Travelling Circus

When traveling for the first time with a 19 week old puppy I have the following advice:

1. Have low expectations

2. Buy a muzzle (for the teething puppy and for the freaking out kids who believe their faces are in imminent danger of being eaten off - or both)

3. Don't leave for the first trip in a) high traffic and b) darkness

4. Buy the seat belt harness with the shortest possible tether

5. Do not feed the dog or let him drink for 48 hours prior to the trip

6. Bring ear plugs for the whole family and/or test the maximum volume on the stereo before leaving

7. Pack treats and toys - chew toys - many chew toys - and very chewy treats.

8. Do not travel until the puppy can pee on command at -6 degrees in the wind and snow in under 25 seconds on the side of a highway...in the dark.

9. If possible tranquilize the dog

10. If 9) above is not possible...... tranquilize yourself.

If you are lucky the dog will sit quietly, enjoy the scenery, snack when appropriate, have a nap, pee, poop and puke outside the car when requested to do so or as needed.

I am not a lucky person.

PS - we survived - with humour (alcohol was not available)


PPS - so did the puppy who wishes to demonstrate with the following evidence that his mother is exaggerating a little bit

Exhibit A - Does this kid look stressed - no way!

Exhibit B - I am the model travel dog!

Exhibit C - She is SMILING!

Twas the night before......

I am sitting at my desk at 7:33pm the night before a dream of mine comes true.

It's quiet here now.

Gone the background noises of the daytime - the chatter of voices, the cries of hungry or sad babies, the heated arguments of toddlers, the soothing singing of teachers, the crunch of leaves as children run through them, the laughter, the cheers, the stern voice of teachers reminding children, the smells of baking and lunches being heated, the greetings of families arriving and leaving.  I can tune it all out when I am working at my desk but now, in the quiet, I miss it.

I miss them.

I am particularly contemplative tonight as tomorrow is a BIG day.

There is a lot on the line for me both personally and professionally.

I was reminded in a good discussion with colleagues last night that our work needs to align with our passion and "heart"  - the leadership guru's (such as my husband :)) call this "core" vs "chore".  We need our work to be as much "core" as possible for this part of our lives to be meaningful.

In this regard I am beyond blessed.

I am more committed to "childhood" now that I ever was.  I am determined to offer children and families the very best childhood experiences in our care.  To move far beyond the status quo and be bold, take risks, nurture curiosity, follow children's ideas, provoke their thinking, protect their time and space......to nurture our staff in the very same way.

Our new Vision Statement is "Changing the world by honouring childhood".

And we are on our way.......the journey is several years old but the last 12 months have seen rapid and sustaining change that started with a study tour at Hilltop Children's Centres in Seattle with Senior Staff.  This was further reinforced for me by a challenging and  transformative few days in London Ontario at a Leadership Institute.

And tomorrow 4 Hilltop Educators will visit us here in our centres and work alongside us.

I still have to pinch myself to believe that when I balled up all my courage and crossed every finger  I have and asked them to partner with us they said YES!  Not just ok, sure, but YES YES YES and lets do more that one visit, lets work on this together over a few years......lets be true partners in moving our work with children and families to a higher, deeper level.

I am beyond excited about what tomorrow could mean for our work.

Beyond touched that almost every family agreed to voluntarily take the afternoon off and pick up their children so every member of our staff can sit and discuss and dialogue and learn from our Hilltop colleagues and one another for 2 hours, at my house, in the afternoon....what a gift they have given us!

As I sit here now.....in the quiet, I already feel full of emotion from this journey...for what it has already given me, given us......and I have to remind myself to breathe thinking about tomorrow.

The "chores" today were many but they paled into relative insignificance in the face of changing the world by honouring children and families and educators..... and that is my "core".

Roll on tomorrow....

Dreams really do come true.

Wordless Wednesday - Oh my! My guy is an Alumni

Dinner in Fort Langley before

Last run through

Celebrating after!

All done!

 

Daylight Saving

My facebook was awash in status updates complaining about daylight saving yesterday......and to be sure... that first early dark day always feel a bit dreary.....and the evening seems to stretch on forever.....and then you get to bed and wonder why sleep doesn't come easily......and then (if you are me) your alarm doesn't go off and the whole first school morning of daylight saving 2012 is a gong show.

So feeling discombobulated and frazzled and facing a challenging day I stepped outside..... into.....daylight!

I had to dig through my purse to find my sunglasses!

I started to drive to work and got to the point where I should have headed north to work and decided to turn south and revel in the sunrise.....as opposed to watching it from my desk like last week.

And what a glorious little gift it was......

I am no great fan of the daylight saving but now that it is begun we are that much closer to Spring Ahead......and we have sunrise back at a decent hour for a couple of weeks....

I know I will lament the darkness at 4pm and the kids in our child care centres will all believe they have been forgotten by their parents and be upset this afternoon.....but until then....let's you and I enjoy the gift that was this morning......

Crafty Conference

 It was our annual child care conference today and 200 folks gathered and had a great day.  

Their day was such a success thanks to a truly great committee that works together so well to put this event on. I wrote about them here last year after conference.

I have the lovely job of coming up with a small token of appreciation for the committee of 17.

The conference is called Circles of Caring so I am usually thinking something round, circular...

I am also on a budget.

So imagine my utter delight when this crafty little idea came to me without the assistance of Martha or Pinterest!

I found mason jars for $2.29 at Michaels.

I found this list on the internet

The 51st use was "to thank a creative and dedicated conference committee."

I found chalkboard stickers, a little raffia ( and a starbucks card in the jar) and Voila!

Pretty sweet.......if you are on my Christmas list prepare to mason jarred!

The delight of mail

On Monday our household received two letters

Two personal, hand addressed letters

One from South Africa (mailed in England)

One from Sydney, Australia

One from the Byres side of the family

One from the other side of the family (my mother's side).

One written beautifully by my niece

One containing the beautiful images taken by my cousin (of her son, my second cousin)

It is so unusual to get "snail mail" these days, handwritten and personal notes let alone from such far flung places!

It was just so lovely, I savored every word and was reminded that, as efficient as email and Facebook might be, there really is no substitute for a handwritten note, a letter.

I have resolved to write more letters.

Thank you CC and CM for your lovely missives from afar - loved and appreciated across the miles.

Wordless Wednesday - Before the rain came!