March Break Revisited

March Break is done and gone. We’re into April. There’s rain. But I’ve got to say something about the two weeks I spent with the kids over the break last month.

I was lucky.

I had some extra vacation time and was able to take the time off and still have couple of weeks left for the summer. I was lucky because I was able to spend an awesome amount of time with my kids – my favourite little people. It was tiring, don’t get me wrong. I have a huge respect for all stay at home parents. You people are absolute heroes. I got just a taste of how draining it can be. Yes, office work is a breeze in comparison.

I was lucky because of Toronto. We have some awesome things to do. Bat Cave at the Museum. Science Centre. Choice parks. Library. We trucked around and did some really fun stuff.

I was lucky because you just can’t make up for time with your kids. Its quality, but its quantity too. Relationships are built on familiarity and consistency and man, two weeks full time parenting will let you know where you are at.  By the second week the kids were super agreeable, and accepted my decisions (the one’s they didn’t like) with much less of a fuss. I also said yes more. Not to push pops at Blockbuster, mind you but to things I might have said no to if we were more rushed, like we often are on weekends or after work.

I was lucky for some time that you can’t get back.

Yep, lucky indeed.

CAMH Demolition: Reconstructing our Understanding of Mental Health Starts with Kids

I drove down Queen West yesterday and saw a pretty dramatic scene. After decades of use, the main building at CAMH is coming down. I would spy it from time to time as a kid driving by with my parents, and couldn’t help but wonder what was going on inside. It was 999 Queen Street back then, and we all spoke of it with fear and derision. If there was a group you could disparage as a kid, it was people with mental illness. Suggesting someone would be taken to 999 Queen was not punishment worthy.  

CAMH is looking to change the face of Mental Illness through a dramatic reconstruction of the grounds – making the buildings integrate with the community. If the the first stage was any indication, the facility will resemble a group of condominiums more than a health facility. The effort is more than worthy of admiration. The more we understand mental illness, the more we are able to be compassionate towards those who suffer in its grasp.

But as I listen to my kids’ banter I realize that there’s more we need to do to make sure that the next generation doesn’t grow up as prejudiced as ours. The “S” word is a big no-no (that would be “stupid” by the way), but kids will call each other “retarded” and “crazy” all the time. Its a small thing, and I occasionally correct it when I hear it, but watching the building on Queen getting torn down, I was struck by how easy it is to let those comments go, and how entrenched those ideas can become.

It struck me that the demolition on Queen is a big opportunity to talk to our kids about mental illness, and to lay the groundwork so that they might more easily come to a place where they can be compassionate for those suffering from it, and also to be less ashamed and more open about talking about it if they themselves are ensnared by it.

There are a ton of resources online for talking to kids about mental illness, such as this one from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. As CAMH makes its bold statement to redefine mental health, we can help by carrying that message to our children.

CAMH is also on Facebook.

The Future of Toronto: The Star’s Making a Start

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been following thestar.com’s Your City My City blog series. And in ways its a great start at an ongoing discussion about the future of Toronto. There are regular posts from a variety of perspectives and people can post comments without having to register like you do on the main site. That’s good thinking. Making it easy to engage in the conversation is huge. They are highlighting interesting ideas to stimulate conversation, such as the recent comment to turn University Avenue into a pedestrian magnet. Comments ranged, not surprisingly, from the expected “Are you crazy?” to “Yes! and Yonge street too!” But I wonder if the Star’s welcome effort is going to get anything more than the entrenchment of existing views about the city.

It appears, however, that it lacks a framework of sorts.  The blogs are about Toronto, but they seem to all circle back to current experiences and pet peeves. But isn’t the point to talk about the future – rather than to debate the status quo?  The risk is that the series degenerates into a back and forth between complainers and detractors on one side, and the boosters on the other, without enough thought given to what kind of city we’ll be leaving to our kids.

Setting up a framework for the discussion wouldn’t be that difficult. It would also be great to engage the citizens in the process. For example, the first two weeks could have focused on canvassing Torontonians in an open ended way about what they think about Toronto’s future, and what kind of city they would like to see 10 years from now.  It could have been done in some interesting ways – for example with roving videographers, which could have been posted on a YouTube channel. That kind of framework – Toronto in 10 years – could get the discussion out of the “fix the potholes” discussion and into the realm of vision, without it being so far down the road that its all pie in the sky stuff.

But the Star is making an effort. And it is a good start. It would be nice to see more comments (rarely does a post crack 10 comment).  It would be great if citizens could post other media – images, video and audio. Sure its possible to link to those types of things via comments, but creating an interface would make it that much easier for the non-technologically inclined.

One of the articles I read bemoaned the lack of visionary thinking at city hall and in the business community when if comes to Toronto. But I don’t think vision is limited to those groups. Given the right framework, regular citizens might be inspired to offer a vision of Toronto in the future that is both tremendously creative and compellingly practical.

Countdown to March Break

The countdown is on. March break is T-Minus 2 days away.

Normally I wouldn’t be thinking ahead with this kind of anticipation. The past 4 years, March break child care duty has been given to our trusted super awesome nanny Ruby. But not this year. See, Ruby has finished school and now has a full time job. So guess who the honour goes to this year? You guessed it. Your’s truly.

At first, I have to admit I was nervous, but as the time approaches I am really looking forward to it. The first week will be tempered by a morning camp for each of the kidlets (Art Camp for the older one, and Sportball for the younger one). But it will be full on action otherwise. Plus they are at an independent school so there’s a second week to boot.

Here’s where things like the Toronto Library, our memberships to the AGO and the ROM are looking so good. There’s always the YMCA, the climbing gym, and the park (Duffering Grove or Trinity Bellwoods). One day we’ll probably hit the Science Centre too. I’m sure we’ll do some movies, but with Spring knocking on the door, we’ll be getting out as much as possible.

Toronto is full of  fantastic choices. What are you planning for March Break?

Rediscovering the Toronto Public Library

A few months ago, we went to the library. We went just because we had too. Now, the kids clamour to go.

Back in December, the kids were going to the library with their school and they needed library cards. So off we trucked to the Bloor-Gladstone branch of the Toronto Public Library to sign up. As I deftly avoided reference to my previous card, which I’m sure held incriminating evidence and long overdue fines, the kids went to look at books with @nathalily.

The older one was interested in early reader novels, big type, a hundred pages or so. He was so interested that he camped out on one of the library’s big comfy chairs and got completely engrossed. The younger one was all over the dinosaur section. Books on Velociraptors, dinosaur encyclopedias, books with CD’s. You name it. If there was a dino on it, he wanted it.

Turns out, that every few weeks, they want to go back and reload. The older one can devour a short novel in a couple of  hours, while the younger one starts to get bored of his current collection of books featuring sauropods and theropods. So back we go.

And the Bloor-Gladstone branch is beautiful. There’s lots of computers, learning centres, and wifi. No wonder there’s a line up to get in when the doors open on Sunday. The TPL has done a great job of making the library the place to be, not just the place you told your parents you would be. The staff is great, and a few are active on twitter too.

Rediscovering the Library has been a fantastic thing for our family. And a vibrant library network makes a huge contribution to Toronto’s communities. If you haven’t gone in a while, I highly recommend it.

By the way, want to know the best dinosaur word I’ve learned? Thagomizer. It’s the spikey tail of the Stegosaurus. Now that’s cool.

My Bold Idea: Focus on Preventative Health

If you haven’t heard about it, the Liberals have organized a Canada at 150 conference.  They’ve reached out to citizens to submit “Bold Ideas” about how to grapple with the serious issues that Canadians are facing. Well, I submitted one. Its on creating a Ministry of Preventative Health. Given that so many diseases are “preventable” through better nutrition and exercise, it seems logical. But it doesn’t have to be national. Just as cities want to be known as “Green”, why not focus on being “Healthy” as well. A focus on preventative health would increased productivity, reduce health issues, and also bolster a sense of community. Here’s what I submitted. Who knows – maybe they’ll invite me to Montreal??

The Big Idea: Create a Ministry of Preventative Health

The Rationale: The costs of healthcare are tremendous. Most healthcare costs are driven by diseases that are actually preventable.

If preventative health was made a more concrete issue and supported by a ministry with a budget, tremendous strides could be made that would significantly lower the cost of healthcare for Canada for generations. Canadians would be healthier, and also more productive, resulting in a not insignificant boost to the GDP.

A Ministry of Preventative Health could:

1. Aggressively promote preventative health activities, such as good diet and exercise.
2. Work with the provincial health ministries to fund family physicians, naturopaths, dieticians, and homeopaths to prescribe “Preventative Health Plans” to their patients.
3. Work with the Ministry of Finance to create tax incentives for individuals and families who adhere to their Preventative Health Plans.

The Model: We have seen this work with CBC’s 1 Million Acts of Green campaign. A similar campaign for preventative health – actively tying diet and exercise to decreased healthcare costs, not just better health – will help activate the program.

The Bottom Line: Healthier Canadians will result in Healthier Finances for Canada.

Hello world!

Hi everyone. I’m Mark Makuch. Born and raised in Toronto, I now am raising my own family here in the Big Smoke. Or Hogtown. Or Toronto the Good. Whatever you’d like to call it. Like most Torontonians, I like my city: its clean and friendly. There are lots of parks. You can live downtown and feel safe. There are more restaurants than anyone really needs, but just enough so that you can find anything you want and its really, really good. There is art, culture and music. Its also Canada’s economic engine. There are sports, although the major league teams are all hitting their nadir rather than their zenith at the current time. Toronto is, despite the cliche, eminently livable. Its a city I’m proud of and it fits me well.

This Blog is my attempt to engage in what Stuart McLean recently described Toronto as, which is “A Conversation”. As a dad, I feel the need to contribute in some way to the world beyond the walls of our home. And as minimal a contribution as this blog may be, its something. I’m not an activist, but I want Toronto to be a place where my kids feel honoured to call home, a place they can return to and feel comfortable, even work, live and raise their own families.

Toronto is facing challenging times. City finances are grim, services are threatened, the TTC is faltering under the weight of underfunding. But at the same time there is a vibrancy that is astounding: thriving ethnic communities, grand new Art Gallery and Museum investments, world class Universities, a strong financial sector in the face of global economic turbulence. Its a city that works, and one that should continue to work, if we make the effort of engaging in that “Conversation.”

I hope you enjoy this blog about being a parent and raising kids in this city, my home.