Teach Your Child He Is Not A Puppet

As your child grows, you will notice that they are prone to favourite colours, they like certain books and movies, and prefer laceup or slip on shoes.  Suddenly, they seem to get sucked into the hype that is swirling around them. It is important for a parent to know that this exists and how to help them be their own person.

Regularly ask your child - what do you love about this show?

What do you think is so cool about that toy?

How do you feel when you wear that colour?

With the marketing and advertising worlds with a steady grip on adult and children consumers, it is so easy to get sucked into their pitch.

Children also love the hype of popularity and the latest craze. Being involved in something is quite hypnotic.

Bullying: Our Community Makes A Stand in 2012

Bullying in any form, is unacceptable. My community has made a stand against bullying, and I couldn't be more proud.

Bullying may be defined as the activity of repeated, aggressive behaviour intended to hurt another person, physically or mentally. Bullying is characterised by an individual behaving in a certain way to gain power over another person. Many people will be a victim of it at one time or another throughout their lives, and at varying levels.

My personal experiences with bullying at school were horrible at the time. I would like to think that it made me a stronger, more resilient person. Thankfully, neither the bullying nor the resulting effect were as extreme as many. As a parent, I would hope that my children do not have to deal with bullying. I know, that if they were the instigators of the bullying, I would be deeply horrified.

Rally for Respect was held for the first time in October 2012, and will hopefully be a regular event.

The Rally started as an idea of some local High School students, and turned into an impressive event of over 1000 people involving 10 local schools, the students, teachers, and members of the community. Premier Lara Giddings marched amongst the people, along with some other State and local leaders.

The huge assembly of people gathered at Arthurs' Square where they heard the heart-wrenching story from Chloe Cunningham, of her experience with bullying. More of Chloe's story can be seen on the website, Angel's Goal. 

Rally of Respect 2012 brought the subject of bullying out into the open. People were discussing it and telling their own personal tales. The students were hearing about bullying and the consequences everywhere. My children are only 5 and 8, but were proud to be a part of something so important to so many people, and were so excited to bring home their own Rally of Respect wrist band. The media has really taken an interest, so the photos in the paper and the coverage on TV show them that this is an important issue for everyone.

We look forward to the next Rally of Respect.

Please feel free to read more about the Rally:

ABC Hobart article
New Norfolk News blog
The Mercury article
The Examiner article
The Premier of Tamania's media release

Silence is golden, and not offensive

I was going about my business this morning, folding laundry, tidying, cleaning up the kitchen. All the while the TV was chatting away in the background. Every now and then, the TV caught my attention, and it made me wonder how some people get through day after day at home.

The Big Colourful BANG! and the Yellow M

When I was growing up we saw fireworks once a year. That one time every year was beautiful and magic. These days fireworks are used to celebrate or highlight many events. They have not lost their beauty or magic for me though.

 

image courtesy of New Norfolk News

Our great little town has recently been the beneficiary of a new McDonald's. Previous to this we had to drive a further 15 minutes down the road for a Big Mac or Happy Meal. Our town has seen steady growth over the last few years with more shops and housing subdivisions. I like change as long as it is productive and in a forward direction.

image source

With the opening of McDonald's our town was treated to a party. Crowds gathered for appearance of Ronald McDonald and his friends, SEA FM was on hand with giveaways, and a great country band was very entertaining. The finale at 9pm was the draw card for me.

Our small group gathered at a great vantage point and waited until the sky darkened. Admittedly it was reasonably past 9pm, as advertised, but what good are fireworks unless it is dark? The display was nothing short of spectacular, and drew the oohs and aahs it deserved. The child within me was grinning from ear to ear.

Here are some of my less professional photos.