…and Happy New Year!  I’m going to take the next few days off, so have a magical holiday and we’ll talk next year.  Cheers!

I’m off to a 5 day conference in Anaheim (followed by a few days of hanging out with a friend in LA), so I’ll resume posts when I’m back.  It’s been a busy fall, so I haven’t been posting as often as I’d like; I’m planning on setting that straight once I’m home.  Or in the new year.  You know how these things go. 

Hope you have some fun Christmas and family activities planned for the next week!  We’ll chat when I’m back.

I’m excited to be adding two new topics to my list of workshops:

7 Things Your School-Agers Wished You Knew About Them (based on my free report, which you can get by going to the top of this page and entering in your name and email address)

and

The Crazy Pace of Life: The Effect on Kids and Strategies to Stay Sane

If your school, or church, or workplace, or any other group you’re a part of, is looking for a speaker to hold a workshop, anywhere from an hour to a half day, call me!  I’d love to chat about our options, and I’d be happy to provide some testimonials and feedback from previous workshop participants.  There are more details on my Workshops page. for .

I just found out about a great workshop being held in Richmond Hill (I know, not that convenient, but worth the drive) for parents raising boys.  It’s being lead by Barry MacDonald, who is a renowned expert, speaker, teacher, and counsellor who specializes in “mentoring” boys.  I think if you’ve got sons, this is someone you’ll want to see.  He spoke in the area last year to a sold out crowd, and was immediately asked to come back and speak again.

Here’s the flyer on his presentation. 

His book is Boy Smarts, and on his web site www.MentoringBoys.com you’ll also find a free newsletter.

This is a great opportunity to learn more about what works with boys and how to parent and mentor them more effectively.  Please pass the word on to other parents you know who might be interested, and make sure to buy your tickets as soon as you can.  You’ll be glad you did!

I hope everyone has been enjoying their summer (such as it is) and that you’ve been having a great time with your family.  I’m officially “on vacation” from updating my web site this summer, but I had to take a moment to let everyone know about a project that I’ve just completed.  I’m so excited to share it with you!  I’m putting the final touches on a 12 week parenting e-course, and I can’t wait to tell you about it!

The course is structured like a home improvement project, in four-week “floors”, working our way up from the basement to the attic.  We’ll cover everything from the basics and foundations of Democratic Parenting, to the high-level stuff of making meaning and memories with your kids.  If you’re struggling to know what to do during those sticky parenting challenges, this course is for you.  And if you’d really like to just enjoy your family more, the course is for you, too.

And here’s the part I’m particularly excited about.  How many times have you picked up a book or an article about parenting, read it through and committed to trying some of the ideas, but then lost your mojo when you ran into an obstacle or a hurdle that wasn’t exactly covered in the material?  And you didn’t know who to talk to because everyone else in your circle was struggling with the same issue or practices a completely different kind of parenting approach?  Well, the great thing about the Home Improvement For Parents course is that your subscription to the course also includes membership in the Home Improvement Club, which includes a forum with areas for each of the “floors” of the course.  You’ll never feel alone and frustrated again, because not only do I join in on the forum, but you’ll also have the benefit and experience of each of the other members.  We’ll work together as a team to help you overcome those parenting challenges…and we’ll be asking you for your suggestions and thoughts, too, as the rest of us work through the program as well.  It takes a village, as they say, so here’s our little Democratic Parenting village!

And while membership in the Home Improvement Club will be included with your current subscription to the parenting e-course, if you enrol before the official launch of the program next month, you will be able to enjoy a free lifetime membership in the club.  You’ll never be at a loss for support again!

There’s a lot more information about the course on its own special page of my web site.  You can access it by clicking on the “Parent Toolkit” link at the top of this page, or you can follow this link right here: http://homeimprovementforparents.com/homeimprovementforparents.php 

And if you know of anyone else who’d like to feel more confident and empowered as a parent, someone who’s struggling with parenting challenges, likes learning from the comfort of home, or who would like to dip a toe in before committing to counselling or coaching, I would be honoured if you would pass this information along to them.  The larger our community is, the richer it will be.  And the beauty of the Internet is that members don’t need to be in our geographical area, so if you have a friend or family member who has Internet access, regardless of where they live, they are most welcome.  Word-of-mouth is the best kind of advertising I can have, so thank you so very much for sharing this information with anyone you think could benefit from it.

So follow the link above to learn more!  I can’t wait to get to know each of you better through the Club, and to share the parenting tools that have made the most difference to our family.

I’ve decided to take a break from writing this summer, so I won’t be posting regularly to my site again until sometime in Sept.  If something really great comes up that I can’t wait to share, I’ll definitely let you know by posting, but for the most part, I’m going to be keeping a low profile.  I will, however, still be working, so if you’d like to meet with me, I’d love to see you.  Call Karen at the clinic 905-901-3402 to set up an appointment.

Have a fantastic summer!  Get planning fun activities with everyone in your family and remind yourself how short summer is…don’t waste a moment of it!

 Dr Jody McVittie will be speaking on “Parenting From The Heart” on Sunday July 12th at the North Toronto Early Years Centre - Castlefield campus. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door.

I’ve already got my ticket for her workshop — she’s a bigwig in the Democratic Parenting movement and has written a ton of books on the subject.  I haven’t had the pleasure of hearing her speak, but I hear she’s fantastic, so I’m really looking forward to it!

My colleague Alyson Schafer let me know about Jody’s appearance here; this event is being presented by the newly formed Adlerian Parenting Association of Ontario.  Tickets and details are here.  Let all your friends know too.  Hope to see you there…you’ll be glad you came!

Get your free copy of my special reports, “7 Things Your “School-agers” Wished You Knew About Them,” and
“7 Things Your Teenagers Wished You Knew About Them,” along with monthly updates from the
Home Improvement For Parents web site.

We took a family trip to Disney World at the end of last month, and I just received the photos we bought from the Disney photographers.  Fun!  We had a great time, and my kids couldn’t get enough of seeing the princesses.  We even treated them to a princess make-over at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique — that’s right, the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.  Why didn’t Disney do stuff like that when we were kids??  On my first trip there as a child, I remember being so disappointed that there was nothing in Cinderella’s castle.  This trip, we had actually breakfast there, hosted by Cinderella herself!  (Oh, how times change…)  If you’re planning a trip to Disney and you have daughters who are into the princesses, book the character breakfast at Cinderella’s Royal Table, which is in the castle at the Magic Kingdom.  It was a bit pricey, but we got one on one time with each of the five princesses at the breakfast (here I am with Snow White) , the food was yummy and plentiful, and when the breakfast was over — two minutes before the park opened — we were right there in Fantasyland, ready to hit the rides the minute they let us out of the castle archway.  As soon as the park officially opened, the girls had their picture taken with the Fairy Godmother, and we rode four rides (three of them FastPasses, if you’ve been to Disney recently and know what that means), all before 9.50am!  An extra, unadvertised bonus.

Not every aspect of the vacation flowed smoothly — the first couple of days in particular, our kids kept asking to go home.  Our eldest daughter meant "home" as in the hotel because — forget the rides — she wanted to swim in the pool.  And our youngest daughter meant "home" as in where we live, because she was a little overwhelmed, at just barely three, by sleeping in a hotel room with all of us and spending her days wandering around seeing shows and riding rides.  There were some late nights and some cranky kids, some meals pushed around on plates but not eaten and some whining, but overall we had a great time.  Even if a trip isn’t in your future, it’s still important to create special, out-of-the-ordinary family moments.  What’s your favourite special family memory?

p.s. Here’s another picture of me, because I still haven’t outgrown the kick of having my picture taken with the characters:

p.p.s. If you are thinking about a Disney vacation, late summer/early fall this year is a great time to go because they’re offering their dining plan for free!  I’m all about getting a deal, and this is a good one.  Check out the Disney site here.

I’m taking a few days off over the holidays, so I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and hope that your holidays are cheerful and filled with love and peace.  I’m going to resume my posts in the new year…so I’ll see you in 2009!