Family Violence Awareness and Prevention

November is Family Violence Awareness/Prevention Month. With women and children being the primary victims of family violence I want to share the information I have on the subject in the hopes that it can help someone who needs it. Many women that are in abusive relationships don't even know it or diminish the severity of the situation. They will justify their partners actions or question their own power.
I grew up in a very disfunctional family and know first hand the taught perception of abuse. That certain kinds of abuse aren't abuse. That it's NORMAL.
Unfortunately it is normal, TOO normal.
Family violence includes anything that is psychologically or physically harmful to any member of a family. Family violence or abuse occurs when there is a power imbalance. When a person sees their needs as more relevant or important than anothers. We have to be genuine equals. If we are to be equals we have to treat eachother as such and in order to do that we have to actually, wholleheartedly, believe that our partner IS our equal. It helps tremendously if the man sees women in general this way. Many times a man will promote equality and steam about the injustice to the women in society but at home, in his everyday life, he does not follow this mentality so it can be confusing for others to even understand there could be anything wrong, it could be hard for his partner to realize it.
For example, if a partner does not respect the degree of work his stay at home partner does, and belittles it. When a women is fearful of bringing up money issues because it will result in a fight. When a woman has sex, even when she doesn't want to, because the backlash of hearing "distant" "cold" "you must be getting it from somewhere else" are just more than she can deal with, these are all forms of mental, psychological and physical abuse. It can be very hard to identify abuse if you havn't learnt what to be aware of and so, many women stay in relationships that are unhealthy. They continue to question their rationality, will constantly try to do things that maybe will change things. Will think that if they did this differently than he will be happy. That if they just TRY HARD ENOUGH it will be better. They will think things like "there must be something wrong with me" "I Do nag him sometimes" "He does work hard he deserves a hot meal waiting for him" but she will feel like crap. She will be anxious, usually around him but sometimes just because of him. The effects of abuse are far reaching too. This effects everyday life for the people living with family violence. What do you think happenes to the stress a woman has from the abuse from her spouse? She can't argue or talk to him? The stress has to go somewhere and unfortunatly is that usually the children get the brunt, pets too. Children who witness or hear regular arguing and fighting tend to display learning problems and will continue the intergenerational abuse. Boys see that this is how they gain and maintain power. Girls witness their gender being at a lower status. Both will learn it's okay. Click here to learn more on effects of family violence on children.

 If you feel like you have to walk on eggshells around your partner, constantly watching what you say and do in order to avoid a blow up, chances are your relationship is unhealthy and abusive. Other signs that you may be in an abusive relationship include a partner who belittles you or tries to control you, and feelings of self-loathing, helplessness, and desperation.
Family violence, like most aweful things are intergenerational. We can stop it but only once we are willing to address it and talk openly about it.

I am always available if anyone needs to talk. You can pm me on fb or email me at brandilaw81@gmail.com. I'm also available for text/call at 780 232 4173. I have some additional info on support groups if wanted as well.

I have added a few helpful/informational links below

http://www.child.alberta.ca/home/834.cfm

Family Violence Prevention Month - Alberta Human Services - Government of Alberta

www.child.alberta.ca

Helpful statistics

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/crime/infographic-more-us-women-killed-husbands-and-boyfriends-military-combat

Author of some amazing books concerning this topic

http://www.lundybancroft.com/

Signs of Abuse

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/domestic_violence_abuse_types_signs_causes_effects.htm

Problems associated with children witnessing domestic abuse

http://www.vawnet.org/print-document.php?doc_id=392&find_type=web_desc_AR

Hand washing = your BEST defense against disease

    Do you know that there is a Global Hand washing Day? This year it takes place on October 15, and coincidentally, flu season is almost upon us.  Regardless of whether you and your family decide to receive the flu shot, hand washing is an essential tool to fight against disease.  Now, I could get into why you should get the flu shot, and the misconceptions about the common attitude of "i got the flu shot,but still got sick", but I won't.  Getting or not getting the flu shot is a personal choice, and therefore, i would rather focus on preventing the spread of germs, more specifically viruses.  A little info, there are two different types of germs, bacteria and viruses, most people are scared of bacteria, but in fact, it is viruses that cause way more illnesses and are much easier to spread than bacteria.  Germs can live ANYWHERE, hard surfaces, hands, toys, shopping carts and are spread easily when when we touch something that is contaminated, are sneezed or coughed on or within spreadable reach. Kids, who touch their faces, touch everything and are around others who don't know how to cover their cough yet are especially at risk. I once sat at an Infection Control seminar and was made aware that the majority of us could not sit through an hour without touching our faces, very eye opening. Once we touch our faces, we are allowing these germs to enter our bodies through our eyes, nose, or mouth, so hand washing is essential.  And yes, I am THAT mom who wipes down tables, shopping carts,etc before we eat or I dare put my child into the shopping cart, with a regular wipe, not antibacterial (I'll explain later on), but only because I work in a hospital and have seen and heard some very disgusting and eye widening things, which I will spare you.  My personal belief is that yes, children will get sick, and yes it builds their immunity, but unfortunately, we do not choose what they pick up (keep in mind,there are good and bad germs).  Hand washing or using hand sanitizers are a great thing, and effective only if you know how to do it properly, which is what this blog entry is all about. 
    Firstly, do you know how to use a hand sanitizer? Most people do not, as I was proven once again earlier today at a play date.  Soap and water is best, but it is not always convenient, hence the invention of the hand sanitizer, but keep in mind that most are alcohol based, so keep it out of your young child's reach in case of swallowing, and since it does have alcohol, don't use it all the time,as it kills both good and bad bacteria. In addition, if your hands are visibly soiled or very dirty, soap and water is best.  To use it properly, you must use enough to be able to work into your hands for 15 seconds, so LOTS and LOTS.  Rub it in as if you are washing your hands (described later) because just rubbing your hands together is not effective. And an extra tip, once you apply the sanitizer in your palm, put it away, as it is useless to clean your hands and then touch the dirty bottle afterwards in order to put it away.
    A question I get asked a lot is regular soap or antibacterial?, and my answer is always soap! Too much antibacterial products are out there and most people think well it's antibacterial so it is better, on the contrary, it is not necessary, and using such products actually increases antibiotic resistance and creates super bugs. 
    Now to wash your hands, i know, finally!lol.  here a few steps to follow:
1- Wet your hands under running water
2- Scrub your hands well with soap. Wash your palms, between fingers, backs of hands, thumbs, wrists, fingertips, and nails.  Do this for 20 seconds, or to teach your young ones, have them sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", a big hit with my son :)
3- Rinse your hands under running water
4- Dry Hands. In public restrooms, use paper towels and then turn off the taps with this paper towel so as not to contaminate your hands again, and then grab a clean paper towel to open the bathroom door...ummm, there are many people who do not even wash their hands after using the toilet. I would then try to throw out that now dirty towel by throwing it into the garbage which is usually by the door anyways as I hold the door open with my back, looks weird, but it works.
If at home and using a cloth towel, I encourage you to change the towel everyday.

    I also encourage hand washing your baby's hands, as we all know how dirty they can get, plus they are always putting things in their mouths and crawling everywhere. And I am by no means suggesting you follow your little crawler around with wipes, but perhaps before eating and after play dates. You can use regular disposable wipes  or if at home,use warm wet cloths, but use three different towels/cloth wipes, one for the soap and water, another for rinsing, and another for drying.  Hand wash throughout the day, and I am sure I do not need to mention when to do so, but here are a few pointers regarding when, that may not have occurred to some. I will usually clean my hands after changing my child's diaper, but have been know to forget to clean his, as many with boys will tell you, they also get right in there when the diaper is off. If your child goes to school or daycare, have them wash their hands when they arrive home, also, after a play date or being at a playground.  Lastly, before and after visiting someone who is sick, you do not want to introduce new germs to someone who is not at optimum health, nor do you want to get sick either.  And with that being said, I know a lot of people cannot help but bring their child to the hospital to visit a loved one, but please, PLEASE, do not let your baby crawl on the floor there, don't even bring their walker so they can practice walking as I have heard some do, in fact, clean their shoes once you leave the hospital, I do not even enter my own house with my work shoes.  I can tell you several disgusting things that I have seen and heard touch the hospital floor and perhaps have not had the chance to be cleaned properly yet.

   Fun ways to teach your child about hand washing will of course depend on your child's age and learning style.  My son personally loves anything with a song, and is more of a hands on learner, he is two by the way.  One idea I saw on the Internet was putting something like brown sugar on your child's hands to represent germs, discuss it, and show them how to wash these germs away. A good sturdy step stool for your child is also a good idea, as they feel like a big person when using it, plus their own fun soap helps.  Other ideas are books about hand washing, other songs besides the twinkle,twinkle song, playing tag as a germ, watching a cartoon video, colouring pages, etc. Here are some links to some of these ideas.  Happy Hand washing!

http://www.kidscoop.com/hand_washing/

http://www.carex.co.uk/activities-for-children/hand-washing-games

http://www.twigglemagazine.com/September-activities/Germs-handwashing-preschool-lesson.html

Or for all of you IPad/IPhone users, you can get the "I hate washing My Hands" app for free, it is very cute,we have it.

Summer Fun in the Sun

     These last couple of summer months have provided us with beautiful and warm, if not hot weather, and has really allowed our group and it's members to enjoy the outdoors with our tots. July focused on everything "Under the Sea", whereas August was all about " Camping and the great outdoors!". 

     One of July's bigger events, featured a backyard "beach party" theme playdate.  So, technically it was not a real beach, but with a good sized backyard, kiddie pools, and some imagination, I think the participants had a great time. The event featured a potluck lunch, in which members used their creativity to come up with some fabulous beach- themed meals and snacks. Such food included crab croissants sandwiches (chicken sandwiches, with cream cheese and black olives for the eyes, and red peppers for claws), flip flop pea butter sandwiches (on graham crackers), octopus hot dogs (on a bed of brown sugar to look like sand, and starfish sprinkles), and much more! The kids played in the pools and enjoyed popping mini water balloons in their hands, loved the squeals as the balloons popped!  Besides the various little playdates among members, there was also a   " Paint and Splash" component to this summer theme. Basically what Paint and Splash entailed was an art project, simple enough for even the tiniest of members, and this would take place at a splash park, a perfect way to wash and cool off during what seemed to be a never- ending heat wave. The first Paint and Splash, we painted precut and yarned seahorses with little homemade sponges, then the adults would assist in glueing on googley eyes, oh so cute!  The second event project involved painting fishes on a long roll of art paper. Here, again we used sponges, that I cut into the shape of fishes, add a bunch of different colors of paint, and voila! The third event, we painted with Kool-aid colored iced cubes, a big hit for painting, and eating....a lot of the kids ended up eating their medium once they were done painting.

     August was also the last month of the Paint and Splash component, as I had to go back to work.  But before my return to the workforce, we gathered one more time to paint with things we would find in nature, or while camping,if you will. We used branches, leaves, and pinecones. One of the other admins of the group held a couple of potluck BBQs, camping style. Now, we were hoping to gather for a day at the lake at the end of August, but due to natural circumstances of the water's state,sadly we could not. 

     I can't wait for these upcoming months, I much prefer the fall and winter. Bring on fall Potlucks, our fall mini sessions for our members' families with an outstanding photographer, food swaps, monthly games nights, trips to the corn maze, a farm, fort Edmonton park, Halloween parties, everything snow, and our big Christmas party,which has been organized by quite a number of generous and creative members. 

Here are the links for some of the ideas we used for the months of July and August, enjoy!

Fish painting

http://www.teachpreschool.org/2012/06/sponge-painted-fish/

Hot dog octopuses

http://mcj.researcher.at/

Crab croissants

http://www.chickabug.com/blog/2011/07/beach-party-food-ideas.html

Sea horse painting (we did not use shaving cream though to keep it little people friendly)

http://www.iheartcraftythings.com/2011/08/story-time-mister-seahorse-with.html

Little Readers June

Hello all!

Well here is the end of another month, and this month's Little Readers book club saw more participants and little faces. What fun! The month of June was all about animals, in every shape and size and colour. There were "field trips" to the Fort Edmonton Park to visit farm animals, toy play, imagination play, and crafts all devoted to learning about animals. So naturally, we focused our kiddo book on animals as well.

"Baby Bear, Baby Bear What Do You See", by Eric Carle/Bill Martin Jr., is a new adaptation of the classic "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See". The difference? This cute new book published in 2010 focused on animals you would see in North America. So often when we read books there are pictures and images of exotic animals and other atypical species. We all know which animals these are, but in case you don't... Cats, dogs, chickens, cows, farm animals in general, lions, tigers, safari animals in general... And let's not forget our sea friends, either. In this book we see the faces of some classic North American animals, from baby bear himself to a flying squirrel, skunks, and mule deer! Speaking of Mule deer, when we first read the book in our house I read the page aloud and then our little man pointed and corrected me enthusiastically saying "Broken deer, broken deer!". The infamous drawings in the book are a cut and paste effect, so the deer does look broken... Just saying!

Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? is one of several books from the "What Do You See" series by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle.The repetitive text helps children work on prediction skills and also helps boost reading confidence. After hearing the story read aloud a few times, most children are able to chorus read the story and remember the repetitive line of text without difficulty subhana'Allaah. Children also seem to enjoy the artwork of Eric Carle.


If you haven't had a chance to pick up this book and read it aloud together, I cannot say it enough how much we have enjoyed it... Or how often I hear from other mommas and tots either! The library has a great stock of books to enjoy, or you can look for it at your local bookstore/online.


Here are a few activities you could do at home to expand off of this book:


http://www.brownbearandfriends.com/classroom/BabyBearClassroomGuide.pdf


http://typeaparent.com/educational-story-stretchers-for-baby-bear-baby-bear-what-do-you-see.html

June

          Baaaaa! June was all about farm animals! We started off the month with a field trip to good old Fort Edmonton Park. The little ones participated in an "I Spy" farm animal game. Each child was given a picture card of the animals we would expect to see on a farm, and present at this popular Edmonton attraction. From horse,to pig, to goat, to chickens, the children enjoyed watching these beautiful creatures, and learning what sounds each animal makes.

   

   

 

       Some of us also gathered at a local park to paint birdhouses, coincidentally, little barns. We gathered at another park to participate in arts and crafts, singing, splashing, and reading, titled "Farm Animals Round Up & Little Readers". The arts and crafts portion involved the children and us moms painting farm animals from reusable toilet paper rolls. Then add the essential googly eyes, and other cute bits, and the result was adorable little creatures, later to be used in singing "Old Macdonald". The little ones, ran,climbed,slid,tumbled in the park, and also enjoyed running around in the splash park, mine in particular,lol. After some playing and snacking, some of us gathered for circle time,while Chani read this month's children book club pick, "Baby Bear, Baby Bear, what do you see?", a new version from the Eric Carle series, with the focus being North American animals. We actually picked this book up soon after it was announced it would be this month's book, and I have to say,it is one of my little guy's favorites now. Afterwards, Chani led us through a few songs, including Old Macdonald.

      To end off this month's theme of farm animals, I hosted a "Milk and Cookies" party, with the focus being cows and their milk. A couple of us even had our own picture twists of the well known, "Got Milk?" campaign, with the help of our cute kids,sporting milk mustaches. Included was a milk and food coloring experiment, which I highly recommend, it was very neat! We all enjoyed this day, from playing outside in the water, to snacking on homemade desserts from our potluck,and washing everything down with milk. A big thank you to all our moms who helped with all the activities,so that we and our children,could learn, laugh, and play!

June is brain injury awareness month in Canada

We all love our children; we all want our children to be safe and secure!  We all want our children to reach their full potential and watch their little minds sparkle as they learn and grow!  June is brain injury awareness month I wanted to touch on the subject.  


The full impact of a childhood brain injury is very difficult to determine, since a child`s brain is still developing and growing.  I have heard that we grow into our brain injuries and often the full impact is not known for many years.  As we grow from baby to toddler, toddler to preschooler, preschooler to school age child and to adult; the damage can come to light.  


Did you know that approximately 20% of all brain injury ER visits occur in children under the age of 4?  And half of all brain injuries in children (under the age of 14) are due to falls?  Luckily as parents there are many things we can do to help prevent falls.  There is the obvious supervision, baby proofing, safe play areas and many more that we are all very aware of.  


Food for thought - the human skull is just one centimeter thick.  A properly fitted and correctly worn bicycle helmet can prevent up to 90% of serious brain injuries; any child who rides a bicycle, tricycle, wheeled toy, or in a trailer or a bicycle-mounted child seat should wear an approved and properly fitted bicycle helmet. (Skateboarders and in-line skaters should use a skateboard helmet which put more protection at the back of the head - who knew).

Did you know that there are special helmets for toddlers (under age five) that provide more protection at the back of the head.

Now I am no expert by any means - but there are a few things that I know about helmets.

1. The helmet should sit level and be snug all the way around (please do not buy a helmet that your child can grow into). Different brands come in different shapes and sizes, so you may need to try on several before you find the best fit. Helmets come with extra padding that can be added to the inside of the helmet. Your child may need extra padding at the front or the back of the helmet so that it fits correctly. If you child shakes their head and the helmet moves at all - it does not fit!)

The helmet should cover the top of the forehead and should rest about 2 fingers' width above the eyebrows. The side straps should fit snugly around your child's ears in a "V"shape. The buckles on the side strap should fit right under the ear. Buckle the chin strap. Until you can only fit one finger between the strap and your child's chin.

2. Helmets are not manufactured to fit children under one year old. Children younger than this do not have sufficient neck strength to support the weight of a helmet or to control head movement during a sudden stop. Occasionally toddler helmets will be too big to fit a small child over one year of age. Wait until the child grows big enough to fit into a toddler helmet or consult a professional about possibilities for proper fitting.

3. Bicycle helmets are designed for one fall. Any helmet that has been through a crash should be replaced even if it appears to have no damage. Just like car seats!

4. Bike helmets should be replaced after five years or a crash where the cyclist has hit their head or if they no longer fit properly.  

After 5 years, the plastics of the helmet dry out and may become brittle with age. Also, older helmets may not meet current safety standards.

Bike helmets are designed to protect your head against only one crash. After a crash in which the cyclist has hit his or her head, the foam inside the helmet is compressed. The helmet should be replaced, even if it does not look damaged.

5. Anything that could change the way your child's helmet fits should not be worn. Baseball hats, big hair clips and headphones should never be worn under a helmet. Ponytails should be worn low on the neck when wearing a helmet.

6. your child should never use a helmet that has missing parts. Make sure that all of the straps, adjusters and fasteners on your child's helmet are secure and are in working order. If the sliders or buckles on the side straps are loose, the helmet will not fit correctly and should not be worn.

7. Ready to get really particular? Every sticker has some type of adhesive to hold it on, and adhesives have solvents in them that aid the sticking process. These solvents may make the plastic of the helmet weak. Only allow your child to put stickers on her helmet if you know the adhesive is compatible with the plastic of the helmet. If you don't know, it's better to not put the stickers on the helmet.

If you take one thing away from this post - please don't be the person that says Helmets? We don't need a stinking helmet. Please provide your child with a properly fitted helmet. It is always better to be safe than sorry. 

Busy Bags!

For anyone not familiar with a busy bag, it is an activity for your child to do, and should be able to easily transport (in a bag).  From planes, to cars, to resturaunts, and to even just use at home, I have personally found these to be great things to have on hand, especially with a busy toddler. This past month, a few of us moms participated in a Busy Bag Swap.  That is, each of us chose a project and duplicated it for as many of the moms involved.  In the end, we each went home with 6 different busy bags.  If you've never done this, i highly reccommend it.  And you don't have to be a super creative person to do this either, a lot of our ideas are from pinterest or blogs, there are many ideas!  Here are the ones we made, with their respective links.   Lacing Cards / Button Snake / No Sew Felt Fish / Discovery Bottle / DVD Coloring Kit / Sensory Balloons

Little Readers (May)

Hello all! This month of May was a first for many fun ideas and events. Some of our exciting additions were a theme for the month, a craft box that hosts could utilize for group events (thanks to everyone who contributed!), many terrific outings, and our new book club for tots.

Little Readers was started in the month of May 2012, for mommas with babes and tots alike... The main goal? To encourage reading in the household. At an event earlier this month, I was reading The Lorax to the kiddos (really, anyone who sat still for a few seconds) and the topic came up of reading to our children. It surprised me how many of our fellow mommas voiced that they did not read on a regular basis. This is completely understandable, given everyone's busy busy lives. I myself have found it very hectic at times and forgotten to read to our little guy. So there came the idea to start a book club for moms and their little ones. We all know about adult book clubs (for serious lovers of literature, or the adventurous), but one for kids? Of course!

Early literacy is SO important for our little children. It helps them connect images with words, language development, learn about feelings, colours, numbers, imagination... So many things! It promotes bonding on a whole other level, and enhances the love of learning and literature! The book we read this month was "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" by Beatrix Potter. I chose this book for a started book because it came in board book, paperback, and disk versions. Every age can enjoy this book! And it is a classic. Parents are more likely to read to their little ones when they too enjoy what they are reading. Most of us have already read this story! How wonderful to share this with our little ones, and grandparents sharing as well.... Building memories through generations. We connect, we share... We enjoy and laugh and love!

When reading to your little one, you don't have to read all the words. Or all the pages. You don't even need to read the words! If your babe is still a wee one, try just pointing at the pictures and talking about them. They don't need small baby words. Just hearing you say words and pointing is already exciting and new to them. Count shapes, locate colours, talk about the feelings associated... Ask questions. Be animated! My little guy LOVES when I use funny voices or hand gestures. If someone is waving a rake in this book, I get him to wave a rake with me! The more involved and animated you are with a story, the more they will be too. Reading is FUN!

June will be a busy month, and most weekends are being filled with vacation plans, etc. I will be posting on our group page the optional book of the month. Take a moment once a day or week to read this book. Build your library! Reading at bedtime with snuggles can be a wonderful ending to anyone's day... Looking forward to writing and reading more for the month of June! Happy Reading!

For more information on early literacy, please go to...
http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/early-language-literacy/earlyliteracy2pagehandout.pdf

May review

Hi Mamas & Tots

This month featured a lovely spring theme about Growing, Gardens and the Great Outdoors. It reminded me that children are like precious flowers, each varied in their own special way, beautiful alone and glorious in a community of peers. So thank you Mamas and Tots for making us all better together!  We had a terrific month full of wonderful events/activities, here is a bit of a brief lowdown of the month

John Janzen Nature

This is a newly discovered gem for myself. Early in the month we explored the forest like indoor playground at John Janzen, my little one especially loved splashing in the stream! After we had a nice chit chat and the kids had time to explore, we took a break for snack time. Once the appetites had been sated we hit the trails in a pram procession. It was lovely to walk through the lush greenery, and easy to forget we were in the heart of the city. Upon our return to the centre, some mamas stuck around to enjoy a lunch and more play time. Miss Fin and I had a fabulous time with all of you mamas and tots! We plan to return on a rainy day soon.

Explore Art

I am getting excited just remembering how glorious this day was! It started off as kind of a blustry gray day to be hitting up Jackie Parker. We arrived to discover some fabulous mamas had secured the indoor pavilion. This was an art project to remember! We painted pancakes with fruit flavoured syrup, or at least some did; mine preferred to simply paint her tongue. By the time the art project/snacks were cleaned up, the clouds parted and the sun came out. The tots hit up the playground and the splash park in style! It was lovely to see the children sharing the toys that we rounded up out of diaper bags and cars. It is truly a special group of mamas to be so giving.

Beanstock Playdate

First of all a huge shout out to Kelly for hosting during inclement weather! For potluck snack time, everyone delighted us with their creativity and brought fairy tale themed snacks! We had Jack's three bean salad, Red Riding Hood's snack basket & muffin basket, Hansel & Gretel brought us their bread crumbs and cookies, The Three Bears oatmeal cookies, The Tortoise and the Hare rolo turtles....mmm so good, The Princess and the Pea salad (if you have not had the pleasure to try the pea salad or the rolo turtles you better hit up Chani and Kelly for the recipe!) Brenda lead us in a science project to grow plants starting with a bean. I can happily say that Finley's beans have started to sprout some roots.

Bookclub & Busybag Swap

Jackie Parker is such a great place to meet up with the littles.  We had a double header as the mamas got together for some fun busybag swaps and a book club for the little ones.  This months book was The Tale of Peter Rabbit - a much loved classic.  Thank you to Chani for leading circle time and sharing a book with us. Reading is a very important skill to have in your mama arsenal, but I will leave more of this subject for a later blog.  

Photos & Playtime  

The lovely Kaylin hosted this event in Millwoods Park, and regaled us with her amazing talents. She captured the essence of our little darlings and we had fun in the park while doing so. If you have not seen her  blog run don't walk and check it out - www.kbphotography.posterous.com  

Rhymes that Bind 

We headed off to rhymes that bind at the suggestion of a mama who has done this a few time, thank you Jennifer!  While I am certainly not a singer by nature, I enjoyed watching the littles dance around and enjoy themselves.  They even had a snack and water break (which was provided for us).  Chani hosted a potluck lunch afterwards (I could live for these potluck lunch days!).  Thank you to all the Mamas out there who are always inspiring me in the kitchen department!  

May was such a fabulous month for us, I really enjoyed the seasonally appropriate theme of growing and nature.  We are looking forward to June's theme of baby animals!  

Taking it one day, diaper and daisy at a time.  

Explore Art

    Today we explored a different way of creating art, painting pancakes with colored syrup! What kid doesn't love getting all sticky, painting, and actually getting to EAT their work, right? I am very blessed to have an exceptional group of moms as friends, really. The day's forecast was to be cloudy,but nice, and I certainly did not expect we would be battling the wind. One particular mom managed to arrange an indoor venue for us within minutes of arriving to our outdoor spot, and for that I am extremely grateful. So like the helpful mamas we all are, everyone pitched in to bring supplies in, and set up tables and chair for the kids to begin working on their creations. Another mama helped make some of the paint, and that was truly awesome of her, since there was no way I was going to make more than 4 colors. Do you know, by the way, that the name blackberry is very deceiving? It looked almost like the paint I made with the raspberries?hahaha. Home made pancakes were used as the kids' canvases and the mixture of pancake syrup with different fruit/veggies was used to dye them different colors. I like how instead of using food coloring, we decided to go a more natural way, but if I had to do it again, I would reccommend using clear corn syrup as suggested to me, so you get a truer color. Regardless, the kids had a lot of fun painting and eating, which is the whole purpose of all of this, to see the smiles on their precious faces.
    Afterwards, we gathered at the toddler park and also ventured into the spray park as the day got nicer. Thank you to all the wonderful mamas and tots that made this day special. I am truly lucky to call you our friends.

Nature

     In honor of Earth day, April 22nd, we decided to make "Nature" our theme of the month. From gathering for playdates at John Janzen Nature Centre, going for walks and a  fun filled Earth Day Picnic, I'd say April was a busy month.  For those unfamiliar to the John Janzen Nature Centre, it houses an indoor playground,while encompassing a forest like feel. In it, there are beehive tunnels, caves, giant treehouse, a beaver damn, and my favorite, the giant mushroom. I am a mother of a toddler, and I have to say, this playground by far is the best I've seen my little potato enjoy. I think us mothers who got the chance to take our kids here, welcomed the fun atmosphere and opportunity to chit chat about life. The centre also houses a classroom where our kids got to don insect back packs, pretend to be squirrels burrowing, and even color against a faux tree bark footprint of various animals.
    Our Earth Day Picnic was our first big event since the birth of " Mamas and Tots", and I'd say it was a success, despite the cold rain of the venue. Mamas and their tots, along with a very helpful daddy, gathered at a favorite park, for a potluck picnic, with Earth Day considerations in mind. I for one, brought chocolate cupcakes (to look like mud) with gummy worms on top for this occasion. I organized and led an arts and crafts project consisting of the reuse of coffee filters, to depict earth from the view of our toddlers. My cohost, Chani, organized and led the making of binoculars out of toilet paper for our last activity of the day, which was a nature walk/scavenger hunt. And while we ate, Chani read " The Lorax" to the kids.  The coffee filter craft involved coloring a filter with green and blue markers (grass and sea) and then spraying with water, once allowed to dry, beautiful earth projects turned out great. It was amazing to see all the different pictures created by our little ones who range so much in age (under 1 yrs old to 3 yrs old). The binoculars were made by reusing empty toilet paper rolls, taping two together, coloring with bingo markers, ingenious idea. Them hole punching a couple of places and running a long piece of yarn through it,so each child could carrying it around them. This was especially cute to see used during our walk. Chani made a picture list of things we were suppose to find on our nature walk, very child friendly, from a pinecone to a tree.  May's theme is "Growing, Gardens, and the Great Outdoors", so stay tuned to see the events and activities taking place right now. In the meantime, here are some pics of April's happenings, arts, and crafts.

                   

                 Happy Earth Day!