Funny Girls & Dynamic Divas

Toronto’s women’s advocacy agency, Sistering is having its annual fundraiser on June 14, 2012, and these evenings always guarantee a good laugh for a great cause.

Sistering is a women’s agency serving homeless, marginalized and low-income women in Toronto. Their programs and services help women gain greater control over their life circumstances. Their advocacy focuses on changing the social conditions that put women at risk. And their service philosophy is to ensure that women’s dignity is not eroded by poverty and homelessness.

All proceeds from the show go directly back to Sistering and supporting the community of homeless, underhoused and socially isolated women who attend the drop-in programs and use the Sistering services each day.

This year’s headliners include the wildly popular and talented:  Sandra Shamas, Elvira Kurt, Liberty Silver, Jane Bunnett and many more!

 

TD Children’s Book Week

This is the TD Children’s Book Week, and twenty-nine English-speaking authors, illustrators and storytellers will visit schools, libraries, bookstores and community centres in every province and territory across the country.  The theme for this year is Read a Book, Share a Story. 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of Lillian H. Smith becoming the first trained children’s librarian in the British Empire, and the Book Week theme highlights the important role that librarians play in sharing books and creating lifelong readers.

The library in the poster for this year’s book week is the Lillian H. Smith branch of the Toronto Public Library, the branch I am proud to frequent.  See the griffin on the right?  He’s the very one I think of when I tell the story of my eldest son’s name.

I have to admit, when I heard the theme for this year’s events, I was a bit puzzled.  I rather take it for granted that children’s books are, by definition, for sharing.  Isn’t that the best part of the whole reading aloud part of the day?  Snuggling up and sharing a story.  But when I looked closer, I discovered that the books that the organizers want us to share with our children are books about libraries and books about children telling stories.  Books about books!  What could be more perfect?!

So, pop in to your local library, check out the Book Week site, and see what’s happening, story-wise, in your neighbourhood this week.

Get Outside!

Great Britain’s National Trust has come up with a list of 50 things to do before you are 11 3/4.  They include skipping stones, climbing trees, observing rock pools, calling owls, and sliding in the mud.

The list makes a great activity to print up, read together and check off.  Then, when you have the list of things still to complete, head outdoors and have some old school fun.

Here is the complete list.

image credit

1. Climb a tree

2. Roll down a really big hill

3. Camp out in the wild

4. Build a den

5. Skim a stone

6. Run around in the rain

7. Fly a kite

8. Catch a fish with a net

9. Eat an apple straight from a tree

10. Play conkers

11. Throw some snow

12. Hunt for treasure on the beach

13. Make a mud pie

14. Dam a stream

15. Go sledging

16. Bury someone in the sand

17. Set up a snail race

18. Balance on a fallen tree

19. Swing on a rope swing

20. Make a mud slide

21. Eat blackberries growing in the wild

22. Take a look inside a tree

23. Visit an island

24. Feel like you’re flying in the wind

25. Make a grass trumpet

26. Hunt for fossils and bones

27. Watch the sun wake up

28. Climb a huge hill

29. Get behind a waterfall

30. Feed a bird from your hand

31. Hunt for bugs

32. Find some frogspawn

33. Catch a butterfly in a net

34. Track wild animals

35. Discover what’s in a pond

36. Call an owl

37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool

38. Bring up a butterfly

39. Catch a crab

40. Go on a nature walk at night

41. Plant it, grow it, eat it

42. Go wild swimming

43. Go rafting

44. Light a fire without matches

45. Find your way with a map and compass

46. Try bouldering

47. Cook on a campfire

48. Try abseiling

49. Find a geocache

50. Canoe down a river

The Great Kids Stuff Sale

It’s that time again!  The North Toronto MOMS Group is hosting their bi-annual Great Kids Stuff Sale.  This large-scale mom-to-mom consignment sale benefits several charities in the Greater Toronto Area which is just one of the reasons that make this a must-check-out event.

The Fall sale proved to be a great score!  I picked up two bikes for $20, a pair of all-leather, never worn shoes for the baby for $5, an almost new GAP coat for $8 as well as a bag of clothes for less than $50.

It’s the perfect place to pick up baby gear for a fraction of the price.  Bumbos for $10, Bjorns for $20, strollers for a less than a third of the retail value!  There are mounds of clothing, stacks of books and so many toys that it could easily take hours to sort through it all.

Here are my insider tips for you:

-        Arrive early.  The doors open at 9 am and there is always a line-up.

-        Bring a large bag to carry around your finds.

-        Have a plan of what you are looking for.  The sale can be overwhelming so it’s better to know what you’re looking for before you get lost in the piles.

-        If you can, leave babies and kids at home as the sale can get crowded

-        Become a vendor!  Clear out the outgrown clothing and never played with toys that are cluttering up your home.  It’s not uncommon for vendors to make hundreds of dollars!

The sale is at a NEW LOCATION this year.

St. Clement’s Church

70 St. Clements Avenue (at Duplex)

Conveniently located between the Eglinton and the Lawrence subway stops.

Just check out the rows and rows of clothes!  Everything is organized by gender and size so finding what fits your little ones is much easier.  Shoes, formal wear, and outer wear are also separated so make sure you know what sizes you’re looking for!

It really is a sea of clothing!  The first two rows have bedding, receiving blankets and room decor.  It’s not uncommon to find the original price tags still on sheet sets.

Need a bouncy chair?  How about an extra one for the upstairs or grandma’s house?  For $15 or less, it’s hard to say no.

And you thought your toy room had lots of stuff!  Toys run the gamut from baby to six years old.  Games, puzzles, books, DVDs, – if your kid wants it, it’s here!

Happy, happier, happiest.

There’s nothing wrong with being happy.

The United States has entrenched the concept of happiness — or the unalienable right to it — in their Declaration of Independence. The Asian country of Bhutan measures their national prosperity not in mere economic terms, but by calculating and monitoring Gross National Happiness.

If happiness is such a laudable goal, and such an unalienable right, then why do I feel like happiness is something I’m supposed to be actively working on, at the same time as I’m making sure my nails are done, my hips are svelte, my children perfect, and my house immaculate? Why do I feel guilty on days when I’m unreservedly, undeniably unhappy?

In other words, when did happiness — or more accurately, being seen to be pursuing happiness above all –become a status symbol? Why is simply being happy, or striving to live a meaningful life, of which happiness is a by-product, not enough?

This line from one of the articles Natalie posted, by Todd Kashdan of Psychology Today resonates with me:

Organizing your life around trying to become happier, making happiness the primary objective of life, gets in the way of actually becoming happy.

Scientists have found that the active pursuit of happiness, as an end to itself, makes people unhappy. Does this not seem true of the people you know? I know a few people who appear to have identified a “happiness deficit” in their lives. They are the ones carting The Happiness Project about in their purses. They’re keeping checklists. They actively remind themselves to “let go” of stressful thoughts, of negative energy. In so doing, they’ve become so concerned about the achievement of the goal of being happier, that they constantly seem miserable.

Who can be happy, when you’re in a state of perpetual competition with your emotions?

If you have to ask whether you’ve achieved happiness, you probably don’t know what you’re looking for.  And I don’t think that Gretchen Rubin and her ilk mean to make the pursuit of happiness a commodity to be acquired. But you know, as much as there’s nothing wrong with being happy, there’s also nothing wrong with being unhappy, either.  Grump that I am, I don’t need to be told otherwise.

In the middle of March Break

What a difference a year makes.

This time last year, the boys were desperate to get outside after a long, cold winter. Theyspent a whole afternoon chipping away at the ice in front of the house so that they could play ball hockey on the first sunny, remotely warm afternoon of March break.

 This year? They’re in shorts. It’s (as I type) 17 degrees Celsius outside. As every day from here until September promises to be as reasonably balmy (if not down right hot, by July) as the last, I’m not sensing any urgency in them to get out and enjoy the weather. So, they’re crashed in front of a movie, until I rouse them in a few minutes to go for a walk.

 In case you, like us, have been lulled into a state of inertia by this unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having, here are a few activities going on this week around the city. We still hope to check a few of them out:

• At the NFB Mediatheque, visit an exhibit that explores the world without sight.  Can you see in the dark? features interactive stations where children are challenged to use their other senses to discover all the ways one can “see” without eyes. Until March 18. Drop in, $5 per child, free for accompanying adults.  (NFB Mediatheque,150 John Street,Toronto).
• The Royal Ontario Museum has Mayan-themed activities running all week, as well as extended March Break hours. Make your own Mayan jewelry, visit with the bats, and say hi to the dinosaurs. See the ROM’s website for full details.  (100 Queen’s Park,Toronto).
• Always free, branches of the Toronto Public Library feature March Break activities all week long. Visit your local branch for details, or visit the Toronto Public Library’s website for more information.

The Neverending Story

March Break on Stage!

On Saturday, we went to see The Neverending Story at the Young People’s Theatre in Toronto.  Based on a novel by Michael Ende, and adapted for the stage by David Craig, the play is about a boy and a book and how the characters in the book need the boy to help save them from the Nothing.  The Nothing is a nihilistic force that threatens to destroy all of the stories in Fantastica, where the book is set, but really, it’s the threat of a world without imagination, a world in which children are forbidden to dream, where they are told that stories do not matter.

So far, so up my alley.  The star of the show, I have to say, is the mechanical aspect: costumes and scenery.  There are curtains on stage that are characters in their own right, and the costumes were a delight to behold.  The layers and texture and energy of the costumes added so much to the performances.

The part of the (real world) boy Bastian is played by Natasha Greenblat, and she stole my heart and the show.  Bastian has recently lost his mother, his father’s grief debilitates him, and Bastian is bullied at school to such an extent that he hides in the school attic.  I felt that the other actors hammed it up a bit much, as if thinking that an audience full of children needed that element of attention-grabbing exaggeration.  She, on the other hand, played her part to perfection, never condescending to her young audience.  The message of the play is that books need readers to keep them alive, and that they, in turn, will enrich readers’ lives, and I found that she delivered this message with wonderful grace.

The best part of seeing a performance at the Young People’s Theatre is that there is a Q&A period after the performance.  Children can ask the actors about any aspect of the play and its production.  One child asked, “Is the play real?” and the actor who answered her did so with such respect.  He pointed out that they were actors and the play was a story but that it was a story about real things like grief and bullying and the importance of the imagination.  He told the audience that imagination and the escape that books offer can be the best way to deny bullies power over us.  I think it’s wonderful to have an actor explain that clearly, simply, and with as much passion as he did.

Tickets are a very reasonable $10-$20, about the cost of a movie, and the theatre is such a wonderful part of the arts available to children in the city.  Special show times are on for March Break.

How Old do I Look?

A conversation yesterday morning on the subway:

Sebastian: Mommy, where did you eat lunch when you were a kid? Did you eat at daycare?

Me: No honey. I went home for lunch.

Sebastian: Oh lucky! Did your mom pick you up?

Me: No, I walked by myself, or with friends. Even in kindergarten, some kids walked home by themselves.

Daniel and Sebastian: (shocked looks)

Daniel:  We’re not even allowed to leave school without a parent until we’re in grade five!

Me: Yes, a lot has changed since I was little. I remember that we used to walk home without their parents all the time when I was a kid.

Sebastian: Did you have to cross any big streets? With streetlights?

Me: No. I was lucky. I only had to walk about four blocks. But I did have to look both ways before crossing, of course.

Eavesdropping Older Lady: Just in case of horses and buggies…

A Spoon Full of Sugar

Mary Poppins was one of my favourite movies when I was a child.  My mother had taped it onto a VHS cassette from the tv and I would watch it over and over, rewinding all of the commercials using the clunky remote that was tethered to the VCR with a chewed up black cord.

I watched it so many times that I knew which commercial was the final one in the 3 minute line-up and could release the fast forward button and cease the whirring of the tape with such finesse it begs the question why I wasn’t any good with Nintendo games.

When my older boys reached 3 and 4 years old, I showed them my beloved Mary Poppins –  the high-tech DVD, commercial-free version – and I eagerly anticipated the end of the movie so we could break out in a Von Trapp-esque rendition of A Spoon Full of Sugar.

Admittedly, the boys’ reaction to the movie was a little lackluster.  They didn’t really understand how Mary had all of this magic power and the tuppence lady sort of scared them.

However, when Mirvish announced that the Broadway show, Mary Poppins was coming to Toronto, I immediately ordered tickets.

I love live theatre and sit in awe of the talent that goes into producing such spectacles.

Everything from the detailed costumes to the eye-catching sets and the lighting was phenomenal.  Not to mention that the actors performed each high-energy musical number with such gusto is was nearly impossible to keep from tapping my toes.

The play deviates somewhat from the original story.   The transformation of Mr. Banks and the push for good-old fashion family values is even more lauded than the original movie but works nonetheless.

Of course, Mary Poppins lived up to every expectation that I had.  Her quick wit, and dazzling personality were just as I remembered.

But perhaps the best part of the performance was when Mary opened her black umbrella, clutched her carpetbag in one hand and flew up to the balcony an arm’s length from the boys.  The look on their faces was well worth the price of the ticket.

They were finally enchanted by Mary’s magic.

If you’re wanting to see Mary Poppins in Toronto, you’d better do so soon!  Mary Poppins leaves town January 8, 2012.  If you live in the U.S.A., Australia or Mexico City be sure to check the official website for when Mary will be visiting your city.

Do you like the image?  It’s available as a sticker or a t-shirt at www.redbubble.com.  Check them out -lots of great gift ideas.

 

Seussical!

Last weekend, we took the little ones and their cousin (6, 6, and 3) to see Seussical at the Young People’s Theatre in Toronto.  The musical brings to life (at least) three Dr. Seuss favourites: Horton Hears a Who, Horton Hatches the Egg, and Oh! The Thinks You Can Think!  The Cat in the Hat narrates.

For the most part, the mixing of story lines from various books worked.  The spine of the story is Horton’s protection of the Whos, and his hatching of the egg for the feckless Mayzie works fairly seamlessly with that plot.  A chorus of bird girls is marvelous, and their costumes were pure genius: forties glamour, with just a hint of feather.  Gertrude McFuzz, who harbours a secret love for Horton the Elephant, wants to look more like the glam bird girls and laments her one, lonely tail feather.  Her wish for more and more elaborate plumage is beautifully realized on stage with hidden layers of costume, but it ends with predictably disastrous results.  The resolution of that love story plot ends on the satisfying note that just being yourself is always best. And of course, throughout is Horton’s wonderfully catchy refrain, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.”  (Horton’s costume was a little less than successful.  He had no trunk, but an oven mitt to represent it, and ear muffs for elephant ears.  The older kids grasped it, but my littlest, who is well versed with Dr. Seuss, kept asking where the elephant was.)

The production was a hit with the six-year-olds, but my three-year-old also kept asking when the movie was going to start.  (Note to self, make sure to clarify that a play is a play no matter how many times you ask.)  He loved, loved, loved the pesky Wickersham brothers, though, so the monkeys saved the play.

I am a big fan of Dr. Seuss, so this play was a treat for me, too.  I do think that a familiarity with the stories is useful before seeing the play, especially because there are a number of plots to follow.  If you are looking for a musical treat, this one’s a winner.  It is at the mainstage of the Young People’s Theatre until December 30.