So you believe in supporting your community and you want your kids to develop a strong habit of giving. What’s that?… your kids can detect an extra 100 bucks in the budget with subliminal stealth and will blow a hole in their running shoes or loose a filling just to get their fair share. Good, your kids are just like mine – money sponges!

Families without bottomless bank accounts have to get a little creative in their efforts to support charity. We have to give things that don’t cost or better yet, use someone else’s money to make a difference. Lucky for us, there is no shortage of other people’s money to be found and free is only limited by your imagination…

• Spend your Points… It seems that every store has a points/reward program of some sort or another. Do your shopping, collect your points and spend them a few times a year on food bank donations. Any house hold with teenagers can practically feed another family with their points!

• It’s In You To Give… For the grown-ups in the house, one hour every 56 days can save 3 lives. It costs you nothing, is as easy as getting your car’s oil changed and really is tangible. I used to think only accident victims needed blood, until my friend got cancer, now I really understand the everyday need… and you get a free cookie!

• Pass it On… This is one that the vast majority of families do. As our kids out grow life we pass things along. Don’t forget women’s shelters and immigration programs, when you get new house hold items. Somebody setting up from scratch will really appreciate those towels that don’t match your bathroom anymore.

• Finders keepers… Your kids are going to protest this one, I promise. Found money is not your money. If you can’t readily identify the victim of loss, stick the funds in the first charity box you find. Yes, everything from nickels to sawbucks go in the box, there are no exceptions. Yes, there may even be tears.

• Save Paper… Many schools and churches collect grocery tapes and soup labels which they later submit to the retailer for cash. If your school or church does not do this, find one that does. My Gran used to stuff my mother’s teapot with her tapes for our school. I think she funded the new gymnasium.

• Give one free… When you run into that buy one get one free deal… Do it! There is always a home for free. Free socks can go the homeless shelter, free beans can go to the food bank, free $5.00 gift cards for coffee and sandwich shops can be handed to someone looking for a hot meal. Free gas (yes it happens occasionally) can be tucked quietly in the mail box of a family who could use a hand with medical travel expenses.

• Win – Win… Roll the rim, scratch to win, peel & play. Win a coffee, a doughnut, a smoothie, a sandwich, some fries? Keep those winning tabs handy in your purse or car to pass along. You’ll know who could use a smile or a hot drink or some nutrition.

• It’s about time… The most ‘free’ thing we have to give and very often the most needed is our time. Volunteer, there are no shortages of positions and it is surprisingly easy to volunteer as a family. Special events, festivals and charity events are a short commitment and love family volunteer participation. Choose an event with meaning to your family, it connects everyone to their job.

• Cha-ching… That 12 cents you get back from your large coffee everyday adds up to $43.80 over the course of a year. Put the 12 cents in the charity box every day and you’ve made a pretty good donation.

• Funny Money… Save those Canadian Tire dollars for the year. In December add it all up and take the family shopping for a toy (or toys – if you your husband has done exceptional collecting) Deliver to the local toy drive.

• Cash in… Taking the empties back to the beer store? Stick the proceeds into the charity box. Remember liquor bottles are refundable too. Some of us have an opportunity to make a significant impact!

• Spread the word… Don’t kid yourself, people are listening. If you hear about an event or charity that needs support, pass it on. Maybe you can’t fund a project but you can get the information to someone who is able. News travels fast, be part of the good rumour mill.

When you start looking, free opportunities to do good are everywhere! If you need help identifying them, ask your money sponges. They can smell and opportunity just as well as $100!

What ways have you found to make a daily difference with your family?

You can also find Michelle at her blog The Space Between Raindrops, sharing wisdom, gratitude and humour.

Well, my very first post for Best Tools for School. I’ve spent a few restless nights trying to determine just what this first piece should look like. I want to make a good first impression after all; I’m hoping we’ll be friends. Those restless nights, a few fruitless attempts to write amidst the chaos of a barking dog, the smoke detector and a carpet cleaning session netted me little more than two pages of think notes. The best I could do was “The dishwasher, a how to guide for teenagers” not really a first encounter conversation.

By Sunday morning, still coming up short, I desperately believed that my dishwasher tips might be just what you were in for. Thank goodness I put down my laptop and went to hockey practice, and thank goodness we sat next to The King of the World. Lessons exist everywhere in life; the hockey rink observation lounge is not an exception to this rule. I was there and I learned a big one.

The King of the World enlightened my husband for 58 minutes on everything from his star athlete children to his world travels and back again to his thriving businesses, superior management style, athletic prowess and convening skills. I heard my husband say 3 phrases in those 58 minutes… “hi”, “for sure” and “wow.” The whole time my bull-crap detector was alarming in my brain, it kept screaming “get real, get real” and I knew what this first post should be about.

Getting real.

We are living in a world of experts; a person cannot escape Facebook shrinks, TV reality gurus, twitter-sperts, even hockey rink life coaches. Everywhere you turn there is someone waiting with ‘the answers to life’, the ‘how to’ and the ‘what you are doing wrong’.
As a parent the only thing I long to hear is the mom in the checkout line ahead of me, say right out loud to her screaming child… “You are making me nuts, I’m not cut out for this job and right now, what I would like to do is hand you to this nice lady behind the counter in fair trade for a bag of milk and a box of tampons.” I want to hear it because I’ve been there. I would high five her and tell her that she was doing a great job – being real. I might have been a much better mom in the early years if someone had looked me straight in the eye and said. “Your kids are going to do things like take the plug out of the waterbed and go swimming while you have coffee with the neighbour.” I would not been so hard on myself when it happened. I would have cut myself some slack.

So get real I decided…. so here is some of my motherhood reality.

Most days I show up to my office gig wrinkled and smiling. I have no time for ironing and I’ve spent my Botox money on juvenile dental work and eye glasses. Our dog has eaten all of my shoes except for an unstylish pair of boots that pretty much dictate my pantsuit each day.

For the first 3 years of our oldest daughter Rebecca’s academic career she produced art work not suitable for public display; believing that lady stick people were better represented by breasts than tiny triangle stick skirts. Breasts have nipples, if you subscribe to realism, they have to be there. Nipples are unisex…nipples for everyone!

Our youngest teenage daughter Kate is brilliant and could care less. Exams are coming this week, she will not study, and she will not worry. She will successfully skate by with a 50% in math, avoid summer school and join the rest of us at the cottage. If I could finance her way, she would escape my nagging tomorrow by travelling to build schools half way around the world. She claims humanitarian desires, I sense desperation.

Ethan, our 10 year old son thinks that watching the movie is just as effective as reading the book. He would rather write fart jokes than book reports and is determined despite my resistance, to turn me into a hockey mom. On a side note, he suffers from emotional migraines and will throw up on your shoes if you talk about the Mayan Calendar.

We eat in the living room at least one day a week, the girls rarely wear matching socks and I make them do their own laundry. I hide pots and dishes in the stove when the doorbell rings and I don’t do spa days with my mother. I make rules that my kids ignore, forget dentist appointments and buy birthday cakes. I am my husband’s greatest source of comic relief. There is not a Disney movie that has not brought me to tears and sometimes I lock myself in the bathroom with the water running so that I cannot hear my children bicker.
That’s real.

None of us wants to be that guy, The King of The World. Heck, I don’t think that guy even wanted to be himself. I certainly don’t want to be that guy. I would much rather be a Mom keeping it real so that other moms can feel like a success when their child lays down in the middle of the dance recital and professes her boredom for all the world to hear. I want to be that mom who looks other moms in the eye and tells them to embrace the x-rated art work because 10 years down to road when you are standing in a gallery admiring that same child’s exhibition, you will have those boobies to look back on and laugh about. I know. It has happened to me.

Here’s to new friends, I’m looking forward to getting real together.

You can also find Michelle at here blog The Space Between Raindrops, sharing wisdom, gratitude and humour.

Quinoa is one of those ‘super foods’ everyone is always talking about. Fights all bad things, prevents even more bad things but what I like most about it is that it is a complete protien that comes from a plant source. Great for building muscles and growing kids, but veggie friendly! Since the invention of Meatless Mondays, my family has tried going meatless three to four times per week. This of course has be being more conscious of where our protein for the day is coming from, and quinoa is a wonderful option.

Here is a recipe I made for the family the other day that comes from AllRecipes.com. I have always enjoyed tabbouleh, but now even more so because it is so healthy! While it wasn’t the most favourite thing on the plate for my step daughter, she ate it which I feel is a half victory.

Quinoa Tabbouleh
2 cups water
1 cup quinoa
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tomatoes, diced
1 cucumber, diced
2 bunches green onions, diced
2 carrots, grated
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped

In a saucepan bring water to a boil. Add quinoa and a pinch of salt. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature; fluff with a fork.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine olive oil, sea salt, lemon juice, tomatoes, cucumber, green onions, carrots and parsley. Stir in cooled quinoa.

Jodi Lariviere is a blogger and food writer with a real passion for healthy, local ingredients and she also writes two of her own blogs: Simply Fresh – and the new Vegging for Two.

This is an incredibly inspiring, motivating video about wisdom? How do you define wisdom?

I don’t like pat answers to anything.  I don’t favour easy conversations – at least not just because they’re easy.

And I think that the way we describe a significant percentage of the students in our schools is pat.  I think that when we describe students as having learning disabilities, we’re taking the easy way out. If there is something in their design that impedes them from fitting into the educational system, then surely the system cannot be held accountable if they can’t learn, or if they drop out of school at twice the rate non-disabled students do.[i]

It isn’t that I don’t think there are neurological and genetic differences among people.  Sure there are.  But when 10% of the population[ii] struggles with learning the way learning is presented, I think public education needs to move beyond the square-peg-in-the-round-hole attitude and adopt a system that is less focused on fitting children into slots.

Rather than singling out the children who don’t fit in, I think it’s time we re-evaluated our concept of education, its purpose, its limitations – and the variety of alternatives to the traditional model.

I’m not suggesting we stop providing support for those who do not fit in.

What I’m suggesting is a conversation (maybe a debate)—an ongoing, honest, sometimes heart-wrenching exchange that begins with social values and ends… I don’t know where.

This week, I’m posing one specific—but challenging question to the parents, grandparents and teachers reading this.

In the currency of a child’s life, what is the value of the coin we refer to as “learning disability”?

Diane L. Duff is a certified high school English and French teacher and a former private school principal. She provides literacy and academic assessment / consulting to students throughout Ontario. As well, she conducts teacher professional development (and/or parent training) workshops throughout Canada in the areas of reading development, dyslexia, and structured language teaching. Diane is currently completing a Master’s degree in literacy and Montessori teacher training. For more information, visit www.dianeduff.ca

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[i] Putting a Canadian Face on Learning Disabilities (PACFOLD)   http://www.pacfold.ca/news/03_23_07_en.shtml

[ii] Ibid

The other day while grocery shopping we came upon what my step daughter described as the most pretty fruit ever. She asked if we could get it, and not wanting to say no to a request for fruit I said yes. Then came the realization as I got this pretty pink specimen home, that I had no idea what to do with it. So after some quick internet research here it is! How to prepare a dragon fruit:

Step 1 – make sure it is ripe. Look for vibrant colour and a ready to eat one should feel like a ripe kiwi. Soft, but not too mushy when squeezed between your thumb and finger.
Step 2 – cut the dragon fruit in half as you would a kiwi or melon. It should be pretty easy if it is ripe.
Step 3 – remove the white fruit with black specs with a spoon, like you would an avocado or melon. If you want to be fancy you can save the skin for serving.
Step 4 – make sure you remove any left over pink skin from the white and black fruit.
Step 5 – Slice it up and enjoy!

Pretty simple really and a great, exotic treat!

Jodi Lariviere is a blogger and food writer with a real passion for healthy, local ingredients and she also writes two of her own blogs: Simply Fresh – www.simplyfreshottawa.com and the new Vegging for Two – www.veggingfortwo.com

Healthy Veggie Nachos

Sometimes it’s just fun to eat with your hands. No matter your age, it’s true. Honestly, some nights when things are crazy and I’m looking for a fun, easy meal I turn to nachos. But not just any nachos, healthy veggie packed nachos. There is no rule about tasty fun food not being good for you too!

So here are some tips on how to turn your nachos in to a healthy veggie packed meal or snack:

- Use low sodium, multigrain chips. You are going to be eating a few of them so make sure above all else you get good ones.

- Make sure you use a low fat protein. My favourite are low sodium black beans. As easy as opening a can of low sodium beans and giving them a rinse. They are also a very affordable option. Left over cooked chicken and lean ground beef are good options too.

- Add every veggie you can think of. Avocado, corn, fresh tomatoes, green onions, a bit of shredded lettuce, peppers, mushrooms. The list goes on. This is your chance to make sure that you are getting a load of veggies in every bite.

- Use low fat cheese, and make sure you use something with a sharp taste like old cheddar. You can use less of it but still get the full impact of the flavour. Also use low fat sour cream if you choose to use it.

Ingredients

Corn Chips

One jar Sodium Reduced Salsa of your heat preference

Low fat protein of your choice

As many veggies as you have in the fridge that you think would go nicely on nachos

Low fat cheese and sour cream

1/2 TBSP of each Cumin and Chilli powder

1/2 TSP of each black pepper and garlic powder

In an oven safe dish layer salsa, the protein, veggies and cheese. Give it a stir with the spices. Place in a 400 degree oven until heated through. Serve with chips and sour cream on the side.

Jodi Lariviere is a blogger and food writer with a real passion for healthy, local ingredients and she also writes two of her own blogs: Simply Fresh – www.simplyfreshottawa.com and the new Vegging for Two – www.veggingfortwo.com

Wow.

This beautiful video stands alone – in all its messages.

As teachers and/or parents – how many lessons do you see happening here?

Would you ever wish for this kind of life for your children?

D

Diane L. Duff is a certified high school English and French teacher and a former private school principal. She provides literacy and academic assessment / consulting to students throughout Ontario. As well, she conducts teacher professional development (and/or parent training) workshops throughout Canada in the areas of reading development, dyslexia, and structured language teaching. Diane is currently completing a Master’s degree in literacy and Montessori teacher training. For more information, visit www.dianeduff.ca

These great little Mexican rolls really adapt themselves to any flavours you want to add. Start with this base then try one of the suggested flavour combos below. They are mild enough in flavour for any little one to enjoy.

Ingredients
1 cup masa harina (a type of corn flour. I found it at my regular grocery store so not to worry)
3/4 cup vegetable broth
1/8 cup olive oil
Pinch of salt and pepper
Stuffing of your choice
Banana leaves or corn husks (you can buy dried ones that you need to soak for 10 minutes prior to using, or I just used my fresh corn husks after shucking my corn for dinner)

Mix the masa harina, broth, oil, salt and pepper together to form a cookie dough like texture paste. If needed add more liquid or masa harina until you have the proper consistency.

Make your flavoured filling – come up with one of your own or try one of the suggestions below!

Place two husks or leaves on top of each other with narrow ends going in opposite directions. Add 2 TBSP of the masa harina mixture and press down until it’s flat. Add 1 TBSP of filling and wrap in the corn husks like you would a burrito. Tie the ends with string or a strip of the husk.

Place in a steamer basket over boiling water for 25-30 minutes until the dough is solid but not hard. Unroll and enjoy!

Topping suggestions
- diced zucchini with cumin, olive oil and cilantro
- spicy salsa
- cooked squash or sweet potato with cinnamon

There are so many ideas for flavourings! What kind are you going to try?

Jodi Lariviere is a blogger and food writer with a real passion for healthy, local ingredients and she also writes two of her own blogs: Simply Fresh – www.simplyfreshottawa.com and the new Vegging for Two – www.veggingfortwo.com

The other day, I had the pleasure of picking up my youngest granddaughter from school and taking her out for lunch while “mommy” went to an appointment.  When I handed the reins back to her mom a couple of hours later, the little one bounded into the back yard with her bottle of bubbles and happily began chasing after the dog.

As I drove off with that delicious visual in my head, I turned on the car radio, just in time to hear the news:  The American Academy of Pediatrics has changed its guidelines for diagnosing attention deficit disorder.

It is now possible to diagnose and treat ADD/ADHD in children as young as 4-years-old.

Did I mention my granddaughters are 4 years old?

According to the lead researcher of the study supporting the new guidelines, “Treating children at a young age is important, because when we can identify them earlier and provide appropriate treatment, we can increase their chances of succeeding in school.”

I work with students with learning disabilities, so I know that early identification and treatment are important. And I know there are children whose behaviour and sleep patterns – even earlier than four years old – can make parenting a nightmare.  And, I believe that sometimes that might be have a neurobiological cause – and come under the label ADHD.

But – and I cringe when I write this because I know it makes me sound as old as I am – things were different when I was young.  There weren’t as many kids who couldn’t pay attention at school, or who couldn’t follow the rules – either at school or at home. I’m not the only one who remembers it this way.  When I talk to other old broads and aging gents, they say the same thing.

I just don’t have a memory of teachers having to focus their attention on specific individual children they way we do now.  Heck, I think I was the kid in my grade 5 class sent to the principal’s office  – and that was for being a recidivist gum chewer.

The point I’m circling around to is the shocking increase in the number of kids being identified with ADHD.  Even before these new guideline changes.

Between 2003 and 2007, the number of 4 to 17 year olds diagnosed with ADHD at one time in their lives increased by 21.8%.  The result of that surge is that now, nearly 1 in 10 kids has been diagnosed with attention deficit. And some 66% of them are being treated with medication.

Does this disturb you as much as it does me – to think we’re diagnosing more and more children as having a deficit or disorder and that we’re drugging over  66% of them every morning before we ship them off to school?

66%…drugged! And that’s only for ADHD.

If it’s hard to look back to my own childhood to get a sense of how many children were struggling with behavioural and attention problems, then it’s impossible to go back to the time before society was organized the way it is now.

But, I like to imagine way, way, way, back – like to the time when the Paleo diet wasn’t considered a fad.  I wonder about the behaviour and sleep patterns and attention span of children then – when they rose and rested on the schedule of the sun, ate natural food, and spent their days playing and running and chasing…and, well, just being.

I know humans are wired differently now – that eons of experience as a species have altered what we do and how we do it.  But, when I think about 66% of kids being drugged just so they can take part in the daily activity we say is so important….well, can you really blame me for being nostalgic?

Back to the present.  The scary-little-kids-being-diagnosed-with-ADHD-at-4-years-old present.

Do you think the increasing number of children being diagnosed with ADHD is merely the result of our being more knowledgeable and having better diagnostic tools?

Or, do you think there are other factors at play?

Talk to me.

D.

Diane L. Duff is a certified high school English and French teacher and a former private school principal. She provides literacy and academic assessment / consulting to students throughout Ontario. As well, she conducts teacher professional development (and/or parent training) workshops throughout Canada in the areas of reading development, dyslexia, and structured language teaching. Diane is currently completing a Master’s degree in literacy and Montessori teacher training. For more information, visit www.dianeduff.ca