Last Friday, my son’s drama camp at the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People concluded. His group performed a play with a crazy plot about a Crisis in Candyland. My son played a mafia boss. His groups (the 11 to 12-year-olds) was the senior group among three who presented the fruits of their labours. Their performance was charming, funny, and very well done. For me the best thing was to see the effect of this experience on my son.

Theatre is good for children. Read more…

This weekend, one of my favourite summer festivals is taking place in Toronto. The BuskerFest is a cornucopia of street performers, food, music, and just plain fun.

Street performers at the Toronto BuskerFest this weekend

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We’re having a wonderful week downtown while my youngest son attends the drama camp at the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People. Yesterday we went to the CN Tower. You know: that place that we locals only ever visit when we have someone visiting from out of town. Well, we had no visitors, we just went anyway.

We could see the Blue Jays game from the observation deck on the CN Tower.

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We had a great days on Saturday, my sons and I, cleaning the house. That’s right, I said “great day.” It was satisfying, the boys were into it, and we had fun while we were at it.

Believe me, it isn’t always that way around here. What went right? Well, about six things, to be exact. Here’s the list … Read more…

My 12-year-old has just started a two week program at the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People. I was surprised when he had the idea, but I went along with it willingly. As a teacher (back in the day) and as a parent, I have never doubted the value of theatre for all kids. It’s wonderful to learn to stand up before others and present yourself with confidence and clarity. Theatre teaches that.

Yes, my son has a flair for the dramatic, but taking that onto the stage is a whole new thing for him.

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Who knew beer was such a big part of Ontario’s history? Well it is … er … was. Waves of settlers, first English, the Irish, then German, each brought their brewing traditions here. At Black Creek Pioneer Village you can see the historic brewery for yourself and learn how beer was made. I recommend taking one of the tours.

Canada's only working historic brewery

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There is a great little story on Jackie Kovac’s blog (“The Big Kid Years” on the Today’s Parent site) about going to see the Paul McCartney concert with her daughter last Monday. her daughter (15) has grown up hearing the Beatles and Paul McCartney, so the experience was equally rich for both of them. It’s so lovely when that can happen!

The Three Little Birds performing in Toronto last weekend

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It was a big deal, last year, when we got an nice iPod Touch for my son’s birthday, and it was great to see how much use he made of it: texting friends, playing games, emailing, noting school assignments, and yes, even listening to music. When we went on longer trips it gave him something to do, and I felt like a good parent for having provided it.

When all is said and done, pets are better than iPods anway.

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If you don’t know Sandbanks Provincial Park, you’re missing out on something special. It’s only two and a half hours from Toronto. The beach is gorgeous and Prince Edward County is a pleasure to visit. We spent ten days there, half the time was just us grownups, the second half included various kids and family. In accordance with my own unsolicited advice, I let my twelve year-old bring a friend, always a good move.
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We are not a religious family per se, but we do say a simple non-denominational grace most days. It’s not about a religious tradition so much as it is about stopping to say “thank you” for what we have.

Another great meal made (mostly) by the youngest member of the family.

Much is said these days about the attitude of entitlement that young people seem to have. I’m not sure what I think about that. Sometimes I think it may be just curmudgeonly griping by the older generation. But I do think that life is that much better if we learn to stop from time to time and express appreciation.

Between people, saying “thank you” is a basic form of acknowledgment, like “please,” “hello” and “goodbye.” We affirm each other when we say these things. It does us all good. And there is something extra special about “thank you.”

I’m convinced we owe it to our kids to model thankfulness in whatever way works for us. I’m not sure you can “teach” someone to be grateful, but perhaps we can teach it by demonstrating gratitude ourselves.