Have you ever thought about going into business for yourself or want to improve your business and marketing plan? The Busy Genie in the Royal York and Bloor area in Etobicoke will be providing workshops on weekends (with daycare) and evenings on the following topics:

Marketing Savvy on a Budget for Small Business
Website Design/Creation for Small Business -- If your small business still doesn't' have an online presence or if the website you have is in need of a makeover, this is the workshop for you. Start the new year with your own cutting edge website that's easy to maintain and grow as your business grows.

Mom Entrepreneurs To Be -- How To Workshop
Have a business idea that you would love to get off the ground? Need daycare provided while you talk with our expert panel of speakers? The Busy Genie and Marketing4Moms can help. To learn more about Marketing4Moms visit our web site www.marketing4moms.com

To indicate your interest please e-mail info@marketing4moms.com or info@thebusygenie.com

Guest Blogger: Kathy Buckworth - Author of "Shut Up & Eat: Tales of Chicken, Children & Chardonnay”

The other day my daughter asked me how Valentine’s Day started. She’s in Grade 5 so starting to worry a little bit about the message she sends when she hands the boys (and the girls) in her class a Hannah Montana valentine which says something about making cool music together. So I explained that traditionally Valentine’s Day had been a day when male secret admirers gave their female crushes a card, rose, or small gift, and signed an anonymous note declaring their devotion and love. Eventually it became a greeting card company gold mine with everyone from boyfriends and girlfriends, husbands and wives, grandparents and grandchildren, students and teacher and kids-to-kids getting in on the action. It’s not an understatement to say as a result, it’s become a little less significant. Particularly once you get 32 of them, all addressed to “Classmate”. (And seriously, which one of you Moms started attaching nut-free chocolates and pink pencils to the cards – enough already!)


But it did start me thinking that while I do love my family, and my friends, and even the occasional sales clerk who convinces me I look good in those pants, that there are some inanimate objects I would like to issue Valentines to instead, this year.

• My crock pot. Seriously. Who else cooks dinner for me while I work, run kids to hockey and spend 10 or 60 minutes on Twitter

• The inventors of pre-cooked bacon, bagged salad and frozen garlic bread. And the “flash-freeze” process.

• The clothing manufacturers who decided that a size 10 is all-of-a-sudden a size 4. Well will you look at that! I guess I can have that cheese plate after all.

• My beloved BlackBerry, Seamus. He’s the only one of my children who knows when to stop making so much noise (okay I can turn him off, granted), gives me information I can use (versus “I haven’t changed my underwear in three days”), and never drinks all my diet Pepsi, steals my chocolate or refuses to put his boots/protective covering on

• The mirrors they seem to have in fitting rooms and hotels. I know you deploy the “skinny” mirror but it still counts. I carry that image in my head all day, even if others don’t. So there.

So this Valentine’s Day, do the right thing – help your child with their cards – it’s worth the price of social acceptance, but think about sending an anonymous one too - maybe to that fabulous new shoe that looks great and doesn’t hurt to wear. No taped-on chocolate required.


Kathy Buckworth’s latest book “Shut Up & Eat: Tales of Chicken, Children & Chardonnay” is now available for pre-order on amazon.ca and at Chapters Online.

Look for the book in bookstores on March 21st.

Visit www.kathybuckworth.com and follow Kathy on Twitter

Written by Jason Darby who will have a regular Dad's column (read more about him below!)

I suppose that daycare drama may be a touch misleading, but let me tell you, the first day of daycare was certainly a touch traumatic…for me! I barely slept the night before Lyla, my one year old baby girl was slated to start daycare. My anxiety was based upon the fact that ideally, I would have much rather had my wife stay home and raise her full time. I had grown so used to that being the case that leaving her in the morning became routine for me. Unfortunately, this was simply not financially feasible. I just do not make enough money to support us all. Sad but true….

We had however found what I considered to be the most ideal situation; Monday with Grandma, and the rest of the week with a close friend and daycare provider of ours who has a daughter that is 6 weeks younger than our daughter. She would be getting as close to 1 on 1 attention as we could hope for, while still socializing her with other children her age. Yet still, I was losing my mind over it. How was she going to react? Did she even realize what was about to happen to her? Did she realize that we would be as potentially upset as she might be? (BTW, she just walked from our washroom to the first linen closet, approximately 15 feet!!!!) Notice I am speaking in semi hypotheticals as this thought process took place BEFORE she even started daycare.
Paranoid? Perhaps a bit, but I chalk it up to how much I love my little girl, and how I want her to be happy no matter what.

I dread the mid day phone calls where I can hear her screaming in the background, crying inconsolably. I fear that she may close up and not embrace the change, stunting her development as she waits by the door all day long until we come to pick her up. I fear that she grows to resent me as I am the one who drops her off in the morning, leaving her in unfamiliar territory. Bear in mind that the woman who is taking care of her is amazing and I trust her implicitly. I felt it was important to point out that I was not just leaving Lyla with some monster who I have no faith in. I have 100% confidence in her abilities to act as a daily caregiver; I just have less than 100% confidence in myself to be able to transition smoothly.

At this point, I have yet to even touch on my biggest fear; what if she never wants to leave daycare? What if she starts to prefers the daycare provider to us? What if she forgets about us? I never thought this would be so hard for me to get used to. I mean, I was never really home with her all day, everyday. I have been leaving her every morning since two weeks after she was born, yet I find myself back on January 20th 2009, teary eyed, walking away from a door, leaving my little one behind while I go off to work. Literally counting the seconds until I can run back to her, scoop her up in my arms and give her a big hug and a kiss. Will 5 o’clock ever come????

Jason Darby is a sports blogger, musician and most significantly the proud father of a beautiful 1-year-old daughter. He currently works in the academic publishing industry and is working on a book about the Maple Leafs and the pilot for a sitcom currently titled “The Shop”.  He spends much of his spare time watching the Detroit Tigers with his little girl. Come back often to read his musings on raising a child from a father’s perspective. You can leave comments for him here and on twitter. His account is Twitter.com/darbyjason

They say it takes a village, but a survey of 2,500 Canadian parents has found that only a quarter feel they have a high level of support from their community when it comes to raising their children.

"The challenges for parents have never been greater, yet they do not experience the support they need," says Carol Crill Russell, senior research adviser with Invest in Kids, which conducted the detailed online survey in early 2007.

She says the findings are critical because mothers and fathers who feel valued and encouraged in what they consider the most important job of their lives make better parents.

"Parenting behaviour is strongly related to the support they feel," she says.

The full report will be released in the next couple of months, but Crill Russell shared some highlights Friday at a Toronto symposium on early childhood.

Invest in Kids, a non-profit devoted to research and public education, has done studies showing that the more parents feel confident and the more they understand child development, the more positive their behaviour towards their kids. They are more inclined to praise, laugh and play with their children than scold, punish or shame them.

Crill Russell notes that income and education made no difference.

The latest survey, which included a cross-section of parents from different regions, social classes and ethnic backgrounds across the country, underlines that community supports are also key.

It asked parents about the support they received from four sources: their partners; their own parents; other family members and friends; and the neighbourhood community.

Among its findings:

* Only 26 per cent of mothers and 27 per cent of fathers felt a high level of support from their neighbourhood communities. This referred specifically to intangibles, such as whether they felt welcome, had somewhere to turn for help or had caring neighbours.
* Parents who had used six or more local programs or services in the previous year – anything from parent and tot drop-ins to swimming lessons, libraries or playgrounds – felt more supported by the community and were 60 to 75 per cent more likely than other parents to report using positive behaviours with their children.
* Only 44 per cent of dads and 43 per cent of moms said they felt highly supported by their partners.
* Other family members and friends were the largest source of support for mothers and half reported high levels of support that led to more positive parenting behaviour.
* Roughly half (55 per cent of mothers and 46 per cent of fathers) felt highly supported by their own parents.

Read more

Content courtesy of World Vision

World Vision is on the ground right now in the Haitian city of Port-Au-Prince, helping families and children devastated by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake Tuesday afternoon. Your donations are vital to the relief efforts and are needed today.

Every dollar makes a difference and now if you give a donation to the Haiti Earthquake victims through World Vision, by February 12th, it will double in impact due to a generous contribution from the Canadian Government.

With an international response team flying in from around the globe to assist, our relief efforts are underway. World Vision Haiti is now distributing emergency supplies to families and children struggling to deal with this catastrophic disaster.

World Vision has been working in Haiti for over 30 years, helping an estimate 300,000 Haitians each year to overcome poverty through providing access to education, improved access to food and clean water and improved nutrition as well as helping families with improved medical care. Now, more than ever, your help is needed to help families in Haiti and let them know they are not alone in this emergency. To donate: http://www.worldvision.ca/give-a-gift/Pages/EarthquakeinHaiti.aspx

Emergency kits help provide things like tarps, blankets, soap, towels, personal hygiene items and cooking utensils at $55 per family. Please note these costs are estimates due to the urgency of the situation, and may vary. 

 

Content Courtesy of Bunch Family
Partner of GTA Parent


Saturday, January 30, 2-5 PM The Guvernment
$12 for grown-ups, $10 for kids in advance.
$14 for everyone at the door while supplies last.
Free for non-walkers.

You’re invited to year three of Toronto’s most famous family event, where kids and parents spend a feel-good afternoon at a downtown club, shaking it on the dance floor side-by-side. It’s Bunch Family Dance Party WinterCity and at this year’s True North Edition, created specially for WinterCity 2010, Toronto families will mix it up with dancing yetis and polar bears, while an indoor storm rages and DJ Fase spins hot tracks for cold weather. Expect to see icebergs, northern lights, moose and a breakdancing Mountie. Bring your kids and your wildest dance moves.
Tame a yeti!

• Make a snowstorm!

• Dance with bears and Mounted Police!

• Learn about the Canadian Arctic!

• Create beautiful, glowing Northern Lights!

• Dance yourself silly!

*A portion of your ticket will be donate to the World Wildlife Fund to help keep the North ice cold!

It's a new year, and while I’ve given up on making any formal resolutions (or “lies” as I now call them) I have to admit that there is plenty of room for improvement in many aspects of my life.  A few pounds to lose, one more work out, a carrot instead of a brownie, turning my glass of wine into a glass of water (this is nothing short of a miracle, trust me folks).

• School concerts: Have attended approximately 27 of them.  24 of them have included a 10 minute orchestral version of “Chariots of Fire”.  Is my grimace showing? Is there blood actually running out of my ears?
  
• Children’s full length animated movies.  Have watched everything from Snow White to Shrek to Pokemon, Digimon – basically since before famous people starting doing the voices.  They are boring and all have the same “play  nice or get burned” message.  Oh, plus the mother usually dies.
• Oprah and all of her creepy offspring – Rachel Ray, Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz – actually it’s not these actual people I dislike.  It’s the way their fans take every piece of their advice (pulled squarely out of their, well you know) as gospel.  If I hear one more fitness instructor say “Dr. Oz says do 20 Kegels a day!” I’m going to lose it. Like he’s ever done ONE
•  People who own technology which is either more advanced than what I have, or less advanced than what I have.  The former are trend-sucking idiots, and the latter are techno-peasants.  Not sure why I feel so strongly about this.  Started with my iPhone/BlackBerry feud.
• Parents who talk about their children’s competitive sports achievements, constantly. Yes, I know I complain about competitive sports constantly, but it doesn’t mean I have to like listening to you brag about it constantly. We all need to shut up about it.
• People who talk about how busy they are…over a 20 minute coffee at Starbucks or every day on Twitter.  It’s been my experience that the busiest people are actually just the biggest procrastinators. Except maybe Tiger Woods.
• Parents with children younger than my own who either give me advice on how to deal with teenagers, based on their own teenage experience (in which they were the teen, I might add) or how they simply know how their own children will react when attacked by the hormonal tidal save.  They just know. I have to remain secure in the knowledge that this too, will bite them, just as it did me, smile and carry on. 
Upon reflection, I have realized that I’m not really intending to adjust my attitude all that much, from an internal perspective, but given that I’ll be attempting to repress some of my previously unrestrained reactions, I think I can just count that as one more work out, don’t you?