Win this great new children's book

I don't do a lot of reviews of children's books. I don't really know why. Probably because I am so loyal to my faves (The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Good Night Moon, Corduroy, to name a few), it's hard for me to get behind a newbie...until now.

Duck! Rabbit! (Chronicle Books), written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld, captivated me and both my children (ages 4 and 6 years) at the first page. Is it a duck or a rabbit? This fun book asks its readers to decide for themselves.

I love this book, not only because it was fun to read and fun to find out what my children saw, but also because it sparked a much bigger conversation about perspective in general. First, we talked about visual perspective -- what things can we look at in different ways? My son (who is very interested in art) walked with me along South Granville and took his new-found perspective to the art galleries there. We had fun looking at different paintings and talking about what we saw, how the paintings made us feel and what we liked best. Then, we went on to talk about aural perspective -- how two people can hear something differently. And then, we talked about emotional perspective -- how something can affect one person one way, and another person another way.

WIN ONE! I have five of these fabulous books to give away. To enter, tell me why you love reading with your kids by commenting on this post. The winners will be randomly chosen. I'll identify the winners on this blog on March 6, 2009 by publishing their winning posts here. Deadline to enter: March 5, 2009, midnight. Open only to residents of British Columbia.

One less shot for baby

I was a bundle of nerves every time I brought my babies to the doctor for vaccinations. Probably because my innocent, unsuspecting, trusting little bundles of joy didn't know what was about to happen: That their loving mother was going to bring them to a doctor (who seemed benign enough), who would pull out a long pointy instrument and then mercilessly jab it right into their fat thigh, not once, not twice, but THREE times in a single visit.

Before being jabbed, my babies always looked at the needle with curiosity. Even with arms outstretched as if to say, "That thing looks like fun. I want to play with that. Gimme. Gimme."

My kids are older now, and they don't sit idly, or happily, by as the doctor prepares the needle anymore. I remember the time my son started running around the room screeching at the top of his lungs as I struggled to catch and hold him still for the vaccination. My daughter tries to hypnotize the doctor with her words from her hiding spot underneath the chair. "Don't give me a needle today. You are not going to give me a needle. You will not give me a needle," she has said.

So I was glad to hear that for those parents who dread giving their kids needles, the Ministry of Health, Living and Sport is starting to use a new vaccine that cuts down the number of shots needed. Here is what a press release, sent out by the Ministry today said:

British Columbia is the first province in Canada to start using Infanrix-hexa, a new vaccine that will allow parents to cut back on the number of injections given to their infants during routine immunization.

"Immunization is the most effective way to prevent many serious diseases, but most people, especially infants, don't like being jabbed with needles," said Healthy Living and Sport Minister Mary Polak. "This new vaccine will allow us to continue to safely protect the health of our infant children against six diseases."

Infanrix-hexa is considered a combination vaccine that protects infants against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenza type b, and hepatitis B. Infanrix will reduce the number of injections given to babies at two, four and six months of age by one at each visit, for a total of three fewer injections. Infanrix-hexa will replace Pediacel and hepatitis B vaccines.

For more information, visit www.immunizebc.ca.

A family portrait

We had our photos taken recently by the talented North Vancouver-based Kim Mara of Eclipse Photography. Here is one of my favourites.

I always go for the portraits that are a little goofy. This photo showcases my daughter Lauren's in-your-face, unbridled enthusiasm that is her signature. It also shows the quieter, more reserved personality of my boy. And me, of course...not looking fat and not looking old (I am a vain, vain woman). In my book, that is a very good picture indeed!

The games kids play

Recently, my 6-year-old son told me about a boy named "Robert."

"Mommy," my son Benjamin said one day after school. "Nobody wants to be Robert."

"What?" I asked. "Who's Robert?"

"We take turns pretending to be Robert, and whoever is Robert gets chased by everybody else," he replied. "It's bad to be Robert. Nobody likes you."

Deeply concerned that this was a case of bullying, I asked, "Why wouldn't you want to be Robert? I don't think that's very nice to make fun of him. You should be friends with Robert."

"No, Mommy!" Benjamin urged. "Nobody wants to be friends with Robert. Robert is bad!"

"Benjamin, think about how Robert feels," I tried to explain. "He probably feels so sad and lonely. You wouldn't want people to not play with you, right?"

"Mommy, it's just a game..." Benjamin started.

"It's not a game, Benjamin. This is serious. It is really important that you treat others like you want to be treated," I explained carefully. "Robert needs friends too."

Silence.

"Benjamin, why does everybody dislike Robert anyway?" I asked trying to get the conversation going again.

"Because we're the cops and our job is to catch Robert and put him in jail," Benjamin explained. "We like playing Cops and Robert."

Watch, now my son will grow up to be a police officer whose sole mission is to befriend the "Robert"s of the world.

Talking about babysitting on CBC Radio

Okay, so I just finished my interview on BC Almanac on CBC Radio. But before I went on, I told my 4-year-old daughter Laure that I was going to be on the radio.

So, at 1 pm, my husband turned on the radio to listen with her. After my interview was over, he turned off the radio, and said, "Wasn't Mommy great?"

Lauren cried, "But I didn't hear Mommy sing!"

How do you find a babysitter?

Valentine's Day is soon upon us and all of you couples out there have dates planned right? Without the kids? As long as you can find a sitter, right? Right.

I'm going to be on BC Almanac on CBC Radio to discuss babysitting -- how to get a sitter, where to get a sitter, alternatives, etc -- on Feb. 13. And I want to know what you do! Tell me this:

1. Who do you use as a sitter?
2. How much do you pay hourly for this sitter?
3. Would you use a stranger to sit your kids?

Talk to me. My appearance on radio is coming soon...!

And the winner is...

The winner of the Minui HandySitt Chair is Theresa McCullough! Congratulations, Theresa. I'll be contacting you shortly.

Thanks to everyone for entering to win this very popular chair.