Parent Club Calendar

• Last chance to shop at the Samko Sale (see sidebar left for details
  
• Luminato Festival of Culture & Arts www.luminato.com
  
• Sanctuary Song - Berkeley Theatre
  
• Scottish Music Festival, Yonge-Dundas Square FREE
  
• Woofstock, St. Lawrence Market Neighbourhood. Outdoor festival for Dogs. Really!
  
• Evergreen Spring Plant & Garden Fair at the Evergreen Brick Works. Workshops, demos and organic. Free shuttle bus from Broadview station.
  
• Animal Adventure at the Ontario Science Centre with Safari Steve. 2:30pm Free with regular admission.
  
  Other weekend choices (which are FREE)
  
  
• mow the lawn (while the kiddies play outdoors)
  
• clean the toy room (ugh)
  
• walk, bike or wagon to a local park
  
• plant something with the kids (recommend strawberries - yum!)

Parent Club Interview; Sanctuary Song

Parent Club had the opportunity to interview one of the players in the children's opera Sanctuary Song which opens this weekend in Toronto.

Xin Wang plays the character Sydney the elephant.

Parent Club; Opera is a new thing for most kids. What is the difference between a children's musical show and an opera?

Xin: For me, the biggest difference is the style of singing. Opera is sung without amplification most of the time. and the vocal technique is therefore different. an opera singer can sing in a musical show, but not every mucial theatre singer can sing an opera.

P.C.; Are there any scary parts in Sanctuary Song that parents should be aware of? (i.e. loud noises, scary characters)

X.; A bit, the elephants got captured by a poacher/hunter and there is a action of a gun shooting the elephants.

P.C.; Knowing that friendship is an important part of Sancutary Song; what feelings, in your opinion, will children take away with them from this story?

X.; Kindness, tenderness, patience, and most of all, the understanding of the other's need to be let go is what will help all of us to be better friends to our fellow earthlings.

P.C.; What is the origin of this opera?

X.,: It's inspried by the film urban elephant, and because the elephants described in the opera are asian elephants, there are asian components in the music

P.C.; How do you prepare to "become" an elephant?

X., Love for elephants, and watching how they move. especially their bum and their trunk

The Mini Chair - Mega Fun

Found this interesting Canadian Made Kid product in the latest yummymummyclub.com newsletter.
The Mini Chair Kit by Elia Fun. This is activity will appeal to toddlers, children and/or tweens as an independent project or family fun. The chair blends functionality with fun. Scribble, paint, colour or decoupage; hours, if not days, of fun can be had. Not just another cardboard box; this chair can actually support up to 200 pounds.

The Elia website has many suggestions on how one can decorate this chair. Specifically, we LOVED the idea of pasting pictures on the chair to make a memory collage. Great gift idea for a baby shower, birthday or a start of summer gift.

The reversible mini chair (which comes with 6 sticker sheets) is made of 100% recycled materials. 5% of sale profits go to charities supporting children and the environment. Available for purchase on the Elia Fun website at $29.99 each (shipping via FedEx to the Toronto area is approx. $16.00).

Breaking Up

How do you break up with a fellow parent? You may start the relationship with great intentions at the playground; hmmm, your child is the same age as my child. hmmm, you live nearby? oh, you go there for coffee too? It all seems so dreamy. Until you realize the nightmare.

Child B doesn't share. Hits. Screams. Is he a bully or just in a bad period? Either way, you don't want to subject your child to a nightmare play date. So how do you break up?

"We're moving. I'm busy that day. We're contagious. We've got house guests. You left a message/text/facebook wall post?-weird-technology must not be working."

It's so strange. Grown-ups break up everyday. Bad dates. Bad jobs. Bad marriages. However, parent break ups seem impossible and just plain messy. Instead of getting straight to the point and saying; "listen, I like you but I don't like the way our kids play together. I think we need a break.". We, generally, as parents look the other way. Somehow straightforward seems rude, cut throat, darn mean. So we AVOID, AVOID, AVOID. And, then...we feel guilty.

Do you think it is better break up with a parent? Or, is it kinder to avoid hope that the parent of child B will get the drift?...

Parent Club Product Test: Splenda

Have you tried Splenda? I hadn't so my interest was peaked when I was approached a few weeks ago to give Splenda a test. My household doesn't have any sugar issues (we have other issues but sugar isn't one of them).

1st test; a packet in my tea. Certainly sweeter than sugar. After facebook messaging with a parent (who uses Splenda regularly); I was advised Splenda can be "sweeter" than sugar. Instead of measuring a cup for cup (as it says on the box) - I recommend measuring 3/4 cup of Splenda to a cup of sugar.

2nd/3rd test; muffins and loaves. No one voiced a difference in taste.

Would I use Splenda instead of sugar? No - I like sugar. When might I use Splenda? If a friend had gestational diabetes. For baking for the school bake sale. It was a pleasant alternative to sugar.

Parent Club has some coupons for Splenda to share with the club. If you're interested send us an e-mail and we'll mail them out to you.