May 1st is Doctors’ Day here in Ontario!

Did you know that today, May 1st, is Doctors’ Day here in Ontario.

The Ontario Medical Association is asking Ontarians to help celebrate this day by sending a personalized thank you card to their doctors. The cards can be created on this website, http://thanksdoc.oma.org/. Once submitted, the OMA will deliver your thank you card directly to your doctor.

When was the last time you thanked your doctor?

As an added incentive, everyone who submits a thank you card is eligible to win an iPhone5 and Fitbit One™ Wireless Activity & Sleep Tracker.

You can even thank you Doctor on Facebook, or send a kind note to the OMA through Twitter for taking care of their members.  I have spent numerous hours on their Facebook page reading articles which as a parent are important to me, such as the OMA asking to have antibiotics removed from livestock feed in Canada and the alarming amount of sodium in restaurant food.

As a special thank you for posting about a wonderful cause, the OMA is offering you, the reader, and opportunity to win a $25 Sport Chek gift card.  All you have to do to have an opportunity to win is post a comment on my blog or Facebook page of the direct link to their thank you on the website (example: http://thanksdoc.oma.org/#367)  just to be sure that you have actually participated in this day of recognition.

On May 15th, I will take down the names of all of you who took the time to comment, put them in a hat and have one of my children draw a winner.  The winner will be notified via email.

I’m off now to send a thank you to our family doctor of 13 years who adapted her style to meet our needs when she realized that we prefer to try natural remedies first before getting to the antibiotics for us and our children.  As a result, she offers us all solutions and we greatly appreciate that!

Thanks Doc!

Related articles

• OMA calls for crackdown on antibiotic use in farming (cp24.com)
• Ontario’s doctors say province needs to address its ‘drinking problem’ (globalnews.ca)

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Social Media Mistakes to Avoid

I had a dream the other night that I had to send a very important email to a friend and instead I sent it to a client.  I then woke up out of a deep sleep in a cold sweat.  That would be pretty disastrous, wouldn’t it?  Well it happens more than you think it does, especially in cases where people or organizations have multiple social media accounts and the lines between business and personal becomes faint.  Social media can be a great way to build your brand, but if handled incorrectly, can erode these efforts in a hurry.

In light of this panic, I thought it would be a good time to post this article which had been sitting in my draft folder for over a year.  The 13 Most Common Social Media mistakes which can either damage your brand or cause others to look at it and then move on to someone else.

Back in the day, your handshake was your word, and if you shook someone’s hand and then didn’t follow through or did so with the intent on lying or being deceitful, it was your name that was ruined.  Fast forward, and it’s your brand.

13. Having Incomplete Profile(s)

Having profiles which are not completely filled out, or are filled out in a comical way, or through false credentials is meaningful to the person / organization looking for you.  It means that you are either:

• Extremely unqualified that you do not have enough background information to fill a profile up.
• Very lazy because you don’t have one hour to add all the information into your profile.
• A joker who cannot take anything seriously, or
• A scammer who has to make things up in order to cover up for something you must be hiding.

12.  Inconsistency among networks

Imagine this.  You are looking to do business / connect with someone and you think you have found them on Facebook, but when you check on Twitter, they have a name and email address, which is different from Linkedin, and from Pinterest.  So now you Google these names and email addresses and all kinds of stuff comes back to you.  What are you thinking now?  Probably that they’re hiding something, or that they are very disorganized.   All these micro-networks that make up your overall network should be as consistent as possible as a consistent image is key to building a memorable, identifiable brand.

11.  Using Social Media to make money after building a significant network.  

For this mistake, I am thinking about the blogging world where bloggers attract a significant following due to their writings, then they realize they can pitch products to their networks which eventually turns their brand into an advertising site.  Those are a dime a dozen, and readers often wonder if the blogger is endorsing a product that they actually use and support, or because they are getting it for free.  The message becomes lost.  There is a fine line between doing what made you popular, and losing credibility among your readership.

10.  Audience participation.

Have you ever wondered why you have invested so much into your brand, and get so little in return?  Could it be that you are not meeting the needs of your readers / customers?  It is important to make sure that you engage your base whenever they take the time to reach out, for whatever reason they have chosen to reach out.  Talk to them, not about them.  Also, have a look through your Twitter feed and see how many of the last 30 tweets engage others, and how many are just random posts to your entire network.  Successful brand-builders don’t just tweet and re-tweet.  They also respond, engage, ask questions, and answer questions.

9.  Not Interlinking Your Profiles

The simplest mistake to fix.  Take 10 minutes, make sure all your social network profiles link to one another because the more touch points that exist to connect with your network, the better.  Your next best connection might be a die-hard Google + user, but you might only use Facebook and Twitter.   Make sure you have all profiles linked.

8.  Being impersonal 

Connections are gold in this day and age, so don’t take a potential connection for granted and allow the service you use to send out a generic stock message when trying to connect.  Linkedin, for example, provides a stock message that reads “I’d like to add you to my professional network on Linkedin.”   Take some time and put some effort into a greeting which makes that person want to connect with you.  Surely you have 30 seconds to include your name and a personal message.

7.  Stay on-topic as much as possible

A first-time visitor to any of your social media outlets should be able to instantly tell “what you are about”.  Don’t mistake frequent posting with relevant posting or think that everyone you are connected to is reading each and every post.  Every once in a while, logout and review your posts as if you were a visitor to see if you messaging is “on-brand” and if it’s not, get back in there and fix it!

6.  Automated Direct Message

The automated direct message on Twitter is the biggest personal branding disaster that seen on a daily basis.  It says, “You’ve just met me, and you want to spam me with your blog or product?”  Epic fail, and a sure way to lose followers quicker than you gain them.  Instead, send them a personalized direct message or @reply with someone’s actual name and a message relevant to their area of interest.  This one message may lead to a lasting connection that might not have occurred otherwise.

5.  Tunnel Vision

Have you focussed your brand-building on you and you only?  The 90/10 rule of social media brand building generally states that

90% of what you share should be made up of personal insights and thoughts along with a heavy dose of helpful links, while 10% should directly benefit you.”

Keep this rule in mind the next time you want to Tweet about your site or product.  I guarantee that the 90% of the time you take to help others will increase the attention paid to the other 10%.

Also keep in mind that a successful social media / brand building campaign takes into consideration the views and opinions of others.  For every organization which has a social media manager, there are probably 10-20 other employees who have ideas, thoughts and suggestions about the business which, if implemented, will help the business grow and get recognized.  To ignore this dedicated internal network is a crucial error that many organizations suffer from.  The silos have to be broken down in all areas of the business in order to improve the brand, and relying on one person to know the ins and outs of every organization is not possible.

4.  Don’t forget the impact of your word

In the age of social media it’s easy to forget that what you say to someone on the phone or in person can still come back to bite you in the ass.  You may not be sending an email to someone because you don’t want what they say to have a living trail, however as much as people save emails and forward emails, people also take what you said and post it on social media, and this negative messaging can mess with your brand.   So make sure when you are dealing with others that you are prepared to be upfront and honest because there is nothing worse than having them erode your credibility over a matter in which you chose a less than professional approach to.

3.  Un-friending, Un-following, Un-linking

All of these connection removals can have disastrous impact on your brand, especially around timing and how seriously the other person takes your connection.  If, for example, a friend from highschool removes you from Facebook, you will certainly get offended and you might even ask why.  If a follower on Twitter removes you, you probably understand that they may have followed you expecting something but got something else, or they disagree with your views, the frequency of posts, or possibly they need to remove people in order to be able to add others.  If, however, someone on Linkedin removes you, the severing of the business network goes much deeper because what that message says is that they never want to use you as a connection in the future ever again and that all those other people who are connected to both of you as 2nd or 3rd degree connections can get caught in the middle.  Imagine if a 3rd degree connection was ready to connect, then found themselves no long part of your network, but choose to reach out using their previous connection as the link, unbeknownst that this connection ended badly.

As well, people forgive and forget, so to remove someone right away may potentially sever that relationship for good, and you never know down the road when you might really need them!  One should never cut off their nose to spite their face in this day and age and to do so without proper thought often comes back to bite someone in the behind.

2.  Keeping your marketing and social media objective quiet – internally and externally

You build a business / brand through communicating internally and externally your message so that not only will your network be engaged, but also your customers, clients, friends, family, colleagues, etc.  Keeping them in the dark, or only focussing on external networks does not take into consideration that employees have lives outside of the office or social networks of their own.  The faster the message gets out and to the greater number of people, the better are the odds that your business / brand will be successful.  To not tap into that network is akin to advertising a businesses services on a telephone pole.  Sure the message gets out but only to those who see it and tell others.  If this was the chosen method to advertise the business, would you not want every employee to post advertising flyers on telephone poles near where they live?  That already increases the network and the chances that your business is going to get customers.  To do otherwise, just doesn’t make any sense.

1.  Not having a Social Media plan

Not having a social media plan, including ways to promote your brand is the biggest mistake that an individual / organization can make.  By just signing up to multiple micro networks and using them here and there demonstrates a poor social media plan just as much as signing up for multiple social media platforms and never using them, or worse, using them to connect with networks outside of your desired market.  In the few seconds that someone checks out your profile, they are deciding whether to stay and browse some more, or go back and look at one of your competitors.  If they choose to stay and see empty networks or random connections they quickly come to a conclusion about your brand and social media plan, that you don’t have one, and they will move on.

Know beforehand what your social media plan is going to be and share it, along with the do’s and please don’t, so they can be on board and help grow the brand.  To not have a plan in this day and age, or to make one up on the fly is going to lead to issues, inconsistency and confusion for everyone involved.

Ford vs. Thomson: An International Woman’s Day Nightmare. 2 Weeks Later.

Mayoral candidates from 2010. From left to right: (front row) Rob Ford, Rocco Achampong, Sarah Thomson, John Pantalone, George Mammoliti, (back row) Keith Cole, Rocco Rossi, George Smitherman. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

International Woman’s Day (previous called International Working Woman’s Day, originating in 1909) was March 8th this year and the focus of the day ranged from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to celebrations for women’s economic, political and social achievements.  This day began as a Socialist political event, and in some countries it has morphed into a day for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day, while in many countries, the political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.

In Toronto, a very odd event came to light on this day, which may or may not have occurred, the previous night at an event for CJPAC.

Sarah Thomson, the editor of the Woman’s Post and who ran for the mayor’s office in 2010, claimed on both social media and in several interviews that Mayor Rob Ford grabbed her buttocks (“Grabbed my ass” were her exact words on the radio) while taking a photo with Ford at the event.  Ms. Thomson also said in an interview that Ford suggested to her that evening that she should have been in Florida with him because his wife was not there.

Ms. Thomson also posted a very unflattering picture of the Mayor on her Facebook page –  his eyes were closed and there was either a stain on his shirt or he was sweating a lot.

In a radio interview, she continued to pile on the accusations by suggesting that Ford was high on cocaine that night.  Apparently she Googled cocaine use and concluded that “…it’s, you know, sweaty, talking quickly, out of it, arrogant. Like all these things were on there.”

While Thomson has continued to stand by her allegations, she has also thrown her own allegation into doubt because she said, “I looked up the symptoms and it looked like it was cocaine use, it could have been anything like that, I’m not sure what it is. I’ve also read that diabetes could have some odd effects. I’m not sure what was wrong with him, but there was definitely something wrong with him that night.”  Oops.  Cocaine, diabetes… Well, he was “erratic” and “arrogant” that night so it might have been one of those.

When Thomson was asked if she’d ever taken cocaine herself, she said she didn’t know, as she spent time on the street in her youth.

But it gets even more odd from here…

Two councillors from Richmond Hill, who were at the event, were part of a crowd when Thomson allegedly was devising a plot to get a photo of the mayor’s hand on her assistant’s rear end.  She planned on using this ”evidence” to corroborate her story and she told the group it would be put to good use when she ran for Mayor again in 2014.

Thomson has ruled out pressing sexual assault charges against Ford; “It’s a big waste of time to go through the legal procedures,” Thomson said. “Now, I looked at it and I realized I had no proof.”

Thomson put herself at risk of being sued by making the public allegations against Ford.

The mayor had responded to her accusations on Friday in a written statement calling them “absolutely, completely false.”

Thomson responded to the mayor’s comments by saying that HE was trying to discredit HER.  “Decades ago powerful men who sexually assaulted women would call them ‘hysterical,’ or ‘crazy’ to debase their credibility,” Thomson said. “It pushed many assaulted women into silence…. He will not push me into silence and I hope his accusations do not re-ignite the old fears that once silenced women.”

Thomson went on to say, “I did not make these accusations lightly.”  And as for her hopes of one day being Mayor, she said the approach she took may not have been the best one; “I admit I did not handle the press perfectly.”

The problem here is not about he said vs she said, or is drawn along political lines.  It’s about a very serious allegation, made on a very important day and what the implications are if one of these parties is not telling the truth.  Since Ms. Thomson has in fact announced in public that she was sexually ‘assaulted’ by the Mayor of Toronto (in front of dozens of people no less) then I would think the police are duty-bound to investigate it to see if there are sufficient grounds for charges against the Mayor.

If it turns out however that this was just a politically motivated, vexatious, stunt by the publisher of a women’s-only magazine made purposely on the eve of International Women’s Day then of course SHE should be criminally charged with public mischief and making false accusations.

Criminal sexual assault is a very serious crime. Making public, false, allegations about it are equally so.

At the end of the day, this is very sad because either Sarah Thomson was assaulted by Rob Ford on the eve of International Woman’s Day, or Sarah Thomson was playing the victim and trying to set up the Mayor in order to further ruin his reputation and ultimately for her political gain.

Given the recent troubles Ford has had publicly under the attack of the left, a situation like this certainly causes people to question Ford’s ability to lead and make many people wonder if he is promoting a good image of Toronto for the rest of the world to see.  In light of the recent information revealed by Georgio Mammoliti we know the left have been targeting the reputations of right-wing politicians.

One of these two people made a horrible decision on the eve of International Woman’s Day.

Shame on him if it’s true and shame on her if it’s not.

Hey! Could I get a little bit of help, please! The 2013 Bloggies are about to close!

logotype of The Weblog Awards (Bloggies) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m not exactly sure how this happened, or how I missed this but a couple of weeks ago I noticed a massive spike in readership here at The Urban Daddy and after a very quick check of my statistics I came to realize that I had a whole bunch of new readers coming to see me from The 2013 Weblog Awards aka The Bloggies.

The specific reason for the increased traffic was because many folks were dropping by to learn more about this blog which was nominated, and made it to the finals of the 2013 Weblog Awards in the following two categories.

Best Parenting or Family Weblog
Best Canadian Weblog

I’ve always been a big fan of the Bloggies because of their global coverage and I looked through many of the other blogs who made the finals in their respective categories and there are some pretty awesome blogs out there being written by some pretty amazing writers. Being nominated is really great, as I’ve said before after being nominated for the Canadian Weblog Awards, it’s great just to be nominated.  That someone other than myself has taken the time to put forward my URL is quite humbling. (thanks Mom!).

But now I need your help, and I need it quickly! I don’t normally beg or ask for favours but I’m going to do both today. I need your vote! Please.

Voting for the 2013 Bloggies closes on March 17th, and all you need to do in order to vote for me (or someone else if you like them better) is follow the link to their website, here, then vote for at least 3 blogs, enter the security code and your email and you are almost done. You will receive an email from The Bloggies to ensure you are legitimate, and once you confirm that, your vote goes through. Nice and easy!

But remember to only vote once, please. If you vote more than once, the awards use your most recent vote.  We don’t want to waste your time now, do we?

Then, after that has been completed, you can sit back until the 24th of March, at which time you can Watch the Ceremony from 8:00-10:30 PM EST (UTC-5) on the Bloggies’ Twitter feed and Facebook page. One winner will be announced approximately every five minutes, culminating with the Weblog of the Year at 10:30, at which point the winners will be posted to the site. Follow the feed to keep up to date on the Bloggies!

If you are able to take the time to vote, I appreciate it. Heck, I’m happy that you even come by, subscribe and “like” my blog.

Related articles

• Bloggie, Bloggie, Blogger (marriageconfessions.com)
• The 13th Annual Weblog Awards (youlookfab.com)
• The Post Where I Beg for Your Votes (pocketfulofjoules.com)

Just under 46 Reasons why my kids have freaked out, at 3-years-old.

My wife posted a link to an article on Facebook the other day called “46 Reasons Why My 3-Year-Old Might Be Freaking Out“, and this was just after our 3-year-old daughter Boo had an epic 20-minute meltdown.  Once she was done we confirmed the cause of the meltdown was a result of the fact that she wanted the zipper on her fleece sweater zipped up… Who knew?!?

Sidebar:  Forget the terrible two’s, new parents.  It’s the Terrible three’s which will kill you!!!  Am I right?

I loved the article so much I wanted to re-post it, but I also wanted to yank out a few of the 46 reasons which applied to any of our 3 children.

So please, visit the original article, but only after you read this on either Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Tumblr or here on The Urban Daddy’s blog,   Then your next mission is to see which meltdown’s we have I/ had in common.  Then let me know in the comment section so we can all laugh together.

I’ve broken it down by boys (ages 8 & 6 right now) and girl (just turned 3).

Coles Notes Version

Meltdown’s in Common:

His sock is on wrong.

His lip tastes salty.

His shirt has a tag on it.

They are hungry, but can’t remember the word “hungry.”

His brother looked at him.

His brother didn’t look at him.

We don’t understand what he/she said.

He/she doesn’t want to get out of the car.

He/she wants to get out of the car by himself.

The iPad has a password.

He jumped off the sofa and we weren’t  watching.

He’s not allowed to touch fire.

Everything is wrong with his coat.

There’s a dog (or raccoon or monster or dragon) within a 70km radius.

I asked him/her a question.

His brother/sister/mother/father is talking.

The cat is in his/her way.

The inside of his cheek feels rough.

Things take too long to cook.

He has too much food in his mouth.

He sneezed.

He doesn’t know how to type.

His/her mom is taking a shower.

Someone knocked over his tower.

The food won’t stay on his spoon.

… and so much more…

How does this relate to your kids?

Related articles

• Momfessional #47: Freaking out (themomfessional.com)

The Top 5 Websites in the World and the Font They Use

An example of the calibri font. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Have you ever wondered what the top 5 web-site in the world are?And just how are they considered to be the best?

… and for all of us folks who blog or operate websites, have you ever wondered which fonts are the best or most popular?

We I looked into that, and it’s not exactly black and white as it is with a resume, for example, where you use either Arial or Times New Roman, or you’re considered too outside the box by many.

So, I did some research the other day and I liked the way Alexa.com chose the top websites, by the number of other sites that linked the site on theirs.

So here are the top 5 websites in the world and the font they use on their home page.

1. Google.com.   Font: Arial.

2. Facebook.com.   Font: Tahoma.

3. YouTube.com.   Font: Calibri.

4. Yahoo.com.  Font: Calibri.

5. Baidu.com.  Font: Arial.

Active for Life: Great Resource AND Cool Steve Nash Contest. Details Inside

Steve Nash(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I recently came across a cool contest run by an organization called Active For Life.  Active for Life happens to be a leading promoter of children’s physical literacy to help parents raise active and healthy kids and they are kick-starting their new year to get families thinking about getting active with an exciting contest for a chance to win a Luyou shoe autographed by Steve Nash, himself a Dad and an advocate for physical literacy, and $200 SportChek gift certificate.

This contest is currently running and it’s worth heading over to the site to see some great current articles such as;

Tips to manage your kids handheld media time, which can be found here;

or “Soccer Skills, not Trophies, leads to success” which can be found here.

As a Dad blogger, I hadn’t really heard of physical literacy before seeing this, but I’ve learned an incredible amount over the last few months and this site is great for offering suggestions to keep children active and healthy.

Active for Life is the place where parents go to learn about how to make a difference in the health and happiness of their children. Research shows there’s a right way and a right time to develop the fundamental movement and sport skills that benefit kids for their entire lives. Learning these basic movement and sports skills is known as becoming physical literate.

Being physically literate is the foundation for being successful in sport and in life. Physical literacy gives active kids the best chance at becoming top-level athletes who may someday compete in high-performance sport. It also results in them leading an active life. And as the word “literacy” implies, just like reading, writing and arithmetic, movement skills need to be taught.

The website offers expert advice, inspirational tips and activity ideas which can help us, as parents, make sure our children get their recommended daily amount of physical activity and we all know that active kids become active adults.

Physical literacy, is about giving our kids the physical foundational skills to enable them to stay active for life – able to participate in a range of physical activities.  What I like about this in particular is the down-to-earth information and articles that provide practical direction in how to incorporate physical literacy into family life and some of the do’s and don’ts around it to help us get it right.  Their website is a magazine format that provides a ton of information and a very cool skills-builder tool which helps when we want to look at what skills to work on with kids at a given age.

You can find out more and enter the contest here.

It’s a great cause, and a very cool contest.  Active for Life can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Reading the Signs: What to do when your Boss is Upset with you.

FULL-TIME NANNY.com

I came across a great article by the folks at FullTimeNanny.com entitled; “What Should a Nanny Do if her Boss is Upset with Her”, and I immediately saw the cross-over potential that this article brings for those new to the workforce or as a refresher to those already in the workforce for a few years.

Sometimes you know when your boss is upset with you and sometimes there will be no clue, and depending upon the severity of the situation and the potential repercussions, you may want to consider the possibility that your job could be in danger.  So once you figure it out, it’s best to get in the habit of coming clean with mistakes as soon as they happen, getting used to giving your boss the heads’ up where you think there may be a problem down the road, and documenting situations rather than waiting with bated breath for them to be found out.

This article highlights the following important things to remember when deciding to come clean;

• Realize That These Things Are Rarely Permanent – Unless you have done something on purpose with the intent on causing someone harm, or damaging the reputation of your employer of the business you work in, the chances of your employer resorting to drastic disciplinary measures are fairly slim. Provided that you’ve been an otherwise good employee, most employers would rather resolve an existing problem than take on the task of sorting through dozens of resumes and conducting numerous interviews in effort to get someone who may be better than you, or may be worse than you.  Better the devil you know, is the saying.  That being said, it’s not wise to be too secure in your position; if you’re overly cocky and consistently go against what your employer decides for you, they will let you go.
• Confront the Issue Head-On – If you know that your employer is angry but haven’t been approached with a reprimand or a request for an explanation, it’s best to take the bull by the horns and approach him or her with your concerns. It’s especially smart to make an effort to mend fences if you know why your employer is upset and agree that you are in the wrong. Letting the situation go unacknowledged for too long can cause resentment to build up and exacerbate the problem, so don’t dodge your employer in hopes that things will blow over.
• Be Honest – Should your employer confront you with questions about an incident in which you know you were in the wrong, don’t give into the temptation to cover your tracks. Admitting that you were wrong and are willing to accept any penalties as a result of your poor choices shows strong character and moral fiber; in addition to being the right thing to do, it may also impress your employer enough that they second-guess their outrage.
• Keep Your Own Temper in Check – Being accused of misconduct, whether you’re guilty or innocent, is enough to put almost anyone on the defensive. Taking this tack with your employer as a reaction to questioning or accusations will only escalate the situation, and perhaps lead to the loss of your position, which you would otherwise have been able to retain. Remember the old adage about flies and honey and realize that anger, even of the righteous variety, will get you nowhere in these situations.
• Accept Responsibility For Your Actions – Attempting to pass the buck, or blame someone else for your failure to perform properly or your momentary lapse in judgment, isn’t likely to endear you to your already-upset employer.  Instead face the consequences of a poor choice as gracefully as possible. Whining or shifting blame isn’t just ineffective, it’s often downright counterproductive.  In addition if you blame someone else and your employer decides to keep you, then you run the risk of them finding out and that relationship is damaged for good.
• Make a Concerted Effort to Make Up – It’s easy to hold your breath and hope that a tumultuous period in your relationship with your employer will pass without any attempts to mend fences on your part, but that’s almost never the case. Extending the olive branch isn’t always the easiest thing to do, especially if you feel that you have nothing to apologize for; still, preserving that relationship, and perhaps your post itself, may depend upon your ability to do just that.
• Keep the Conversation Behind Closed Doors – Never, ever, ever discuss a bad situation with friends, colleagues or staff.  They do not need to hear you air your grievances or discuss an ongoing problem you have with your employer. Even in the largest, most densely populated cities, most social circles are relatively small and people will talk. Letting news of your woes get back to your employers is a surefire way to make them give up on you altogether, so make sure that you keep any and all conversations about the state of your relationship with your employers and the details surrounding it away from the public eye.

If, after all this you notice that things are not getting better for you, then start looking for a new job – it’s so much easier when you are already employed – and approach your employer with a request for a reference letter or recommendation because not only will they give it to you if they want you out but don’t want to fire you, but also it gives them time to start the search process themselves.

Hope for the New Year, 2013. Fiscal and Social Responsibility: #OHIP4IVF

In my opinion, 2012 was a year of awakening for many.  We came to realize that government meets half our needs, people treat each other with indifference and financially “we” are on the verge of bankruptcy.  In 2012 opportunities were lost when we occupied, worked to rule, or went on strike, while corporations accepted massive loans from government and still gave out multi-million dollar bonuses to the executives who cried poor in the first place.

The Ontario Auditor General’s 2012 annual report flagged a number of wasteful programs, including $25 million on a scrapped electronic Diabetes Registry, and $700 million on a little-known Toronto commuter card, known as PRESTO.  There was also the cancellation of the 2 power plants – the actual cost to cancel both plants is at least $640 million and there was an Ornge scandal, just to name a few.

In Ontario, the politicking is getting worse as is our healthcare.  In order to compensate for this waste, the Ontario Liberals have been slowly using our healthcare system to sweep their mismanagement under the rug.  They put in a user fee, the delisted physiotherapy and chiropractic care, they forced doctors to take less money and it’s only going to get worse before it gets better.

We are not working.

It’s you… Not me.

So in 2013, we need to take a stand.  We need to elect officials who care about people and who can keep finances in check.  We need to micro-manage our elected officials and make sure they do as we require and if not, we must boot them out.  We cannot stand by any longer and allow government to waste our tax dollars on over-priced union wages or buying votes to the detriment of Ontario’s hard-working citizens.   We cannot allow our elected officials to cut healthcare in order to balance a budget that they failed to take care of.  We cannot allow our elected officials to treat people the way they have been treating us any longer.

One very important way for elected officials to accomplish both fiscal responsibility and social responsibility (caring for people) is through the immediate funding of In-Vitro Fertilization.   Funding IVF saves us, the taxpayers, considerable amounts of money and funding IVF sends the message that the government cares about couples who are struggling with infertility.

Did you know that the average cost of an IVF treatment is around $10,000.00.  And did you know that many doctors implant more than one fertilized egg in hopes that one of the batch will result in a pregnancy.  And did you know that if there are multiple babies born, usually prematurely, that not only does this pose a health risk for the mother but also for all of the babies and at the end of the day after hospital care and treatments, the bill to the taxpayer can be as high as $1,000,000.00.  That is $1,000,000.00 per pregnancy, folks.  That cost is covered by OHIP which means by you and I.

In Quebec, however, the government funds IVF treatments, which means infertile couples don’t have to mortgage their financial futures to have children AND with one egg implanted, there is no risk for multiple births and a much lower probability of hospitalization by the mother and the baby which can lead to additional illness and a huge toll on OHIP.

Net result of IVF funding… Considerable reductions in the cost burden on us, the taxpayer.

Infertile couples (hopefully) get the opportunity to be parents and there is no elitism as only the rich can afford the massive IVF bill.

It’s fiscally responsible, which I like.

It’s morally responsible, which I like.

It’s socially responsible, which I also like.

It provides a better, safer, opportunity for couples who really want to be parents to be parents.

So why doesn’t the government do it?

No idea.

So let’s send all the parties this holiday card below with a note to get moving on this issue or start clearing out their desks.  Elections are coming and it’s time to take a stand against government stupidity.  If I hear another politician dismiss this issue by saying that they “studied it and at this point it doesn’t make sense”, I’m going to take names and post them at election time so we’ll know who can safeguard our tax dollars and who shouldn’t ever be in that position again.

Here’s hoping for a better 2013 for all infertile couples.

Feel free to tweet your thoughts using the #OHIP4IVF for those of you in Ontario or who wish to show your support.  If you add the tag #onpoli then that hits the Ontario politics feed as well.

You can also follow Conceivable Dreams @OHIP4IVF on Twitter and on Facebook here.

We can make this happen!

Related articles

• Four Ways Men Can Support Their Spouses During In Vitro Fertilization (urbandaddy.wordpress.com)
• Win a Baby: A controversial IVF contest (karmasdogma.wordpress.com)
• Having a child may be priceless, but infertility is not… (karmasdogma.wordpress.com)
• The Emotional Side of IVF (themwordmag.wordpress.com)

First Movember, Now Manuary: Taking Men’s Health Seriously!

Hey men!  You have heard of, and possibly participated in Movember, but how about Manuary?

For those who cannot grow one…

Manuary is a chance to raise awareness about, and money for, Head and Neck Cancer research which is the 6th most common cancer worldwide!  Participants grow a beard for the month of January, aka “Manuary” and get sponsored to do so.  Can you think of a better excuse to grow a beard?  I know some dudes who have a full beard by noon, and some, like myself, who cannot grow a beard to save my life.

At the end of the month of “Manuary”, a “Facial Hair Face-off” awards the crown of Manuary to the person (male or female) with the most creative facial hair.

For those unable to grow their own facial hair (ahem), no problem.  They do not discriminate and all you have to do is email a photo of yourself to manuary.canada@gmail.com and they will beard your photo with some creative (and humorous) photo editing for posting to their Facebook page; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manuarycanada.  Head over there, “like” it and get ready to grow!

Alternatively, there are lots of beards out there for purchase!

So why Head and Neck Cancer?

Head and Neck cancer is a devastating disease as it affects some of the most personal aspects of life, including facial appearance and the ability to speak and eat. While affecting both sexes, men are 4-times as likely to be affected. In particular, this disease is rapidly becoming more common in younger patients due to newly discovered associations with human papillomavirus (HPV).

Head and neck cancer is a type of cancer that is very well treated early in the course of the disease.  Unfortunately, the majority of cases present at an advanced stage – something that could be prevented with increased awareness.

Participants can sign up by clicking on the links below, or can contact them at manuary.canada@gmail.com and how cool is this!  Any participant who raises more than $400 will receive a beardhead hat from beardhead.com.

Do you need a better excuse to grow a beard in January!?!?!

Now, Manuary is being run in London, Ontario and Edmonton, Alberta and you can sign up through the links below if you are in or near those areas, but you can also donate at any time by following the links below.

London Participants

Click here to sign up today!

Edmonton Participants

Click here to sign up today!

DONATE NOW

LONDON DONATIONS

CLICK HERE!

 

EDMONTON DONATIONS
CLICK HERE!

 

Please also follow Manuary on Twitter @ManuaryCa