Why YOU & YOUR kids should care about local farms?

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Cynthia Lindsay RN

I’m sure you’ve all heard wonderfully colourful stories from your grandparents. You know the ones about walking 10 kms to school, up hill, both ways. I love hearing those tales and I’m lucky enough in my family to have heard many. The stories I hear are about large French Canadian families where farming was a large part of their history. It was not only just their livelihood, but also their survival. I’ve also been told this is why I have so many aunts and uncles… the more children in a family, the better to help on the farm!

So as we celebrate World food day, I’m nostalgic as I read that this year’s theme: Family Farming: Feeding the world, caring for the earth! Continue reading →

Posted in Children & Tweens, Healthy Eating for Toddlers & Preschoolers, Healthy Eating for Your Child/Tween, Parenting, Parenting Your Child/Tween, Parenting Your Toddler & Preschooler, Toddlers & Preschoolers | Tagged family farms, farms, Food, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, grandparents, Halton, halton farms, kids, local farms, locally grown, parents, Physical Health, school health | Leave a comment

Social media “friends”: Are they really?

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Paula D'Orazio

Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Pinterest. I find these and other social media sites mean different things to different people. For some, it’s all about their “friends” and what everybody’s up to. Some see them as platforms for networking, entertainment, connecting with far-away loved ones or a place to play fun and addictive games. They can be quick and easy party planners and ways of showing Great Aunt Sue in Nova Scotia pictures of Junior catching his first fish – seconds after the big catch!

For others, they have become daily journals of details that in any previous generation would never have been widely shared. They are a place to post a photo shoot of your perfectly garnished linguini carbonara or the beautiful pineapple upside-down cake you just baked. Remember back-in-the-day, before social media, when we used to take pictures of our meals, print them and run them over to all our friends’ houses to show them? No? Me neither. LOL! Continue reading →

Posted in Children & Tweens, Emotional Well-Being & Mental Health for Your Child/Tween, Emotional Well-Being & Mental Health for Your Teen, Parenting, Parenting Your Child/Tween, Parenting Your Teen, Teens | Tagged choosing friends wisely, Facebook, friends, friendship, healthy friendships, Mental Health, school, social media | Leave a comment

Anxiety and kids: has this become the new norm?

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Cynthia Lindsay RN

As a parent are you worried about your child’s emotional well-being?

Well you are not alone. Did you know that anxiety disorders are the number one mental health problem in children and youth?

So let’s talk about anxiety. Has living in a state of stress and anxiety become a new normal for our children? (And just to clarify when I speak of normal, I’m simply talking about something that is in their life every day. Because what’s really normal anyway…)

Think about it. Anxiety does have a very real purpose in life. It’s not all bad. It’s the way our body responds to perceived dangers. It can set off our fight, flight or freeze response – which can be useful in certain situations. Continue reading →

Posted in Children & Tweens, Emotional Well-Being & Mental Health for Your Child/Tween, Emotional Well-Being & Mental Health for Your Teen, Parenting, Parenting Your Child/Tween, Parenting Your Teen, Teens | Tagged anxiety, Coping, feelings, help, Mental Health, parenting support, perceptions, relaxation, school, school health, stress, support, worry | 1 Comment

Don’t forget the D- vitamin D!

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Carolyn Wilkie, RN

As you sip your morning coffee, blurry eyed from a near sleepless night, something tweaks your memory about vitamin D. You know it was in one of those countless books or articles you read when you were pregnant; likely somewhere between making notes on your favourite baby name and scratching your almost bursting belly. Continue reading →

Posted in Babies, Breastfeeding Your Baby, Breastfeeding Your Child, Feeding Your Baby in the First Year, Healthy Eating for Toddlers & Preschoolers, Parenting, Pregnancy, Preparing to Breastfeed, Toddlers & Preschoolers | Tagged babies, Breastfeeding Your Baby, infant feeding, parents, Physical Health, vitamin d | Leave a comment

Get Outside for Goodness’ Sake

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Paula D'Orazio

I was supposed to write a blog promoting the idea of getting outside to play. So, here goes:

Go outside and play.

Blog’s done. 🙂

Yeah, but when have I ever stopped at just four words? (LOL!) That and it’s actually not that simple because what I realized is that many of us pay to have our kids “go outside and play” and we’ve lost sight of the fact that active outdoor play is actually free! Now that I can blog about! Continue reading →