How do you treat this request? Toss $10 or $15 or $20 into the kitty? I mean, we’re “supposed” to tip our garbage guys, hairdresser, grocery clerk, bank teller, mail person etc etc this time of year. Why not teachers?

Ruff Ruminations went and canvassed teachers in her area and this is what they said:

Often they do not use or like to receive the gift cards as they are for items like coffee or restaurants and one can only go to the same place so often or they might not even drink coffee or like to take luxurious bathes.

They prefer the gifts with meaning that are handmade

They feel uncomfortable receive expensive gifts [Ruff Ruminations]

$10 is no big deal, in the grand scheme of the excellent teaching and attention my son’s teachers give. It’s less than the tip I’ll give some bar star waitress to bring me a steak and a beer at a restaurant.

Still, we go the handmade route when it comes to gifts for our “support staff” (teachers, garbage, mail, neighbors etc) this time of year. Something the kids help make, something that has a personal effort put into it, something from the heart.

Superstore has bakeware that you can buy and then give away. They’re lined cardboard boxes that not only let you bake brownies or banana bread, but provide a cute box that you can giveaway. They come in packs of 4 squares or 6 loaves for $10 and also have red ribbons to tie a jaunty bow.

In the gift boxes, we bake Ghirardelli Brownies.

In 2010, Oprah named it one of her favorite things and The Today Show did a survey on best instant brownies and this won. They are fabulous. We bought a fleet of the instant mix at Costco last year when it was on sale.

If you prefer to go from scratch, here’s a knock off recipe that claims to be better if you can’t find the box. You could also fill the boxes with Christmas pastries, tarts or these simple peanut butter cookies.

We solved it simply by making some of the best brownies in the world.

What gifts do you give to your children’s teachers?

I run marathons for Team Diabetes.

I’m not a diabetic. I don’t have a direct connection to anyone with diabetes in my immediate life, but this is the cause I have chosen to support for selfish reasons – it makes me healthy.

Type 2 Diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions in our country. More than 9 million people are living with diabetes or prediabetes, an illness that is, mostly, preventable.

Recent estimates show 90-95% of those with diabetes in Canada have Type 2. That’s 8 million people, almost a quarter of our population, that are drawing on our health care system’s resources unnecessarily.

1 million Canadians don’t even know they have diabetes, the 7th leading cause of death in Canada.

Preventing Type 2 Diabetes is easy. Eat right. Get active. Care about your body.

That’s it. It’s that simple. So, by being a part of Team Diabetes, and setting annual goals of marathons, 10k races and half marathons around the world, I’m putting a finish line ahead of me and dangling a carrot to watch what I eat and keep active.

It’s that simple.

While doing that, I’m creating awareness about diabetes. I’m educating friends, colleagues, listeners and readers about how nasty this disease can be and how easy it is to prevent. Hopefully I inspire other people to get on board and join Team Diabetes to get their own health on track and keep themselves out of the system.

I’m also raising money as I train and prepare for the Team Diabetes raises (more than $20 000 so far) to help researchers find an end to this illness. While Type 2 Diabetes is largely preventable, there are still those who are Type 1 Diabetics, those who were “born with it” and didn’t have a choice in how their pancreas controls their blood sugars. Pregnant women are also susceptible to gestational diabetes and the money I raise helps fight that side effect some face while going through the miracle of life.

It’s important we all give back in some way in our lives. Scan the comments on Erica’s post and see if there’s something that inspires you.

I’d love it if you joined me on Team Diabetes.

I’m currently recruiting people to come on board for a 10k, half marathon or marathon in Reykjavik, Iceland in August 2012. You have more than 9 months to do the training and get the fundraising done. As you get on board, you’ll be putting you and your family on a healthier path, you’ll be raising money to help others living with diabetes and the carrot at the end of it all is a trip to the land of fire and ice (flights, accomodations, transfers, training are all covered by your fundraising with Team Diabetes).

I can’t think of a better day to join – today is World Diabetes Day, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, the Canadian who discovered insulin 90 years ago.

Join me and become a Diabetes Champion.

To monitor it you could do some fancy statistical analysis or you could just look at two hashtags on Twitter. #kidcount and #yyc are the tags people are using to track trick or treaters in their communities around Calgary.

Many are talking about few if any kids coming around.

@MalloryEvasiuk wonders where all the trick-or-treaters are in #yyc i remember as a kid mom would count 300+ kids per year i have had 10 #sad #morecandy4me

@TSG36 I had a total of 3 kids this year-3 more than last yr…where are all the trick or treaters in New Brighton?! #kidcount #Halloween2011 #yyc

@DarciBrianne Only 41 kids tonight. Thats depressing considering we used to get about 150-200. =( #yyc #kidcount #shawnessy

@JenFuchs Next kid that comes gets the rest of the bowl! #kidcount #yyc

I had a blast walking the 4 blocks around our neighborhood with my son tonight. I stood at the sidewalk chatting with other parents, laughing and smiling at the kids and their costumes.

I soaked in the enthusiasm of youth and bathed in the politeness of my boy saying “Thank you! Happy Halloween!” to each neighbour and then bounding down the driveway announcing “Daddy, I got more candy!” as if it was some biblical breaking of bread and fish that was producing his bounty.

@Pistachio we fell in with a crew of 5 neighbor kids and 2 other parents and our posse of 10 had a grand time going door-to-door and chatting.

That’s what this night is supposed to be about. The normal quiet streets of suburbia bursting at the seams with giggles, sharing and small talk.

Then you scroll the hashtags and you find that this neighborly enthusiasm wasn’t a city-wide event. Then you see what the schools are doing by discouraging kids to dress up and you see the spirit of the season start to fade. Not everyone was on the streets mingling.

Kiri W wrote a great post today with 7 reasons why you should take your kids out.

Halloween is one of the only times in the year that it’s normal to knock on the door of an unknown person, have that person happily open the door, have a bit of a conversation and leave with everyone feeling good about it.

Shopping centres host trick-or-treating events because it gets a prime demographic through the doors to spend a couple hours window-shopping. They’re billed as “safe” alternatives, giving the false impression that neighbourhood trick-or-treating somehow isn’t safe. Taking your kids to the mall instead of exploring your neighbourhood sends your kids the message that commercial entities are preferred (more trusted?) than people down your street. [source]

It’s all about breathing life into the community and sharing a festival with friends and strangers alike.

I wonder why the numbers are shrinking? Stats Canada says the population of trickers and treaters (5-14) is dwindling in the country, but I live in a community surrounded by 3 schools 5 playgrounds and the houses are less than 8 years old. This is a “young family community.”

If you took your kids to the mall for Halloween, you’re part of the problem. Stop being afraid that something bad is going to happen. There were dozens of us on the streets having fun tonight. It should have been hundreds.

What was your kid count? Who do you think is killing Halloween?

Have you ever wanted to explore your city? Go to new places? Have fun with your kids? Geocaching is for for you.

What is geocaching??

According to geocaching.com the definition of geocaching is…

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment

I just started caching a couple months ago, and my family loves it. What person doesn’t like hunting for treasure? My children eat it up, they love to find the cache and then argue over what they are going to trade for.

To get started with geocaching all you need is a GPS (preferably a handheld model) and a membership to geocaching.com. (It is free to join but can upgrade to a $30/year membership which has some “advanced” features that you might be interested in if/when you get addicted.) If you have a GPS enabled phone, like the iPhone, there are “apps for that.” We used a great geocaching app that can be downloaded here.

After you sign up for your account I would suggest entering your address in the “search for geocaches” section of the homepage. You would be amazed to see how many caches are within walking distance from your home.

Click on a few and read the description.

There is a difficulty and terrain levels that are something to consider, especially when caching with kids. I have never done anything harder than a difficulty 2 and a terrain 2 when caching with small children. Also take a look at the cache size which can sometimes increase the difficulty. There is sometimes a hint which can be very helpful. Reading through the recent logs section can sometimes help you along.

Ok so you have located a cache and you want to go find it. Now what do you do?

You can enter the coordinates in your GPS and off you go. With the geocaching iPhone app you can also “find nearby geocaches” or “search by GC code” which is also very handy. Once you get to the coordinates of the cache you usually have to search around. (Remember GPS can be out a few meters.) Search up, down and especially under. My kids especially like this part and I truly think they are better at it then I am. They have better “caching sense” than I do.

Don’t be disappointed if you don’t find the cache right away. Reread the description, read the hint, and read the recent logs. All of these will help you look in the right direction.

Ok I found the cache, now what???

The cache will usually be some type of plastic container of varying size and will contain at minimum a log book. First things first, sign the log book. And then, this is the fun part, you can trade for whats in the cache with something of equal or greater value.

My kids love to trade stuff. We have a cache box that we bring along that has little toys and such that we scrounged from the house. Somehow there is a lot of McDonalds toys in that box

Now all the trading is done and the log book is signed, you need to put the cache back in the same spot for the next geocacher to find.

Remember to watch out for “muggles” while caching.

These are non-geocachers who may not understand why you are looking under stumps and such. The last thing anyone wants is for a cache to be stolen or destroyed by a muggle. So be secretive, the kids also like this. Our family was once searching for a cache in a playground, there happened to be another family playing there. My children weren’t so secretive as our oldest decided to scream across the playground “Did you find the cache yet?”. Kids will be kids.

When you get home you can log your find on geocaching.com if you haven’t done so already on your GPS enabled phone.

Some things to help you along.

The forums on geocaching.com are awesome and there are many fellow cachers just waiting to help.

Also if you arrive at a cache site and there is someone else staring at a GPS, say HI, we are mostly friendly. I have met lots of awesome people while caching.

I have had many unique experiences while caching. As a father it is always a quick way to get the kids out of the house and away from the TV. When ever we see or receive a small toy the children always say “hey we can put that in the cache box” . It is great to see them excited about something that everyone in the family enjoys. We once ran into a fellow caching couple and they said one of my favorite quotes “if we weren’t caching we would just be sitting in front of the TV”.

Caching also brings families together that have similar interests. Once when caching with another family we found a very interesting cache. It was a empty 3ft. long artillery shell that was wrapped in tree bark and then was leaning against a tree. It was just a couple feet from the trail but you would have never noticed it unless you were looking for it. There are many caches in the city hidden in obvious places like under bus stops in a small magnetic micro container. No bigger then your thumbnail.

No matter how young or old you are, geocaching is a awesome way to explore your city or others. On our first caching experience I discovered a huge duck pond at a park I had been to a thousand times. Remember you never know what is in you own backyard. As a parent I find that when geocaching there are many opportunities to teach my children. Whether it is about local plants or wildlife or how to deal with personal interactions with people we see on our day.

Have fun caching. See you on the trail.

Sean is a busy dad to two girls aged 7 and 6 and a very active 2 ½ year old boy. Sean’s day are spent changing the big tires for Fountain Tire while nights are spent along side his wife Sarah as a super-parenting duo, chauffeuring kids, making school lunches and conquering the bed time routine. Sean’s love for gadgets, technology and Geocaching can be followed on his twitter feed @seanfunk.

Photo by BobnRenee on Flickr

Type 1 Diabetes is the type that usually affects kids. There’s nothing you can do to stop that switch from being flicked one day. You’re born with it.

My friend, Kerri Morrone Sparling‘s blog is called Six Until Me. She discovered she had Type 1 Diabetes when she was 6 years old. She talks about the challenges of living with diabetes, how she manages her daily life, and how she’s finding community online.

Dr Brian Rodrigues is a researcher at UBC. He does a great job explaining what Sir Frederick Banting did with the discovery of insulin and how his research is helping people live longer lives with diabetes.

Sandy Struss is a motivational speaker and has been living with Type 1 Diabetes since she was 17. She tells us of the day she was diagnosed and how having an insulin pump gives her hope.

These are interviews I aired last year when I was a radio host at 95Crave in Vancouver. Not being on the air this year, I’m using the web to shine a light on diabetes and this World Diabetes Day.

Do me a favour, listen to the interviews, become aware and help me in my fundraising for Team Diabetes so that headway can be made in diabetes research before the switch is flicked on us or our children.

The evening was presented by Gillian Ashley-Martz, a Registered Clinical Counsellor, a mother of two and Certified Canadian Family Educator who has been working with families for over ten years.

A few dads were dragged to the class, but it was mostly moms and I was definitely the only one liveblogging it on Twitter.

The program started with a brainstorm of words to describe toddlers.

irrational, short fuse, demanding, manipulative, selfish, whiny, sensitive, strong willed, testing, stubborn, loud, serious, impatient, persistent

Those were the first ones tossed out by the moms, til I joked that I was “sensing a trend.” The tide turned, we remembered these are OUR kids we were talking about and a few glowing words were added.

silly, loving, smart, funny, energetic, curious

Still, you get the idea: life with toddlers can be a battle and this class was going to try and explain why it’s a battle and how the whole family can come out winners.

After the brainstorm, Gillian explained to us that our “toddlers live in the moment. They dont have the ability to see into the future and realize what’s going to happen, so they are obsessed with the moment and the present.”

This “in the moment” behaviour causes a struggle as the toddler relies on instinctive behaviour instead of thinking things through. Parents are, on average, pulled in to a power struggle of some kind with their toddler every 20 minutes.

Gillian reminded us that “never again will you see such a passionate child. They havent developed any defenses around their emotions. It’s all they’re about. What they feel, is what you see.”

Part 2 of Toddler 101: the toddler job description.

Being a parent suddenly propels you to have a greater sense of community and a desire to give back. Whether that be coaching a minor sports team, volunteering at the community centre or being extra friendly to your neighbours – the definition of family expands when you have your own.

November is Diabetes Month.

Zacharie doesnt have diabetes, but I know there are many kids who do. And when I say Zacharie doesnt have it I should add the word “yet” because diabetes is one of the fastest growing diseases affecting our society. Sometimes you’re born with it, sometimes it hits you later in life when you’ve taken your body for granted. However it comes around, it does come around. A lot.

So I run marathons with Team Diabetes to keep myself active and healthy and away from possibly getting it myself. I raise awareness and funds for diabetes so researchers can get a leg up and attack the disease before it has a chance to creep into my family’s life.

November 14 is World Diabetes Day. So what can you do?

I’ve created a Twitter List called “Team Diabetes” of people you can follow and retweet to help spread the message this month.

The World Diabetes Day website has banner ads you can clip and add to your own rotation to help raise awareness.

You can join me in Rio de Janeiro in June 2010 as a member of Team Diabetes and run a marathon, half marathon or 10k and raise funds and awareness for those living with diabetes.

You can advertise on DadCAMP. For the month of November, when you make a donation of $100 to Team Diabetes you can buy any of the ad positions on DadCAMP through the rest of 2009. The more people that make the donation, the longer the rotation of ads will be, but the sooner you get in on the offer the more rotations you will get before the competition heats up.

It’s all about community. How are you helping yours?

While it’s unlikely the wicked witch at the end of your block will stick a razor blade in an apple, your kids are still running the streets and begging for candy from strangers. Just as you wouldn’t eat food left outside a hotel room because you don’t know where it’s been, you need to sift through your kids’ candy to sift out the unsavouries.

SAFETY TIPS FOR CHILDREN WHILE TRICK OR TREATING

Buy flame resistant costumes, wigs and accessories. The best costumes are bright and reflective. Keep costumes short enough to prevent tripping. Consider adding reflective tape or striping for greater visibility.

* Give every child a flashlight with fresh batteries. Remind children of traffic safety rules, and that they should cross streets at corners, and to never cross between parked cars.
* Make sure that children know how to call 9-1-1 or their local emergency number if they experience an emergency or become lost. 9-1-1 can be dialed free from any pay phone.
* Secure emergency information (name, address, telephone number) within a child’s Halloween attire.
* Give older children coins for non-emergency calls.
* Teach children to STOP, DROP and ROLL should their clothing catch fire: STOP immediately. DROP to the ground and cover face, unless hands are on fire. ROLL over and over until the flames are extinguished.

SAFETY TIPS FOR ADULTS
* Be extra careful when driving. Excited children can forget safety rules. Make sure to appoint a designated driver if you are attending adult Halloween parties.
* Accompany children when they go out trick or treating. Explain to children the difference between tricks and vandalism.
* Community centres, shopping malls and houses of worship may hold organized Halloween events. As an alternative, start one in your neighbourhood.

SAFETY AT HOME
* Consider using only battery powered lanterns or chemical light sticks instead of candles in decorations.
* Votive candles are the safest for pumpkins. Keep candles, matches and lighters away from the reach of children. Place lighted pumpkins on sturdy tables, away from curtains and other flammable objects. Never leave them unattended.
* When decorating your home, ensure that electrical outlets are not overloaded with holiday lighting or special effects. Keep exit doors unblocked. Replace bulbs on outdoor lights. Check the batteries in your smoke alarms. Test monthly; replace annually.
* Eliminate tripping hazards on your porch and walkways. Check for flower pots, low tree limbs, support wires or garden hoses that may prove hazardous for young children as they rush from house to house.

PET SAFETY
* Make pets safe by keeping them away from the door and visiting trick or treaters, and do not let them outside. Ensure that they are wearing collars and proper I.D. tags. Talk to a veterinarian for advice more specific to individual pets.
* Remember that chocolate is deadly for pets. So are plastic and foil candy wrappers. Give pets an extra biscuit, not Halloween candy.
* Dog’s tails can be lethal weapons. Keep dogs and cats away from Jack-O-Lanterns or lighted candles; they could knock them over and start a fire or receive serious burns.
* If holding an indoor Halloween party, place pets in a room, well away from the party. Leave them with food and water. Check on them once in a while, to let them know everything is fine.

Common sense should rule the day and everyone will end up with a safe and scary Halloween without the irrational fear culminating in a cancelling of Halloween.

Zacharie was a little younger when we took him to his first game. He was just 18 months for that experience in January 2009, a legendary match up between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Vancouver Canucks.

While I lasted the entire game that night with my grandfather and can tell you the score of the game, Zacharie will remember little from his first hockey experience – he didn’t even make it to the second period. NHL rinks are filled with kids every night of the season and I still don’t understand how parents can get them through the night. We showed up early so he could see the fun of warmup, and he got to cheer along for a couple of goals, but as the night dragged on, he just gave up.

Thankfully we planned to have his Nana meet us at an exit at the first intermission and take him home, otherwise we would have had to escape. In fact, that’s what happened just a few months later. I decided to try again. Just a Father and Son night out. Again, we didn’t make it to the second period. He was too light to hold the stadium seats down. He was squirming and kicking everyone around him and couldn’t decide whether or not he wanted to sit, stand or be held.

How old are your kids that you take to “the big game?” How long do they last? How do you do it?

While the single and childless in the city are all excited to pace each other through the streets hunting down the latest boites and hot spots, for dads of toddlers, like myself, the term “4 square” has entirely different meaning.

Everytime I hear the phrase, I can’t help but think of the series of shorts called 4 Square that show up on Treehouse TV seemingly every 20 minutes.

While the Twitteratti of the city get themselves in a tizzy this week, I’ll have yet another child theme song earworm drilled in to my head.

It’s what foursquare means for dads.