Dufferin Grove Park is one of the best family places in town, hands down! It is run with great spirit by community folks that care. There are such great events, food, parties, Farmers market, skating, swimming and everything you can imagine all under the shade of some nice old trees that are spread all over the park.

Somehow, every now and again the City of Toronto seems to threaten the idea of this perfection by taking it over fully and trying to make it like all the other parks.

It really is hard to believe and I would only guess that none of the people trying to do this have ever spent much time there and definitely don't have kids.

If you are one who uses this park and wants to get involved in keeping it going the way it is now, here is some info.

To CONTACT THE OMBUDSMAN regarding this issue you may visit the website at: http://ombudstoronto.ca/

The e-mail address is: ombuds@toronto.ca and the phone number is: 416-392-7062. TTY is available: 416-392-7100

I have been involving myself in some kid related Guerilla-type activiities. I don't worry too much about confessing here on my blog as I can't really imagine doing good for my kids being much of an illegal act. Yesterday I found a note from the City of Toronto asking me to call them regarding the ice rink I built for my kids in the park beside our house. Do you think they might just want to discuss ice-repair techniques?

Last night I was up on a twelve foot shakey old wood ladder installing the paper mache (sp?) monsters that they created with my friend Cynthia. I was up there in the dark, living on the edge (or so it seemed) and wondered later whether I really do these things for the kids or for myself. We were definitely undercover, whispering our curatorial directions and watching for the art-police to come and stop our mission. We got a few funny looks and a couple "thumbs-up" from people driving by. Paola asked me if the pole would "hold my weight" as I climbed and Cynthia held the ladder and gave my advice on my hanging technique. Maybe this is the beginning of a new art instillation collective? (or just a few parents who really love parenting)

This whole project was partly inspired and funded by a very cool grant created by an OCAD student calledTiny Grants

One of my theories of parenting is that you have to really enjoy the things that you do with your kids or they will sense your lack of passion. I do get truly passionate about art, music and hockey with my kids and sometimes even have to control it.

Being able to control or even hide that passion is sometimes the secret to not scaring your kids away from things like art or sports. This is a tricky one that I continue to work on.

Had a great family vacation in Quebec this week. It is so good to see my kids spending time with their relatives in Quebec. I wasn't really excited about attending the Carnaval parade but it turned out to be much fun for all of us. The Quebec dancers, musicians etc. seem to have different and more sincere approach to a parade than we do here. All of the folks in the parade seemed to have such fun and were really "going for it."

We decided to use transit to get to the parade and it was a good idea in the end. However, the usual problems came up with my two boys on the bus; either it is the "are-we-there-yet problem" or the WWE wrestling approach to public transportation. (headlocks really don't work on a bus!)

Anyways, I was proud of my parenting skills when I reached into my bag and asked my 7yr old if he wanted to play Pac-Man on my ipod Touch. Plus, I was going to listen to the Beethoven String Quartet that I have been studying as of late. Yes, I had not only solved the problem but figured out a way to do a little work too. I plugged in the head phones, handed Leo the ipod and he was content. I put the earphones into my ears and there was the cello, the viola, the violins and WAKA-WAKA-WAKA-WAKA. Oh well. Leo is happy.