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House Rules and Can a Book Change Your Life?
How can a book change your life? Well beyond the actual reading part, the educational value and the entertainment we all get from reading a book, some would argue that books can change your life. I recall having this conversation in a newsroom in a mid-sized paper where I once worked as a daily news reporter back in the mid-90s when The Celestine Prophecy was hot news and people were jumping on that bandwagon. Myself and an unnamed entertainment reporter were arguing over whether a book could change your life or not. He felt they could. I took the opposite stance. I am a person who believes life changes your…
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When They Exceed Your Expectations
My children have both given me hundreds of proud moments. They both excel at something. My eldest is bright and talented and pretty much every year from the time she started school she has won awards. Student of the month. Check. A’s in every subject. Check. Friends. Check. She is a beautiful smart and creative overachiever. My youngest child is now six. She is beautiful and smart and incredibly athletic and she also has special needs. I love her madly and we agonized for years over the choice of school for her. We kept her at a great private preschool as long as possible. She did her junior and senior kindergarten…
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My Christmas Card To Premier Dalton McGuinty
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Monday Mingle: Snow Days
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My 411 Mabel’s Labels Review and Giveaway Open to Canada and US.
My 411 wristbands from Mabel’s Labels: Good for All, Excellent for Kids With Special Needs It is a moment, hardly longer than the blink of an eye, and your child disappears from your line of sight. Your stomach sinks, breath catches in your throat, heart freezes and your mind races. Where is she? Did someone take her? Is she hiding? You tell yourself it will be okay, but newspaper headlines are all you can see or think and you fly into panic mode, or maybe survival mode. Every parent on the planet, if they have a child who is old enough to walk, or run, has had one of these heart-stopping…
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Mickey Moms Club: Giveaway
Planning a trip to Disney? Never before have their been so many great tools to help you map out all of the details. When is the best time to go? Where should I stay? How long is the lineup for Soarin’ at Epcot? Are there any special character meals I should plan for, and how far in advance do I need to book them? My child has a peanut allergy, where can we eat safely? How far am I from the nearest hospital should anything go wrong? Disney is one of my favourite destinations and companies. They do a lot of things really well. Their service is the best, top…
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Bing “Our School Needs” Contest and Blog Tour
School – at least a good school – is not just mortar and bricks and classrooms. A good school is a place that takes young minds of all abilities and nurtures them, recognizing the strengths and building those, while helping minimize or work on weaknesses. Good schools are places we remember as second homes. Places that inspire and help children grow to their full potential, emotionally, physically, socially and academically. They are incubators of sorts, places that will grow new thinkers, new nurturers and new innovators. Good schools embrace parents as partners. Good schools see that they are a part of a community and, similarly, good communities recognize in a…
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Thursday Western Fair Thank You
Thursday is a happy day here. We were part of the outcry that challenged Western Fair to change their policy and last night they admitted they had made a mistake. That is, in my opinion, a cause to celebrate. What was at issue: the changes to fair pricing that meant disabled people and their attendant workers were going to be charged admission. For us here that meant that Ainsley, 6, with special needs would be charged admission and so would any support worker or attendant care worker we sent to the fair with her. That policy throughout the city is often inconsistent and frankly unfair. I had always stated I…
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Western Fair Revisited
Well, this is not the way I intended my Wednesday morning to go, but when it all went sideways I went with it and lo and behold look where it led. Once again enraged by Western Fair’s staunch position that it is too late to change their decision to charged disabled people and their attendants admission to the Fair this year, I headed to the computer to compose more letters and more emails. My children amused themselves with Sesame Street. Then they appeared to ask what Mom was doing. I said I am busy writing letters to Western Fair and the Mayor to let them know I disagree with the…
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Western Fair and Disabled Rights
Dear Western Fair Board of Governors: I am writing to challenge you to spend a day as a disabled person in this city. Perhaps you could even accompany one as an attendant for a day and document the extra costs this incurs. I am the parent of a child with a non visible disability. She needs help accessing many city programs and, if I am not with her, she requires a person hired by us, a support worker paid to help her take part in programs that other children in London can often easily take part in. In this city there are many places that charge the attending support…