Community Cup 2014

It's hard to make connections in our community. We're busy people, with jobs (sometimes multiple jobs!), kids, pets, housework and financial worries. But building a community to support yourself and your family is a marvelous way to make friends and find others to lean on when times get tough. I've built my own community here in Ottawa in many different ways, and participating in groups and events has been instrumental in helping me find other like-minded parents to hang out with.

That's why I was excited to hear about the Community Cup, taking place this Saturday (June 28th) at Brewer Park.

The Community Cup is a not for profit, multicultural initiative that integrates volunteerism and sports. Initiated and hosted by the Catholic Centre for Immigrants in 2005, this volunteer driven, major event in Ottawa, is primarily a fun and engaging way to help newcomers and non-newcomers connect in a barrier free way that celebrates diversity and welcoming communities. The Community Cup is now an annual community festival, featuring soccer, multicultural dance and music, international food, a citizenship ceremony, events for the kids, and more.

In this day-long event, there will be:

• A 64 team co-ed recreational 7-on-7 Soccer Tournament with 4 divisions starting at age 7 and up.
• A Community Tent hosting 25 Ottawa-area non-profit and community service organizations
• Live Entertainment and Music with hints of Multicultural flavours
• Live streaming of the FIFA World Cup matches
• A Kids Zone for ages 14 and under providing non-stop activities, games, crafts, entertainment and a youth soccer challenge.
• Soccer Skills Challenge hosted by the Ottawa Fury and CKCU. Come meet the players!
• An Interactive Demonstration Sports area presented by various sports clubs/groups to learn and try out new sports and find out how to get involved. All abilities welcomed.
• A Canadian Citizenship Ceremony (1pm to 2pm). Witness and welcome newcomers to our great country.
• Experience delicious Local Food provided local vendors and food trucks.

And bonus? You can pop over to the Ottawa Farmer's Market for some fresh fruit and veg!!

Check out the website for more details, and comment below if you end up attending! Have fun!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=examfJRI5EE

Summer is HERE: Ottawa Events Round-Up!

OK, so maybe summer isn't here for another four days, but we're close! It certainly feels like summer. And with only four days of school left (for the French Catholic board), my husband certainly knows that summer is coming ;) As a SAHD, he will be the one in charge of summer fun! With summer comes many great events in and around Ottawa. I've heard of SO many things going on this weekend that I just had to get it all written down and clear in my mind :) I think we'll only be able to pick one or two events to attend, but I'd love to hear about what you're doing!

Teddy Bear' s Picnic

Lemonade Standemonium

Ottawa Dragonboat Festival

Carivibe Festival

Ottawa Fringe Festival

Beechwood Solistic Stroll

Boomerang Kids Charity Strollerthon

Glowfair Ottawa

and of course, we can't forget the Ottawa Farmer's Market!

Phew, that was a lot....have I missed anything?

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I almost forgot the ice cream festival! Ice cream is very important :)

Running with kids

A great way to teach your kids how to be active is to run with them. When you're ready you can sign them up for race. There are many events around the city with distances suitable for little ones or if you have a jogging stroller you can take them that way.

My oldest did his first race in the stroller when I was pregnant with the youngest. Last year was their first race - a 1K in my neighbourhood. It doesn't sound far, but when you're 2 and easily distractable, it is!

Both kids crossed the finish line (the oldest in the pack, the youngest was the absolute last one to finish) and collected their medals. You should have seen their faces - the sense of accomplishment and pride. I will admit to shedding some tears.

This year we've already done one race with them - a 1 miler - and have signed them up for another 1K later in June.

There are so many options in Ottawa - from walking and running races to triathalons and more. A great program is Somersault which does all sorts of types of races and distances, but most big runs have a short family one as well. The Ottawa Running Club lists all the local races.

I encourage you to try out a race this summer. See if it's something your kids enjoy and maybe spark a love of running. If nothing else, you'll get out one day for a fun activity with your kids.

Have you signed your kids up for a race?

Summer of Awesome

I love Summer of Awesome posts! My friend Amanda from Little Lotus Yoga recently posted hers, and reminded me that I needed to get my butt in gear. Summer is fleeting, and before I know it, the winter boots are being pulled out and I'm lamenting all the activities I missed over these warm months. Well not this year, Summer! This year, I'm taking charge.

My husband is currently a stay-at-home Dad, and I think he's looking forward to the summer like he looks forward to an appointment with the dentist - so, not very much :) He's a bit nervous at the thought of my oldest at home full-time. She's a tad high energy, and needs a lot of stimulation. So I figure this Summer of Awesome post is helping Daddy as much as it's helping me. I'm sad I'll be stuck in the office while they take part in some of these activities, but we're saving the best stuff for the weekends!

So without further ado, here they are, not in any real order (except obviously some festivals that have specific dates):

Petrie Island

CHEO's Teddy Bear Picnic

CHEO's Great Canadian Lemonade Standemoneum

Mosaika

Canadian Agriculture Musuem

Museum of Nature (Creatures of Light)

Bluesfest

Gatineau for a hike

Old Chelsea for ice cream (after the hike of course)

Day Trip to Lac Philippe

Bon Echo (camping!)

MS Bike Ride to Cornwall

Navan Fair

Folk Fest

Swimming! Anywhere, and everywhere (splash pads included)

It doesn't seem like a lot, but the summer weekend calendar is filling up fast. Time to get planning!

Non-Profit Daycare Centres

We all know finding good quality daycare for our children is a top priority if we return to work. I'm happy to welcome Catherine on the blog today, as she tells us more about her daycare experience.  For me, becoming a parent has undoubtedly been the most rewarding and challenging thing I have ever done. Along with all the many high points (first smiles, wonderful hugs, “Mommy, I love you so much!”) and low points, (the multiple night awakenings, tantrums) come the pressures and stresses of being responsible for another being. Especially with my first child, when it came time to make a decision about childcare I found the options overwhelming: nanny, nanny-share, home- based daycare, centre-based daycare, non-profit vs. private, English vs. French, etc. I barraged myself with questions: where was my child going to get the best care? What did this mean? Where would  she have an enriching experience? Where was she going to be the happiest? And what about us? What would make us the happiest?

In the end we chose a non-profit co-op daycare in our community 2 years ago, and are very happy with our choice. This was made even clearer to us when we needed care for our son and put him in a private daycare centre (he could not attend the co-op centre where our daughter attends until he was 18 months old). Our son was very happy at the private centre and he received good quality care from the educators, but it was in another neighbourhood - so we had to do two drop-offs and pickups everyday, which was a particular challenge if one of us was out of town. Our experience with the administration was very negative, we were rarely informed, and never consulted about what was going on at the centre. The fees were higher, we were expected to provide lunches, the snacks provided were often sugary and insubstantial, and the staff were not well treated or paid well, which resulted in a high turnover.

Our son joined our daughter at Capital Daycare Centre as soon as he was old enough. It was a relief for us to be able to walk our kids to daycare and spend less time in cars shuttling them around; something I am sure we will have to do enough of as they grow older and become more involved in activities. We were happy to have our children attend a centre with other children from our neighbourhood who they would also see at the park and on our street, making it easy to foster friendships with other families. As well, Capital Daycare has been providing child care to the families of Old Ottawa South since 1973 – that’s 40 years! And many of the staff have been working there for over 20 years, which makes it feel more like a family than a centre. As a co-op, the centre is managed by a Board of Directors made up of volunteer parents and staff, which gives parents the chance to be involved in the operation of the centre. I have enjoyed the opportunity to serve on the Board for the last 2 years. This has helped me to feel connected to the centre and a partner in the care my children receive, rather than a customer purchasing services.

Every family must weigh many factors when choosing child care for their child/children and make the best decision for their family. For all the reasons above, and many more, the non-profit co-op daycare in our community is the right choice for our family.

Non-profit daycare centres, such as Capital Day Care Centre, are increasingly at-risk of being pushed out of the market by private centres due to cuts in provincial and municipal funding. Our centre recently underwent a 5 year financial planning exercise which showed us that the centre will not be financially viable in 5 years if we are not able to significantly increase our revenue or reduce our costs. In light of this, the Board has decided to make fundraising a priority. We have our first big event planned for May 25th - see below for details. I hope you will consider coming out to help us support keeping good quality, affordable child care in our communities!