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We didn't have a park when I was growing up.[...] -
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Category Archives: Oakville North, Ontario
We Play or Play Wii
We talk a lot about the benefit of taking our kids outside to play on the street and getting them away from too much “screen” time. But in this part of the world, that’s a difficult thing to do during the long, dark, cold months of winter. Most families with young children understand the benefits of having a way to keep the kids engaged and busy indoors for more than a few minutes. Books, games crafts and free play only work for so long. Television and computer games help fill the void, but aren’t that great at encouraging family unity. But they can’t be completely avoided in our modern, tech heavy world. As a compromise, our family decided to get a Wii system because many of the games provide an opportunity to get up off the couch and be active. We like the way we can play as a family spending time together. The problem, however, is that simply having time together is not the same as spending quality time together. Continue reading
Mom’s Town
Came across another great site offering networking and support for moms in our community. Check it out. I really like the intro that says “Odds are that when you were growing up your mom knew all of your neighbours. Your street was full of kids you knew and your mom invited the neighbourhood over to run through the sprinkler while the other moms had coffee and chatted.” If that doesn’t sound exactly like a Playbourhood, I don’t know what does. Continue reading
Skating together, not apart…
There have been some stories recently in the local newspaper about residents complaining that a skateboard park has been causing some problems for neighbours. The complaint is that young kids have been congregating in the evening and behaving badly, which has been causing some annoyance for people who live nearby. The stories have not only been reported in the newspaper, but have also been communicated to town council to such a degree that I recently received a letter in the mail indicating that town council was looking into the issue and assessing a number of alternative solutions. In the interests of being transparent, let me tell you that I live pretty close to the park in question. So I think that I have something constructive and personal to add to this debate. Continue reading
Moms in the Loop
I recently discovered this new web site for Moms in the area. It’s being promoted as a site “intended for use by mothers only. You must have at least one child enrolled in school or about to enter pre-school.” Like many group sites, it has a variety of resources, information and ways for families to connect and share. What I find most interesting about this particular site, however, is the ability to create groups and forums based on the school your children attend. What a great way to connect with people in your neighbourhood! While I’m not a “mom”, I still plan to check out this site regularly to see what’s going on in the community. I’ve added a link over on the right, but you can check it out here. Continue reading
Bikes for Fun (and excercise)
A great article in the Globe and Mail suggests that making excercise fun makes it easy. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out. Andre Picard writes, “When reports are published and news stories written about hot-button topics like childhood obesity and physical inactivity, the responses are as impassioned as they are varied.The release this week of the annual report card of Active Healthy Kids Canada – which concluded, among other things, that only 12 per cent of children are physically active enough and that one-quarter of preschool kids are already overweight – is a case in point.” Read the entire article here. Continue reading
House on my pick for Playbourhood of the Year
I sat down a while ago with the intention of writing an article about my pick for a Playbourhood of the Year award. I’m easily distracted I guess, because I never did get around to it. I did however write this little article about missed opportunities. And I promised not to let another one go by. So here you are. A house listing on a great Playbourhood street. Continue reading
Lease a home in a great Playbourhood
If you’re visiting this site, you obviously appreciate the value of living in a great neighbourhood that is play friendly. If you’re also in the market to live in one, why not check this out. This place is just down the street from where I live. It’s a great street with lots of families and lots of activity. I won’t try to sell you on the merits of the house, but I can tell you it’s a great area to live! Continue reading
Vital Signs Stagnant
Last week, the Oakville Community Foundation released it’s 2009 version of Vital Signs, a study that measures a number of important issues facing our community. It looks at things like health, culture, the environment, safety, learning and housing issues. The first significant results of the study were released last year and showed a few disturbing things that are important to young people in our town. If we consider those results as the baseline, then this year’s updates should provide us with an understanding of the trends and let us know where we need to focus our attention. Sadly, in my opinion, we’re not improving. And in fact, the OCF has chosen not to even highlight these imporant areas. I talked about them in this article. I hope as we move forward, things will improvem, not only in terms of the statistics, but also in what community leaders consider important. Remaining stagnant is not an option where our children are concerned. Read the entire report here. Continue reading
The Message is Spreading
I was thrilled to see the editorial in last week’s Oakville Today newspaper promoting the idea of holding street parties. The author, Michael Howie told a story about attending a nearby neighbourhood party held on Rushbrooke Drive in the the Glen Abbey area of North Oakville. He says that “the kids were running around (safely), the adults were laughing (without malice) and everyone was having a good time. The best part was that it brought an entire community together”. Isn’t that what Playbourhood is all about? Congratulations to the folks who planned and hosted the event. And thanks to Michael for telling the world about it in the newspaper. Continue reading
Missed Opportunities
The interesting thing about having a blog is that you need to spend time writing on a regualar basis in order to be relevant. The problem I have is that the reason I do this is to encourage people to spend more time with their kids, playing outside, connecting with their neighbours and generally having fun. Over the last while, I’ve been following my own advice and have been spending a little time on the former and a lot of time on the latter. Which has been great for me, and I trust, good for my kids. The problem, however, is that I’ve missed out on some great opportunities to write some great stories. Sorry about that. Or not… depending on how you look at it. Continue reading
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