Early morning fog on Jonesport Beach

Every day is a chance to make a monster castle!

Stella rockclimbing in Roques National Park area

Hubby with Max in hiking backpack on Beals Island

Me and my boy Max

So I simply searched the internet for all cottages that met this criterion and then booked the one at the best rate, which happened to be in a small fishing town called Jonesport …

[to read more, please click here to read the full post on Life As A Human]

I knew what he wanted. “Oh, come on,” I pleaded, “We really don’t need a bike lock. Your bike is the only one worth anything and we can bring it into the hotel room if we have to.”

He countered saying that it would be really quick — he could just run in while I drove to the Tim Horton’s for a caffeine fill-up.

“No … these things always end up getting drawn out. We’ll end up killing 20 minutes just to get a stupid lock. We have a long drive ahead. Let’s just go,” I whined said.

He looked at me.

“Okay fine.” I turned the car in to the parking lot to drop him off.

Then I pulled out into the intersection towards the Timmy’s.

But: Oh crap … I can’t over! And this lane is taking me right back onto the highway! Crap! Crap! Crap!

Now I am driving on the highway, heading right back to Ottawa. Good stuff.

I’m sweating bullets. The children, on the other hand, are completely oblivious in the back.

I don’t see any exits coming up soon. None.

And I don’t even know where I am so this GPS isn’t going to help me one bit. Gah!

And hubby doesn’t have his cell phone with him. Double gah!

Okay wait … what’s this … an authorized U-turn zone? Done! Consider me “unauthorized.”

I finally get back to where I’d started from and turn off the highway. Then I pull into the Timmy’s drive-through and get us our double-doubles.

As I approach the Canadian Tire, I check the clock. It’s been at least 25 minutes since I dropped him there.

I can see him flagging me down out front. I pull into the parking lot and he’s looking concerned. He probably thought I totalled our new car while he was buying that $20 lock. But a quick once-over, and he can see that the car and its contents are unharmed.

“What happened? Are you okay,” he asks.

“Look, I told you that it would waste 20 minutes if you went to get that lock!”

When will he learn that I am always right?

Our first expedition with this clunking announcement of parenthood was to Algonquin Park. We spent a weekend at Achray, and it was wonderful. It really renewed my faith that perhaps I would once again enjoy camping. We could use the pop-up tent trailer just until the kids got older and strong enough to canoe and portage with us. It would all be okay. (Well, actually, I knew that everyone in the family would like camping regardless … who’s kidding who — it was all about me. Stella’s been a regular camper well before she was out of diapers, but always with her father. You can read her great tips for camping with kids here on the Kids in the Capital site.) 

This is what the view looked like from our camping site at Achray, Algonquin Park:

With such a great start to our new life as “family campers,” we were keen to head out again. On the Thursday night before the May long weekend, we had not found time to plan anything but felt like taking off. We did a very quick google search for a camp ground in the Lake Placid area. I had fallen in love with this area during the winter and I was keen to go back during warmer weather. Our google search led us to a style of camping we had never done: the “ultra-campground.” These campgrounds were huge, had paved roads to the sites, an outdoor pool, a children’s playground, hot showers and flush toilets. Hubby hesitated; I said: “Come on! It’ll be fun! It’s not our style but the kids will love it.” So we booked it.

And this is what the view looked like from our site at the North Pole Campground in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State:

I think you’ll agree that both settings look beautiful. But there was a vast difference in reality. What you can’t see in this photo is that there were people on sites in front and back of us, with only a mere few feet between. Also, while that water looks inviting, you couldn’t actually swim into the river from the campground — just look at it. To go for a hike, fish or swim, you had to leave the campground. So, really, there was not much to do with the children at the actual site itself. They got bored VERY quickly.

And what do children do when they get bored? Whine. (Whining is actually a “nice” way to describe the screechy phase my two-year-old son has stumbled into lately.) 

And who was in those camp sites in front and behind us? Other families, right? That’s what I would have thought … I mean, who in their right mind would choose to camp like this if not weighted down with diapers and other kid paraphernalia?

As it turns out, though, it was retired couples. Not only did this mean that our children had no playmates about, but that I immediately felt uncomfortable … other parents wouldn’t even notice if our children were loud or rambunctious, but the quiet couple sipping drinks next door? Oh my, I couldn’t help but think that I was ruining their weekend.

Since there was really nothing to do at the camp site itself, my kids were constantly wanting to go to the playground. And if I wanted to sit around a playground all weekend, I would have stayed home! If I’m going to go through the hassle of packing up to go camping, I want to be surrounded by nature. I don’t want to have to walk along a highway to get to nature, I don’t want to have to get in the car to get to nature, and I don’t want to worry that my kids’ natural noise-levels are disturbing other people.

Now, that was my experience in an “ultra-campground.” The North Pole campground itself was top-notch: spotlessly clean, with friendly, helpful staff. But it wasn’t for me. At all.

I was miserable. So much so, that we packed up and drove home a day early.

I have since spent every spare moment re-planning our summer vacation. There is simply no way in hell that I am spending my summer vacation — my first vacation in over a year and a half — road-tripping with our tent-trailer, as originally planned. And I’m getting no complaints because NO ONE wants to be with me when I’m miserable!

Jack Pine by Tom Thomson (1916), from National Gallery of Canada

Hubby and I have had a long-lasting love affair with this Park. So much so that I wanted to name our son or daughter Quin (short for Algonquin). We’ve spent countless hours alone in the park. On islands adrift in lakes, with no one around but the stars. And we’ve proudly brought visiting family and friends from outside of Canada into the Park as well.

These trips were all before children. I was much hardier then.  Our trips into the Park were more like adventures — tons of canoeing and lots of portaging — where we would seek out spots few others had been to. Now, I use our two children as an excuse for not undertaking this kind of trip … they wouldn’t be able to physically do it, we’d be too far from help if something happened, it’s too complicated with diapers, etc.  But really, it’s me. Somehow motherhood has softened me rather than toughened me up.

But this past weekend I returned to the Park. Hubby is determined to bring me back to my former camping self. With baby steps. Baby steps that include a tent trailer.

So rather than head out into the wilderness, we parked at a tent site with our trailer. Although we are admittedly “camping snobs” who don’t do “car camping,” we’ve resigned to swallow our pride for this portion of our lives with young children. And I think you’ll agree after looking at this photo, that really, it wasn’t that tough to swallow our pride afterall.

The peaceful view from our site.

Algonquin Park is enormous, so it does help to know where you’re going. We had that to our advantage, but now you will too! This is camp site #23 at Achray.

As far as car camping goes, Achray campground does manage to preserve some of our most treasured camping elements: peace, quiet (no radios allowed!), and treed sites that are quite private.  And it’s also the locale where Tom Thomson painted his famous Jack Pine. In fact, you can take a short hike (very easy, kids can handle it no probs) to the exact spot where the pine tree was!

But alas, the pine tree no longer stands there. It died, and then some stupid campers cut it up for fire wood.

The site of the painting Jack Pine.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. We relaxed, we ate, we hiked, we spotted wild life.

Can you spot the wild life?

All was good in the world. (And then it snowed on Tuesday.)

We wouldn’t sacrifice our personal style just because we were starting a family. Hell no! Just because we’d be parents didn’t mean we’d have to give up our sense of “cool.”

But, one by one, we’ve all slipped into family-dom. Some jumped in whole-heartedly, while others — like my husband and I — tried to hold on stubbornly to as much as we could.

Here are some flashing signals that you too may have sacrificed your personal style for “family-dom.” Some sacrifices are made for budget or safety, others for convenience or just plain sanity-sake. And some…well some are just plain unavoidable.

Your waist: The first to go for most of us females is our personal fashion sense. Once the pregnancy waddle kicked in full gear, I simply couldn’t avoid wearing clothes that normally I wouldn’t have been seen dead in. Although I tried with full might (and many dollars!) to keep a sense of style during my pregnancies, I admit that I could not avoid the dreaded tops with the ties at the back. Oh, how I hate those ties. But, oh, how hard it is to find maternity clothes without them!

You’ve pimped your ride: Did you stick one of those “Baby on Board” signs on your car’s rear window? Come on … you can tell me. I won’t laugh (okay, maybe just a little!).

Plastic is now home decor: Where you once may have had a red leather sofa as the centerpiece, you now have piles of plastic crap — I mean, toys – covering virtually every square inch of your living room. Yes, not only have you pimped your car, you’ve pimped your home too! (Perhaps I should contact the producers of the “Pimp my ride” television series and pitch a “Pimp my life” show?)

Your purse was a baby shower gift from Toys R Us: Did you grudgingly accept the fact when your baby was born that you’d have to trudge around town carrying a diaper bag? Sure, we all did. But now, tell me this: Has your child been out of diapers for a few years now? So why are you using it as your hand bag still? It’s okay, don’t cry. You’re not alone.

Your idea of a sports car is a mini-van with a mini soccer ball hanging from the rear-view mirror: Sure, they’re practical. No argument there. But did anyone ever grow up dreaming of owning a mini-van? And have you ever known someone under the age of 30 to own one?

Swiss Chalet is gourmet: Remember during your courtship how you two would dine in the latest restaurant du jour? You threw on an outfit at a moment’s notice (without ties at the back, dammit!) and wined and dined on new and interesting tastes. Now, it’s all relative to McDonalds. So Swiss Chalet is a gourmet treat!

Okay, this list could go on forever. At this point, you may be wondering what has started me on this little tirade. So, I’ll tell you. That’s right … I will publicly pronounce just how far we’ve slid. We’ve gone from the couple who did “real” camping — never “car camping”; EVER. We went out into the wilderness searching for locales where no other humans would be. Or had possibly ever been! But not anymore, my dear friends. We’ve sacrified our sense of outdoorsy cool at the altar of family.

We just bought one of these:

That’s right — a tent trailer. Have a little chuckle. It’s okay, I’ll forgive you.

Not only have we given up our “street cred” as “real” campers, we have it proudly popped-out in the driveway as a type this post.

Okay, it’s worse than that. My husband is sleeping out in the tent trailer — in the driveway — as I type this post! And this is his second night in a row doing so.  

And he’s not out there because he’s in the proverbial dog house – it’s because Stella and her friends are so darn excited with it that they’ve been begging for sleep-overs in it. So, although he may have sacrified his own personal sense of “cool,” hubby is definitely cool in the eyes of the under-eight set. And that’s got to count for something. Right? …. right?

Things here have been busy for me (as I’m sure it is for other Ottawa local readers since government fiscal year-end = lots to do and all on by an immovable deadline of March 31st). Wouldn’t it be great if the kids’ spring break started on April 1st?

My 7-year-old, Stella, and hubby, however took some time off for quality pursuits. Yes, you’re probably thinking about this. But I’m not sad to report that that never materialized. Instead, she achieved this:

Yes, she climbed her very own mountain!!! As you can imagine, we are crazy proud of her. Hubby gave her plenty of opportunities to turn around, but she was really determined to make it to the top.

This peak is one of over 100 different peaks, ranging in height from 1200 to over 5000 feet (370 m to over 1500 m) in the Adirondack Mountains, which surround beautiful Lake Placid. And the mountain peak that she is facing is actually Mont Cascade, the one I climbed earlier this season.

So now we have both tackled our first mountains!

One little difference, though. After I climbed my mountain, I returned to a nice cozy hotel room. And Stella? Here’s where she and hubby chose (chose!) to stay:

She’s coming back home for a short holiday, and I can’t wait! (To learn more about her life in Korea, you can visit Letter from South Korea: Part 1 and Letter from South Korea: Part 2.)

In all seriousness, I do find it hard to feel like I’ve had a “break” if I don’t leave home, don’t you? And I often think children must feel that way too.

A visit to the Biodome museum's rainforest is better than being at an all-inclusive resort in Costa Rica. (Okay, no really. But it is better than doing laundry at home.)

I’ve got a getaway idea for you that won’t break the bank: Montreal. When I brought my daughter to this city, she really did feel like she’d travelled to another place — new environment, different language and a hotel with a pool! Woohoo! It’s easy to make kids happy, really.

So, from Ottawa, you’re looking at an hour and a half drive. Not much, really. You could do it all in one day, or you could splurge and spend the night.

To give you a feel for how it could all shake out, here’s what I did over a 2-day period not long ago:

• We packed up a car with two moms and two seven-year-olds.  
• Drove straight to Auberge Universal, which is a basic but definitely decent family-friendly hotel, in Montreal.
• The hotel is located right near the Insectarium, the Botanical Garden and the Biodome nature museums and will provide you with a free shuttle service back and forth, to and from.
• After meadering around and learning and admiring earth’s amazing creations, you then return to the hotel to eat a nice big burger and fries (sure, the hotel restaurant is supposed to be Italian, but whatever. Sometimes a girl just needs a burger.).
• Once dinner is complete, ensure that the little ones are nice and tired by heading down to the pool for a swim — kids only, of course. Moms can sit leasurely on the side, sipping wine from their Siggs.
• Head back up to your room. Crash.
• Enjoy a hearty breakfast at the hotel and then start making your way back to Ottawa.

Monsieur Croc

Penguin Party!

Les Creepy-crawly

All for $185.00! Includes accommodation for 2 adults and 2 children under 10, breakfast, shuttle, parking, and tickets to all three museums. Not a bad little getaway, eh?

Go on — be spontaneous! You know you wannnnnnnaaaa.

Other details on this Montreal trip can be found in this post. For more March Break getaway ideas that are within driving distance, check out this list here.

Questions? Just leave a comment. I’ll be happy to provide any details that I can.

The two types of parties still shared some commonalities — no parents, underage drinking and police showing up. The last item on the list being why the location of the bush party was to be a secret, passed by word of mouth on to friends. (Imagine how twitter has changed the world of teenage parties?!)

Last night, I feel like I stumbled upon the adult version of a bush party.

At about 4:40 in the afternoon, we headed out on the same trail I told you about here to have a cross-country ski outing. And in case this post makes you think that I’ve magically overturned years of winter hate in one season, such is not my life. Although I went out, I went out grudgingly.

As we started the ski, the sun was setting. It was beautiful and the outline of the trees against the shadow of the lake was a peaceful sight. But I couldn’t concentrate long enough to feel peaceful. My right knee was aching (old rugby injury), my neck was stiff (old car accident injury) and my dear daughter did not stop talking the entire time. It’s not that she was being annoying, it’s just that, for me the feeling of peace generally comes with quiet instead of knock-knock jokes. 

We finally did reach the turn-off for the Shilly Shally. But instead, we decided to have our Saturday-night meal at a cabin called Keogan. The stars were out, but the path there was still dark.

Keogan cabin, Gatineau Park

We arrive to see that we are not alone here in the forest. Stacks of skiis and snow-shoes were outside. And through the windows, we could see candle-light and hear laughter.

As we enter, I see rows of wooden tables and smiles and cheer all around. On the tables were no peanut-butter and jam sandwiches, but fondue pots of cheese and chocolate, beautiful fresh breads and bottles of wine.  In the middle of a dark forest, a Saturday night bush party!

We unpacked our goodies and enjoyed a delicious picnic that hubby had packed, complete with red wine that’d been stowed in a Sigg bottle. The kids were in heaven. And so was I.

Catching a quiet moment (despite the non-stop movement of my toddler in the corner of the shot!)

So, dear friends:  Bush party at Keogan! shhh… pass it on ….

In today’s Travel Section, I have two articles for your morning coffee:

#1: What a woman wants: how hotels can cater better to women business travellers and a list of hotels going all out to do so. Women entrepreneurs interviewed for this piece are Penelope Trunk of Brazen Careerist, Kelly Fallis of The Remote Sylist, and Ottawa’s own Annie Crombie of Re-Think Strategic Consulting.

#2. Five worth the drive for a March Break getaway: If you haven’t organized anything for March Break, fear not, it’s not too late. Here are five ideas for you that are easy to get to and offer lots of fun for the whole family. You’ll probably recognize some of the places immediately because I’ve blogged about visiting them recently (tried, tested and true!)

It certainly seemed a lofty goal for a book-worm gal like me, but hey, I put it out there in writing on my blog and while I don’t mind being a private wimp, I don’t like being a public wimp. So off we went to Lake Placid this weekend!

I’d had the weekend booked with the grandparents for months but somehow it crept up on me. Friday was a whirlwind of work and packing and lugging stuff over to Nan and Grampy’s (if you’re a parent, you know how much stuff I’m talking! A truck-full … seriously … play pen, high chair, toys, diapers, bottles, blankets and even bedtime music — by the time we were done, our house was half-empty!). I started to think we might not ever leave. But we managed to set out before dark.

I had never been to Lake Placid before, so I was finally going to see this place where hubby spends so much time. It was clear from the moment we arrived, that I too would start spending a lot of time there as well! Oh, the place is like a magical postcard – an enormous snow-covered lake, surrounded by majestic mountains for as far you can see.

Now, unlike hubby and his mates who stay in a lean-to on a mountain side, I had booked us into a hotel. As soon as we got there,  I got right into my jammies because I was so excited to lounge on the enormous bed and watch a movie on the flat screen television with a good red wine in hand. And so we did just that. Except that I fell asleep within the first 15 minutes with half a glass of wine still in hand.

The next morning was the day to do the deed. I was going to hike Cascade Mountain, which is described on the Adirondack Mountain Hiking site as follows: 

One of the most popular summits of the Adirondacks with Algonquin Peak and Giant Mt.. It’s the easiest hike among the 4,000 feet summit. Cascade Mt. has a 360 degree view from its large rocky top. There is a magnificent view to the North of the entire Lake Placid Valley. The entire hike is in a wooden trail except for the last km, which is on bare rock.

Did you notice it was the “easiest”? Yeah, me too. I was counting on that. Hubby told me that this is a hike that he and his friends do on the Sunday morning before they come home because it can be done before lunch. I really hoped that I could get it done before dark.

I needed no new gear, just a pair of borrowed snowshoes and poles. I had never used snowshoes before, but they are a pretty darn amazing invention really. They allow you to walk in spots where you never normally could. To get right in amongst the fluffy snow and trees. It made me feel like a kid again. So much so that I couldn’t resist eating some snow and staring up under the canopy of the pine trees like a sheltered winter rabbit.

My worries about being cold were needless. Here, I've already removed my hat and one of my layers.

Once you start moving, you really get warmed up. Also, because the trees are so thick, you are completely protected from the wind.  This is what the trip was like for most of the two and half hours it took to climb to the top. Just trees and snow, trees and snow. A real winter wonderland.

As you get to the top though, you get above the tree line and the wind starts to whip. Despite the wind, I was so happy to see the trees disappear because that meant we were almost at the peak.

Arriving to the mountain's tree-line signaled that the peak was close

I was looking forward to a glory shot of me on the peak of the mountain — amazing view in the background — arms raised in victory. But instead, I got this.

The not-quite "glory shot"

That’s right — no view. The clouds were so thick at the top that we couldn’t see anything. Bit of a bummer. But you know what? I enjoyed it so much that I am going to come back another time and get that view — if it kills me!

And in the meantime, this is my glory shot. Standing at the top of my very first mountain.

The actual "glory shot," with victory in a smile

Then I promptly hiked my ass down that mountain and sat in my hotel room’s jacuzzi and read a trashy magazine.

The end.

An unexpected shout-out!

I like to poke around Girl about O-town’s blog because she always seems to know what new funky things are going on around Ottawa. Not the same ol’ stuff — fresh, interesting stuff! I love admiring great design — paper, home, web — and as it happens, not only does she as well but she also creates a lot too. So much so, she just left her job and jumped out into the brave new world of entrepreneurship as a design coach. Anyhow, back to me … so I go and check out her new post and boom! There is my banner right there, front and centre. Wow, was I flattered! My head expanded just a teeny-tiny bit.

A new blogging gig!

A while back I received an email via my blog. This happens, and people try to sell you their secrets to riches or large penises — whatever you might happen to fancy. But this email was different. It was from a man named Christopher Holt. Unlike the other emails I get, he and his partners had clearly read my blog. And — get this — were inviting me to be a part of a brand new e-magazine. How could I not be flattered by that?

But for me, it got even better … the group starting up this e-magazine, called Life As A Human, are Canadian. A genuinely friendly and earnest group that includes, in addition to Christopher as Vice-President, Gil Namur as CEO and Kerry Slavens as Editor in Chief. The official launch for Life As A Human is February 1st — this Monday! (Before it launches, you can still click on the logo in the right-hand column for a chance to win $250!) So it’s all pretty exciting. This LAAH gang is all out West, so hubby and I are hanging our hopes on its outrageous success so that we can finally move out and buy our Gulf Islands cottage with art studio in the back. Can you hear my head creaking under the pressure?

I’m nominated for a weblog award!

I’ve never been nominated for an award before, so this is super cool! And I didn’t even have to pay anyone off (well, not that much, anyhow). It’s for a 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards! As you can imagine, my head is practically bursting now!

But here is how I REALLY know my head is getting out of proportion. Stella made this comment about my head, completely out of no where:

This morning, I am trying to get Max’s attention.

“Huh,” I say. “He just doesn’t seem to want to look me in the eye.”

Stella responds: “Maybe because you’re a medusa. Maybe that’s why.”

Hubby starts backing away out the door, chuckling as quietly as he can manage while still breathing.

Below is my nomination and a public shout-out to a special teacher in our daughter’s life. Please feel free to use my comments section to share your thoughts or memories of teachers that have made an impact in your life or the lives of your children.

*******

They’re rare. But if you’re lucky, your child’s school has one. That teacher who despite decades of experience still bounds down the hall with a sparkle in her eye. That teacher who young students rush up to and can’t help but throw their arms around her. That teacher who arrives home, prepares dinner and cares for her own children before returning yet again to yours with extra hours of tireless preparation in the evening. That is the teacher that students remember. And that is the teacher that parents are grateful for.

It is this quiet grace that I hope you might acknowledge — the teacher who demands nothing more than her own satisfaction for a job well done, that simply does her job so well and with so much joy that the extra hours, the intelligent learning strategies, and the intense commitment to each and every child can be taken for granted. This teacher is Ms. Stefanie Young, elementary school teacher at [school name].

I am but one parent who is grateful to her and to her contribution to my child’s love of learning and self-esteem. And as such, I will share with you our story.

Our daughter Stella is now seven years old and in grade two. Since a very young age, she has been remarkably articulate and inquisitive. She can, however, be on the tad eccentric side. For example, she was so taken with the character mascots for the Olympics that she refused to wear any other shirt than an Olympic shirt for close to an entire year! As parents, we all have high hopes for our children and want to see them reach their potential, but I found myself deeply disappointed after her first year at school. She was bored, uninspired and had not been welcomed into her peer group. Although I am a working parent, I came into the classroom as a volunteer every two weeks, so I witnessed this first-hand. I considered and consulted with a number of alternative and private schools. It was of utmost importance to me that my daughter, who was so naturally passionate about learning, did not lose this passion – and especially at such an early age.

Then our family life took an interesting turn. My husband was accepted for a one-year work contract to Australia and we were to depart at the end of January. Since our daughter would only be attending a Canadian school for half a year, I chose not to change schools and instead stick with the familiar to make our upcoming exchange as comfortable as possible for our daughter.

The choice to stay at [school name] was definitely the right one. Stella had Ms. Young as her teacher. Her father and I noted the difference in her attitude towards school. She no longer complained about going and instead went excitedly to the bus stop. She also came home overflowing with stories of learning and her day. And, what was most gratifying for us, she spoke of new friends and the activities they did together. We thought perhaps it might have been a developmental thing for Stella, but we soon realized that it was her teacher that had cultivated this positive environment for our child.

How did she do this? I don’t know all of the countless ways she must have done this, but I do know that:

• The work that came home was clearly integrating and linking her specific interests to the learning lessons.
• Stella, who has always preferred to play with the toys in the class traditionally coveted by the boys such as dinosaurs and blocks, was encouraged and welcomed into the boys’ circle of play where before she had been shunned.
• Stella developed a number of close friendships with the boys in her class and ultimately I was able to extend this beyond the classroom through notes facilitated by Ms. Young to book playdates outside of school.
• Whatever unusual things (such as plastic insect replicas or volcanic stone from family a trip) Stella chose to bring to school to share with the class were celebrated and shared, rather than ignored.

Before embarking on our overseas trip, my husband and I had some questions about how to transition Stella from her current Canadian senior kindergarten class, to a class in Australia, and then back to what would be a Canadian grade one class. We were not sure if we should enroll Stella into kindergarten or grade one in Australia and what curriculum gaps might exist between what was taught in Canada and what was taught in Australia. We met with Ms. Young and raised these concerns.

We were astounded by her helpful response. She went through the entire Canadian curriculum for both years and the entire Australian curriculum (which we had a copy of) and compared the two. She returned a copy with highlighted areas in the curriculum where there might be gaps and that as parents we could work on independently at home, as well as a recommendation that we enroll Stella into grade one in Australia. This would ultimately mean that Stella would complete an entire grade one year in Australia and return back to Canada to a half a year of grade one again. In doing so, she could reconnect with her Canadian peers socially without the academic pressures of trying to catch up on learning. This made excellent sense to us since it was her social skills not her academic skills that we were most concerned about as parents. Ms. Young had a strong understanding of Stella’s social and academic skills and understood that if there were going to be challenges, they were going to be social. I can only imagine how much time Ms. Young must have spent to provide us with such detailed and well-researched advice.

Before leaving on our adventure, I shared my contact information and email with Ms. Young. To my delight, I received emails from Ms. Young checking in on how Stella was doing. (From the time stamps on the emails, I knew she was doing this during her own personal time.) Further, she sent me a package that included a photo of Stella’s Canadian class and suggested that we do a letter exchange between her Canadian class and her Australian class.

I brought Ms. Young’s letter into Stella’s Australian teacher as well as the photos. Both the teacher and students were fascinated because none of the children in Stella’s class had travelled to North America before and also because Australian children all wear uniforms to school so they found the clothes worn by the Canadian kids in the school picture really interesting.

I returned the favour to Ms. Young and sent a letter explaining what we had done on our family school holiday to the Cape Tribulation rain forest and the Great Barrier Reef. I also included some photos and postcards. Ms. Young took this material and laminated the letter and photos into a book that she read to Stella’s Canadian peers and then left in the classroom for the children to look at in more detail during free time. In doing so, Ms. Young created both a fantastic learning opportunity about the flora, fauna and geography of Australia but also kept Stella’s presence in the minds of her peers so that when she returned, they would not have forgotten her and thus make her social transition easier. We continued the package exchange during the year, with Ms. Young sending a package of Canadian pencils and stickers for Stella’s entire Australian class. Stella’s classmates were so thrilled that many parents told me that their children were still cherishing their stickers and pencils even weeks later. Ultimately, this kind of package exchange enabled a learning experience not just for Stella — the individual child — but for two entire classrooms in opposite ends of the world! (And she did all of this on her own time and with her own money for packaging and Canadian souvenirs.)

Upon our return to Canada, the subtle — but very clever — work of Ms. Young was clearly successful. Stella’s peers remembered her and excitedly spoke of the animals she had seen and welcomed her back into the snowy winter of Canada, which they knew she hadn’t seen for more than a year.

We feel fortunate that our child is healthy and does not have to face the very real challenges of a learning, physical or vast cultural difference or obstacle. But she is still an individual child with individual needs and Ms. Young recognizes this for each and every child that crosses her path. And for that, I think she is exceptional. It is a rare teacher that can take the common day-to-day tasks of a job and consistently apply excellence.

We are very grateful to Ms. Young. She had faith in our child and her unique traits and we in turn have faith that Stella feels a sense of strong belonging to [school name] as a result. Ms. Young demonstrates holistic learning in the true sense and is an example of all that is right and wonderful about our Canadian public school systems.

Do you have a teacher like this when you were growing up? I bet you still remember them fondly! How about your child … do they have a favourite teacher that gets them excited about learning?

Did I have you convinced — even momentarily — on that one? Okay, okay. We know my Stella would never entertain such notions. But I did go to Montreal.

And I just may be up for Mother-of-the-Year, too! Because, surely, spending the weekend looking at tarantulas, cockroaches and giant beetles has to count for something. (Please, please tell me it counts for something!)

Here is a highlight from our visit to the Insectarium. This is a praying mantis enjoying a lovely little snack — the head of a live cricket.

Watching this praying mantis with a mix of fascination and horror is my girlfriend Pam, who joined us with her son, who is also 7 years old. You will not be surprised by the look on her face to know that she is saying: “This is SO DISGUSTING! But I JUST CAN’T look away!”

Now, as much as you are probably dying to hear more about these sweet little creatures, I don’t want to spill too much. Details will be forthcoming though in articles for the Ottawa Citizen and The City Traveler.

In the meantime, I will share some tidbits with you that are bound to come in handy in the week ahead.

• There are lots of ants in the world: Only 2% of insects live in social groups, but they represent more than 50% of the total biomass of all insects.
• Insects are very romantic: When night falls, it’s time for walkingsticks to engage in their two main activities: eating and mating. They even eat while mating, over a period of hours.
• Humans are weird: Young men in the Waiapa tribe of Brazil are initiated into their tribe with a ritual that involves suffering in silence while they are being stung by ants trapped in wooden tubes against their skin.

And one final, completely unnecessary piece of information:

• My weight is equivalent to 3.5 million ants.