Worobec Beach

Leave a comment April 26, 2016 drworobec

Did you know that it was Burlington Green’s Community Clean Up Green Up Day this past weekend? I’m asking because I was only made aware of this wonderful event a couple of years ago. It’s now an annual tradition for our family, and one that I treasure for so many reasons.

Every year around Earth Day, the valuable Burlington Green committee sets up an online registry whereby residents can choose an area of the city to focus their cleanup efforts, or join a larger group effort, of which many neighbourhoods plan in advance. The City even provides cleanup supplies and disposes of waste items collected. There is a celebratory BBQ afterwards and a compilation of cleanup pictures distributed at a later date.

Last year, we chose to clean up the ravine that was directly behind our house. In a matter of a couple of hours, we had pulled four drum-liner garbage bags of waste from the ravine and its stream. I was amazed at what a clear impact we made in such a short time and impressed with the impression it made on my kids. This year, in a new house and new surroundings, we decided to choose a place near and dear to our hearts; we chose “Worobec beach.” Now, you will not find the name Worobec Beach on any official maps, but we’ve found a small secluded stretch of the Lake Ontario shoreline only a 10-minute bike ride from home, and made it our namesake. It’s our little treasure in the city, our happy place.

We spent about an hour at Worobec Beach, wearing rubber boots and work gloves, combing through things that had washed up onshore and things that had blown in from the park or the road. We picked in between the boulders that lined the shoreline, and the trees that give Worobec Beach its secluded privacy. Although not as garbage-riddled as last year’s ravine cleanup, we did manage to fill one garbage bag right to the brim, mostly with plastic bottle tops, straws, and empty beer bottles.

We made a difference. My kids saw the obvious implications of their hard work. They learned about their environment, contributing to their community, and the value of working together. All while basking in the sunshine and their parent’s pride.

I encourage you to sign yourself up for Burlington Green’s Eco-News so that you don’t miss this valuable event next year.

The Gift of Experience

2 Comments January 19, 2016 drworobec

My son is turning seven this week. I wrote a post about him two years ago, on the eve of his 5th birthday. Now five seems like a distant memory, and I have a seven-year-old full-blown boy on my hands. If you’ve got a child in your life, you will understand the disbelief I’m feeling that another year has flown by. Time speeds up exponentially when you’ve measure it through the growth of children.

We hemmed and hawed about what to get him. With Christmas just past, hand-me-downs from older cousins, and the blessing of a comfortable life, there isn’t much that he actually needs. And while I do think that birthdays are a chance to venture beyond the “need” category and into the “wants,” I felt the unease of excess creeping in. My heart lies in minimalism and I didn’t feel good about buying more “stuff” just to checkmark a box on the birthday to-do list. So we did what we often do; we got him a gift of experience.

We surprised him with tickets to Monster Jam in Toronto and dinner at a restaurant afterwards. Our Sunday was spent with two very excited children, riding the GO train, enjoying the monster truck action, and having a special birthday dinner. The four of us were together the entire day, adding to our memory banks and learning more about what makes our children so very special, so very unique, so very much our most precious gifts. We will remember this birthday. And he will too.

Happy birthday to the kid that’s changed my everything.

This works for us.

Leave a comment November 10, 2015 drworobec

I find myself parenting differently the second time around. My expectations have shifted and my this-is-what-the-parenting-books-say has completely disappeared. I think I’m a better parent because of it.

A prime example of this are my three-year-old daughter’s sleep habits. We moved a couple of months ago, and she developed a new routine. Our new house has a main-floor Master bedroom, and nearly every night, she tip-toes downstairs in the middle of the night and crawls into our bed. Most nights I don’t even hear her, and I will often wake with her little body pressed up against mine. Not only do I not mind this even a little bit, I actually need it too. I’m still adjusting to my own “new normals” and there’s a big part of me that feels safe and secure when my children are at my side. Content and happy, calm and peaceful, just how life is meant to be. She snuggles into me and whispers, “Mama, can we snuggle?” with her sleep-drunk voice and her bedhead hair. So I wrap my arms around her and we fall back to sleep, both comforted by the fact that we’re together.

But I find it interesting that I’ve never questioned the “should I put her back in her own bed?” part. If my son, my first-born, had done the same, I likely would’ve done what many parenting books suggest: that children need to sleep in their own beds. I likely would’ve walked him back upstairs to his room, and put him back to bed. Because that’s what I “should” do. Or, more accurately, that’s what I perceived I should do. But now I realize that parenting is so much more enjoyable if you simply do what works for your own unique family in your own unique situation.

This works for us.