Make-a-Wish: Four Wishes Event

I've been a huge fan of Tysen's Mission to a Million, ever since I read about Tysen getting to meet Adam Sandler. The meeting was his wish, granted through the Make-a-Wish Eastern Ontario foundation. Adam Sandler inspired Tysen to pay it back.

This kid is incredible - not only is he dealing with his own health issues (Tysen was born with Pfeiffer Syndrome Type 2), but now he is on a mission to grant 100 wishes to other children facing life-threatening medical conditions. I follow him on Facebook and Twitter, and love to see the posts about children getting their wish.

On Saturday October 3rd, Make-a-Wish is hosting a Four Wishes event, showing the public the four types of wishes they grant to children - I wish to HAVE, I wish to BE, I wish to MEET and I wish to GO. Attendees will be able to check out examples of these wishes, by going to an ultimate dance party with Hot 89.9, being a paleontologist, meeting superheroes and having a new playroom to check out.

The event takes place at the Aberdeen Pavillion, from 10am - 4pm. Tickets are $35 and ALL proceeds go to Tysen's Mission to a Million. Click here to reserve your tickets today!!

Raise a voter!

By Chris - find him at DadGoesRound!

Labour Day has come and gone. School has started and the federal election campaigns are ramping up. If your kids are like mine after a couple of days sitting at desks, they are both exhausted and high energy bouncing off the walls in need of some activity. Fortunately the Federal Election presents an opportunity for education, exercise and time together. 

Election campaigns run on volunteer power. They require volunteers to make phone calls and knock on doors to identify potential supporters and then on election day to ensure those supporters get out to the polls to vote. Those volunteers are people like you and me. They are fellow residents and community members who have decided they want to help a particular candidate or party win in their riding. 

This is just a picture. It does not represent the voting preferences of the author of the post, nor does it reflect any political affiliations. Except we do love the CBC...

Knocking on doors - or canvassing for votes - is my favourite part of elections. I have volunteered for friends who have put their names on municipal ballots, and knocked on doors for candidates in federal and provincial elections for a couple of different parties. Since 2007 every one of those campaigns has involved me knocking on doors with a kid in a backpack, wagon or walking with me. 

It is a great opportunity for me to get in some quality time with my kids. These days I take one at a time and they each get turns. Whenever an election is called, they start bidding on the opportunity to go canvassing with dad. We spend 2-3 hours at a time walking around in a neighbourhood with a team of other volunteers. We knock on doors and drop off literature about the candidate we are supporting and ask people if they will support our candidate. The time at the door is usually quick, although sometimes we engage in longer discussions, although that is not the intent. My kids carry the literature and hand it out or put it in mailboxes. They push the door bells or I do the knocking. I do the talking, but my oldest is getting close to doing that too - she will be a few days short of nine yrs old by the time this election rolls around. 

In between knocking on doors and dropping off literature, we walk and we talk. We talk about what we see and people we talk to. We talk about homes and neighbourhoods, gardens, trees, cars and stuff going on in their lives. We also talk about politics and policies. We talk about elections and parties. My kids ask me for more details about things that people say at the door when we talk to them. 

Opportunities for kids while canvassing

• Carry some or all of the campaign materials
• Put materials in mailboxes/doors or hand it to the residents
• Ring door bells, knock on doors
• Be in charge of finding the mailboxes - not always an easy thing to do
• Guess if someone is going to be home or not. 
• Older kids might be open to speaking to the residents themselves.

The last five federal elections in Canada have witnessed voter turn out rates around 60%. In each of those elections almost 40% of eligible voters have decided not to vote. Some people forget to vote, others can't make up their mind so they don't vote. Some people feel that voting makes no difference so they don't bother and still others don't pay any attention to the election, the campaigns, policies or candidates and so they don't vote. All of these are excuses and an abdication of one our responsibilities as citizens in a democracy.

I see it as my role to ensure that my kids grow up to be voters. I don’t expect them to vote for my current party of choice. I do expect them to talk and think about politics and why voting is important. I hope to engage them on important issues of the day and help them to see politics as a force for change and good in the world. I have had the opportunity to meet and know many politicians and almost all of them have run for office for the same reason. They want to make a difference for their community, province and or country. Some will lose sight of that over time or have it drummed out of them by the system. For the most part they are good people, people like the rest of us who decide they are passionate enough about something that they put their name on a ballot. 

Every day that we go out canvassing I build on their knowledge of the world around them and move a step closer to my goal of growing educated voters. Every politician and would-be politician that I introduce them to helps them to see politics as an activity that anyone can engage in. It helps them to see this as an option for them if they so choose later in life. I want to show them as many life doors as possible so that they can decide which one(s) to walk through or kick down as necessary. 

Take advantage of the opportunity presented by the current election, pick a local candidate that you want to support. Call up their campaign office and ask about knocking on doors for them. Take your kids and go do it. You’ll be partnered with other volunteers who can teach you how it is done. Get out there and raise a voter!

The Basics

What riding am I in and who are the candidates?

Find your riding - Elections Canada 

Find your candidates - Elections Canada or through federal party websites. Websites for all the major parties have listings of candidates for each riding. 

What is the time commitment?

Typically you would canvass a poll - all ridings are subdivided into polls - all the people from one poll vote in the same place at the same ballot box. Canvassing a poll with a team of 3-5 people will typically take 2-3 hours depending on the nature of the housing. Apartment buildings take considerably less time than a low-density subdivision. The distance between doors will significantly impact time to complete the poll. Obviously campaigns would like to have volunteers come back repeatedly, but there is no obligation to do so. 

Staying safe

Door knocking is normally done in teams with other volunteers knocking on neighbouring doors. Team members keep an eye out for one another and check back if one of the team members is taking a longer than usual time at a house. This often occurs when the resident wants to discuss particular issues. Canvassing is done throughout the day and into the evening. if you are canvassing in the evening, Hallowe’en rules apply. Stick to one side of the street, pay attention to traffic, wear clothes that make it easy to see you at dusk. 

Most importantly: wear good shoes so that you don’t hurt your feet.  

What do I say to someone who opens the door?

Volunteers receive training from more seasoned canvassers on their team. basically keep it short and sweet, the job of a canvasser is not to convert voters and debate issues. It is to identify decided voters. Everyone has their own script at the door and it generally is something like this.

“Hello, my name is…… I am here on behalf of the campaign to (re-)elect [name of candidate], the [party] candidate in the federal election taking place on [date]. I am here to drop off some information [hand literature to resident] and to see if [candidate] can count on your support on election day.”

With experience comes the ability to read people at the door and tailor the script to the person at the door. If someone says no they aren’t voting for your candidate or if they get obnoxious with their response, be polite, thank them for their time and move on to the next door. Engaging with a non-support will not help the team complete the poll and will not help accomplish the objective of identifying supporters. 

Adventures in Lice

by Angèle Alain

Adventures in head lice? We’ve had a few.

In fact, we’ve had three episodes in four years; usually in the spring. I’m not a health professional but needless to say, I’ve learned a lot. First of all...

head-touching selfies. A great way to pick up lice!!

It’s nobody’s fault. Setting blame is natural, but it isn’t helpful.  It's better to stay calm, clean up and let it go. There’s no way of knowing for sure where they came from. Besides, the first person to find them is doing the rest of us a favour. I cringe when I think of how I reacted the first time, when my friend and neighbour told me her daughter had lice. I thought of the time spent at her house and although my nasty language wasn’t directed at her, it wasn’t warranted. It happens to all of us. If it hasn’t happened to you, it will.   

Know what you are looking for

You might think an itchy head is the best sign of head lice, but it’s tricky. You can spend days or even weeks looking for nits that aren’t there (yet.) The best sign is the little red spots on the scalp where lice bite. If you find those, lice are living in your hair.

Nits are little translucent beige eggs: big enough to see and small enough to miss, especially in blond hair.  They are each attached to a single hair less than one inch from the scalp. Unlike dandruff, they don’t move if you try to brush them off. 

If the kids have them, you likely have them 

Even if your head is almost shaved, do the treatment. It only takes minutes and your friends and family will appreciate it. My husband’s head itches just thinking about lice, so we all go through it for good measure.

Get to know the little buggers 

Lice are little brown bugs with long bodies and lots of legs. They are the size of a young fruit fly and are big enough to see. They don’t jump, they crawl. The only way to catch them is through contact with something or someone who has them.

• They only live up to two days outside of hair. That’s why it’s important to check beds and pillows before bedtime so as not recontaminate your head.
• Nits are not viable unless they are close to the scalp.
• Nits aren’t killed by most commercial treatments.
• It’s possible to suffocate lice.  
• Heat and extreme cold kills them, but heat is quicker.  
• Lice can live for hours under water but it’s almost impossible to catch them in a pool.

Treatments usually kill lice, not nits 

Most commercial lice products kill lice but not nits. That said, it you want to invest in the good stuff, try Nyda (Dimeticone) - it's been shown to be quite effective. But beware, it's pricey at $40 a bottle (one bottle will cover two or three heads depending on hair length.) 

If you want to save money and do the hard work, a handy little comb that comes with most treatments will remove dead lice and nits (the products act as a lubricant for the latter). However, nothing is more effective than sitting outdoors removing nits with your fingers. I’ve spent many days doing just that in the backyard. Call it quality time with your kids (although younger ones will probably need some kind of distraction to sit still!) It’s also very important to repeat the treatment after seven days as missed nits that hatch in between won’t start reproducing until then.

Regular conditioner works just as well 

It won’t kill lice but it slows them down long enough to comb them out along with nits. It’s a great trick. Here’s how I did it:

1) Spread conditioner throughout dry hair along the scalp. 
2) Comb through with a lice comb. Make sure to always comb at the root of the hair while using the same side of the comb -- so as to not put lice back in your head. 
3) Rinse comb with water, checking for lice every 2 or three comb throughs.  Since the lice are stunned, I run them down the drain (yes, you will see them). You might need a tweezer to pull them out of the comb. 
4) Rinse conditioner out and dry your hair with a clean towel. 

Another trick is to comb through your hair with the lice comb every time you wash it for a week or so.  

Natural remedies work, but they take time

During our last episode, a family member who’s a nurse mentioned that lice are becoming tolerant to commercial treatments, so natural remedies are a good alternative. This is also true if, like me, you don’t like putting pesticides on your kid’s head. 

Any suffocating product works such as mayonnaise, petroleum jelly and oil as long as you leave it in at least 8 hours. Overnight works well. 

This treatment is particularly effective:

1. soak hair with apple cider vinegar and let dry (this cleans the hair)
2. saturate hair with coconut oil, and wrap with towel or shower cap for 8 hours
3. heat head with hair dryer or sit in the sun to set oil
4. after oil has set, add shampoo to hair without water. Rub and mix in shampoo to break down the oil, and let sit for another 30 minutes.
5. Rince hair and repeat shampoo.

Extreme temperatures, garbage bags and a vacuum are your best tools

Isolate anything that’s been in contact with the head in the last week. Some say 48 hours, but I don’t take any chances. Since lice suffocate, put all cushions, quilts, hats, helmets or anything you can’t wash or put in the dryer in a garbage bag and seal it for at least three days. Some even say seven days. If you can’t wait, put it in the freezer for 24 hours. 

Anything you can wash should be heated in the dryer. You can also dry anything, such as pillows, without washing them.  Vacuum mattresses, couches, chairs and rugs.

Tell everyone

That’s right. Tell everyone you’ve been in contact with, even if it’s embarrassing. Tell your child's school, daycare, afterschool clubs, evening classes, sports clubs, friends, neighbours and family you saw in the last weeks, especially if they’ve been to your house. They might react badly, but they will thank you later.

Tea tree oil is lice’s enemy and therefore your friend

Tea tree oil repels lice so it’s great for prevention. After an episode, or when reading an email from school informing you of the presence of lice, you can put a few drops of tea tree oil behind your kids’ ears and on the hair every day for a couple of weeks. You can also add it to your regular shampoo and conditioner.   

Hope for the best

After you've done all you can do, it's best to relax and hope for the best!

Getting head lice isn’t fun, but it’s one of the many common adventures of parenthood. I’d never had them as a child but have had them twice as an adult; go figure. I blame head-touching selfies, and those aren’t going away anytime soon. I’ll just keep checking hair on a regular basis, and remind my kid to tell me when her head itches.   

Little Lotus Yoga Presents: Kegels and Cocktails

By Amanda DeGrace

If you've had a baby then you've probably had a discussion among close friends or family about urination problems, leaking, painful intercourse and bowel issues during and after pregnancies. This is common chat among many moms in my Little Lotus’ prenatal and postnatal yoga classes! 

It is with this in mind that I am proud to bring the exclusive Kegels + Cocktails event to Ottawa on September 28th. Kegels + Cocktails is the perfect venue to bring these discussions out into the open and discuss them in an informative and welcoming environment! 

After having three children in five years, I know first hand the pelvic floor problems that can arise and I am not afraid to share my experience with other women. It is through sharing my experience that I have helped spread the word across Ottawa and in my Little Lotus Yoga classes that urinary, bowel and pelvic floor issues are common among women. However, women need to know that they do not have to live their entire life like that or have a big surgery to fix it!

Kegels + Cocktails was developed by Kim Vopni from Pelvienne Wellness. I first met Kim and her business partners from Bellies Inc. a few years ago at a fitness conference and I have been taking their workshops and following them online as they spread the word across the world. I feel it is important to be a part of this and really help women.

K&C is all about women having fun, having a girls night out and learning important information that can really allow them to take control of their lives – so women aren’t hesitant to try a fitness class, jump rope with their kids or sneeze!

I am on a mission to educate and empower women to feel good about themselves and hope you will join me on September 28th from 7 to 10 pm at Café Cino Latte in Orleans to do just that! Come out and have fun with your girlfriends, learn from some of Ottawa’s top experts in Women’s Health, have a cocktail, have a chance to win prizes, and more!

Tickets are $35 and are limited, so buy your ticket now to avoid disappointment when it sells out!

5 things that children with sensory issues can't handle

You may be hearing more about sensory processing disorder (SPD) in the news these days - in fact, I just read an article in The Washington Post. It's the first time I've seen the issue discussed in a higher-profile media outlet. SPD is the label used for people who have abnormal reactions to sensory input (sight, sound, touch etc.)

Despite a recognition of the problems that people with SPD face, it has not been included in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (or DSM-5.) Parents of children struggling with sensory processing issues have a tough time getting pediatricians and other healthcare workers to take their worries seriously.

Although I'm not an expert, my daughter has certainly struggled with her share of sensory processing issues (or as I call them, SPI). You might read these and say "well, my child has trouble with these too!" The difference is that a child with SPI will react abnormally - their distress will be that much bigger, that much louder, and that much more difficult for the parents to handle. When it starts interfering with their daily lives, that's when it's time to seek help.

Every child is different, but here is a list of 5 things that my child has trouble processing, and the ways in which we've dealt with them. (Note: if you are concerned about your child, please get in touch with your family doctor - the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario has a wonderful handout for parents concerned about SPI: Children and Youth With Sensory Processing Disorder.)

1. Automatic Flush Toilets: you can also lump automatic hand dryers in here - the newest wave of these devices are not only powerful but LOUD. A child with SPD will often overreact to the noise of the toilet/dryer, as well as the unexpected flush that occurs when they're in the middle of doing their business.

Parenting Tip #1: carry post-it notes in your bag. Paste one over the sensor before your child sits down. This will ensure the toilet does not flush until they're ready!

2. Socks: children with SPI generally have trouble with clothing - the feeling of the fabric on their skin, the tightness of the clothing and tags. And for socks, the "bumps" that the child feels due to the seam.

Parenting Tip #2: always make sure to buy 100% cotton when it comes to any type of clothing. For socks, turn them inside out so the bumpy seam is not felt as much. Try many different brands of socks to find the ones that are smoother and well-made. And don't fight your child if they choose to wear Crocs instead, unless safety is a problem. If the problem is happening at school, make an appointment with your child's teacher to see if sandles can be worn inside instead of socks and runners. And as a last resort, my daughter loves wearing running shoes without socks!

3. Car rides: my daughter was always notorious for barfing in the car. She still gets carsick on the shortest of rides. She is also distressed by the noise (if the windows are open) and the speed of the moving vehicle (she hates highways). Although these issues often get better with time, I found the worst age was under 4 - she screamed bloody murder on every car ride!

Parenting Tip #3: if your child can handle it, make sure their window is open a crack. This allows for fresh air to get in and help with motion sickness. We have found mint gum to be extremely helpful - my daughter chews this in the car and it helps with her tummy. Try to keep trips to a minimum, and consider the alternatives - biking, buses or train rides. We've found my daughter enjoys trains and buses immensely, as she has freedom of movement.

4. Sitting: children with SPI are often diagnosed with ADHD. They have trouble sitting still, and need constant movement. You may notice that they rock back and forth in their chairs all the time, and are constantly jumping up and moving during reading, writing or crafts. 

Parenting Tip #4: make sure your child has LOTS of time to be active. The Washington Post article that I linked to points to the decline in free playtime as one of the possible culprits for SPI. While I personally don't agree with this, I DO think children are not getting enough free time to run and jump outside as they once did. If it's possible for your family, consider alternative forms of education (Waldorf, Montessori, homeschooling). If not, make sure your child is in an active sport (soccer is great, as well as gymnastics.)

5. Active play: of course, the opposite can be true for children with SPI - they are the Masters of Extreme Behaviour. You may notice your child becomes TOO active in a setting where there are lots of children, loud noises and a lot of excitement (think gym class, or a birthday party!) Although children with SPI have trouble sitting still, they desperately need quiet time to recharge their batteries, or they go on sensory overload.

Parenting Tip #5: create a "relaxation nook" designated for your child only. Place a few special books in there, some pillows and a stuffie. Use a small tent or build a little blanket "fort." Let your child enter that space as often as possible. If you find your child can't be alone, make it big enough for a parent to enter as well. Put on relaxation music, and apply deep pressure to your child's body - they often love massages on their arms, legs and backs.

At 6, my daughter has come a LONG way from the baby and toddler years. I don't think we'll ever get a diagnosis of SPD (and we're not seeking one), as she is highly functioning and does well at school, but I'm constantly needing to be creative in supporting her reactions to sight, smell, sound, touch and taste. Some days I fail miserably, and other days we rock! 

Does your child have sensory processing issues? What's your #1 tip?