Should all RECE be supporting the need for Universal Childcare?

 

This question came up in a networking group on Facebook today! My views on this are likely not popular among many of my peers however at the end of the day I would advocate to put myself out of a job before I would advocate to put children and families health and wellness at risk in a system that might sound good on bullet points but could actually do more harm than good when you look deeply at the over all picture and under currents of the challenges faced by families with young children in Canada!

 

My response is thus to 'Should all RECE be supporting the need for Universal Childcare?' : 

 

If it is going to be modeled after Quebec $10 a day childcare as they keep promoting than I would vote no not all RECE should be supporting this initiative  - because IMO the Quebec system is FAILING both the children AND ECE so I strongly advocate that the ECE here in Ontario need look past the government propaganda about its success where they seem to be focusing only at getting more woman back into the workforce to REALLY see what the program looks like after 25 YEARS and get feedback from those actually on the front line working in it on is this really a system worth 'replicating' all across Canada. 

 

From my research - they have the highest ratios of children to adult across the board in ALL age groups - do we WANT to be caring for MORE children than we already do? There infant ratios are 1:5 for under 18 months 1:8 for 18 months up to 4 years all in the same room and no apparent rules about how many can be only 18 months in that 1:8 ratio. 4 year are 1:10 and 5 year old are 1:20. Are those ratios what is considered 'high quality care'? 

 

Look at their LOW PAY with an average of $19 meaning that most front line make LESS than that just making the minimum wage and a few in management roles make more at the $25 mark in order to average out to that $19 and that is even with them all being unionized after a QUARTER OF A CENTURY. 

 

 

Here in Ontario everyone keeps saying 'if only we were unionized than we'd get better pay' .... how is that working in Quebec? Fact is that a union cannot demand blood from a stone! When the cost of offering childcare rises above the income a parent can earn working, regardless if it is the parent paying it out of pocket or the government anyone with a lick of 'budgeting' will choose to say 'lets pay the parent to stay home instead' because than we are not investing millions in fancy infant and toddler centres and other overhead costs so it's actually a better investment. And the sad reality is that while we do this for public education system the reason that flies is because most tax payers do not think they have the skills to 'home school' their child and even if they do they do not get keep the cost of public education for themselves. When it comes to childcare to the youngest among is, while it definitely takes some skill set and understanding of childcare development to do it really well the fact is that for centuries parents have been doing 'childcare' themselves and raised strong innovative generations without help so society is less likely to invest in outsourcing childcare and more inclined to support a system where THEY are supported financially to stay home during the early years rather than trying to balance full time work and full time childrearing in those early years when they do not sleep through night and are very emotionally taxing due to lack of language and communication skills! 

 

Even the Quebec's unionized home childcare sector is currently doing rolling strikes because they do not even make the current MINIMUM wage of $13.50 an hour because they pay them a daily rate vs an hourly one and most providers work 10 plus hours a day not the 8 that most centre staff do! So from what I am reading the universal childcare has not really benefits the FRONT LINE at all - still low paid and have higher ratios for their trouble! 

 

And is it really benefiting ALL families equably?  It has been over 25 YEARS and it is still not UNIVERSAL and yet the cost of operating it is bankrupting the province so they have no money for other infrastructure like roads or hospitals - according to the Finding Quality Childcare in Canada website as of the last survey in 2019 the program only services 54% of the demand when looking at 0-12 year olds and that drops to only 42% when you look at 0-4 year olds! They seem to have a inequitable TWO TIER system where there are limited 'subsidized' spaces and everyone else is either paying higher out of pocket fees OR arranging for family or other types of childcare with lower out of pocket costs.

 

 

And most importantly the research coming out on the CHILDREN who've lived this system for 25 years in high ratios and with parents who are over taxed balancing full time work and full time child rearing and full time household management is VERY troubling - showing increased emotional and mental health challenges and increases in physical illnesses and societal challenges over all. 

 

So sure the upfront cost of $!0 a day childcare might  look great at first glance and sure on paper it increased the number of woman in the workforce and increased their financial security of having their own income but we really need to look at the OVERALL cost to children, parents, early childhood educators AND the taxpayer over all! The system is FLAWED and we really should not be holding it up as a model to emulate! 

 

There are way better models in other countries that can result in more women in the workforce, betting paying jobs for woman by ensuring EQUALITY in parental leave programs so that it is not the woman who has to choose to remain out of the workforce! Look to those!!!!

So if we are going to look at modeling a Canadian Universal Childcare system like NORDIC countries do and instead fund an actual living income for a proper parental leave for the first 3 years. A leave that can be shared equally between both parents if desired so no one has to give up their career entirely but where so parents can share the load to provide FULL TIME CARE at the low ratio and primary caregiver that brain research shows children thrive best with while also working part time to keep themselves up to date with career advancements and such - yes please!

 

Create a universal childcare system where we were to invest in have community family centres and playgroups building on the EarlyON programs we already have where highly trained RECE can offer EARLY LEARNING via playgroups but can be done at the higher ratios of children serviced because their parents are also there providing the CARE. A family centre that can also act as a resources to parents with workshops and support groups for connection designed on helping them gain the skills they need to thrive at the demanding role of parenting. 

 

A system where 'universal childcare' by an actual THIRD PARTY highly trained RECE waits to start once the child is 3 and goes until 6 with a ratio that is more conducive to that age group in order to publicly fund both the early learning and care needed while ensuring well compansated educators. 

 

A universal system where children do not move to a formal public education setting until they are turning 7 within the school year - where they wait to introduce formal reading/writing/ expectations until all children would be developmentally read. Early years are spent instilling a love of reading and literacy awareness through play based interactions with adults and their environments!

 

If we are going to model a universal system like THAT where everyone is winning than sure sign me up! 

 

 Because they have been at it since 1975 and unlike Quebec studies show THAT model actually results in positive outcomes for all - parents are not pulled in two directions in the early years trying to work full time and do the full time job of parenting so they are better rested and have better mental health outcomes, children form strong family attachments with their parents during those first 3 years thus have the social emotional growth to thrive in the universal preschool programming! They hold off trying to cram unrealistic reading and writing on 3-6 year olds making children stressed and turning them off of learning and therefore they have might higher rates for both that carry out through their entire education system. Our FDK approach is not providing those same results - ratios are too high and the reading/writing/ expectations are not developmentally appropriate for the majority of children that age creating stress and anxiety around 'learning' for children!

 

You only get one childhood. Lets make sure it is full of magic, nature and discovery!

 

Margaret

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life

Be Careful What you wish for ll

More discussions in an ECE group today around new role of the CECE in advocating for ECE and universal childcare and why do we have to pay to two different organizations to get both regulatory oversight and advocacy.

So my take is that when the CECE was being formed I swear I remember there being talk about amalgamating it with the already existing AECEO infrastructure ... however apparently the government rules for regulatory Colleges doesn’t allow for it under some sort of conflict of interest if memory serves. Regulatory colleges and unions/professional associations are required to be kept separate because those who have to critically review the profession conduct and discipline of its members misconduct should not also be the same ones who are advocating for their rights and better pay/working conditions. 

The Ontario Teachers College  doesn’t actively advocate for teachers either that’s their two unions doing that. Just as ours doesn’t do it it’s the AECEO our professional association or for those ECE who are actually unionized their unions job. 

In regulated professionals were members all work for separate employers they tend to have “professional associations” they join to form a collective voice because a collective union can only be formed by workers under single employer and small business that have less than a dozen employees total well often a union wouldn’t have much collective power like auto industry. In that industry all Ford workers regardless of different plants are employees of Ford Corporation and locally each individual plant OR like teachers in Ontario where they are all employees of the MOE and than locally individual school boards. They bargain collectively at BOTH those levels. 

We may be licensed under the MOE but we are NOT employed by them we are employed by individual companies- we can not all be unionized under the same union as a result. You can attempt to unionize your individual centre and pay a union the dues to try to advocate for you - but they likely won’t be able to have any better luck at changing the status quo at a government level needed to create ACTUAL change under our model of childcare than the AECEO or OCBCC has.

Teachers are also required to engage in mandatory PD - the difference is that because they are all employed by the same employer aka the government and provided employer offered PD that’s tracked and so forth they don’t have to do their own “proof” cause the teachers college trust schools boards to be offering PD and so forth.

CECE doesn’t have that same relationship with our employers unfortunately as centres are all individual operated/owned - so some childcare employers are awesome at supporting PD and others suck donkey balls and offer nothing  - so therefore to ensure that all CECE members are engaging in PD we get the standardized CPL and its 3 components  .... and it should be noted it was the LIBERAL GOVERNMENT that required that of the CECE under the Early Childhood Education Act 2007 the Liberals created as part of their FDK initiative ECE working in school boards needed to be regulated and  it is that Act that oversaw the creation of a College of ECE, brought the CECE into existence in first place and mana dated what the CPL for ECE had to contain. 

Making change in the funding model for licensed childcare at a government level is going to have to take a HUGE paradigm shift in how VOTERS see the role of childcare and value in it being offered by a third party. 

Right now Baby boomers still make up the majority of voters and they not only view childcare as a family responsibility they are long past NEEDING childcare so aren’t gonna vote to spend trillions on it when the services they  do need such as LTC and health care are so poorly funded they don’t want money taken away from those to be diverted to childcare.

There is also the challenge that the stats for those who choose “formal licensed childcare” VS those who choose “informal unregulated childcare” is consistently seeing licensed childcare in a MINORITY role that sits between 20-30% of us across ALL provinces except Quebec which sees 47% of 0-4 in their universal programs and 10% of the 4-12 age group. So only 20-30% of Provincial and Federal voters USE licensed childcare so why are the 70-80% of the others gonna vote for Universal Childcare system that they feel won’t benefit their needs - and this is why every politician whose attempted to run on a universal childcare platform lost cause enough voters aren’t wanting to invest their vote in that area - and highly doubt that unionizing centres under our current funding model is gonna change individual voters minds to get a party in power that could actually pull it off 🤷‍♀️ 

So the question is how do ECE change the minds of the 70-80% to a value childcare model they do not use in order to get them to vote to invest trillions of tax dollars into it?

To which ECE pointed out all the studies that show the benefits when children have access to a attentive/responsive primary caregiver in their early years.

While I  agree that studies show that young children who have access to an attentive/responsive  primary caregiver in low ratio settings during those early years show long term benefits - my concern is would that happen in a universal childcare program with the values our culture has? A culture that, based on historical attempts of our past governments, keeps raising ratios to create new spaces and balance budgets without having it invest more money in childcare that instead we would end up like Spain and have 1 adult trying to care for 9 infants under a year old and the ratios just going UP from there and IMO there’s no way that model produces the same shiny positive results for the children raised in them 😞 

Even in Quebec model here in Canada, with ratios of 1:5 for infants/toddlers under 17 months  higher than our current 1:3 and and their toddler ratio is 1:8 for 18 months and up and as a result the research based on the last 25 years from that model is not producing the positive results for social emotional development and mental health quite contrary to  the Nordic countries have where the focus was on forming a healthy parental/familial attachment between 0-3 and waiting until 3 to introduce universal 3rd party childcare. 

I am just NOT an advocate that a universal childcare for infants and toddlers is gonna result in positive outcomes for the children  - I would love to see a Nordic approach where the value of a parent/family  being the best option in the first 3 years and support a longer properly funded parental leave and expand more EarlyON programming to support all parents to be that BEST option while also offering early learning programming for the littles while parents are there providing the care would be much more manageable fiscally over the model of the Quebec one that our country would mostly copy. Quebec universal childcare is still NOT universal after quarter of a century and still sees educators low paid and in tiers of low pay with home based  providers despite being unionized being paid much lower and facing higher ratios than their centre counterparts.

I just feel ECE need to look long and hard at countries that provide universal care for infants and toddlers and what those programs ratios look like and look historically at how our government and the voting tax payer has reacted to childcare sector and ask if possible being paid a bit more will be worth it if that comes at the huge likelihood of the risk that you will also be asked to care for 2-3x the amount of children you currently do in order to fund it and is that outcome going to make our job better, more rewarding and easier? 

We need to look long and deep at institutional childcare and the whys behind the challenges we face in licensed childcare and to be mindful/careful what the true cost and risks might be in advocating for universal childcare 😞 

Look at how flawed our public education system is do we really trust our government to do better adding the 0-4 age group to that model? 

So sure teachers get paid better than we do, get prep time and benefits and a pension but they also face so many challenges with increasing class sizes, decreasing support for children of differing needs, as a result they are being asked to do so much more than just teach but to be therapists, nurses, family counsellors and so forth while also balancing all the teaching requirements that the job is so stressful many end up on sick leave due to mental stress AND if we look even closer at teachers work conditions and pay MANY new teachers to the field are not paid much more than ECE are working in FDK, they can work for a DECADE or longer before they are able to move out of “SUPPLY/LTO contract” teaching into having any actual job security of a full time permanent position and it can than take a decade or so more to move up to the top tier in teaching salaries that are always quoted for teachers. 

Call me skeptical but I just don’t have faith in our leaders or with our cultures value system  that a ‘universal childcare’ would be any sort of positive utopian thing when they cannot properly manage the social services we already provide - health care and public education are a mess and we cannot properly fund the current model of childcare without constantly seeing ratios being pushed up and threats that our operating grants will shrink or WEG might not be renewed 😞

 I find it very hard to trust any promises they might make to get elected will look anything like the reality of what it would become! FDK a prime example - promised Ontarian’s a “stemless day of education and care with a ratio of 1:10” and we got anything but that - it’s not seamless, it’s not low ratio and it still came with a budget to taxpayers that ended up being triple what they said it needed and it drove the cost of before and after school as well as childcare in general up - so now taxpayers are paying more TWICE - once via taxes for the 9-3 portion of the program and than again with before and after school care now costing as much as a full day of preschool use to preFDK 😞 

I prefer to advocate for CHOICE in childcare - fund parents directly let them choose it they want to use that money to remain home with their littles or outsource to another model so they can work! 

I think there’s no easy solution but some I would advice for more wholeheartedly are:

Since we already have a UCCB which they seemed to be voter supported because it provided “choice” for everyone - so if they built on that as a start and than passed Employment laws to extend how long a persons position could be saved - the UCCB approach would also allow for parents better flexibly to to “share” parental leave so each could work part time and use the UCCB (if properly increased) to augment the other household financial coverage needed. 

We also already have FDK publicly funded so we could look at growing that to serve children 3-6.

Therefore if families were financially supported to have a parent/family member home for the first 3 years or they could choose to use that to fund a 3rd party option and work if they wanted and than amended publicly funded FDK to cover 3-6. Formal school starts at six. 

We already have EarlyON programs build on those to support families who choose to remain home the first 3 years - adapt current childcare programs to house EarlyON programs instead perhaps with “relief childcare” for short periods while parents attend workshops/support groups/mental break but still on site if needed to help them manage at home better and do a way better job to promote attendance at them to get relief, resources and other things needed to ensure all children have an amazing first 3 years of life with short from trained RECE working in them. Amazed how many new parents have no clue those resources even exist 😞 

Another option is to look closer at the UBI concept where it’s just one income replacement programs that covers ALL the ways that someone might need to be out of the workforce temporarily or permanently we already have - stream lining to a UBI would greatly cut way down on the overall expense to taxpayers of funding multiple different organizations with redundant management and fancy buildings and so forth  and funnel that savings into increasing the support of those programs to actually BE an income replacement instead if a bandaid - so combine EI for job loss, maternity leave/parental leaves, short term sick leaves, Permanent Disability leave, Ontario Works, CPP and all those payment support systems into ONE organization that funds any persons who need to access it for the same “UBI” amount and support programs in place that they return to work as soon as possible based on each scenario they went on it. 

There are countries around the world that are getting it right - we need to look you those 💕 Our current childcare system is not a financially  sustainable option as it is and trying to put even more money into a broken system that’s got way too much infrastructure overhead that takes away from resources on the front line is just not the answer!  

My two cents today! 

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life

 https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/long-term-study-of-universal-preschool-in-quebec-yields-sobering-outcomes/2018/12

So what if Greta Thunberg ... insert the numerous rebuttles used to discredit her

So many claims going around social media lately trying to discredit Greta Thunbergs work and message!

 

photo credit BBC

For argument sake I will asl the following .... so what?

So what if she is being paid in some manner to speak?

So what if she is being coached by experts in the field she is speaking about to ensure she is speaking ACCURATE FACTS backed by SCIENCE? 

So what if she practices her speeches so she can give them with flow and remain composed?

So what if she is 16 years old and not in school? 

So what if her parents are supporting and encouraging her passion?

So what if she has Asperger's? 

Show me one adult politician on a campaign trail who is NOT being paid to give their speech to the masses - yet we listen to them. Being paid does not invalidate ones work or the facts or science behind what they are speaking about!
If that is true than we should be expecting ALL our politicians to work for FREE when they are out campaigning and spreading their messages of why should vote for them ... they should not be being paid one penny by anyone to fund their camppaigns including lobbyists, unions and big corps via their huge 'campaign donations' to be able to travel the country speaking about how they plan to change our lives for the better ... they should fund that out of their own pockets that way there is no concern that they are being paid to say something verses actually passionately believing what they are spewing based on their own research and values.

Show me one politician who has not been coached to say what they do during those speeches - and typically by those paying them via campaign donations in order to help them 'win' the election so that they can continue to curry their favor with the policies they make.

Show me one politician who does not either practice their speeches so they flow by heart OR uses a teleprompter to read them if they loose their place or BOTH? Show me one person who can stand in front of the nation and WING an eloquent speech that supports statistics and laws and research findings!

Show me that 'being in school' at her age would be supporting her to learn any BETTER the than she is in her travels of the world, networking with so many amazing leaders and experts and meeting so many people in different cultures? Speaking publicly about something she is passionate about and making a difference. As an early childhood educator it is my role to encourage children to peruse their interests, to realize that 'learning' occurs best when children are passionate about their topic and when they can embrace their topic hands on with all their senses. We are taught that our role as educators we are to be researchers and collaborators along side our students and sometimes that means taking children 'outside the formal classroom' ... and this is what Greta Thunbergs parents are doing - allowing her to engage in her learning hands on, in a meaningful way pursuing something that she is passionate about. All the 'academic' lessons she would learn in a traditional classroom are MORE than being covered during her travels around the world - the world IS her classroom! I honestly wish that MORE children had a chance to get out of the traditional classroom and learn hands on doing what they love! What she is learning now will stay with long after any 'assignment' she did when in school!

Show me any parent who can not financially support their child in a way that allows them to thrive and excel and make a difference in the world because they do not have the means and I bet money you will see parent who WISHES they could be in Greta's parents position to be able to support their child in such a manner and at such a young age. Those who are naysayers are just jealous and trying to use Greta's parents affluence against them turning it in to a negative! People who have money in today's world can not win in the court of public opinion because if they do nothing with they are hated for being greedy self centred egocentrics but yet if they use their wealth for doing good than they are hated for having some sort of ulterior motive verses applauded for using their wealth to do something good in the world!

Show how any other activist with a disability is discredited for attempting to make a difference in the world by sharing something they are passionate about ... when Terry Fox ran across country to raise awareness for cancer no one said 'but he only has one leg'? When Michael J Fox gives a speech about Parkinson no one says 'but he stutters' .... why is it ok to attack this activist because she has Autism? She shes her autism as gift not a disability - it allows her to see outside the box, to have a fixated passion about something she believes strongly in and to not be affected by the 'haters' in the world the way your average 16 year old girl would be! Kudos to her and others like her who have the courage to take on the big boys on the global stage and hold them accountable at such a young age!

IMO the only difference is that Greta is not seeking POLITICIAN POWER through her speeches like the politicians she is speaking to on the national stage right now! She is seeking to encourage those who lead via political power to CHANGE the way they are doing things. to open their minds and listen to the research and statistics and stop 'denying' science in face of all the propaganda from big oil and other vested parties in the status quo ... she is sharing statistical information, science and facts with them to encourage them to stop doing the bidding of those large corporations that put these politicians in power whose profits are at risk because for years they have engaged in practices that are putting the climate and humans at risk of extinction! She is encouraging them to do RIGHT by the planet and those who inhabit it at a time when she should be attending prom and worried about what color dress she should wear not worrying about what kind of planet will be here in 20 or 30 years from now! She is asking for nothing in return - her and her family seem to be all about giving BACK to the planet!

Politicians have no business throwing accusations around 'motive' at this poor teen and those who do feel the need to take a long hard look in the mirror about why they are so afraid of a 16 year olds voice that they need to discredit her!

We need to BE THE CHANGE!



Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life

New Year ~ New Vision

 

Manifesting your VISION for 2016

While I totally subscribe to the philosophy that every DAY is a chance to start new I just love New Year ~ mostly for its tradition of being a time of reflection for everyone, turning that new page in  your book and having a' blank slate' to create your next chapter! Setting goals for  your life and even for just that moment 'living your life with intention' rather than just letting life and time run away on you ... the KEY that many people seem to miss is that this is something one needs to KEEP doing every day as they turn the pages in their book otherwise you tend to fall off your wagon that you set in motion on that 'New Year."

Part of the challenge with New Years resolutions is that so often, my past self include, we make wild resolutions for change in the New Year without a solid PLAN of what we REALLY want. This practice is sort of akin to jumping blindly into a passing wagon and hoping it goes where we want it too and then we are disappointed when  we either fall out of the wagon and go no where OR the wagon takes them in a direction we did not intend! 

To avoid that happening one must make sure that they are riding in a SMART wagon ~ a sustainable wagon with measurable and attainable goals, while engaging in the practice of reflecting daily on the state of the wagon and the direction its going so that in time you can be assured to get where you wanted to go in the first place!

As a huge fan of Bob Proctor's teachings and a firm believe in the Law of Attraction I am all about creating 'vision boards' for my upcoming year! A vision board can be 3D item where you cut out quotes and inspiring imagery or things you want to manifest in your life and adhere them to an actual board that is displayed in your home OR in the world of growing technology they can be a 'digital creation' that you create a collage in a program and save as your desktop or phone background .... the point being you want your Vision board to have a place of honor in your daily routine somewhere to SEE it regularly and to take a moment each day to intentionally reflect on the things you want to manifest in your life! 

 

I will often have several vision boards on the go for various aspects of my life. 

So for example this one is my 'health and wellness' vision board ... a digital collage that is filled with inspiring quotes, reminders and imagery for me to envision myself healthier, stronger and returning confidence!

It is part of my screen savor for my computer along with a couple other boards I created for last year! It helps me stay motivated each morning to make healthy choices in regard to my food, exercise and wellness goals!

In 2015 I had a vision board around BEING FEARLESS by letting go of 'fear' which often held me back in both my personal and professional life and manifest confidence in myself and my abilities .... this vision board helped me to learn to find BALANCE in accepting that in order to say YES to trying more new things I needed to empower myself to start saying NO where needed as well! As a result I met lots of new people last year and tried new things like Ariel Yoga, Art classes and even made a few phone calls with less phobia setting in (that is still a work in progress). I let go of a few things in my life that were no longer bringing me joy and made changes that I was afraid to make. I changed my views on my Celiac disease from letting it control my life in a focus of all the things it prevented me from doing to instead viewing it as an opportunity to learn and try NEW things! I embarked on my 'grain free' living and with my new frame of mind no longer feel that this is 'depriving' me of things but rather is empowering me to find new ways to nourish my body in a manner that heals and empowers myself!

As we move into 2016 my goal is to continue on with my health and wellness journey as well is to manifest more ABUNDANCE in my life making better use of organizational tips and tricks to create more time for myself, for my family and for my passions! 

I am totally making a list of the things that make me happy and bring me joy and ensuring that there is BALANCE between that list and my daily to do list ... working to remove 'busy work' from my life of things that I have always done as part of my routine or work habits but that might not actually be things that NEED to be done in the grand scheme of things!   

In 2016  is my year to LIVE in ABUNDANCE ... I vow to laugh more and worry less, to dream bigger, to truly live in the moment, be joyous, to add more meaningful memories and see the magic in the mundane moments, to continue to give with no expectations!

To have an abundance of time to CREATE more often and explore more mediums of art and definitely to READ more and most importantly an abundance of HEALTH and WELLNESS with increased energy, stamina and focus to keep me on track! 

So those are my 'resolutions' to myself ~ my VISION for 2016 as I move forward and my tips and tricks for actually manifesting them!

Have an amazing day!

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life

Can you relate to this?

 

Christmas Cards ~ Ya or Nay

I just received my very first Christmas Card in the mail this afternoon ~ I cannot explain how it warmed my heart to open up the mailbox and see the hand written address from one of my old friends and the anticipation to rip it open and see what she'd sent me - hand made or store bought doesn't matter to me I love and cherish them all. With our busy lives and no longer living in the same city we do not get together in person nearly often enough, which is likely why getting a hand written card with a 'catch up note' is so very dear to me! 

I just LOVE getting greeting cards in the mail, I know I am bias because I also love making hand stamped cards, however the tradition of 'snail mail' cards seems to be going the way of the dodo bird as each year I seem to get 'less and less' sent out to me and admittedly with the cost of stamps in Canada right now my Christmas Card list has gone from sending over 300 cards during the holiday season to reach out to those in my life I do not see often enough but want them to know that they are often on my mind especially during the holidays to now being weaned down to basically 'reciprocity' based ~ if you sent me one last year I will make sure to send you one this year otherwise I will send you a 'virtual greeting' via social media and keep the snail mail card tradition for those who are still invested in it. 

So it got me to thinking what is the 'norm' out there in the world so thought I would put it out there and see just how many people actually still partake in the tradition of sending out the 'family Christmas card' to loved ones that you might not get to see over the holidays?  

Leave me a comment below on your thoughts on the Christmas Card .... love to get them and send them ? Love to get them but get busy this time of year and always forget to send them? Prefer to send virtual greetings?

Have an amazing day!

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much!

Be Totallyawake4-life

If you had a magic wand?

It's Election Day in Canada .... tensions are high and its looking like a tight race and at the end of the day we will either have a same majority government we've had for the past 10 years OR we will have some form of 'new government' either a majority with a new leader or a minority with its work cut out to put partisanship aside and get things DONE in the interest of Canada!   

This election has been a particularly stressful one with all the 'negative campaigning' at the focus throwing mud and accusations of scandal around ~ so much focus on what is 'wrong' with our country verses what is RIGHT or what we can do to make it BETTER ... it really makes it hard as a VOTER to choose between LEADERS who behave in such a manner or who allow others to behave in such a manner on their behalf ... seriously our focus on elections and campaigning needs REFORM as does now our leaders are chosen!

I have no political background or expertise but if I had a magic wand to waive and only ONE thing I could change than I would like to try instead of having to vote for a 'party' as a whole would be to instead have each person running either as part of a 'party platform' or as an 'individual enttity' put their 'platform' for all the key subjects out there and we voted for the platform ... aka Economic Platform, Foreign Policy platform, Social programs platform, etcs the platforms with the most votes is what we work towards as a country and the person with the most platforms chosen would official 'lead' the country as our Prime Minister moving us towards those platform goals the majority chose even if it means supporting someone else's platform while doing it! Seems like a far more 'democratic' way to do things to me?

Plus, in my humble opinion, THAT is what TRUE LEADERSHIP is  ... it is not about arguing who has the 'right or wrong' idea and trying to make everyone accept YOUR idea but rather the ability to take what is voted by the group as the BEST idea and than to mentor the team to run with it and make it happen in the most efficient and timely manner! 

We need to stop focusing on what was done 'wrong in the past' and instead learn from it and make a plan to do BETTER in the future and we need to stop shooting down an idea for change just because of WHO suggested it and instead focus on really looking at would it work!

So regardless of who wins tomorrow we have another chance in 4 years to promote MORE CHANGE to continue to strive to make Canada BETTER for all  .... and we can start by continuing to let them know NOW what you WANT and NEED in the years to come so that when election time rolls around again MAYBE we can have REAL CHANGE verses just the lip service they play toward 'change' with the SAME OLD BEHAVIORS behind it once the election passes .... lets see ACTION for REAL CHANGE in politics over just the typical electorial SPEECHES about change? 

So that's my election day rant ... and I am totally grateful to live in a country where I can make a rant and judgement about our leaders in a public format, to VOTE for change if I so desire! 

So if you had a magic wand to wave to create Election reform what would YOU change? 

Have an amazing day!

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Totallyawake4-life