Community > Posts By > SM8

 
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Wed 09/09/15 09:56 AM
So far this is what I managed to come up with which is pretty much what you all ready have.

http://article.wn.com/view/2015/09/07/Fireball_streaks_through_Bangkok_sky_in_Thailand/

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Wed 09/09/15 09:49 AM
My five year old gets migraines periodically . Does any one else have children with migraines or experience them themselves?

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Wed 09/09/15 09:47 AM
Migraine is not just a bad headache. It is a neurological disease, with head pain and associated symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, dizziness, sensitivity to touch, sound, light, and odors, abdominal pain, and mood changes. While children generally have fewer and shorter migraine attacks than adult sufferers, childhood migraine can be just as disabling, and it can seriously affect the child’s quality of life. A doctor should be consulted if a child suffers from frequent or disabling headaches or migraine symptoms.

Click here to view our list of Children's Headache Doctors.


Children Suffer from Migraine Too
•Migraine is very common in children - about 10% of school-age children suffer.
•Half of all migraine sufferers have their first attack before the age of 12. Even infants can have migraines. Migraine has been reported in children as young as 18 months.
•Before puberty, boys suffer from migraine more often than girls. The mean age of onset for boys is 7, and for girls it is 11. As adolescence approaches, the incidence increases more rapidly in girls than in boys. This may be explained by changing estrogen levels.
•By the time they turn 17, as many as 8 percent of boys and 23 percent of girls have experienced a migraine.
•The prognosis for children with migraine is variable. However, 60% of sufferers who had adolescent-onset migraine report ongoing migraines after age 30. The prognosis for boys tends to be better than for girls.

Migraine Can be Disabling in Children and Adolescents Too

Childhood migraine can significantly impair a child’s quality of life. In addition to the attack-related disability itself, children and adolescents may develop anticipatory anxiety, knowing that at any time an attack could disrupt their ability to go to school or enjoy social activities. It is quite common for children who suffer to be absent from school and unable to participate in after-school and weekend activities. In fact, children who suffer are absent from school twice as often as children who don’t. These and other issues often result in family discord.

Children and especially adolescents and teenagers can suffer from one of the most disabling types of migraine, chronic daily migraine (CM). CM occurs when a child has 15 or more headache days per month lasting more than 4 hours, for more than 3 months. Many teenagers with CM report daily headaches. Head pain is not the only symptom of CM; other common symptoms include dizziness, sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression, difficulty concentrating, and fatigue. CM is challenging to treat and significantly impairs the child’s quality of life.

Recognizing Migraine in Children

Migraine often goes undiagnosed in children and adolescents. In childhood migraine, head pain may be less severe than other symptoms, such as unexplained nausea or vomiting, abdominal pain, or dizziness. These non-headache symptoms are referred to as migraine equivalents. Children may experience migraine with or without aura. (An aura is a visual disturbance, such as blurry vision, flashing lights, colored spots, or even dizziness, which occurs within an hour prior to the headache.) However, migraine without aura is more common in children.

Before a migraine begins, parents may observe changes in their children’s behavior, including loss of appetite, irritability, yawning, food cravings, lethargy, withdrawal, and mood swings. Sensitivity to light, touch, smell, and/or sound are also common. Other indicators may include sleep walking, sleep talking and night terrors. Motion sickness may be an early warning of the predisposition to childhood migraine.

The most common migraine triggers in children are inadequate or altered sleep, skipping meals, stress, weather changes, bright lights, loud noises, strong odors, and hormonal fluctuations. Contrary to popular belief, food triggers affect only 5-15% of sufferers.

Diagnosing Migraine in Children and Adolescents

Diagnosis is made through a patient history, physical examination, and by ruling out other explanations for the symptoms. Sometimes diagnostic tests, such as blood tests, EEG, lumbar puncture, and neuroimaging are also used to assist in diagnosing migraine. Migraine tends to run in families. If one parent suffers from migraine, there is a 40% chance a child will also suffer; if both parents suffer, the chance rises to 90%.

A history, preferably conducted with both the child and the parent, should include:
•description of the pain (including location, nature, and timing)
•severity
•frequency and duration of episodes
•identifiable triggers
•symptoms at the onset, such as aura, lethargy, or nausea
•impact of the disease on quality of life (disability)
•previous treatments
•thorough family history

It is important to explore whether there is a pattern to the migraine attacks. For example, attacks may occur after a car ride or when the weather changes. Girls may have attacks associated with their menstrual cycle. Parents and children should keep a headache diary, recording date, time, a description of the pain and symptoms, any triggers, medication or action taken to relieve the pain, and time and nature of relief, to assist the doctor in diagnosis and treatment.


Treating Migraine in Children and Adolescents


Treatment for childhood and adolescent migraine depends on the age of the child and the frequency and severity of the attacks. Expert help from headache doctors or centers specializing in migraine may be indicated for children for whom diagnosis is difficult or who don’t respond to typical first-line treatments.
•For some children, sleep alone is an effective treatment.
•Although there are well over 100 drugs used to prevent or treat migraine symptoms, none has been approved for use in children. However, they have been studied by researchers and are prescribed. These drugs include triptans, ergot preparations, and NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs).
•Certain over-the-counter products may relieve some migraines. For mild to moderate migraine, general pain medications, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen (Advil), and naproxen sodium (Alleve) used early in the course of the headache are often effective.
•Since lack of appetite, abdominal pain, and vomiting occur in 90% of child sufferers, drugs that treat nausea and vomiting specifically (antiemetics) can be useful.
•Because of the potential for medication-overuse (rebound) headaches, all medications should be used with care, including over-the-counter drugs and barbiturates. If a child is taking any medication for headache more than twice a week, a doctor should be consulted.

There are three general approaches to treatment:


1. Acute treatment uses drugs to relieve the symptoms when they occur.


2. Preventive treatment uses drugs taken daily to reduce the number of attacks and lessen the intensity of the pain. If a child has three or four disabling headaches a month, the doctor should consider using preventive medication, which includes certain anticonvulsants, antidepressants, antihistamines, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, and NSAIDs. Sometimes herbals and supplements, such as butterbur, magnesium, riboflavin, CoQ10, and feverfew, are recommended.


3. Complementary treatment does not use drugs and includes relaxation techniques (biofeedback, imagery, hypnosis, etc.), cognitive-behavioral therapy, acupuncture, exercise, and proper rest and diet to help avoid attack triggers. For some children, eating a balanced diet without skipping meals, getting regular exercise, and rising and going to bed at the same time every day help reduce migraine frequency and severity.



DISCLAIMER: The information provided here should not be used for the diagnosis, treatment, or evaluation of any medical condition. The Migraine Research Foundation has made every effort to ensure that the information is accurate; however, we cannot warranty its reliability, completeness, or timeliness. © Migraine Research Foundation.

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Wed 09/09/15 09:38 AM



Sometimes, it's not an excuse. The mother gets remarried to someone twice her age for his money and moves away to an undisclosed location. The man has children close to her age from a previous relationship. Then the mother makes the old husband adopt her son and give him a new last name, forcing the child to forever lose his real last name and heritage. The mother forbids her son to stay in contact with his natural father, who is devastated. The father finds his son on FB and reaches out to him in pure joy after not knowing his whereabouts for the past 10 years. The real family members of the son reach out to him. You know what the son does? He blocks them all out of fear of displeasing his witch mother. How do you like them apples?


The father can take the mother to court if she keeps playing games she could lose custody of her child.


The father doesn't know where they live, the mother had his stepfather adopt the son and the son is grown now. He just shut out his natural family out of fear of his mother and her evil wishes.


Now that the child is grown there is nothing more legally the mother can do.



Child Abductions Within Canada
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If you believe that your child has been abducted by a family member, you should contact the local police right away. It is also recommended that you speak with a family lawyer as soon as possible to determine what steps can be taken in court to assist with the return of the child.

If there is no existing custody order or agreement in place and your child has been removed from their residence without your consent, you may need to start an application in the family court in the area where the child resided. In that application, you can ask the court for an order setting out the custody and access arrangements and requiring the other parent to return the child to Ontario.

To locate the family court(s) in your area, click here. If there is more than one family court, click here for more information about which court your case should be started in.

In Canada, both the provincial and federal laws address custody of and access to children. If an application for divorce has already been started, the Divorce Act will apply and you will need to seek an order under that legislation. If you already have an order for custody of or access to the child under the Divorce Act, you should be able to have it enforced in another Canadian province or territory.

If divorce proceedings have not been initiated, the Ontario Children’s Law Reform Act governs custody matters in Ontario. Once you have an order from an Ontario court under the Children’s Law Reform Act, you may still need to have it filed with the family court in the other province or territory where your child has been removed to in order to have it enforced by the local authorities.

You should contact the local authorities as soon as possible to determine what steps are required in order to assist with the return of your child.

Outside of Canada

If you believe that your child has been taken out of the country, you should request that the local police contact the National Missing Children Services of the RCMP. You should also contact the Consular Affairs Bureau. They can be reached at:

125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2
Tel.: 1-800-387-3124 FREE, 1-800-267-6788 FREE (in Canada), 613-996-8885 (locally)
Fax: 613-995-9221 or 613-996-5358

Where a child has been moved outside Canada, these cases are referred to as international child abductions. The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, known as the Hague Convention, can provide assistance where the child has been taken to a country that is also a signatory to the Convention. Approximately 80 countries have already adopted the Convention, 64 of which have reciprocity with Canada. Click here for a listing of those countries.

In Canada, each province has a Central Authority that can assist with cases for the return of the child both from and to Ontario. Contact information for the Central Authority in Ontario is:

Gretta Mosaed, Case manager
Tina Kapoor, Case manager
Shane Foulds, Counsel
Ministry of the Attorney General
Central Authority for Ontario
P.O. Box 640
Downsview, ON M3M 3A3
Tel.: 416-240-2411
Fax: 416-240-2411
E-mail: gretta.mosaed@ontario.ca
E-mail: tina.kapoor@ontario.ca
E-mail: shane.foulds@ontario.ca
Website: www.gov.on.ca

A very helpful publication has been prepared by the Consular Affairs Bureau of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada titled “International Child Abductions: a Manual for Parents”. This publication is available on-line at the Consular Affairs website. You can also contact the Consular Affairs Bureau at the above address.

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Wed 09/09/15 09:21 AM
Thermos

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Wed 09/09/15 09:19 AM
Neat, I am thinking more likely space junk?

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Wed 09/09/15 09:15 AM




Dear meat does taste ok (not my favorite) but dear are not endangered.


neither are lions...


True but they are listed as vulnerable . Conservation groups do want them listed as endangered.



yea, but nobody listens to PETA anyway... there are plenty of lions in Africa, the herds of wilderbeast, zebra's and antelopes are in the millions... last i read, there's 20-30 thousand just in Africa alone...

cheetahs and tigers are about to die off, not lions


Here is a dated article in National Geographic



Lion Conservation

Living With Lions

When people and lions collide, both suffer.

By David Quammen

Photograph by Brent Stirton


Lions are complicated creatures, magnificent at a distance yet fearsomely inconvenient to the rural peoples whose fate is to live among them. They are lords of the wild savanna but inimical to pastoralism and incompatible with farming. So it’s no wonder their fortunes have trended downward for as long as human civilization has been trending up.

There’s evidence across at least three continents of the lions’ glory days and their decline. Chauvet Cave, in southern France, filled with vivid Paleolithic paintings of wildlife, shows us that lions inhabited Europe along with humans 30 millennia ago; the Book of Daniel suggests that lions lurked at the outskirts of Babylon in the sixth century B.C.; and there are reports of lions surviving in Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran until well into the 19th or 20th centuries. Africa alone, during this long ebb, remained the reliable heartland.

But that has changed too. New surveys and estimates suggest that the lion has disappeared from about 80 percent of its African range. No one knows how many lions survive today in Africa—as many as 35,000?—because wild lions are difficult to count. Experts agree, though, that just within recent decades the overall total has declined significantly. The causes are multiple—including habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching of lion prey for bush meat, poachers’ snares that catch lions instead, displacement of lion prey by livestock, disease, spearing or poisoning of lions in retaliation for livestock losses and attacks upon humans, ritual killing of lions (notably within the Maasai tradition), and unsustainable trophy hunting for lions, chiefly by affluent Americans.

The new assessments, compiled by scientists from Panthera (an international felid conservation group), Duke University, the National Geographic Society’s Big Cats Initiative, and elsewhere, indicate that African lions now live in nearly 70 distinct areas (view map), the largest and most secure of which can be considered strongholds. But the smallest contain only tiny populations, isolated, genetically limited, and lacking viability for the long term. In other words, the African lion inhabits an archipelago of insular refuges, and more than a few of those marooned populations may soon go extinct.

What can be done to stanch the losses and reverse the trend? Some experts say we should focus efforts on the strongholds, such as the Serengeti ecosystem (spanning Tanzania to Kenya), the Selous ecosystem (southeastern Tanzania), the Ruaha-Rungwa (western Tanzania), the Okavango-Hwange (Botswana into Zimbabwe), and the Greater Limpopo (at the shared corners of Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, including Kruger National Park). Those five ecosystems alone account for roughly half of Africa’s lions, and each contains a genetically viable population. Craig Packer has offered a drastic suggestion for further protecting some strongholds: Fence them, or at least some of their margins. Investing conservation dollars in chain-link and posts, combined with adequate levels of patrolling and repair, he argues, is the best way to limit illegal entry into protected areas by herders, their livestock, and poachers, as well as reckless exit from those areas by lions.

Other experts strongly disagree. In fact, this fencing idea goes against three decades of conservation theory, which stresses the importance of connectedness among habitat patches. Packer knows that, and even he wouldn’t put a fence across any valuable route of wildlife dispersal or migration. But consider, for instance, the western boundary of the Serengeti ecosystem, where the Maswa Game Reserve meets the Sukuma agricultural lands beyond. If you fly over that area at low elevation, you’ll see the boundary as a stark edge, delineated by the slash of a red clay road. East of it lies the rolling green terrain of Maswa, covered with acacia woodlands and lush savanna, a virtual extension of Serengeti National Park. West of the road, in the Sukuma zone, you’ll look down on mile after mile of cotton fields, cornfields, teams of oxen plowing bare dirt, paddies, and brown-and-white cows standing in pens. A fence along that boundary, as Packer asserts, could do no harm and possibly some good. It may be a special case, but it’s enough to open a heated discussion.

Trophy hunting is also controversial. Does it contribute to population declines because of irresponsible overharvesting? Or does it effectively monetize the lion, bringing cash into local and national economies and providing an incentive for habitat protection and sustainable long-term management? The answer depends—on particulars of place, on which lions are targeted (old males or young ones), and on the integrity of management, both by the hunting operator and by the national wildlife agency. Certainly there are abuses—countries in which hunting concessions are granted corruptly, situations in which little or no hunting income reaches the local people who pay the real costs of living amid lions, concessions on which too many lions are killed. But in places such as Maswa Game Reserve—where hunts are scrupulously managed in cooperation with the Friedkin Conservation Fund, an organization that cares more about habitat protection than about revenue—the effect of a ban on hunting would be perverse.

Hunting of captive-bred lions released into fenced areas on private ranches, as now widely practiced in South Africa, raises a whole different set of questions. In a recent year 174 such lion-breeding ranches operated in the country, with a combined stock of more than 3,500 lions. Proponents argue that this industry may contribute to lion conservation by diverting trophy-hunt pressure from wild populations and by maintaining genetic diversity that could be needed later. Others fear it may undercut the economics of lion management in, say, Tanzania, by offering cheaper and easier ways to put a lion head on your rec-room wall.

And then there’s the matter of what happens to the rest of the lion. The export of lion bones from South Africa to Asia, where they are sold as an alternative to tiger bones, constitutes a dangerous trend that surely increases demand.

Bottom line: Lion conservation is an intricate enterprise that must now reach across borders, across oceans, and across disciplines to confront a global market in dreams of the wild.

But conservation begins at home, among people for whom the sublime and terrifying wildness of a lion is no dream. One set of such people are the Maasai who inhabit group ranches bordering Amboseli National Park, on the thornbush plains of southern Kenya. Since 2007 a program there called Lion Guardians has recruited Maasai warriors—young men for whom lion killing has traditionally been part of a rite of passage known as olamayio—to serve instead as lion protectors. These men, paid salaries, trained in radiotelemetry and GPS use, track lions on a daily basis and prevent lion attacks on livestock. The program, small but astute, seems to be succeeding: Lion killings have decreased, and the role of Lion Guardian is now prestigious within those communities.

I spent a day recently with a Lion Guardian named Kamunu, roughly 30 years old, serious and steady, whose dark face tapered to a narrow chin and whose eyes seemed permanently squinted against sentiment and delusion. He wore a beaded necklace, beaded earrings, and a red shuka wrapped around him; a Maasai dagger was sheathed on his belt at one side, a cell phone at the other. Kamunu had personally killed five lions, he told me, all for olamayio, but he didn’t intend to kill any more. He had learned that lions could be more valuable alive—in money from tourism, wages from Lion Guardians, and the food and education such cash could buy for a man’s family.

We walked a long circuit that very hot day, winding through acacia bush, crossing a dry riverbed, Kamunu following lion spoor in the dust and me following him. Probably we traipsed about 16 miles. In the morning we tracked a lone adult, recognizable to Kamunu from its big pug as a certain problematic male. When we met a long line of cows headed for water, their bells clanking, attended by several Maasai boys, Kamunu warned the boys to stay clear of that lion.

Around midday he picked up a different trail, very fresh, left by a female with two cubs. We saw her flattened day bed in the herbage beneath a bush. We traced her sinuous route into a grove of scrubby myrrh trees that grew thicker as we went. Kamunu moved quietly. Finally we stopped. I saw nothing but vegetation and dirt.

They’re very close, he explained. This is a good spot. No livestock nearby. We don’t want to push any closer. We don’t want to disturb them. No, we don’t, I agreed.

“We think they are safe here,” he told me. It’s more than can be said for many African lions, but at that moment, in that place, it was enough.

Contributing writer David Quammen received the 2012 Stephen Jay Gould Prize from the Society for the Study of Evolution. Documentary photographer Brent Stirton’s October 2012 elephant-ivory story won the POY Environmental Vision Award.

National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative is dedicated to halting the decline of lions and other big cats around the world. To learn more about the projects we support, visit causeanuproar.org.

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Wed 09/09/15 05:21 AM

very nice
I would like to see the parenting section more active
maybe it's because most of us on here have older kids..


Hmmm I will try to find articles for older children.

Mine are 12 and 5.

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Wed 09/09/15 05:14 AM


Dear meat does taste ok (not my favorite) but dear are not endangered.


neither are lions...


True but they are listed as vulnerable . Conservation groups do want them listed as endangered.

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Wed 09/09/15 05:09 AM

I am always sadden when either parent backs away and lets one parent or the other raise the child.

Parents can justify divorcing their mate but I do not get divorcing your child or making it so unbearable that the other parent abandon's the child regardless of their age.

Painful when one parent just uses it and excuse to back away.


Some people as you had brought up previously just don't grow up :(

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Wed 09/09/15 05:06 AM

Sometimes, it's not an excuse. The mother gets remarried to someone twice her age for his money and moves away to an undisclosed location. The man has children close to her age from a previous relationship. Then the mother makes the old husband adopt her son and give him a new last name, forcing the child to forever lose his real last name and heritage. The mother forbids her son to stay in contact with his natural father, who is devastated. The father finds his son on FB and reaches out to him in pure joy after not knowing his whereabouts for the past 10 years. The real family members of the son reach out to him. You know what the son does? He blocks them all out of fear of displeasing his witch mother. How do you like them apples?


The father can take the mother to court if she keeps playing games she could lose custody of her child.

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Wed 09/09/15 05:02 AM


25 doable ways to volunteer at your kid’s school


Even the most schedule-challenged parent can pitch in with these 25 painless ways to volunteer.

Aug 11, 2015 Astrid van den Broek 0





Volunteer-article-new
Illustrations: Jordan Sondler. Photo: Stocksy United

We know you can’t finagle a day off for every field trip to the museum. Or your shift work prevents you from committing to a regular volunteering gig. We get that it’s tough to make it to school council meetings with a new baby or toddler at home. But with a new year starting, the pressure will be on to donate at least some of your time or talent to your kid’s school.

It’s not that you don’t want to be involved; after all, getting to know the staff and your kid’s friends gives you the inside scoop into his world. But sometimes it feels like you’re asked to do a zillion things, and you just can’t swing it all. Cue the busy-parent guilt and aversion to raising your hand.

This year, take some time before the flood of volunteer notices starts to figure out what type of involvement you’re interested in, so you’ll know which opportunities to jump on and which ones to leave for another keener.

To inspire you, we asked moms, dads and educators for ideas on how to get involved–beyond field trips and bake sales–and came up with 25 totally doable ways to volunteer at your kid’s school, no matter where your talents and time constraints lie.

1. Manage paperwork

You’ve got an hour while watching Better Call Saul, right? Sandy Choe, a mom of two boys, organizes Scholastic book orders from home. Let your kid’s teacher and your school’s council know you’re available to take on some paper- or keyboard-button pushing at home.

2. Be kneady

Pull out your cream of tartar, flour, vegetable oil, salt and food colouring to mix homemade playdough to donate to your school’s kindergarten room (but check with the teachers first to make sure it’s needed).

3. Shop in bulk

Mom-of-three Tai So stocks up on juice, napkins and paper plates when they’re on sale and brings in the goods for school events like barbecues. The school council or office may reimburse you if they have specifically asked for supplies, or you can choose to donate the items.

4. Gather toys, games and books

Recycle your kids’ untouched or underused toys by donating them to your school as fair prizes. Teachers might also appreciate used games for indoor-recess days. Or, with your principal’s permission, start a school-wide book drive—label cardboard boxes and set them out in your school’s foyer when you drop off your kids. Spread the word via the school newsletter that you’re collecting used books for the classrooms.

5. Collect for gifts

Not sure what to pick up as a holiday or end-of-school gift for your kid’s teacher? Offer to collect money (e-transfers make this job easy) and purchase a gift or gift card on behalf of the class’s parents.

6. Pitch in with an enrichment program

Watch for a note home asking for volunteers for events like Hour of Code or Scientists in School.

7. Share your neat-freak tendencies

Offer to come in and wash down the art sinks, scrub out the class pet’s cage or aquarium, or help sort through the paperwork with students during end-of-term desk cleanouts.

8. Show off your job

Got an interesting gig? Speak to your kid’s class on career day or host an informal classroom talk on careers. Your kid will beam with pride, and you’ll have a chance to inspire the future generation.

9. Lend your hands

One-off events like fun fairs and movie nights are low-pressure and all-hands-on-deck, which is great for first-timers. (Your school or parent council will call out for volunteers ahead of time.) “Every year on Shrove Tuesday I go in and cook pancakes our school’s breakfast,” says mom-of-three Natalie Chenard.

10. Get nitpicky

While not glamorous, the school-wide lice check is a seriously important event and, not surprisingly, often needs extra hands. Bonus: You’ll have no problem spotting lice at home.

11. Serve lunch

Many schools host pizza or hot lunches—some do it weekly, some monthly. Donate an hour of your day on a regular basis to hand out slices of cheesy pizza to hungry students.

12. Shelve books

School librarians welcome the help getting books back on shelves or inputted into the computer system. Bonus: You’ll be like a fly on the wall, eavesdropping on what kids are talking about these days, and you’ll get an inside look at what types of books, graphic novels and other media they’re interested in.

13. Wrangle the drop-off

Many schools are adopting “kiss ’n’ ride” programs to manage morning car traffic. Don a fluorescent vest and help kids get out of their cars and into the school safely.

14. Prep a project

Drop a note to your kid’s teacher to tell him you’re available to come in at lunch or in the morning to help set up a special class activity.

15. Be a reading buddy

“When my kids were in kindergarten, I’d go in to help during reading time,” says Chenard. Classroom help is needed all through elementary school.

16. Dig in your green thumb

Many schools have gardens growing on their properties that are left without anyone to maintain them in summer months. Spend some time weeding in the evening, or take part in a one-time initiative like a fall or spring cleanup, which usually happens on the weekend.

17. Join the council

Parent Advisory Council or School Advisory Council meetings are usually held after work and some provide free child care. Executive committee roles like president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer are often held by parents who have been on council for a few years, but new parents are always welcome–they provide a fresh perspective and can offer input and support. If council feels like too much of a commitment, find out what subcommittees–which usually demand less time and have fewer meetings–need help.

18. Offer your insight

Schools are often looking for feedback from parents about academics, programming and other initiatives, like how to improve their eco certification. For example, at Dundas Valley Secondary School in Dundas, Ont., principal Em Del Sordo is trying to build parent engagement by asking for feedback from a group of parents about student learning and achievement. “If we want to support kids more in math at home, we ask specific parents what resources they would need to help their kids with that.” Watch for notices about this type of initiative in your email or via a letter home.

19. Use your grammar

Are you wonderful with words? Offer your keen eyes up to your school council for proofreading and editing school communications, like weekly or monthly newsletters, or notices for parents.

20. Help with tests

Chenard assists kids who have trouble reading or writing with standardized testing. “Some students may have a learning disability and need someone to read them the test or write down the answers for them,” she says. Check with your school to see if you can offer one-on-one help like this in the classroom.

21. Get outside

“I volunteer for yard supervision at lunch recess,” says Chenard. She circles the primary schoolyard to be available for kids who need assistance. Talk to your principal to find out if this would be useful at your school.

22. Lend your language

If you speak a second language, you can help welcome families to your school and provide translation or interpretation services to those new to Canada.

23. If you’ve got a great idea, pitch it!

And new projects always need help to get off the ground. “I lead a walking-school-bus route for our school,” says Sara Middleton, a mom of two boys. “Our school council wanted to have more active and safe transportation to school, and when the idea of a walking group that picks kids up along the way was pitched, I jumped on the chance to give it a try in our neighbourhood.”

24. Pull on a whistle

Got some energy to burn? If your kid is involved in athletic extra curriculars, reach out to your school’s physical education program and offer up your services. While staff generally run the school athletics and teams, many are appreciative of an extra set of hands to run practices, warm up pint-sized athletes, watch line changes at a soccer meet or keep track of incoming times for cross-country events. Or, like Choe, you can clean up and re-sew the school jerseys when needed.

25. Get behind the wheel

School sports mean tournaments. So’s kids play games at different area schools, so she and other parents share the job of transporting the kids to the events.

Not sure where to start?

Beginning as a volunteer at a new school can feel a little like being the minor niner in high school again. So where exactly do you begin?

If your school has a welcome kit, dig deep into that pack of paperwork to see if there’s a volunteer handbook. Often this offers some direction as to what help the school needs, the rules and regulations for volunteers, and more.

No kit available? Let your child’s teacher know you want to put some time in at the school. “Teachers are pretty receptive to that,” says Sandy Choe, Toronto mom of two boys. If your teacher doesn’t want help in the classroom—some don’t—touch base with your school’s principal, vice-principal or school council to see if you can help out elsewhere.

Also, many schools require that you have a police check done before you step into a school to offer your services. If that’s the case, start that ball rolling as soon as possible: In some areas, it can take a few months.

A version of this article appeared in our September 2015 issue with the headline, “Yes, you can volunteer at school,” p. 111.





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Tue 09/08/15 08:08 PM
The Bermuda Triangle - Facts and Myths







Even though you won’t find it on a map, the Bermuda Triangle is a very real place. In the past there have been many stories of disappearing ships, planes and people. Although there is a reasonable explanation for many incidents, some are still a mystery.

The Bermuda Triangle is located off the coast of Florida between Miami, Puerto Rico and the Bermudas. It covers about 500 000 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean. It is also known as the Devil’s Triangle because Bermuda was once called Islands of the Devils. The coasts around the island are surrounded by dangerous reefs that ships ran into throughout the centuries.

Unusual events around the Bermuda Triangle go back to the voyages of Christopher Columbus. He sometimes reported that compass readings were wrong. Many journalists have tried to prove that a number accidents and unusual things have happened in the region. Some cases show that there are no explanations for them.

One of the best-known incidents is the disappearance of Flight 19 during a training exercise of the US Navy. In December, 1945 five American bombers left Fort Lauderdale, Florida on a routine mission. 14 crew members disappeared after sending several radio messages. When a rescue plane went to search for the Navy bombers it also vanished.

What went wrong during the mission is not fully known. Compasses showed wrong directions and visibility was bad so the flight leader decided to navigate by landmarks which he saw below. Then there was a sudden storm and radio contact broke off. Wrecked parts of Flight 19 have never been recovered.

Ships have also disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle. Among them is the Mary Celeste, an American merchant ship, in 1872. The ship was sailing from New York to Genoa, but was later found off the coast of Africa without any crew members on board. Although there is no evidence that the Mary Celeste even entered the Bermuda Triangle there are many who connect its mysterious disappearance with the area.

There are many theories about why so many airplanes and ships have disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle. Some suggest that there are special magnetic fields that cause unknown physical forces. Others say that the lost continent of Atlantis sank in the region causing mysterious events. There is even a theory about unknown chemicals in the waters of the Atlantic.

Some experts, however, point out that the region north of the Caribbean is not as safe as it may seem. It is one of two places on Earth where the compass points to the geographic North Pole. It is also a region in which the weather is unpredictable and where storms can emerge quickly. There are strong currents because of shallow places and deep trenches in the ocean. These factors can confuse even experienced sailors.

Over 1,000 people were killed in The Bermuda Triangle during the 20th century. Scientists have concluded that this figure is normal and most disappearances have a logical explanation. The myth of the Bermuda Triangle, however, remains

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Tue 09/08/15 08:00 PM
While growing up with my sister our mom did most of the care giving until our parents broke up I was about 7 .

Afterword's our dad did most of the raising of my sister and I while our mom made excuses for not wanting to be a parent.

Eventually our dad met our step mom they have been together for many years.

As an adult I have a stronger bond with my dad and little patience for my mom. My sister and I chat occasionally.

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Tue 09/08/15 07:37 PM
Dear meat does taste ok (not my favorite) but dear are not endangered.

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Tue 09/08/15 07:32 PM

Stop trying to excuse criminal behavior because people come from disadvantaged or marginalized backgrounds. Not everyone in the hood becomes a thug.



This is true not every one in the hood becomes a thug. When a crime is committed then yes consequences should be followed through.

That needs to be the same for people who are doing well for themselves as well. Some people like athletes or actors walk by with a slap on the wrist.

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Tue 09/08/15 07:16 PM
quinces

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Tue 09/08/15 07:14 PM
Watercress

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Tue 09/08/15 07:09 PM

I would like to find out what issues my ex is dealing with mentally. Like I've mentioned in other post, she drove a wedge between me and my family/friends. Wanted me to make sure she was on all my assets, which most I had prior to knowing her. Couldn't get out of bed to walk down the hall to her office to make phone calls for work. Couldn't get out of bed on the weekends. Fought with me, when I wanted to go do things with my friends, because I can't sit around a house days on ends. Then would interrupt my sleeping with phone calls and texting all night long, while in the same bed, when she knew I had to go to work the next day.

And what healthy young 40 year old, loses interest in sex? At least with me she did. I felt like I was walking on eggs around her, never knowing what I might say or do to set off another episode.

All I can say it is not my problem anymore. Thank the Lord for answering my prayers.



When you two first started dating were you aware of her Mental Health needs?

Well wright it all up to experience right :)

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Tue 09/08/15 06:40 PM
That does sound odd. I am scanning an article it reads that he is in a coma. Hopefully he pulls through.