSame Same But Different promotes inclusion and kindness through the lens of her pet dachshund, Pansy.
RealityBites
“I’d always wanted to write a children’s book and leave something for my grandchildren,” Ms Martin said. “When I got Pansy I saw how she’s friends with absolutely everyone, and I thought ‘wouldn’t it be nice if that was society, if that was the community’.
“It’s been about finding a different way to learn, and having a support worker to help me with stuff.”
The Geelong-based artist lives with multiple sclerosis, has beaten three instances of cancer, and suffered a number of other serious health conditions. She continues to defy others’ expectations about what she can and cannot“Elevenachieve.years ago I was told I’d never be able to work again,” Ms Martin said. “That was their false belief, they didn’t know me well enough. I had employment agencies tell me there wasn’t enough funding or time to retrain me.“Yeah, it does take me a lot longer to complete tasks and do some things, but it doesn’t mean I can’t do them.
approachWhole-schooltowellbeing
Mr Merlino said half of all cases of anxiety, mood, impulse control and substance use disorders manifested by ageResearch14. suggests students with mental health concerns are behind their peers in Grade 3, falling further behind throughout school.
“I went through all that and didn’t even get the chance to transfer.” She thought about what else was missing from her fertility process…and bought crystals online. Linda laughs about it now, and jokes that they made the difference.
The doctors “threw more drugs” at her and went in for another retrieval. They again got seven eggs, and again fertilised five. “Then it was the dreaded five-day wait to work out how many of those would make it,” Linda said. Four made it and were top quality. The doctor told Linda “I’m going to get youShepregnant”.snuckin a few at-home tests during the torturous fortnight between implanation and her first blood test. They were positive and the bloods confirmed it.
“I was very shocked that I had it,” Linda said. “I don’t suffer from bad period pain and have no other symptoms.” Doctors removed the endo and advised the couple to try to conceive naturally for six months.
34 SPRING 2022 www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au
“I wanted three. Three would give me some kind of hope,” she said. They got seven. “I cried. I felt such relief,” she said. Doctors used intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), where a single sperm is given a helping hand to ‘enter’ the egg. They successfully fertilised five of the seven, then waited five days for them to eventuate to blastocysts before implantation.Lindawasin her car at the hospital, ready for the implantation when they told her none of the embryos made it.
“But we didn’t want to get too ahead of ourselves because of my history,” she said.She was “so relieved and so excited” when her first scan found a heartbeat. “But once you’ve had a miscarriage, that innocence completely goes away,” sheLindasaid. made it to 35 weeks but her struggles weren’t over. Her hands hurt, her feet were swollen, her blood pressure was increasing. She was admitted to hospital with preeclampsia.“IfeltlikeIwasn’t able to complain. I was just really grateful to make it this far,” she said. “It just got really out of control because I didn’t mention anything because I didn’t want to burst the bubble.”
She needed a cocktail of drugs to lure her period back before starting IVF drugs.Doctors only collected one egg from her first retrieval surgery. A gutted Linda told herself she only needed one. She stayed home from work for five days, laying flat on the couch to encourage her little embryo to stick, but it wasn’t to be.
“We waited a couple of months and were about to call up to go again, but we fell pregnant again naturally,” Linda said.Itwas twins. She and Liam were elated, but at nine weeks their world was shattered yet again. Scans found the babies were no longerAgain,growing.itwas an arduous process to get her period back before she could try another IVF cycle.
“He couldn’t come to me because they couldn’t move the isolette. “I had to wait until the next day to seeShehim.”spent five days in hospital then was sent home without her son. “I was expressing to get my milk to come in,” she said.
It’sYourLife
Miscarriages, a failed egg retrieval and lost embyros, topped off with preeclampsia - the Cockatoo couple’s journey to parenthood was rough. They tried to fall pregnant for about a year before going to see a GP, who referred the couple to a fertility specialist. They found nothing abnormal in Liam’s tests, and an anti mullerian hormone test found Linda’s egg reserve on the low side of normal for her age. Then a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy discovered endometriosis.
“For three months, I expressed every two to three hours to get him enough milk.”He was able to go home at 13 days old.Linda’s period returned without prodding, so the couple have been trying for a sibling for Forrest knowing they have two frozen embryos up their sleeves.“People say it’s hard being a mum, but no one tells you how hard that hard is,” she said. “But I love being Forrest’s mum.” Forrest.
Pictures: Stewart Chambers
LINDA and Liam Mallett endured a four and a half year fertility journey to welcome son Forrest into the world.
“I started doing acupuncture once a week and taking the craziness of the herbs that they make you drink,” she said.“It tasted like dirt but I was like ‘I want this baby, I don’t really care’.” She was terrified of again waking from the retrieval to one egg - or worse.
“I was absolutely shattered, almost as shattered as if I miscarried,” she said. “I think I would have been less devastated if I’d got a negative pregnancy test.
“It helps the sperm find the egg easier,” Linda said. It didn’t work, so they tried naturally for a couple more months before deciding to start IVF.
Doctors gave her steroid injections to help with Forrest’s lung development. Blood pressure medication was becoming less effective. Doctors couldn’t wait much longer to deliver Forrest.. Liam was booked in for a shoulder reconstruction, and a reaction to the anesthetic kept him in hospital longer thanHeexpected.wasdischarged, returned home to pack a new bag, and back at the hospital just in time for Forrest’s dramatic birth.“He got stuck behind my placenta, so they had to get through the placenta, pull that out, pull him out,” Linda said. “He wasn’t breathing.” She held her long-awaited son for a few seconds before he was whisked away to the NICU. “I went into recovery. I couldn’t move because of the drugs,” she said.
Linda’s mission to become a mum
“Most times the surgery helps, but that wasn’t working for me,” Linda said. “Then the next option was instead of going straight into IVF, we did an IUI.” Intrauterine insemination (IUI) places sperm that have been washed and concentrated directly into your uterus around ovulation.
Linda and her son Forrest.
But they couldn’t go ahead - a blood test found Linda was pregnant. “Then we went to do my six-week scan and they found no heartbeat,” she said.“Iended up having a miscarriage. It was pretty gutting.”
Cassie and Maddie. work, and he can be home within five minutes.“Because it’s his business he can take time off when he needs to.
“I used to laugh about people trying to get home for kids’ routines.
“I cancelled it. “I couldn’t say goodbye to someone and welcome someone within hours.” But she stopped feeling Maddison move, went back into hospital for induction, and welcomed her baby girl two days after losing her grandpa.
“It’s been a wild journey. All of our huge milestones in life have been done together,” she said. Her grandpa and grandma escaped war together and had been married 72 years when her grandma passed away. Her grandpa was heartbroken, and Covid lockdowns only made him feel more alone. His health declined.
“It made me so stressed,” she said. “He just sat there with his hand on my stomach every night. “The pressure was just too much.” Her midwives decided to induce her.
“I’m exhausted but I’m doing it because it makes her happy.
“I love teaching, I love my job, but I’d rather put all my energy into my child.” People often ask her when she’s going back to work, and she has dipped her toe in through emergency teaching. “I have the opportunity to stay home and I’m going to do it well,” she said. “It’s the hardest job and it’s the most rewarding job. “I’m actually working harder at home than I was at school. “We judge ourselves enough, we don’t need others to judge.”
Maddie had just turned 2 when we spoke, and Cassie was heavily pregnant with baby number two. “My worry is that I won’t have the time for Maddie, as much as I have at the moment,” she said. “We do so many activities. We have a full schedule every week. “What’s going to happen when the baby“Howcomes?amI going to give her the same time and energy I do now?”
“The pressure was on for me to have this baby before he passed away,” CassieHe’dsaid.stopped eating, and nursing home staff were telling Cassie that he was holding on for his grandchild.
“I don’t judge a single mum now for anything they do. “Everyone’s just trying to survive. “Everyone’s judged enough. “You do what feels right and what works for your family.”
By Casey Neill
Cassie Hycenko and daughter Maddie, 2. Pictures: Damjan Janevski
“There’s been no pressure to go back to work, so I’ve been able to do things at my own pace.” Her own pace is pretty full-on. Cassie has activities scheduled each morning, does household chores when Maddie naps, and makes toys and craft activities during nap time or after Maddie goes to bed.
“My grandma is around the corner as well so I could wheel the pram up to her door.“My dad was renovating our place at the time, too, so he had a permit. “Ryan runs his own business. He’s an accountant and financial advisor. “He literally walks across the road to
www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au SPRING 2022 35 Maddie.
CASSIE Hycenko farewelled her grandpa and welcomed her first child in less than two days. The teacher had always dreamt of being a mum “with lots of kids” and fell pregnant shortly after she and partner Ryan Jones decided to start a family. The pair met in Year 12 and have been together 16 years.
“It’s just amazing how one life ends and one begins,” she said. She left hospital 24 hours after giving birth and was at her grandpa’s funeral two hours later.
Cassie will rely heavily on routine to get through the transition from one child to two - something she’s found doesn’t resonate with everyone in her life. She urged those without childrenand those with older children - to remember the mum when planning events and consider what’s involved just for her to get out of the house.
“Kids are so unpredictable, having some sort of routine in your day makes it easier for the mum,” she said. “Before (I was a mum), maybe I was judgemental too.
“The mental load of day to day activities and stuff, when someone says ‘you do nothing’, it really hurts,” she said. “Although it looks like we’re having fun all the time, I’m doing more than I probably should.
“It was chaotic. It was a sad time but I also had something to keep me so happy,” she said. “Covid helped. I didn’t have to be anywhere.“Inoneway it was sad, not being able to introduce her to family members. “But Covid was good to us and we’ve been so lucky. We had the baby at the most perfect time. “My parents are three streets away from me, so my mum was my carer and she could come and drop off food.
tosadFromgoodbyehappyhello
It’sYourLife
“My grandpa passed away the morning I was booked in to give birth,” she said.
“I sort of think of Fergus as a pal,” John“Tosaid.seehim brought to life is brilliant.”
“It sort of subtly deals with anxiety and risky behaviour,“ he said.“It’s about knowing when to take risks and when not to. “It’s kind of both sides of the coin.“ Mr Roberts said the initial reception from children at local schools and libraries had been positive.
Books Outside play isn’t such risky business
Fergus and his friends encounter crashes, accidents and rescues, with ferries getting lost, hitting reefs and being beached. But John said the stories were really about families; about inclusion, respect and being kind.
Kids aged 2 to 6 years are the target audience.“There’s lessons there about how we all learn…there are messages about bullying,” John said. “Two big Manly ferries bully the little ferry, but in the end they need help from the smaller ferry. “The themes are there but they’re very subtle. They’re not preachy books.”
Mr Roberts has been a screenwriter for a number of Australian television projects, including Little Lunch and Upper Middle Bogans. He released his first children’s book, A Dinosaur Ate Dad’s Hair, in 2019 and has sold about 10,000 copies. Published by Pan Macmillan, Stunt Kids is available at Dymocks, Big W, Readings, QBD Books, Booktopia and Amazon.
Newport local Trent Roberts. Picture: Damjan Janevski
“It seems to have struck a chord with both boys and girls,“ he said.
Brothers-in-law Greg Townley and Mitchell Lanham produced original songs for the series, which are also available on Spotify. “Getting the music was just fabulous,” John“They’resaid. just so talented. It’s a joy to see the music videos.”
By Casey Neill
CHILDREN’S author Trent Roberts hopes children across the world can learn when to take risks from his new book StuntAimedKids.at eight to 12 year-olds, the book tells the story of Glory, a young girl who grows up in a bubble. Through a series of unlikely events, she ends up at a stunt camp where she and her new friends are assigned to a top-secret mission to stop a dastardly villain’s evil plot to control the world’s children.MrRoberts said the book dealt with the common belief that children needed to be left to experience pain to learn lessons.
By Matthew Sims
Life lessons on the water
36 SPRING 2022 www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au
“The greatest pleasure I got when Tom was growing up was when he was in bed and it was time to read a story,” he “Isaid.love the idea of other people doing that.”Visit fergusferry.com or youtube.com/c/fergusferrywww.formore.
A LITTLE ferry is sharing life lessons on screens, decades after first finding an audience in books. Author John Williamson Noble wrote Fergus the Ferry to share with his son Tom while travelling to work on Sydney Harbour.Thesetales became a 24-book series. Scholastic published the first six, and brought illustrator Peter Townsend on board.“Tom and I would get the roughs sent through the post,” John said. “We’d see them coming to life, first in black and white and then in colour.” Peter has now taken Fergus and his harbour friends from paper to the screen, in animated episodes on YouTube.
John still receives letters about how much joy he’s brought readers. “And the amount of joy it’s giving me, you just can’t measure it,” he said. He said it would be lovely if the new videos led kids back to the books.
“Arabella’s Alphabet Adventure is a gentle reminder to love ourselves and those around us; to learn to live in the moment and find happiness in the things we already have, and to recognise that we all have value.”
A beautifully illustrated title chock- full of fascinating animal facts from our bestselling, CBCA awardwinning Tasmanian children’s author/illustrator, Jennifer Cossins, that focuses on 25 animal species from Australia and around the world with intriguing migration Didjourneys.youknow that Arctic terns have the longest migration of all birds, flying from the Arctic to Antarctica and back each year? Or that the wildebeest migration in east Africa is so vast it can be seen from outer space? Come along on these amazing animal journeys! Perfect for readers aged 7+ who delight in learning about the animal kingdom and the world around them.
ARABELLA’S Alphabet Adventure features a book taking a daring adventure and learning she’s perfect just the way she is.
“Books had always kept me company, even as a small child, so it wasn’t a stretch to make my main character an ABC book who longs for adventure.”
$14.99 Hachette Australia
Suzy is quite happy for her book to land on the kids’ shelf, susceptible to sticky fingers.
“I also loved the challenge of whittling my words down to the ones that really counted and conveying big ideas in just a few hundred words.
Author Suzy Zail.
By Casey Neill
“I’m an ABC book and that’s all I’ll ever be,” Arabella complained to her capital C. Hers is the most beautiful and most borrowed book in the library - but only ever by children, often those with sticky fingers.“Arabella forgets she is special. She longs for words and paragraphs,” Melbourne author Suzy Zail said. “She wants to be adored by adults so she travels to Africa as a stowaway in search of a better life, only to learn that she is perfect - and loved - just the way she is.
Books A
“It’s harder than it looks because picture books are read over and over and out loud.“Read anything that often and you’ll see every flaw.”
“I’d only ever written books for adults and teens and was grateful for the opportunity to work with an illustrator (Christopher Nielsen) and engage with young children,” she said.
Chippy Chasers: Chippy Jackpot Who loves a delicious, hot, salty chippy? Seagull mates Steve-O, Stanley and Stacey do . . . A hilarious graphic novel for readers aged 6+ from actor, animator and Tiktok sensation Sam Cotton. On a sunny Sydney wharf, Stacey and Stanley watch enviously as customers feed on as many hot salty chippies as they want. Fed up with having to scab for scraps with all the other seagulls, they seek out legendary chippy thief Steve-O to help them pull off the ultimate heist . . . But first they’ll have to get past a seagull-hating chippy chef, deal with some bully bin chickens, and convince the World’s Best Chippy Chaser to overcome his dark past and join the team.
When she wrote Arabella, Suzy had small children who devoured books. “I’d read them stories and we’d all escape for a while, so the library was our happy place and the perfect setting for my first picture book,” she said.
The third children’s book by bestselling mindset author and two-time Olympian, Matthew Syed, will help readers to find their voice, flex their social superpowers, and speak up with kindness and confidence. What if you could disagree with someone without it turning into the argument of the century? I’m here to tell you that it can be done. What Do YOU Think? will help young readers to discover what is influencing their ideas, from peer pressure to fake news. They’ll learn how to form and change opinions, and how to debate their views with empathy.
$14.99 Penguin
www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au SPRING 2022 37
Dirt by Sea Explore our wonderful coastline and the joy of a family roadtrip with Dad and Daisy! Featuring 40 pages of extraordinary comic-style illustrations, this unique picture book will have you dreaming of a holiday around Australia or maybe even planning a van life with the help of the journey map in the endpapers. The hugely popular creators of Why I Love Footy and Why I Love Summer are back together with a moving family story that is also a true celebration of what we love most about the Australian landscape, family holidays and classic Kombi vans. Daisy lives in inland Australia with her dad and her grandparents. It’s home, and she loves the red dirt land around her.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
$12.99 Hachette Australia AMAZING JOURNEYSANIMAL
$24.99 Penguin
Thank You, Teacher from The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show your teachers how much you appreciate them in this colorful book of thanks featuring The Very Hungry ShowCaterpillar.friends and family how much you appreciate them with the Very Hungry Caterpillar’s colorful book of Perfectthanks.for any day of the year, this charming book of pictures is the colorful way to tell loved ones “thanks!” Featuring art from the World of Eric Carle, this joyful book follows The Very Hungry Caterpillar and celebrates all that makes us most thankful. $15.99 Penguin
Children’s books... withinbookabook
“We so often forget to be grateful for what we have, especially with the pervasiveness of social media and the constant pull to compare ourselves to people whose lives look shinier.
People would tell her ‘go out for dinner, go out for lunch, he’ll be coming home“Butsoon’.Ifeltguilty just sometimes having a laugh,” Rebecca said. “We actually got out 38 weeks on the day and brought him home and undid all the routine that they had him in. “He’d been in the hospital for two months, so you don’t have your mum to pick you up at 3am and soothe you and what“Theynot.say preemie babies end up being quite routined because they don’t have that same experience. “I undid all that pretty quickly by not putting him down for the next year and causing a very clingy child.” Plenty of hospital stays followed due to respiratory issues, deemed bronchiolitis.“Wewould be in hospital for days, on steroids all the time. Then one lady at the Monash swabbed him and gave him antibiotics for a bacterial infection,” she said.
“I could sit there all day, and all night and not leave,” she said. “If I had a 2 year old or 3 year old at home, I can only imagine how hard it would be “Leavingthen.atnight is just horrendous. Not knowing whether your baby is crying…“You’ve got such little control over your child, you really feel quite helpless.”About a month after Kai’s birth, Bec was asked to consider leaving the Mercy NICU to free up space for another bub in need.
Nurses and doctors in the days and years that followed asked Bec whether she’d done chest time at birth. “They say it’s really important for that bonding,” she said. “That played on my mind quite a lot and that upset me. “Is my child not going to bond with me because I missed that critical moment?“Theguilt is what followed for me, for so long.”Rebecca was sent home - which was then in Scoresby - 48 hours later. Kai was in hospital in Heidelberg. She was recovering from a caesarean and Brett had only limited time off work.
“I did talk to the doctor about it. He said it was unavoidable to have another premature baby, but this time the management would be much different,” Bec said. “They kind of said ‘if you’re going to have one, have one now rather than later’.“We just were in no way shape or form to think about having a baby straight away.”
“We had one minor stay in hospital after that, then never again. “I think it’s hard as a first time mum. You don’t know what you’re doing, but if it doesn’t feel right, you’ve got to challenge it.” Kai is now 8 years old. He’s asthmatic, and it took five years for his weight to register on the charts, but he’s otherwise unaffected by his dramatic start to Rebeccalife. and Brett never planned to have more than one child, but their experience with Kai confirmed it.
By Casey Neill REBECCA COMERFORD felt good throughout her first trimester, so the haemorrhage that hit at 12 weeks knocked her and husband Brett for six. “We panicked and we drove to the hospital,” she said. “They found the heartbeat was still there and everything seemed to be OK.” But the haemorrhaging continued.
“He’d never said anything before. It was horrible and I felt really bad. “Since then he does talk about it a little“It’sbit.tough to watch actually, your child being a little bit lonely.”
“Everything doesn’t have to be perfect for you to be a great parent,” Bec said.
Mum Rebecca with her son Kai, Pictures:8. CAREW
“I remember crying when they said ‘you’re going to have to leave, we don’t have a room for you’,” she said. “I was just devastated and I was begging them, ‘please’. “It was really hard. “I would get dropped off there and I would sit there from 7am to 11 and 12 o’clock at night. “He was on oxygen and he was only 1.5 kilos, so 3 pounds. “I got mastitis twice because even though Kai was drip fed, he was 100 percent fed with breast milk. “I was sitting there all day just pumping. I had so much milk. “We were actually quite lucky that we didn’t have moments where we thought his life was in danger. “We obviously didn’t know whether his health was going to be great, but other than jaundice he seemed to be doing quite well for such an early baby.”Rebecca feels for other parents with children at home to look after as well as a sick baby.
It’sYourLife
“My husband made it - just. “Kai was born and rushed straight to the“TheyNICU.didn’t put my son on my chest, because he was obviously in dangerous territory.“Idon’t remember seeing him. “He was just whisked away and then I was out of it and woke up in my bed later that day.”
“It’s basically where you have a wall or a lining down the middle of your uterus,” she said. “The wall between my uterus runs past halfway of the height of my uterus. “A baby doesn’t have that same space to move around. “I hadn’t thought about it since I had that“Theylaparoscopy.toldmeback then ‘you shouldn’t need to worry about it too much’.”Rebecca went to the hospital every time she had a bleed, no matter the scale.“Ithink probably all up I had around 10 different hospital stays,” she said. “I didn’t bleed until 12 weeks and had my son at 29 weeks, so the bleeding was half my pregnancy.” About 27 weeks in, tests confirmed Rebecca’s waters had broken. She was kept in hospital, and about 29 weeks her cervix started to change and doctors said her baby would soon arrive. Then an infection struck. “I was shaking in bed. My teeth were chattering so hard that the girl next door came into my area and pushed the buzzer for the nurse,” she said. “I was taken down for an emergency caesar at around 3am.
Mum’s guilt after birth trauma
It wasn’t something Rebecca thought much more about…until Kai asked about having a sibling. “It was during the first lockdown of Covid. He was in Prep, so he was 6,” she said.“He brought home a piece of homework.“Hewasdoing it virtually and they said you had to name three things you wish for more than anything in the world.“For the first time ever, he said he wishes for a brother or a sister.
38 SPRING 2022 www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au
“I put myself back into my own position at 24 weeks, when I couldn’t get a bed, probably because other parents didn’t want to move from high care to medium care. “So I did move and we moved to the Angliss.“Wewere closer to home and we were happy with the care.”
ROB
But Kai’s best mates with his cousin, and is happy and thriving.
“When this started happening is probably when I thought about my septo-uterus,” the Wantirna mum said. “Growing up I had really terrible periods.“When I was 18 or 19 I had a laparoscopy to check for endometriosis.” They didn’t find any endo, but did discover a septo-uterus.
A significant Bayside landmark is going to be yarnbombed next winter, thanks to Bayside City Council and GLAD Rappers - and the Contributecommunity.atthisschool holiday activity for the whole family at Brighton Town Hall, 2pm to 4pm.
The Doveton Show runs 10am to 4pm at Myuna Farm and features rides, animals, stalls, show bags and other attractions - all for a donation. Visit dovetonshow.org.au for more.
In this workshop at Hawthorn Arts Centre, kids aged 5 to 12 years will use collage techniques and colourful materials to create their own stickers. The cost is $25 and all materials are provided.Theevent runs 10.30am to noon. Visit boroondara.vic.gov.au.
22 SEPTEMBER TO 2 OCTOBER MELBOURNE ROYAL SHOW
Two silly guys are continually distracted from the serious work at hand and use puppetry and silent comedy to create a theatrical universe, steeped in imagination and creativity.
Bunk Puppets performances bring a focus on DIY puppet making using simple materials, and household items. The show starts at 11am at Arts Centre, Warburton, 3409 Warburton Highway, Warburton. Tickets are $20. Call 1300 368 333.
21 & 22 SEPTEMBER, 28 OCTOBER THE ALPHABET OF AWESOME SCIENCE
20 SEPTEMBER YARNBOMBING WORKSHOP
Enjoy a fun day out with your furry four-legged friend at Wilson Botanic ParkExploreBerwick.the park, participate in workshops, watch live demonstrations and chat with stallholders from the pet industry, from 11am to 2pm.
3 SEPTEMBER CASEY PET EXPO
21 SEPTEMBER DJIRRI DJIRRI DANCE WORKSHOP
Professor Lexi Con has curated her favourite words - one for every letter of the alphabet - and Professor Noel Edge uses each one to inspire 26 quirky scientificRecommendeddemonstrations.forchildren aged 5 and above. The 21 September shows start at 10am and 1pm at Bunjil Place, Narre Warren. Tickets are $18 from bunjilplace.com.au.The22September show starts at 11am at Knox Community Arts Centre, 790 Mountain Highway, Bayswater. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for children and $45 for a family of four fromTheeventbrite.com.au.28Octobershowis on at 5pm at Costa Hall, Deakin University Geelong Waterfront, 1 Gheringhap Street, Geelong.Tickets are $12. Call 1300 251 200 or visit www.geelongartscentre.org.au.
27 SEPTEMBER BUNKASAURUS BY BUNK PUPPETS
This school holiday feature show is an epic tale of trashy proportions, featuring puppets and a message of sustainability. Recommended for ages 4 and above, the show starts at 11am at Knox Community Arts Centre, 790 Mountain Highway, Bayswater. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for children and $45 for a family of four from eventbrite.com.au.
30 SEPTEMBER THE PLANETS WITH LAURA THE ASTRONAUT Inventi Ensemble plays The Planets against an animated backdrop in this narrated concert about cosmic adventurer Laura the astronaut. The show starts at 11am at Montrose Town Centre, 935 Mt Dandenong Tourist Road,TicketsMontrose.are$20. Call 1300 368 333.
23 OCTOBER ELWOOD CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL Elwood Toy Library will present this event from 10am to noon at Chicken Park, 87 Tennyson Street, Elwood. There will be a crepe van and coffee cart, face painting, Play Doh, interactive art, clay and nature crafts, a bubble show, garden games and Indigenous culturalTicketslearning.goonsale on 1 October at www.elwoodtoylibrary.org. All proceeds will support the not-for-profit Elwood Toy Library.
Tickets are only available from royalshow.com.au. Melbourne Showgrounds is on Epsom Road, Ascot Vale.
After two years of being beamed into classrooms and homes for remote learning, Pevan and Sarah are bringing the joy of their Cub Club music to Bunjil Place.Students can sing, learn and laugh their way through a 50-minute adventure on a ‘typical’ day in the classroom, with shows at 10.30am and 12.30pm.Alltickets are $17 from www. bunjilplace.com.au.
10 & 11 SEPTEMBER MOON LANTERN FESTIVAL
STICKER FACTORY
19 SEPTEMBER SPRINGTIME BOTANICALS Hawthorn Arts Centre is hosting this ink painting workshop for kids aged 5 to 12 years from 10.30am to noon. The cost is $25, including materials. Visit boroondara.vic.gov.au.
This event returns after two years off promising new attractions, more fun, bigger smiles and greater value.= Children aged 14 years and under attend free, entry after 5pm is $25, save 25 per cent on rides by purchasing a ride pass with an admission ticket, and more. Gates are open 9.30am to 9pm.
ESCAPE FROM TRASH MOUNTAIN
Kids aged under 13 years can join the Djirri Djirri Dancers to learn traditional Wurundjeri dances and how to sing in the Woiwurrung language. The show starts at 11am at The Memo, Healesville, 235 Maroondah Highway, Healesville. Tickets are $12 for children and not required for accompanying adults. Call 1300 368 333.
18 OCTOBER PEVAN AND SARAH IN CONCERT
18 SEPTEMBER DOVETON SHOW
UNTIL 9 OCTOBER MAKING ART: IMAGINE EVERYTHING IS REAL
www.StonningtonBoroondaraKids.com.au SPRING 2022 39 KidsCalendar What's on this Spring
This free all-ages exhibition invites kids and their families to experiment with innovative ways of making their own works of art. It runs 10am to 5pm daily at National Gallery of Victoria, 180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne.
This free two-day event features cultural performances, food, and drinks, at Queensbridge Square, 3 Queens Bridge Street, Southbank.
St Michael’s students demonstrate the daily power of confident, forthright young people working in synergy to solve the challenges of today and tomorrow. Our students will learn from our people, our programs and the world beyond school. They will learn with the community, leading institutions and organisations. Every student will learn for their future and the betterment of the world.
stmichaels.vic.edu.au | Co-educational | K–12 | St Kilda | 8530 3310 12562825-SN36-22
Education that inspires them.
