Play is children’s work
June 23, 2008
Play is an important, healthy and functional part of development. If children are denied opportunity for play their development becomes constipated.
Social Workers and Psychologists assess for age and development appropriate play tools and opportunities in child safety and family assessments. With age appropriate play comes risk management. Parents who spend time thinking about the range of activities and how to minimise risk around those activities generally have well adjusted children - children who are doing their job of being children.
Many parents also play. An accepted form of a mental health top up, play keeps us fresh, invigorated and in touch with our family priorities. In Cairns our opportunity for outside play is endless. A beautiful part of the world characterised by outdoor living, palm trees and ocean, our Muddy’s Playground is a place I love to go to play work at 
I’m not sure who has the better time at Muddy’s Playground on the Cairns Esplanade, Master 12 or myself. One thing is for sure though - clean teeth is a must when visiting this park, kids. There are so many birds that it would be dreadful if a bird flew into your mouth and started picking out all the food! Master 12 wouldn’t believe it a possibility….until a bird started following him around! Risk manage around child safety and make sure you clean your teeth!
The kewl chicky babes from Three Times Kewl are coming to visit Cairns. I’ll be taking them to work - at Muddy’s. This is the range of outdoor, child safe, child friendly, development oriented play they can expect:
Bloggers meet in Cairns
June 22, 2008
Cairns Bloggers meet at Imaginif (30 James Street, North Cairns) on Saturday evening, 26 July 2008.
Family oriented for a casual BYO nibbles and drinks BBQ. (yes, you can bring the partner and the kids - at Imaginif, we encourage family inclusion)
5pm until you’ve all had enough of each other.
Imaginif will do the meats, salads, and sauces.
Come and meet your fellow Cairns bloggers, those interested in blogging, and help to create real time geeky social networks.
RSVP to Megan (from Imaginif) by Thursday the 24th.
Cairns Bloggers
- Andrew Griffiths
- Balloon with Hot Air
- Berry Baby
- Big Little Sister
- Birdwing Therapies
- Cairns Action for Sustainable Transport
- Cairns Blog.net
- Cairns Unlimited
- Have camera will travel
- Jean Burman (artist)
- Kaj Haffenden
- Knowledge Solutions
- Nicky Jurd
- nunyaa
- Psych Matters
- Spasmodic Dysphonia
- Tropical Passions
Does anybody else need to be listed and invited via trackback?
Are you coming? Leave me a comment here and do a post on your site to encourage other Cairns bloggers to come and join forces with us all.
Aussie Carnival Blog On Cairns
June 18, 2008
Welcome to the June 18, 2008 edition of
Carnival of Australia and Blog On Cairns.
My Carnival hosting tradition is to always begin with a post from the previous host: it is my way of saying, “Thanks for hosting and sharing in the success of the Carnival of Australia.” Of course last fortnight it was a sister Cairns business blogger who hosted: Keran from Birdwing Therapies. This fortnight, Keran gives us, Operation Centurion. Perpetrators and Pedophiles Being Arrested. This is something right up my ally. As child protection advocates both Keran and I are very conscious of online predators and we both share ALL information with the police if needed. As Keran says, “If you have any information which may lead to an arrest contact your local Police or Crime Stoppers“.
Blog On Cairns
What’s winter like in Tropical North Queensland? Steve and Maria from Cairns Unlimited have had one day where they had to wear long sleeves and trousers. Steve keeps a wonderful tourist centric blog and he says, “Winter in Tropical North Queensland is a far cry from the season that the southern half of Australia endures at this time of year. It’s 11:00am as I write this, and my trusty Cairns Unlimited thermometer tells me it’s 27 degrees (that’s 81 degrees American) which is not a bad winter’s temperature, I reckon”. I’m with you Steve…if it drops below 25 degrees, I freeze.
Paul Dymond of Have camera Will Travel suggests that The more you edit the better you look. Correction Paul, you’ve got it around the wrong way for the majority of us amateurs - the more you professional photographers edit photographs of us, the better we look! Paul is actually referring to the blog presentation of edited photographs. In the age of digital cameras and blogs, Mum and Dad photographer have a penchant for putting all of their pics up. Paul suggests raising your own status as digital guru and only publishing your very best and edited shots. FANTASTIC shot of a Cassowary on the Daintree Road.
Mike Moore over at Cairns Blog is finally back to his regular blogging. In Drunk Driver, Mike shares a horrific picture of a drunk and sleeping driver smashing into a group of cyclists.
Introducing Luke Grange from Knowledge Solutions. Luke and his team offer all manner of Web-based information solutions and their new corporate blog focuses on Web 2.0 applications and the benefits of blogging as a business tool. On a more personal not, Luke was one of my rescuers in my near drowning experience on the Great Barrier Reef. I am eternally grateful to Luke and I encourage you to head over to his new site and giving him a little blog karma .
Did you know that verylongdomainnamesarefrustrating. Over at Nicky Jurd’s she urges new website builders to consider their domain names…preferably before you buy them! What does your business do? What does your domain name say about your business? Can your clients easily remember your domain name? An excellent little post Nicky.
Jean Burman, aka Billy the Kid, is a marvel. There were only three Cairns bloggers who used the power of the blogosphere to raise consciousness around the recent Childhood Hero Day. Two of those bloggers are child safety advocates and professional in the area. Jean on the other hand, deserves accolades and fanning with banana palms, because she does not make her living from child safety. Jean shares a wonderful story of being a childhood hero, with teeth and skin, in tact.
Nunyaa, our own little Flying Nun of Flying Fish Point (I don’t know if that’s where Nunyaa lives - it just fitted with the flying nun habit comment), raises some safety and control issues around the hotly debated OneSchool data base: Students on the Net.
Queensland State Government is planning on entering personal details including photos of every state school child in an online data base. Photographs, personal details, career aspirations, off-campus activities and student performance records are being collected from all 1251 state schools.
OneSchool rhetoric comes with a threat or two: it is non negotiable and students who do not supply the required information may well be refused a state education. Ummm, I just cannot see how that could ever happen.
I understand the reasons behind state education wanting such a data base but without the security needed (let along fast internet!) to protect such sensitive online information, the potential for hacking, manipulating and sharing information about minors, leaves me a little perturbed. At this stage, I am wanting to join Nunnyaa and say, “I prefer the old hard drive and paper files thanks Mr Welford.”
Andrew Griffiths wonders if Maybe it’s time to get mobile. There is no denying the massive growth in business to your door models. Andrew posits that the model will only grow and that traditionally sedentary business houses will begin to go mobile. I wonder if anyone has done research on the environmental impact of “to your door” business verses customers seeking out business at a fixed address.
Andrew asks:
Are there ways that your business could take your products or services directly to your customers? A few prime examples that I seen develop recently are:
1. Mobile battery sellers - they come to you when you get a flat battery.
2. Mobile mechanics - they come to you to work on your car.
3. Mobile dog washers - no more wet dogs in the car.
4. Mobile finance brokers - discuss your finance needs in your own home.
5. Restaurants - home delivery is becoming more popular by the day.
6. Hairdressers - many will now come to your home or office.
I have long thought Imaginif could make use of a mobile child therapy room (a mobile home/caravan sort of an affair) that visits the smaller towns around us once a week. Paul (my accountant husband) will cringe when he reads this and I know what he will say, “Stick to your business model woman and don’t plan anything else into the cash flow!”
Like sands through the hour glass, Melody (from Biglittlesister)and her family are taking beach advantage on the fine, but cold, days Cairns has experienced (have I ever mentioned that I hate winter!). In delightful artistic talent, the girls did a sand portrait of papa bear, Lyndon. Very Aussie! [Megan breaks into song] There was an old man who swallowed Australia.
Melody, the above sand artist from Big Little Sister , has a huge parent blogger following. Cairns businesses interested in marketing their family focused wares cannot do better than giving Melody a promo to review. A positive review from Melody will reach thousands of Aussie parents all heading this way for winter warmth. Ummm, what could Melody blog about - weekends away, family centric restaurants, resort wear, tours: the list and Melody’s parent influence is endless. Blog searches are fast becoming search engine in style. Indexing, easy home based seo strategies and huge visitor numbers means that blogs often come up before tradition web or information sites. If you haven’t got a blog on your website, you’ve got rocks in your head. Thank goodness you’ve got access to experienced bloggers who can parent test your product though.
Here are the other Cairns bloggers that I know off. Get to know them, encourage them, link to them and build a solid web of people in Cairns who get the enduring strength of blogging as a tool.
- Berry Baby
- Cairns Action for Sustainable Transport
- Kaj Haffenden
- Psych Matters
- Spasmodic Dysphonia
- Tropical Passions
Business
Des Walsh ate before he wrote, A Book I Must Have for Doing Business in China over at deswalsh.com. A delightfully serious, humorous, and humble reflection of how unChinese Des may have been, he has now whet my appetite for the book as an entree to Chinese business culture as well. Des, did you know, in China they don’t call it Chinese food. Amazing! (12 year old is looking over my shoulder groaning at my jokes)
Family
GP presents Innkeeping Heloise Style posted at Innside Montana-Your Home at the Range, saying, “Innkeeping ‘Heloise” style here in the US of A. Cheers maties” What a laugh. Thanks GP, that tickled my non cleaning elbows.
PlanningQueen presents 10 Ways To Save On Your Food Bill posted at Planning with Kids, saying, “With higher food prices looking set to stay, here are some easy steps you can take to save on your food bill” Planning’s posts are always super sensible and parent practical. I wonder if not feeding the kids would ever make one of your lists PQ? My 12 year old son is in danger of not being fed because he and his friend are eating me out of my wage! I keep offering them Tripe but they don’t seem to want that! My serious money saving food tip is to put a cup of rolled oats in with mince - yummy, healthy and doubles dinner
The three times kewl Alison was tagged for a meme by Cairns based Melody: Six question meme. The diversity of lodgings, employment and preference always amazes me when I read personal memes. Alison has been a circus performer and now operates a menagerie and young people home. She is also an amazingly intelligent young woman who lives her life around inclusive and non discriminatory practices. A rare bird, Alison will be in Cairns late July and I intend to have a Bloggers Meet so that you can all meet Alison too (she is a regular reader of several blogs that participate in Carnival of Australia).
Food
The wonderful Jeanie presents Cannelloni Comforts! posted at Jeanie in Paradise, saying, “How to g-r-a-d-u-a-l-l-y extend your child’s eating horizon!” Jeanie, that was very clever and the pics are divine. One of my kids was a true, pie addicted, Aussie. The only food he would eat had to be wrapped in pastry and end with the work “Pie.” We wanted soft Tacos for dinner. I told Master Pie Face that they were Mexican Pies He loved his Mexican Pies and still eats pie bread (tortillas) to this day.
Personal Development
Belongum presents If ever there was an apprenticeship in Ironing… posted at Belongum’s Weblog. What a laugh - this single post explains the risks associated with ironing.
…when you’re ironing in a hurry, with only your undies on! Don’t let anyone fool you - for all the burn resistance cotton might have over anything resembling polyester, it still hurts like a bastard when that’s all that happens to be between your iron (on it’s ‘Linen’ setting), and any patch of skin that might reside between your belly button and where the top of your legs are! If it’s not that, it’s the steam - do I really need to explain those particular hazards in detail any further? I thought not! The ‘dangle factor’ aside folks; I’m afraid I have to tell you that ironing in your duds, isn’t necessarily a healthy thing to be doing - but ‘needs’ tend to necessitate all manners of odd behavior.
Belongum, I am an Army brat - starch and ruler bred. Nowadays though, I am an environmental safety officer (self appointed) and ironing is a high risk and environmentally black task (aka, I let my husband do my ironing. Can’t wait to witness a mishap like yours hehe).
Sport
R.Pettinger presents Australian World Harmony Run posted at Sri Chinmoy Centre News, saying, “On April 27th, the Australian World Harmony Run team began an epic journey around the entire coast of Australia.” Congratulations to the runners and the organisers. Social understanding is something I strive toward and I fully encourage such projects. Thanks for submitting this to the Carnival of Australia.
Travel
Our Red House presents Our Red House: Wilson’s Promontory: Landscapes posted at Our Red House. What beautiful clear pictures. It doesn’t even look cold. While I am often focused on the northernmost tip of Australia, this post comes from the southern most tip of Australia. How cool that our Carnival spans from one tip to the other. Thanks for joining us in the Carnival. We ruin fortnightly so please do come back.
Fancy a trip to Japan in a virtual origami boat? No. Then how about sending an origami boat to the the Prime Minister of Japan: Join the mass online protest against whaling in the Southern Ocean. Activism and social change is within easy reach of us all. Join The Body Shop Activist in a few virtual paper folds and help to create a sustainable future worth having grand kids for.
That concludes this edition. Any takers for hosting next fortnight? If not, the Carnival will run here at Imaginif again.
Submit your chosen blog post to the next edition of Carnival of Australia and Blog On Cairns using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page. You must be Aussie (no matter where you live in the world) or have a post about something Australian. I received a lot of spam this edition and some posts that I could not work out the Aussie connection. If you are an overseas Aussie blogger and it is not obvious on your About page, please let me know you are Australian.
Links back to the Carnival are always appreciated and act as positive marketing for our collective Carnival.
Technorati tags: carnival of australia and blog on cairns, blog carnival.
Drunk and raped in Cairns
June 17, 2008
Inebriated women in Cairns run the risk of being raped, according to local police: Booze fuels sex attacks - cops. The Far North Police area has long had high rates of sexual assaults (or reported sexual assaults). I wonder who is responsible for the sexual attacks? Police, community or individual?
Messages to women to not drink excessively, to not walk home alone and to always stay in contact with another person and to inform them of your whereabouts are often met with disgruntled community squeals of forcing women to be responsible for men’s bad behaviour. I am not in favour of making anyone else responsible for another’s doings, but, I do take the sentiment that local Cairns police were attempting to convey: responsible drinking and personal safety. Research has supported that there has long been a link between alcohol use and sexual assault and that women have to enact safety measures before they become alcohol affected.
Women have the right to go anywhere and do what ever they like: including getting drunk if that is what they fancy. Similarly, women have the right to wear what they like. However, with rights comes responsibility. We all have the right to jump on the plane and go to Papua New Guinea, but we would not do it without having the correct shots, visas or Malaria tablets. We would be responsible and act to protect ourselves.
The international and annual Reclaim the Night movement was born out of women being told to stay indoors after dark. A serial killer on the loose, Police imposed a curfew in an attempt to keep women safe. Women reacted and demanded that Police keep the women safe by catching the killer. Now, more than 30 years later, on the last Friday evening of October, women and children still take to the streets as a reminder of their right to safety, day and night, at home or on the street. I am sure that marching inebriated is not acceptable as it may well void insurance. I am sure that march organisers risk manage against all manner of potential harms. I am sure that march organisers recognise that with rights comes responsibilities.
Who’s job then is it to risk manage and keep inebriated woman safe in Cairns, or any other town? The women, the police, the community?
Photo, “Tired of the night” by sol_one at stock.xchng.
Therapy pets to teach protective behaviours
June 12, 2008
Imaginif is on the hunt for a selection of small therapy pets: guinea pigs, guinea fowl, bantams. Talk doctor Rebekah Allen fostered an abused Puppy from the dog shelter and our child clients loved her. Talk doctor Rebekah used the puppy’s abuse as an introduction to the children’s experience of abuse and as a lead in to protective behaviour conversations. It has worked beautifully and now many of the children greet me not with, “Hello Megan,” but with, “Is Izzy here today?”
Keran over at Birdwing Therapies uses her adorable therapy pup Pabu to build resilience and teach empathy in her child clients. Many nursing homes use dogs as companion healers for lonely and depressed residents. Disability support services frequently encourage the use of animals as therapy. Animals as therapy makes sense.
Rather than get a dog or cat, Imaginif has decided to offer a selection of small therapy animals. I posted a request in Cairns FreeCycle (Yahoo teams with Freecycle to turn junk into treasure) and have this morning had a response about a same gender guinea pig set. We continue to seek Guinea Fowl (how I love those birds) and Bantams.
Are you in Cairns and do you have some Keats (Guinea Fowl chicks), bantams, or similar small and huggingly portable pet you would be willing to gift to children in therapy at Imaginif? They will be cared for by myself and will live in luxury at the new Imaginif premises. Please contact Megan Bayliss if you can be a childhood hero.
Some pet therapy sites of interest:
Animal Assisted Therapy
Association of Australian Assistance Dogs (Mareeba)
Paws Outdoors (dog walking in Cairns - recommended by Megan Bayliss from Imaginif)
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