Region of Waterloo Eco-fest

Yesterday I had the priveledge of being a parent volunteer for Miss V's field trip to the Eco-fest. It was a the perfect day weatherwise and the exhibits were very cool.

What is eco-fest. It is an awesome hands on experience for kids and anyone to learn about water and the importance of keeping it clean. They learned about how watershed work, how water contamination can be caused and dispersed. They learned about water cycles, aquatic animals and the importance of keeping foreign species out of our ecosystems. And there was much much more. We weren't able to do all the stations because there was just so much to do! It was a great day and the kids had so much fun. To learn more about eco-fest you can click here. If you are around the region you can check it out tomorrow. Admission is free and it is well worth going.

I liked the day because no one sounded too preachy and it helped the kids start to think about how their daily actions could affect others. Sometimes it is hard, especially as kids but even as adults, to think about what ripple effects our actions have on those around us. Quite often it is out of site out of mind. It is so easy to just toss something or throw something down the drain and then not think about it anymore. Probably if we were all more cognoscente about what happened after we got rid of something we would be more careful of how we dispose of things, and try to use reusable things and limit the amount of waste created.


I am so grateful for the time I got to spend at eco-fest and for the time for inner-reflection I was able to have about my actions. There are little things I can do to help the planet be more sustainable. I am looking forward to the challenge.

Some thoughts on Full Day Kindergarten

I love the movie You've Got Mail. There are so many observations or, as Nora Ephron (writer and director of the movie) put it, mini-essays, about life in the movie. It is fantastic. One of the mini-essays that I relate to is when they were discussing the ability to zing people. Tom Hanks character is very good at zinging while Meg Ryan's mind goes blank.

While I myself don't have a problem coming up with zingers, what I do have a hard time is coming up with an articulate way of expressing my opinion when it goes against others. For example, on facebook people are always putting up articles about potentially contraversial topics. Most people are in one camp, and while I may agree partially, there are things I feel they miss, yet if I tried to put it in a comment it wouldn't work, so I end up not putting anything and feeling rather miffed the whole time. Does that ever happen? It is not until days later, when the topic or post is already old news that I have formed some sort of response. So I share it with my husband, Poor guy, having to put up with all my musings, but it's his job. I need the response to be out there in the cosmos.

Well, this happened to me this week. I decided to share my response on the blog. Please bear with me.

The topic was on the supposed waste of money on full day kindergarten in Ontario. Everyone (on the facebook post) was on board with it being a waste as studies show it doesn't help the children later academically. If we are looking at the issue from a pure academic stand point, then yes, it is a waste of money. But the thing with this issue is that you have to look at it from a broader angle, not just an academic slant.

We are living in a society that is making it harder and harder for families to get by on one income. While some of us are willing and able to make the sacrifices and lifestyle changes necessary to stick to one income, it is still hard. Parents are then left to scramble to find responsible childcare at a reasonable price. That is not always easy. Governments promise universal childcare but that is a reality that is not going to happen anytime soon. What they can do though is create all day everyday (aka Full Day) kindergarten. Is it the best solution, perhaps not, but it one less monetary constrant on the economics of working parents. As well, for those children who comes from a lower socioeconomic reality, there are benefits to this solution.

One of the commenters said that the best indication of how well a child will do academically was whether that child stayedwith a parent/primary caregiver until age 6. While that would be great in ideal world, the world is not ideal. Of course we would like it if our children could have more one on one attention whether with us, as their parent, or a nanny or a constant care provider, but that can be hard to have happen too. While most of those who were commenting were stay at home with their children and come from that slant already, it really doesn't give the whole picture of the situation. It is easy for us to comment on things when we are in the comfort of our own home and are able to provide that stability of care to our children, but not all are so lucky.

We live in a socialized government system. We are giving of our taxes to help as a whole. If you are not in need of that help yourself, great! Others may need that help and it is great for those services to be there. You never know when you may need to access them. I am definitely more centre/left in my thinking. I like to see things as a whole society not just me. While I'm still not sure if I will send Miss P. to Full Day Junior kindergarten, it's nice to know that others who aren't as blessed as I am and need help with safe and affordable childcare, can get it for their 4 year olds. Miss V. went to Full Day kindergarten when she was 4 and she flourished and really came out of her shell a bit more. The next year we moved and switched to a school that hadn't gotten the Full Day program yet, so she went every other day. Once again that was perfect and I was happy to have her home to be with Miss G. more. Miss G. started junior kindergarten every other day and this year, in senior kindergarten, she goes everyday. She has had so much fun and it has been a great experience for her. The teachers are fun, they are still learning things, and she is able to experience things that I might not be able to offer. I'm exhausted and just not organized enough to pull something like that off. I might be someday but I'm not now so I am so grateful that she is able to do all that fun stuff with her friends.

Should school be looked at as merely child care, of course not. But, in a way it is. We are trusting the teachers and other education workers to help our children become who they are going to be. Education is not purely academic anymore. Education is about society, it about helping those who need a little extra help and making sure all children are given opportunities to be their best selves, both academically and socially. So to me, money spent on that, whatever the academic results, is not a waste. If this is a waste then I should think that all money spent on allergy testing is a waste since I don't need it and personally wouldn't benefit from it. (Just to be clear, I do not actually think that... it was just the first example to come into my head.) All government spending could be seen as wasteful, and believe me there is a lot of waste in the system, but sometimes we need to look at the societal good and not just what's in it for me.

I truly do live a blessed life, and I don't want to ever take that for granted. I think that when things are going well or easily for us it is easy for us to look down on others or their situation. We need to always be grateful for what is going good in our life and do what we can to help others who may need some help.

Thank you for putting up with this long winded opinion peace. This topic can be very touchy, as all topics seem to be lately. I just wanted to get some of my thoughts out there into the cosmos.

The Importance of Household Tasks for Children

I recently finished a book called Cleaning House: A mom's 12-month experiment to rid her home of youth entitlement by Kay Wills Wyma. (To read my review of it click here.) It really made me think about how I am parenting. Am I enabling my children to have a me centred life, where they think others are there to serve them and that the world revolves around them? Am I giving them responsibilities which teaches them the life skills they need when they eventually leave home?

There are so many stories in the news or news magazines that talk about adults in their twenties having their parents talk to university profs about assignments, or quitting jobs because the work is not interesting and they don't want to do it. I guess they assume if they fall on hard times their parents will be there to pick them up and take care of them. It is really interesting. I guess they don't feel the need to take care of themselves by themselves. (I know that not all people in their twenties are like that, but there have been more stories like that of late in the news.)

One thing the book talked about was the high levels of depression of people in their early to mid twenties. Even in teens the level of depression is going up. The author suggests that some of this is due to them not feeling needed. They feel that there is nothing unique that they are contributing and it wouldn't make a difference if they were not there. It shows how important it is that we make sure our children know they contribute to the family and that their contribution truly matters.

I am now inspired to make sure my children have tasks that only they do and that I equip them with important skills. My oldest is six. I am not wanting to pile on the tasks. She still needs to be a kid. But, I need to be giving her and my four-year-old tasks that they are responsible for. That way when they are older they will put on new responsibilities without too much resistance... hopefully. But to do this I need to have follow-through which, is not really my forte. But I know I need to do it, for their sake. Thus, I must get follow-through and lots of patience.

I think the patience will be the hardest part. I can wash lettuce faster, wipe the table more thoroughly and fold clothes more neatly. But, if I do it myself how are they going to develop the skill?

So I have come up with a few tasks that I am going to have the older two do. (My youngest is 10 months. Her task is to be the cutest baby ever! She is already a pro.)

1. Empty lunch bags when they come home from school.
2. Help sort laundry and put away their own clothes
3. Help prepare one meal a week. I am thinking they can help with the Saturday meal, swapping turns back and forth.

Once these are established I will add more. You have to start somewhere. You can't do too much too fast. Especially with my follow-through skills.

Some people set up reward systems to help with chores. I don't know how I feel about that. Sometimes in life you have to do something even when there is no gold star waiting for you. So, I don't think I want to go down that route.

The author of the book had a jar for each child with a dollar for each day of the month in it. If the chores were not done each day she would take out a dollar. Whatever was left at the end of the month was their's. I like that a bit better. It is still a type of reward, but I feel that they are earning it and that there is a consequence if their task is not done. With a sticker system, if the task is not done, they just don't get a sticker. They are not really losing anything.

Ugh! There are so many ideas and parenting styles. There is no set ways, just what you think is best. And I don't always know what is best. I wish that each child came with an owner's manual. Then we would know what would to do with each child.

How do you give kids responsibilities? How do you teach them? Do you use rewards or not?

How to Make a Budget - Tutorial

Everyone processes information differently. Budgets are the same. My husband and I do budgets differently. He likes to download the data every month using a budget program, ex. quicken. He likes making different graphs and he likes to make very specific categories for all the purchases made. I, on the other hand, like using a spreadsheet and input expenses as soon as I make them. My categories are more broad. If it is bought at the grocery store it is grocery, so that would include diapers, serviettes, garbage bags. Otherwise it will go into household, so purchases made at a department store etc. Otherwise I would have to go through all my receipts, itemize every item purchased and recalculate associated taxes. I like doing math, but not that much.

The current spread sheet I use was from the W network money show called Maxed Out hosted by Allison Griffiths. You can still download the spread sheet here. Click on the heading at the top called budget template tool.

I tweaked it to make it work for me. I changed some of the categories, got rid of some added others, made it a 12 month spreadsheet, so I could look at the whole year and see trends, and got rid of the percentage calculations, as that was not important to me. I like this spreadsheet template as a starting point as it is colourful, the formulas are already plugged in for you and at a glance I can easily see how we are doing for the month. You don't need to use the template, you can make your own. This template just helps you think of categories you might not have thought of on your own. It really is the jumping off point.

If you are not familiar with excel or do not know how to manipulate existing documents, go to youtube. There are tons of tutorials that will help you figure it out.

So to the budget!

The first step of creating a budget is to keep track of spending over a period of time. I would say at least 4 months. The longer time you track your spending the more data you have to use. BE HONEST. No one will see it but you. There is no one to please but yourself. If you have a bad spending month, that's okay, just keep going and keep tracking.

Once you have tracked your spending take the averages. These averages will be your monthly budget amounts. So take the average of your groceries, the average of utilities, the average phone bill, the average savings, the average other. Some months our car fuel amount is higher because we went visiting family or went into Toronto for a Blue Jay's game. Keep those higher amounts in your average. It will make your average higher, but if you don't spend the amount allotted you can set it aside and have it ready for the months when you do.

Once you have your averaged amounts for your categories add them up. You now know what your average output is each month. Subtract that amount from your monthly income. Hopefully there is a surplus. If you have a deficit it is time to look at where you can makes some cuts in your spending.

When I made my budget I added and averaged only items that needed to be paid every month such as the mortgage, hydro and phone. That way I knew what I had leftover to use to purchase the non-essentials, like clothes and eating out.  Non-essential things vary from month to month or you may have to save up for some of the non-essential items, like new shoes or house repairs. You can use this leftover "slush fund" to prioritize spending, for either fun or functional, without compromising your necessities of life.

I hope this helps and didn't make budgeting more confusing. To quote Red Green - "Keep truckin'. We're all in this together."

Back to School

Well, the kids are in school. This is the first time in a long time that I have been by myself in years. My middle child has started junior kindergarten. My youngest is napping while writing this. I have time of my own and I have no idea what to do with it. Knowing me I will be so overwhelmed with ideas that I will simply sit on my bottom and do nothing! Man I need some gumption!

I love having my kids go to school. They learn so much, they get to meet so many interesting and diverse people and their teachers are patient with them...ooh so patient. My hat goes off to those parent who home school, I do not have that talent or the patience I am sure it takes. I am often reminded how I am not meant to teach my children academically. It never turns out well. I know that there are many things I need to teach them, but that is another blog post all together.

One thing that I don't love about school is making lunches. The figuring out of what food to feed, what to put the food in, how to keep it warm, or cold. It is a logic problem of the highest calibre.

Because I want to decrease the garbage that we produce I try hard not to buy prepackaged food. Not only are pudding cups or yogurt cups full of things that we probably shouldn't be ingesting, they are also way to big for my kids to finish. It is a waste. So I buy/make in bulk and have my own containers. Even buying containers now a days is difficult. There is so much about plastics that is not good. Now we have to check that things are BPA free, phthalate free, other chemicals I probably haven't heard of free. We almost need a post-doctorate degree in buying safe containers. Perhaps I am going over board and need to relax about it, but, if I can avoid having toxins leaking from containers then I will.

Luckily I found a great company that sells things for litter-less lunches. I was able to get containers that work so well and are completely safe. I am so glad that there are more and more people and companies are realizing the importance of safe lunch packaging. It is nice to support these businesses as their product is of good quality and if we want a change then we need to put our money where are mouth is at times.


What do you do about lunches and containers?