September 2021

2 WNY Family September 2021

September 2021 • Volume 38 • Issue 7

EDITOR & PUBLISHER Michele Miller GENERAL MANAGER Paul Kline SALES REPRESENTATIVES Jennifer Staebell Paul Kline GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Karen Wawszczyk Melanie Schroeder CONTRIBUTORS Barbara Blackburn • Donna Phillips Richard De Fino • Deborah Williams Kathy Lundquist • Myrna Beth Haskell Mike Daugherty

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Visit Our Web Site www.wnyfamilymagazine.com To Reach Us: Advertising Department advertising@wnyfamilymagazine.com Calendar Submissions calendar@wnyfamilymagazine.com Subscriptions subscriptions@wnyfamilymagazine.com Editorial Submissions michele@wnyfamilymagazine.com MAILING ADDRESS: 3147 Delaware Ave., Suite B Buffalo, NY 14217 Phone: (716) 836-3486 • Fax: (716) 836-3680 PRINTED BY: Commercial Printing Division The Post-Journal, Jamestown

Where It’s At! Back to School!

Features: 6 n Remote Learning and School Reopenings

by Megan Ferren 8 n Teaching Kids About Kindness

by Kimberly Blaker

Regulars: 5 n Web Finds / What’s New In The Kid Biz 10 n Dear Teacher

by Peggy Gisler & Marge Eberts 12 n Pick of the Literature

by Dr. Donna Phillips 14 n Family Travel Lockport: Erie Canal

by Deborah Williams 16 n Raising Digital Kids Digital Defense: A Parents Guide to Cybersecurity

by Mike Daugherty 18 n Journey Into Fatherhood Traveling with Violet: Part 1

by Richard De Fino 19 n Parent Previews Boss Baby: Family Business

by Savannah Lee

20 n Tweens and Teens Why I’m Taking 5 Minutes with My Teens

by Cheryl Maguire 22 n Single Parenting The Power of Discipline

by Diane Dierks, LMFT 28 n Special Needs Tips to Help Your Teen Deal with ADHD

by Cheryl Maguire 38 n The Kid Friendly Kitchen

by Kathy Lundquist 39 n The Kiddie Gourmet Olympia Restaurant

by Barbara Blackburn

Directories:

15 n 24 n 32 n 39 n

Choosing Childcare The Fit Family Wellness Choices Let’s Party

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Find this entire issue online at www.wnyfamilymagazine.com September 2021 WNY Family 3

REAL TRAINS! REAL FUN! Departing Hamburg, New York September Through December 2021

A Choice of Family, Heritage & Scenic Train Rides to

Buffalo, North Collins & Eden!

BUFFALO RAIL FAN & HISTORY TRIP FALL FOLIAGE TRIPS STEAM TRAIN FALL FOLIAGE TRIPS HALLOWEEN SPECIAL VETERANS WEEKEND TRIPS

September 18th & 19th (Diesel) September 25th & 26th (Departing From Zittles Country Market) October 9th, 10th, 16th & 17th (Historic Steam Locomotive) October 23rd, 24th, 30th & 31th (Diesel) November 13th (Diesel) NOW AVAILABLE! Santa Express Ride November 27th & 28th • December 4th & 5th, 11th & 12th & 18th & 19th (Diesel)

Beverage & Snacks Available For Sale On All Trips Featuring Family Friendly Prices

For Details & Rates - Call or Book Tickets Online

(833) 722-5778 www.BCJRailroad.com Purchase In Person: Artcraft Toy Trains, 4 Scott Street, Hamburg

All Aboard!

Buffalo, Cattaraugus & Jamestown Scenic Railway Visit www.BeckerFarms.com for more info and to purchase tickets!

Apple Harvest and

LL FUNon the Farm FA Weekends Starting September 4th Including Labor Day and Columbus Day!

Tickets available at BeckerFarms.com and include:

Petting Zoo Parking Apple Picking Goat Races Includes 4 qt bag of Corn & Rope Maze pick your own apples Jumping Pillow Playground And Much More!

Access to beautifully landscaped grounds and 340 private acres in the countryside

Drive Thru Haunted Hayride Last two weekends in October ~ Details to come ~

4 WNY Family September 2021

New This Year

MEGA SLIDE Off Becker Mt.

Fun for all ages!

APPLE THIEF

WEEKEND

$5 Apple Thiefs 6th September 4th andThief; Grape Thief Apple Thief; Sweet er $5/pint • $18/Pitch

EDUCATIONAL PICKING TOURS:

Join Cornell Graduate Melinda Vizcarra for a lesson in agriculture and see where your food comes from.

Monday - Friday; Great for School Field Trips

web.finds What’s For Lunch?

Remember the days of the brown bag lunch? Or maybe a metal lunchbox with your favorite characters on it? My, how things have changed!

Check out these trendy — and much more appetizing — options for today’s packed lunches. Grownups love them, too!

PACKIT FREEZABLE LUNCH BAG

No need for an ice pack, this entire bag freezes; nontoxic freezable gel is built into the walls of the bag.

Large capacity, folds compactly; freezes overnight.

With more than 30 designs available, it’s not just for kids. ($28.99 on Amazon)

BENTO BOWL LUNCH

This bowl with a twist on lid is perfect for older kids and adults who like salads. The bowl holds 3 cups worth and a removable tray that sits on top of the bowl holds the fork and spoon that come with it, with extra room for mix-ins or other treats. A leak-proof cup for salad dressing or dipping is also included. The bowl fits conveniently into the PackIt bag pictured above. ($13.89 on Amazon)

YUMBOX BENTO LUNCH BOX

Perfect for the youngest kids who prefer finger foods and small portions. Has only one latch for easy opening and is leakproof. Comes in four colors. ($30.99 on Amazon; different styles available on LL Bean for $20)

BENTOLOGY LUNCH BAG

If you buy a bento box, you may also need an insulated lunch bag that fits it.

Amazon has quite a selection to choose from. This “Alien” pattern by Bentology is $13.99 and comes in a variety of other designs.

What’s New...

IN THE KIDBIZ AN APP THAT HELPS WITH MATH Math is probably the subject most disliked and/or most difficult for kids in school and the one where parents have the most trouble providing support.

Damir Sabol, father of three, was helping his teenage son with his math homework one evening. As an engineer, Damir received substantial math training but he still frequently had trouble figuring out the best way to explain math concepts and solutions to his son in a way that he would truly understand them. Moreover, some of the concepts were ones he’d learned decades ago. Out of Damir’s personal frustration, the Photomath app was born.

Photomath assists parents who want to help their children but who struggle with recalling concepts or are unfamiliar with the new approaches used in today’s classrooms.

Photomath reads and solves mathematical problems instantly by using the camera of your mobile device, or you can check your work for any printed or handwritten problems.

The app teaches you how to approach math problems through clear steps and detailed instructions. You can even choose between multiple explanation methods for some problems. Animated calculation steps show you the way, just like a teacher or tutor would do in real life. Photomath can explain anything from simple addition to more complicated calculus problems.

Photomath is now the #1 mathlearning app in the world, solving more than 2.2 billion math problems each month for 220 million users.

The app is suited for students of all ages and is free to download at https://photomath.com/en/.

Students can also purchase Photomath Plus, which gives students access to teacher-approved problem explanations, exclusive math tips and definitions, custom visual aids, and word problem solutions for $9.99 per month or $59.99 for the year.

September 2021 WNY Family 5

Remote Learning and School Reopenings — by Megan Ferren

What Worked and What Didn’t

W

hen schools closed their doors in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a scramble to adjust to remote learning. Classes went online, school meal distribution became a grab-and-go, and extracurricular activities and services were paused. Over the summer and into the fall, the debate over reopening took center stage, as school leaders struggled to answer how and when it would be safe to return to the classroom.

decisions around responding to the pandemic and reopening schools were left to districts and schools, national, and even state-level, data is limited. As such, looking at trends and individual examples is one of the most effective ways to understand what has been happening in education during the past year.

TREND 1: School Reopening

By March 25, 2020, all public school buildings in the United States had closed in response to the rising The Center for threat of the coronaviAmerican Programs About the New School Year rus. Schools in all but As this issue of Western (CAP) has been tracktwo states, Wyoming New York Family was being ing key trends during and Montana, remained assembled in mid-August, the remote learning and closed through the end New York State Department of school reopening efof the school year. Over Health had announced that it forts across the United summer 2020, every is NOT going to issue any rules States. CAP has also state developed reopenor guidance on reopening of applied a racial equity ing plans, providing schools for the 2021-22 school lens to understand how recommendations to year. State Department of different communities, Health Commissioner Dr. Howdistricts on everything ard Zucker said that schools educators, and students from academics and should follow “guidance from have been affected by health mitigation meththe CDC and local health dethese trends. Throughods to food and nutripartments.” As of press time, out the past year, tion and school transthe CDC recommends “unistates, school districts, portation. These plans versal indoor masking for all and schools across the resulted in a patchwork teachers, staff, students, and country have taken of in-person, hybrid, visitors to K-12 schools, revastly different apand full remote educagardless of vaccination status. proaches to education.

Children should return to fulltion in the fall. At the time in-person learning in the start of the 2020-21 As districts and fall with layered prevention school year, four states schools planned for the strategies in place.”

— Arkansas, Florida, upcoming school year Iowa, and Texas — reand life after the panquired in-person instruction to be availdemic, these trends can help inform best able in all or some grades. While many practices to apply and pitfalls to avoid. schools did reopen their doors in some It is important to note that because most 6 WNY Family September 2021

capacity, 74% of the 100 largest school districts in the country started the year with remote-only instruction models, affecting more than 9 million students.

In the schools that did reopen for in-person learning, a range of health mitigation steps were implemented. In their reopening plans, 40 states recommended that districts require or recommend masks, four called for requiring masks for staff only, and seven did not provide a suggestion or cautioned against mandates. An October survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that just 65 percent of middle and high school students reported their classmates wore masks all the time in the classroom. Most states also recommended temperature checks and symptom screenings, despite the CDC not recommending them due to inaccuracy. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has explained that temperature readings can fluctuate based on weather and will not capture asymptomatic carriers or those for whom fever is not a symptom.

By November 2, 2020, significantly more school districts were offering some in-person instruction. Nineteen percent of districts remained fully remote, but 45% used hybrid models and 36% were fully in person. The districts that were quicker to reopen were more likely to serve a majority-white student population.

According to the American Enterprise Institute’s Return to Learn Tracker, of “high-minority districts,” defined as those that have more nonwhite students than the national district average, 28% were fully remote, 42% were hybrid, and 29% were fully in person, compared with 7%, 48%, and 45%, respectively, for “low minority districts.” This gap in access to in-person learning was, and remains, a significant barrier to instruction for students who are Black, Indigenous, and Other People of Color (BIPOC), who were less likely to have access to technology and high-speed internet to effectively engage in virtual instruction.

Additionally, students living in poverty, who are disproportionately children of color, are more likely to lack educational supports that make learning at home successful, such as a parent with a

high school or college degree. These students also face additional stressors such as food or housing insecurity, caregiving responsibilities for younger siblings, and lost income due to a parent’s job loss, all of which make remote learning more challenging.

Furthermore, students with disabilities lost access to critical health care and educational supports they received while learning at home.

Reopening schools was not a linear path for many districts. As COVID-19 cases fluctuated in the surrounding community and outbreaks were reported in the building, schools would revert to remote learning. Many schools closed after the winter break period, when cases were on the rise as a result of holiday travel.

As of May 3, 2021, only 1% of districts across the country were fully remote, 46% were hybrid, and 53% were fully open. This large

shift toward reopening is likely due in part to the fact that 12 states had ordered schools to reopen and two additional states had ordered at least some grades to reopen, as well as the high rate of vaccination among educators.

vaccines and other health care supports in underserved communities, wisely using American Rescue Plan Act funds to retrofit school buildings that have poor ventilation, and responding quickly and effectively to future outbreaks.

Heading into the new school year, as there is a push for all schools to be fully open, districts will need to engage with parents and communities who are BIPOC to better understand their needs, establish trust, and reduce hesitancy to return to school. Not only have these communities been exposed to and contracted the virus at higher rates, but students who are BIPOC are more likely to attend schools that lack the infrastructure to enable safe opening conditions.

As a result, their families are more reluctant to send their children back to inperson learning.

TREND 2: Digital Divide

School districts must also remain vigilant — ensuring access to

One of the biggest hurdles that districts faced when schools closed was ensuring that students had the technology and internet access to participate in remote learning. At the start of the pandemic, 16.9 million children nationwide did not have access to high-speed internet, and 7.3 million children did not have access to a home computer. Districts also struggled to provide English language learners, students with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, and students in foster care with the educational services and accommodations they are entitled to and rely on during remote learning.

While progress has been made to close the digital divide, and will contincontinued on page 34

September 2021 WNY Family 7

Teaching Kids About

s s e n d Kin — by Kimberly Blaker

Small Gestures That Make Others

Smile

Remember, you, as a parent, are your child’s first teacher and best role model. They will follow your lead. A kinder world begins in the minds of our young children. What they learn at home becomes the foundation for who they will become as they move through life.

W

ith our busy lives, it’s easy to lose sight of the little things we can do to make the world a kinder, gentler place.

As a result, kids miss out on golden opportunities to emulate kindness and experience its rewards. So, why not set a goal with your kids, and see how many acts of kindness your family can rack up in a single day or week? Here are some ideas to get your kids started.

Make a donation. It can be a small monetary donation to a good cause. Or you can donate items you no longer need to a homeless shelter, animal rescue, or toys for tots collection.

Call grandparents or greatgrandparents. This is a big one because often, grandparents are the ones to initiate calls. So, make your grandparents’ day by giving them a call.

Take an extra lunch to school for someone who forgets. When you get to school, ask your teacher to help you find a student who needs it.

Visit an elderly neighbor. Many seniors are shut in because they can no longer drive. Often, even those who do drive don’t get the social interaction they need. Likely, someone in your neighborhood could use some company.

Offer a compliment. It doesn’t get any easier than this. But don’t offer praise you don’t mean. Otherwise, it’ll come off as disingenuous. Notice what someone is wearing or doing, or think about the person’s personality or something they’ve done. Then offer a compliment that you really mean.

8 WNY Family September 2021

Help someone with their homework. Do you know a classmate who struggles in a particular subject? Offer to help them study for a test or to understand a concept for a homework assignment.

Stand up for someone. Do you know a student who’s bullied or always left out? Look for an opportunity to tell those who are being judgmental to be a little kinder or that they’re being unfair.

Offer your support. Do you know someone going through a hard time, such as a serious illness or whose parents are going through a divorce? Lend them your shoulder, and offer to listen.

Make friends with someone who’s left out. Is there a classmate who’s always standing alone on the playground or who sits alone at lunch?

Offer to join that person.

Offer to help out a mom. Do you know someone with young children?

Offer to spend a couple of hours watching and entertaining them while the mom catches up on chores.

Bake cookies for your teacher or boss. Show your appreciation by baking their favorite goodies.

Buy a homeless person a meal. If you see someone wandering who clearly looks homeless or is standing on a street corner with a sign, pick up a meal and take it over to them.

Hold the door for someone. This is another super easy gesture that’s sure to be appreciated by someone who’s elderly, disabled, or actually, anyone at all.

Write an apology to someone you’ve hurt. We’ve all said and done things on occasion that hurts someone’s feelings. So, take ownership of it, and write a heartfelt apology.

Help someone carry something.

When you see someone struggling to carry multiple items or something heavy, offer your assistance.

Post something nice on the social media page of someone who needs a friend. Do you know someone who no one ever pays attention to? Make that person’s day with a positive comment on their page.

Take a neighbor’s dog for a walk.

Is there a dog in your neighborhood that never gets to go for walks? Be sure to ask about the dog’s energy level, so you’re able to handle it. Also, find out how far it can walk and run to ensure you don’t overexercise the dog, which can be dangerous to a dogs’ health.

Do a chore for your brother or sister. What a great way to get back in your sibling’s good graces. And although you shouldn’t expect it, who knows, maybe they’ll return the favor sometime.

Buy a friend a candy bar. This is a simple way to show your friend you’re thinking of them.

Volunteer for a good cause. There are many opportunities right in your community. You could volunteer at a soup kitchen, pick up trash at a park, or help with a canned food drive.

Help someone with yard work.

Do you know a handicapped or elderly person? Offer to mow their lawn, rake, pull weeds, or shovel their snow when winter comes.

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Adult

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The Value of Homework

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uestion: What’s wrong with a lot of homework? It gives the children a structured activity that is far more beneficial than playing video games, texting, or watching TV. Parents need to reinforce the importance of homework; not whine with their kids about how much there is. They should just do it; get it done; and then they can play. — Teacher and Guidance Counselor for 37 years.

Answer: You may be assigning far more importance to homework than it deserves. Hundreds of studies have been done on the relationship of homework to academic achievement. The studies find a correlation between homework and achievement; however, they do not find that doing homework causes achievement. There is no unequivocal connection between homework and learning.

What the studies have almost universally shown is that in the early elementary grades homework does not seem to improve test scores, but it may help young students develop good study habits and learn to be responsible. It also can teach them that learning does not just take place at school. In middle school and high school, doing a moderate amount of homework can improve performance on tests.

You also need to be aware that homework does not just have advantages. There are disadvantages. It may cause a loss of interest in school due to burnout. It definitely impinges on leisure time that could be devoted to beneficial physical exercise and social interaction. We will admit, of course as you say, that for many students free time is often devoted to using technological devices. Another disadvantage of homework is that some students cheat

to get it done. Plus, it can cause discord between parents and their children.

Studies on homework have shown no particular benefit to a heavy homework load. In fact, in middle school any benefits diminish after 90 minutes of work, and for high school they diminish after 90 minutes to 2 ½ hours. Most education organizations support our homework rule of 10 minutes of homework for every grade in school. Thus, a fifth grader should have no more than 50 minutes of homework.

The Way to Diagnose ADHD Question: My third grader’s teacher recently suggested that my third grader has ADHD because she is so inattentive in class. I thought that the symptoms of ADHD were hyperactive impulsive behavior. Could the teacher be right? — Unsure Answer: Your child’s teacher may or may not be right about this. You do need to find out as soon as possible, for it is these children who have suffered the greatest learning loss during the pandemic. There are a number of professionals including psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists, school counselors, doctors, nurse practitioners, and social workers who have the expertise to make an exact diagnosis. Diagnosing for ADHD may not be covered by your health insurance.

The additudemag.com website describes three presentations of ADHD. One is the predominantly hyperactive/impulsive where a child is blurting out answers in class. There is also the predominantly inattentive in which focus and attention are the primary symptoms rather than hyperactivity. And the third presentation is where both inattention and impulsivity go hand-in-hand.

Unfortunately, the signs of inattentive ADHD, which is found predomi-

nantly in girls, is often overlooked by parents, teachers, and medical professionals so they rarely get the treatment that they need. Look at the signs of inattentive ADHD below to begin investigating if your child has this type of ADHD. The American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual for ADHD, the DSM-V, lists nine symptoms of inattentive ADHD. At least six of these must be present and must significantly disrupt a child’s life in order to merit a diagnosis.

They are:  Often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, at work, etc.  Often has trouble holding attention on tasks or activities (e.g., easily distracted).  Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.  Often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork or chores (e.g., loses focus, side-tracked).  Often has trouble organizing tasks and activities.  Often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to do tasks that require mental effort over a long period of time.  Often loses things necessary for tasks and activities (e.g., school materials, lunch, mobile phone).  Is often forgetful in daily activities.

If your child has ADHD, you must become an expert on the subject to ensure she gets the best possible help at school.

Fortunately, there are several very excellent organizations that will help you do this. They are Attention Deficit Disorder Association, CHADD, National Resource Center on ADHD, the Council for Exceptional Children and the American Psychiatric Association. And you must get acquainted with Wrightslaw to find out all the legal aspects of getting the best help for your daughter at school. While some blogs on ADHD can be extremely helpful, others contain misleading or inaccurate information. Be sure to avoid any that are selling cures for ADHD. Parents should send questions and comments to dearteacher@dearteacher.com and to learn more about helping their children succeed in school, visit dearteacher.com.

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PICK OF THE LITERATURE — by Dr. Donna Phillips

S

eptember is the month of the “S” word… SCHOOL! For some, it’s a time of excitement and looking forward to making new friends, learning new things, and venturing out into the world. For others, it’s a time to say good-bye to all the summer adventures and memories, and store them like the summer harvest for the days to come. The reality is that school is starting.

Hopefully, this year will be less scary and much simpler.

Whether you have children just starting school or returning to school, or you are a teacher just starting your career or returning to school, there is a book for you!

If you are looking for an alphabet book to transition your young child to school, you might consider Mrs. Peanuckle’s Hiking Alphabet (Random House Children’s, New York 2021, $7.99), written by Maria Rodale and illustrated by Jessie Ford. This book is like a walk through the woods. On the way, we find things that start with the letters of the alphabet. Each letter gives us more things to look for or think about. Using this book for a woods walk just before school starts will help get your kids ready to not only learn the alphabet, but to learn about the science that can be found in the amazing beauty 12 WNY Family September 2021

of nature that surrounds us.

Unicorn’s School Day (Random House Children’s, New York 2021, $7.99), written by Lucy Golden and illustrated

by Sophie Beer, is the perfect book for your beginning reader who is starting to connect pictures to print. Every page has

colorful pictures and a wheel to turn that changes a picture in a cut out window. The wheel also turns the matching word in the story sentence so the reader can begin to practice picture print match. You can also

look at the picture, name it, and listen to the sounds in the word that you hear. This development of phonemic awareness prepares children for the next step…. matching sounds to letters! There is no better way to engage a young child in a book than to let them interact with it while they use their senses to see, hear, and engage their brain to make the connections.

Riding the bus for the first time can be scary for children, and for some, missing the bus can be even more upsetting.

All the animals were on the bus and excited to get to school when Little Blue Truck saw it full of happiness and excitement.

How he wished he could be part of such a first day of school adventure. When he comes across Piggy crying by the side of the road because she missed the bus, he knows just what he has to do! Time for School, Little Blue Truck (Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt, New York, 2021, $18.99), written

by Alice Schertle and illustrated by Jill McElmurry, is the perfect book to calm nerves and celebrate the support of friends.

This jaunty little book uses the best of language and rhyme to encourage the readers to almost sing along as Little Blue Truck takes Piggy on an adventure trip to school in an effort to get her there on time. All ends well as Little Blue Truck pulls up just as the school bus arrives and he beams with pride because he showed he could be a school bus, too!

There is nothing like a good cheer to get us ready for school and Sounds Like School Spirit (Dial Books for Young Readers, New York 2021, $17.99), written by Meg Fleming and illustrated

by Lucy Ruth Cummins, is the book to do it! Every part of the school day gives us something to cheer about and there is a cheer for it! Join in the fun of the events of the day. This echo format is perfect for beginning readers and is a great way to

get them excited for the start of school!

Sometimes children come home from school with stories that you can hardly believe!

This seems to be the case in My School Stinks (Philomel, New York, 2021, $17.99), written

by Becky Scharnhorst and illustrated by Julia Patton. Of course, a new school presents challenges but some of the stories that are coming home seem very strange. Done in the format of a diary, this little boy describes some very interesting classmates at Wildwood Elementary School. Every day he posts another encounter with problems in the classroom, on the playground, and at lunch. His desk mate stinks, his locker buddy bites, and one classmate let go of him on the monkey bars! And that is just during the first week of school! His parents tell him to “take deep breaths and think happy thoughts,” to help get him through the day. However, it still doesn’t help. As expected, after a number of weeks, the class comes together and in spite of these wild behaviors, the students all become good, supportive friends. All is well.

That is, until his parents go to the Open House.

Surprise!!! It turns out that he actually went to a school where the older students are REAL animals! This book is certain to delight students, parents, and teachers and is the perfect First Day of School book for all ages!

A new school year is a chance to make new friends. A chance to learn new things! A chance to explore new books to help you and your family get ready! Why not consider taking a trip to your local library or bookstore to see if you can find any of these new publications and perhaps discover old favorites. This might be just the break you need, between shopping for back-to-school clothes and shopping for school supplies!

Fingers crossed for a calm and rewarding year. Just remember to “take deep breaths and think happy thoughts.”

Dr. Donna Phillips is an associate professor in the College of Education at Niagara University, where her specialty is literacy and children’s literature. She lives on Grand Island, NY and is the mother of two adult children and the grandmother of one.

September 2021 WNY Family 13

FAMILY TRAVEL — by Deborah Williams

“Every day spent on the Erie Canal is a great day.”

T

hat’s the watchword of Mike Murphy, owner of Lockport Locks & Erie Canal Cruises.

His boats cruise daily from the dock next to the company headquarters, an 1840s building that evokes the halcyon days of the canal when trade, commerce, and influx of residents created boomtowns in Lockport and other upstate towns along the canal.

Murphy and his wife Sharon started the company in 1987 with two pontoon boats and a dream. Today, three boats ply the historic waters, and their two 19th century buildings offer space for banquets, weddings, meetings, a small museum, exhibits, as well as a gift shop.

It was a perfect summer day for

14 WNY Family September 2021

our cruise, which attracted people of all ages, including several sets of multigenerational families and a group from a nearby senior residence.

The original 363-mile Erie Canal opened in 1825 and is the country’s greatest and best-known canal. Connecting the Hudson River and the Great Lakes, it immediately became the fastest mode of transporting people and goods.

Now in its third version, it is one of the slowest and its relaxed leisurely pace adds to its allure.

The highlight of the cruise is the transit through Locks 34 & 35, the only double set of locks on the canal. Three million gallons of water fill the locks and raise the boat 50 feet. The walls

along the side of the canal here are 12 feet thick. During World War II it was illegal to photograph or paint these locks because the mechanism was the same as that on the strategic Panama Canal.

Every time I have “locked through” and watched the massive steel doors opening and closing, I am amazed all over again at the remarkable engineering feat of the early canal workers.

The original canal, known as “Clinton’s Ditch,” was built at a time when there were no engineers and vast sections of the state were still wilderness.

Our cruise takes us under the “Upside Down Bridge” and the “Big Bridge,” considered the widest bridge in the country at 399 feet. We cruised through the deep rock cut and under lift bridges. Mike Murphy, our captain, told stories of the early canal and the construction challenges in the area.

Old time canal songs played in the background including the popular “I got a mule her name is Sal.” Lockport is one of the few communities where today’s canal still travels the route of the original canal right through the center of town. There is an air of renewal and rediscovery in Lockport these days. Under the direction of the Lockport Locks Heritage District Corporation, on-going projects are designed to highlight the city’s unique canal history.

When the Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolutionary War, visited the United States in 1825, he declared that Niagara County possessed the greatest natural wonder — Niagara Falls and manmade wonder — the canal locks — known in the world.

Lockport’s locks were already regarded as a modern engineering marvel at the time of Lafayette’s visit.

The Erie Canal was America’s greatest canal and the construction of the canal through the Lockport area was the most difficult of the entire canal. The canal is in the midst of its bicentennial since the first shovel was dug on July 4, 1817, and the entire canal up to Rochester was completed by 1823.

It took two more years to complete the canal because Lockport sits on top of continued on page 30

Your Guide to

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“Learning and loving God!” September 2021 WNY Family 15

Password Manager

RAISING DIGITAL KIDS — by Mike Daugherty

Digital Defense A Parents Guide to Cybersecurity

W

hen we think about keeping our family safe online, the conversation usually focuses on the content on the screens of their favorite devices. Is what they are watching appropriate?

What have they been searching online?

Who are they communicating with, and are they who they say they are? Unfortunately, one of the biggest threats to your family’s safety is one that many families tend to overlook: hackers.

Imagine a scenario where someone has gained control of your bank account and transferred your money to various banks across the globe. Consider the damage if a hacker used your child’s social security number to open credit cards and make fraudulent purchases. The discovery of this deception might take years. Unlawful, unknown purchases would ruin their credit before they were even old enough to understand what credit is. Unfortunately, social security numbers and similar information are prime targets for that exact reason.

At a recent event I attended, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) categorized hackers into two groups. The first group comprised roughly seventy percent of hackers globally.

They described this group as savvy but unable to cause much trouble when minimal security precautions were in place.

As a result, I’ve compiled a list of measures you can take to protect your family from the majority of cybercriminals.

Passwords

Creating smart, complex passwords is the first step in securing your online presence. Most of us have two or three 16 WNY Family September 2021

passwords we use for everything. The problem comes when a website gets breached and your information is shared online. Hackers with sophisticated software will use leaked information to attempt to login to thousands of popular sites at once. For example, the email address and password you used to sign up for an online music subscription could give hackers access to your email. When creating a new password, there are a few rules to ensure the bad guys will not easily decode it. ● The longer, the better — Create a password longer than eight characters. Many experts suggest using a phrase or short sentence instead of a traditional password. Short sentences will make your password easier to remember and highly secure. ● Include special characters — Symbols such as the exclamation point, the dollar sign, or even a space will significantly increase the password’s strength. ● Change it up — Don’t use the same password for multiple sites. Everyone has a “go-to” password, but that is not safe in this day and age.

One simple adjustment is to add a few characters to the end of your password for each website. For example, add the letters “Tw” to the beginning or end of your password for Twitter. This way, you can use a similar password for each site but still have some security in the event of a data breach.

Complex passwords are good, but a password manager is a much better solution.

A password manager is a service designed to help you create strong passwords and keep those passwords safe.

The service can generate and store long, complex passwords to replace existing passwords you may be using. The application encrypts your data in your “vault” and automatically enters the pertinent information for each site you visit. Automatically filling in the data prevents hackers or malicious software from stealing your information as you type in. Password managers can keep track of more than just passwords, too. They can hold credit card information, addresses, PINs, and other sensitive information that websites ask for when making a purchase. Many security experts view this as one of the best ways to secure your online presence.

These security precautions may sound highly complicated, but password managers are pretty simple to use in reality. The most challenging part is choosing which password manager to trust. I recommend LastPass. It is straightforward to work with, includes a smartphone app, and provides several helpful features. A yearly subscription costs $36 and includes premium features that are well worth the investment. For example, if you believe your account has been compromised, LastPass can automatically change your password to many major websites with the click of a button. Dashlane and Keeper are also good options to consider if LastPass isn’t for you.

HaveIBeenPwned

Now you know how to create strong passwords and secure them. But, how do you know if your information is part of a security breach and is now floating around online? Every state has enacted legislation requiring organizations to notify individuals when a security breach involving their data occurs. Unfortunately, the laws are a bit different, and big corporations have ways to delay those notifications for months after a violation is discovered.

Troy Hunt, a regional director at Microsoft, created a website to help people determine if their data is at risk.

HaveIBeenPwned.com allows users to search through all known data breaches

for their email addresses. If the email address is found, the site describes how the breach occurred and what personally identified information was leaked.

I highly recommend anyone who reads this column to visit the website to see if their email address has been a part of a breach. Be sure to click the “Notify Me” link at the top of the site to be notified of any additional data leaks that include your information.

Credit Check

Doing a semi-annual credit check on your children’s social security numbers is another fantastic way to stay vigilant.

A quick check can ensure no suspicious activity is taking place.

The process is simple. Sign up on Credit.com to check credit scores for free. Checking your credit score is a soft credit inquiry. Soft credit inquiries, or soft pulls, are not a result of attempting to secure a loan or credit card. Soft inquiries do not affect your credit rating. Take a moment to place a recurring appointment in your calendar to check your children’s credit scores.

Apply Your Updates

Make sure that you are installing the updates on the devices in your life. Most digital devices have an option to apply an update when available automatically. Computers and smartphones are the obvious items that come to mind. Don’t forget about equipment such as your WiFi router, cable modem, or other home security devices like a Ring Doorbell or Smartlock.

Use the management or settings options to check for updates.

Keeping your devices patched and up to date can significantly decrease the chances for unwanted access.

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Antivirus

Microsoft Windows comes with an above average built-in virus scanner, and most Apple products are known to be less susceptible to unwanted programs. However, even with those things in place, I still recommend a paid subscription to an antivirus software installed on many computers in your home.

Malwarebytes is my personal preference. The site has an annual plan for $60 that covers three devices. The software is reliable and works on a variety of computer platforms. The installation will walk you through setting up an automatic scan each week and setting up other ways to keep your system(s) protected.

AVG, as well as Symantec, are other virus protection software packages you could consider.

Taking the steps outlined above will dramatically decrease the chances of your digital lives being disrupted by unsavory individuals. In addition, the cost and time associated with setting these up will leave you with peace of mind that is well worth the effort.

Mike Daugherty is a husband, father of three young children, author, speaker, Google Innovator, and possible Starbucks addict.

He is a certified educational technology leader who has served in a variety of roles through his twenty-year career in public education. Currently, Mike is the Director of Technology for the Chagrin Falls Exempted Village School district in Northeast Ohio.

As an IT director he has developed creative, well thought out solutions that positively impact teaching and learning.

September 2021 WNY Family 17

this way, we wouldn’t have to scramble around the following morning. We were on track to leave on time; bags packed, car packed, and more importantly, snacks packed. All that was left for me to do was install Violet’s new car seat. I figured I would do it right before we left, because, how hard could it be? I already installed her first car seat 9 months ago without any trouble, so what could go wrong I thought?

Traveling with Violet

B

Part One

efore I had children, I often heard horror stories about traveling with them. And of course, this includes children of all ages — infants, toddlers and tweens. Andrea would probably throw me into that category, saying that I could easily be classified as a child when traveling, and I would agree with her. Depending on distance, duration, what music we’re listening to, and if there are snacks involved, my inside-the-car-mood can easily change.

From what I’ve been told by friends and seen in movies and sitcoms, which I imagine were real life stories ripped from the lives of the people writing them, traveling with your kids, in a nutshell, is usually chaos. There’s puking, screaming, crying, possibly fighting amongst siblings, some brief moments of tranquility, usually if someone is sleeping, and that’s pretty much it.

The longest we ever traveled with Violet was about 40 minutes when we took her to see her grandmother in Niagara Falls. Other than that, the doctor and Wegmans down the road is the longest she’s been in the car, and so far, we’ve had no problems other than a few cries and fusses. That is, until now, when the real test begins.

18 WNY Family September 2021

So far this year we have two big trips planned. One is a two-hour day trip to the countryside of Erie, Pennsylvania to visit Violet’s grandparents and our really big challenge, the second trip, is a five and a half hour road trip to New Jersey to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and their first born child.

Andrea and I are more worried about our trip to New Jersey rather than Pennsylvania, as there will be more time on the road for something to go wrong, and the list of catastrophes are long — Violet won’t sleep, puking down her onesie, blowouts in rush hour traffic, locked out of the car while getting gas, out of road snacks (more my problem than their problem) and I’m sure I can add many more.

With both these trips quickly approaching, Andrea and I agreed on two things. The first was that no matter what went wrong, we would try to limit our bickering with each other to a bare minimum, and the other was that we would iron out all the kinks and mishaps from our first trip to better prepare for the second one. And I have to say, we did pretty good.

We wanted to be on the road for Pennsylvania by no later than 8am. We did most of our packing the night before,

After carefully reading the instructions three times and watching all the installation videos that the Graco website provided, including the ones I found on YouTube, I wasn’t sold on the rear-facing anchoring method. After about fortyfive minutes of tinkering with anchors, straps and tethers, I decided to save it for another day when I wasn’t working with so many distractions. I didn’t want to rush things and botch the installation.

I ended up installing it two days later and it turns out that I did it right the first time — I think I was just too tired and distracted to realize it.

We finally got on the road by 9am, an hour behind, but nevertheless, on our way. After twenty minutes of driving down back roads due to an unnoticed missed turn, Violet fell asleep for the rest of the ride. We strategically scheduled her bottle for the beginning leg of our trip with the hopes that it would knock her out, and it did — out cold! The ride back home was a little different. She was up for a little longer, cried a few times, but nothing too crazy.

Overall, I think we lucked out and had some pretty good success with this first trip. We’ll have to learn to pack the car a little better by prioritizing what we really need and do some consolidating.

Violet will be almost eleven months old when we leave for Jersey in late July.

I don’t know if that age plays a part in her attitude, but I have high hopes.

Richard De Fino, a freelance writer by night, first became a father at age 34.

After losing his first-born son Louis, at birth, he was determined to keep his memory alive the best way he knew how; through words. Now, with the birth of his daughter Violet, he plans on continuing to share his fatherhood journey each month with WNY Family readers.

— by Savannah Lee

PARENT PREVIEWS –

Making Media Entertainment An Easier Choice For Families OVERALL RATING: B+

THE BOSS BABY: Family Business Rating: PG DREAMWORKS DVD Release: September 14, 2021

VIOLENCE: (B) There is cartoon violence throughout, including kicking, punching, smacking, and fighting. A car chase ends in an explosion, though no one is hurt.

Ninja babies hold swords and toss spears and throwing stars.

SEXUAL CONTENT: (A­) A baby runs around naked, but his genitals are covered by household objects.

LANGUAGE: (A-) There are some mild insults including “nerd” and “stupid.” There is one use of a term of deity.

ALCOHOL / DRUG USE: (A) None.

M

any years after the events of The Boss Baby, Tim (James Marsden) and Ted (Alec Baldwin) are all grown up. Tim is a stay-at-home dad to his two daughters, Tabitha (Ariana Greenblatt) and Tina (Amy Sedaris), and Ted is a big time CEO taking the business world by storm.

Over the years, the two brothers have drifted apart, hardly seeing or speaking to each other. When Tim discovers that baby Tina is an agent for Baby Corp., he and Ted must reunite to save the world, yet again.

If you haven’t seen the original Boss Baby, fear not. You can still manage to enjoy the sequel, provided you are able to turn your brain off. If I really put on my English major analytical hat, I could tear this film to shreds, but I instead chose to turn that off and just let the madness wash over me. If you don’t think about the plot too much, The Boss Baby: Family Business is a fun, wild ride the whole family can enjoy.

One of the film’s greatest strengths is its casting. Marsden and Baldwin are both fantastic, but the real cherry on top is Jeff Goldblum in his role as the villain.

Goldblum nails the balance between ridiculous and heartfelt that I think the production was seeking. The message of the movie is also powerful, focusing on the importance of familial relationships, even for adults. There are also themes around the importance of parental guidance, teamwork, and self-confidence.

Something I greatly appreciate is the normalizing of stay-at-home dads. At no point is Tim mocked or emasculated for this choice, and his accomplishments as a dad are viewed on the same level as Ted’s career achievements.

On the other hand, the story is frenetic and fast paced, with action scenes flying at the audience at breakneck speed. There are some quiet, heartfelt moments, but most of the film moves from one crazy caper to another. This strategy stops young audiences from having a chance to get bored and prevents adults from having time to think about the abundant plot holes. Along with that manic energy, there’s a fair amount of potty humor and cartoon violence, which might turn off particularly sensitive viewers.

Overall, I enjoyed Family Business, and I’d recommend it to families looking for some mindless entertainment.

The theatre I was in was filled with children and they all seemed to be having a great time, judging by all the laughter.

For additional information on this film’s content, visit www.parentpreviews.com

My own son, who accompanied me, said he liked it and especially enjoyed a certain heartfelt moment at the end, which I won’t spoil. For DreamWorks Animation, who are famously spotty with their quality, this doesn’t reach anywhere near the heights the studio is capable of, but it also doesn’t fall as far as some of their biggest flops. If I were their boss, I’d call that a win.

Talk about the movie with your family…

Why don’t Tim and Ted talk very much anymore? What do they each value in life and how does that affect the choices they’ve made?

What is Tabitha afraid of at school, and how does that impact her relationship with her dad? How does he help her to overcome her fear?

Watch at home…

Babies are at the heart of Storks, an animated tale of a baby-delivery-mixup at the hands, er, wings, of the titular birds. Eighteen years later, the consequences are still playing out.

When two scary monsters accidentally return to Monstropolis with a toddler in tow, they have to find a way to get her home without getting caught. Monsters, Inc. introduces Sully and Mike to humans in the shape of the little girl they name Boo. Loved the movie?

Try these books…

Marla Freeze’s The Boss Baby features an infant with clear expectations and method for ensuring he receives his due. This enterprising youngster faces a challenge when his little sister comes along in The Bossier Baby.

September 2021 WNY Family 19

TWEENS & TEENS — by Cheryl Maguire

After waking up, I paid attention to all the positive experiences I had.

When the speaker asked the question, “What’s one good thing that happened to you today?” at least fifteen hands were raised including my own.

“The sky was filled with beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow. Seeing it made me smile.”

The reason this technique worked is that the speaker asked the same question at the same time. This routine allowed me to anticipate and prepare to answer the question.

Why I’m Taking 5 Minutes With My Teens

I

still walk to the bus stop with my 9th grade boy/girl twins. Before you assume that I’m a helicopter, snowplow, lawnmower, or some other type of machinery parent, please let me explain.

When my kids were younger, I admit that I used to go to the bus stop with them due to fear they would get hurt or kidnapped. I even wrote an article about my experience. But as they got older, I realized that I continued to walk to the bus stop to spend time with them. They felt the same way, since they let me know it was okay for me to keep walking with them.

Recently I wondered why those five minutes felt different than the rest of the time I see them during the day. I then remembered a three-day training I attended when I used to be a counselor, which provided some insight for me.

On the first day of the training, the speaker began by asking us this question, “What’s one good thing that happened to you today?”

It was 9am. My brain wasn’t functioning enough to think of a response since I’m not a morning person. I also thought, “Not much has really happened 20 WNY Family September 2021

yet.” The class seemed to share my sentiment because only one other hand was raised.

“I drank my coffee,” said an eager volunteer.

The group erupted with laughter.

“Thanks for sharing. I’m glad you had a chance to drink a coffee. Anyone else?”

No one raised their hand. She moved on to the rest of her presentation and I forgot about her question.

The next day I sat in the same seat.

Again she began by asking, “What’s one good thing that happened to you today?”

Oh, gosh she is asking it again. Surely, I should be able to think of something this time especially since she asked it yesterday. But my mind was blank.

This time three hands shot up.

“I was on time for the training today.”

“I ate a tasty breakfast.”

“My kid gave me a hug before I left the house.”

That day when I went home, I thought about the question and possible answers. I was determined to participate.

Walking to the bus stop every morning is a routine that my teens can count on to spend time with me. They sometimes ask me questions or offer information about their day. And rarely do they have their phone in front of their faces (unlike the rest of the time I see them).

Dr. Laura Markham, a clinical psychologist and author of Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting, said, “Having a regular routine or ritual that you do with your teen will bring you closer. Parenting a teen is not a set of strategies. It is a relationship.”

She explained that the only way you are going to have any influence on your teenager is through your relationship with them.

Most parents of teens worry about the possibility that their kid might use drugs or engage in other risky behaviors.

Research shows that when parents have a positive relationship with teenagers they are less likely to take risks. Research also shows that when teens feel connected to their family and school they are less likely to engage in violent behaviors as adults.

Even though it is only five minutes in the morning, it is enough time to create a connection with my teens. When they come home from school, they are busy completing homework or talking with their friends. And then they often have activities or sports so there are some days when we don’t eat dinner together. There are some days when those five minutes is the only time I see them uninterrupted, which is why I value it.

“The time we spend together as

families should be treasured. It should be spent supporting, guiding, and enjoying each other’s company,” said Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, a physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and co-founder of the Center for Parent and Teen Communication. “Too many families waste energy nagging. The bigger goal is to learn to communicate in a way that strengthens your relationships and prepares your teens for healthy relationships with you in the future.”

In the book, Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life, by Nir Eyal the author stated, “You can’t make time but you can take time.”

In less than four years my kids might be headed off to college. So I plan to take as much time as I can with them, even if it is only five minutes in the morning walking with them to the bus stop.

On a recent walk to the bus stop, I shared that I had a job interview that day and I was nervous.

“What type of job is the interview for?” my daughter asked.

“A guidance counselor.”

“Which school?” my son asked.

“Don’t worry it’s not yours.”

We all laughed knowing that my son did not want me to be his new guidance counselor.

The bus pulled up beside us and they climbed up the stairs. Before finding a seat my daughter turned around, smiled and shouted, “Good luck, mom.”

Next year they will be old enough to drive to school, no longer needing the bus. As Dr. Ginsburg said, I treasure the time we have together even if it is only five minutes because I know how important that connection is for all of us.

Cheryl Maguire holds a Master of Counseling Psychology degree. She is married and is the mother of twins and a daughter. Her writing has been published in The New York Times, Parents Magazine, AARP, Healthline, Grown and Flown, Your Teen Magazine, and many other publications. This article was orginally published on Your Teen.

September 2021 WNY Family 21

The Power of Discipline

S

ingle parents often avoid disciplining their children, simply because they lead hectic lives and discipline takes time, so it can be easier to ignore bad behavior. Also, some parents don’t discipline because they feel guilty that they are not able to spend much quality time with their children and blame themselves for their kids’ out-of-line behaviors.

Additionally, if single parents are co-parenting with someone they perceive to be too harsh with the kids, that parent may avoid discipline to counteract what the other parent is doing. Of course, none of these reasons are good ones for failing to exercise healthy discipline. Children need their parents’ guidance because it teaches them trust, offers protection, and helps them learn valuable coping skills that they will take into their adult lives.

Trust

When we set rules and boundaries for our kids and they fail to follow or honor them, discipline is the act that shows kids our word can be trusted. If we start when they are young to show them that we mean what we say, they will learn that our word is good. It starts in toddlerhood when we tell them “don’t touch,” for instance. We all know that two-year-old face of rebellion as they touch the object anyway, testing to see if mom or dad will REALLY stop them.

When we keep our word consistently, they not only learn who is in charge, but they learn that you mean what you say, which filters into other areas of the relationship. As they get older, they need to 22 WNY Family September 2021

SINGLE PARENTING — by Diane C. Dierks, LMFT know they can count on a parent to not only discipline, but to love them unconditionally, take care of their basic needs, and be there when they are hurting. Kids will trust parents for those things if they have learned to trust them in the simplest acts of discipline.

Protection

Following through with our discipline gives kids what they need to make decisions when we cannot be with them.

This plays out in a critical way as children get older and do not have the benefit of a parent to guide them through life decisions. When a teenager, for instance, is faced with peer pressure to do something that may not be smart, we hope that he will say to himself, “Mom said if I do something like that, I will lose my phone (or car, or time with my friends)… and since I don’t want to lose my phone… and my mom ALWAYS means what she says… maybe I should not do that.”

On the other hand, it is equally powerful in a negative way if my child says to herself, “Mom said if I do something like that, I will lose my phone (or car, or time with my friends)… hmmm…

I don’t want to lose my phone… but mom is usually wishy-washy about these things… why NOT take the risk?”

Age-appropriate discipline helps kids moderate destructive behaviors that they may not able to resist themselves if they did not have the threat of consequences from a parent they can trust.

Coping Skills

Ultimately, a parent who has been committed to consistent, loving discipline will raise a child who recognizes the value of self control, the pain of natural consequences, and the satisfaction of delayed gratification. Conversely, children who have had nonexistent, inconsistent, or inappropriate discipline often grow up with a sense of entitlement or lack the ability to control or discipline themselves through life’s difficult circumstances. When parents engage in loving discipline, they are preparing their children for good decision-making in adulthood.

Although it is understandable why a single parent might have difficulty exercising discipline at times, it is the job of both parents to teach trust, protection, and coping skills. It needs to be a priority for all parents since there is a short window of time that we have to make this important impact on our kids. If we wait until they are teens or young adults, their internal mechanisms are usually set, and it is much more difficult to change their ways of thinking at that point. Start early, stay consistent, and love them through it. It’s the best investment you will ever make.

Diane C. Dierks is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Atlanta, Georgia. She is also author of The CoParent Toolbox (2014 Aha! Publishing) and Solo Parenting: Raising Strong & Happy Families (1997 Fairview Press).

For more information visit her website is www.dianedierks.com.

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September 2021 WNY Family 23

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Fitness for Your 3 to 5 Year Old

B

y the time kids are 3 to 5 years old, their physical skills, like running, jumping, kicking, and throwing, have come a long way.

Now they’ll continue to refine these skills and build on them to learn more complex ones.

Take advantage of your child’s natural tendency to be active. Regular physical activity promotes healthy growth and development and learning new skills builds confidence.

Fitness for Preschoolers

Physical activity guidelines recommend that preschoolers: • are physically active throughout the day • move and engage in both active play and structured (adult-led) physical activity • do activities such as jumping, hopping, and tumbling to strengthen bones Preschoolers should participate in a variety of fun and challenging physical activities that help build skills and coordination, but aren’t beyond their abilities. Preschoolers should be active about 3 hours a day, including light, moderate, and vigorous activities.

Kids this age are learning to hop, skip, and jump forward, and are eager to show off how they can balance on one foot, catch a ball, or do a somersault. Preschoolers also might enjoy swimming, playing on a playground, dancing, and riding a tricycle or bicycle with training wheels.

Many parents look to organized sports to get preschoolers active. But the average preschooler has not mastered the basics, such as throwing, catching, and taking turns. Even simple rules may be hard for them to understand, as any parent who has watched their child run the wrong way during a game knows.

And starting too young can be frustrating for kids and may discourage future participation in sports. So if you decide to sign your preschooler up for soccer or another team sport, be sure to choose a peewee league that focuses on fun and learning the fundamentals. continued on page 27 September 2021 WNY Family 25

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FITNESS FOR YOUR 3 TO 5 YEAR OLD continued...

From Beginner To Champion

Family Fitness Tips

Playing together, running in the backyard, or using playground equipment at a local park can be fun for the entire family.

Other activities to try together, or for a group of preschoolers to enjoy, include: • playing games such as “Duck, Duck, Goose” or “Follow the Leader,” then mixing it up with jumping, hopping, and walking backward • kicking a ball back and forth or into a goal • hitting a ball off a T-ball stand • playing freeze dance or freeze tag Kids can be active even when they’re stuck indoors. Designate a safe play area and try some active inside games: • Treasure hunt: Hide “treasures” throughout the house and provide clues to their locations.

• Obstacle course: Set up an obstacle course with chairs, boxes, and toys for the kids to go over, under, through, and around.

• Soft-ball games: Use soft foam balls to play indoor basketball, bowling, soccer, or catch. You can even use balloons to play volleyball or catch.

When Should I Call the Doctor?

If your child doesn’t want to play or join other kids in sports or complains of pain during or after being active, talk with your doctor.

Kids who enjoy sports and exercise tend to stay active throughout their lives.

And being active can improve learning and attention, prevent obesity, and decrease the risk of serious illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease later in life.

Information provided by KidsHealth. org from Nemours Children’s Health. © 1995-2021. The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth®. Reprinted following guidelines.

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Empower

Ability Inspire Advocate

Special Needs Potential Thri

Tips to Help Your Teen Deal with

Growth Strategies — by Cheryl Maguire

“

I

ADHD

got detention for forgetting my book three times in a row.”

Michael* sent the text message to his mom. She wasn’t surprised since she received similar messages previously about how Michael forgot to do his homework or misplaced it. At age eight he was diagnosed with ADHD. Now that he is thirteen, she hoped that he would be more organized. She also wonders if this is normal “teenager” behavior or is this due to his diagnosis of ADHD?

Michael is one of two million American teens diagnosed with ADHD. Compared to an average teen, teens with ADHD are four times more likely to get into a car accident. Also, 45% of teens with ADHD have been suspended, and the majority of special needs teens diag-

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nosed with ADHD report being bullied.

A parent of a teen with ADHD will need to find ways to help them deal with these additional challenges.

“Everyone has ADHD behavior at times,” says Dr. Sarah Cheyette, a pediatric neurologist and author of the book, ADHD & The Focused Mind: A Guide to Giving Your ADHD Child Focus, Discipline & Self-Confidence. She says the difference between everyone and a person with ADHD is that the person with ADHD is unfocused too much of the time. So how can parents help their teens with ADHD become more focused?

“Most people become more focused when they decide they want to do something,” says Cheyette. By making a decision to do an activity, you take responsibility for doing that task. If a teen is interested in doing that task, it will be easier to do.

But if your teen doesn’t like doing a task such as homework, then changing their mindset can help them to become more focused. Cheyette explains how by saying, “If you say to yourself, ‘I don’t feel like doing this,’ then you probably won’t.” She goes on to say that by changing your thought process to a more positive thought, it will help a teen to become focused and complete the task.

Cheyette also stresses the importance of receiving adequate sleep, exercising, and eating healthy foods to maintain focus. Lack of sleep has been correlated with poor impulse control and memory,

which are issues already experienced by a kid with ADHD. She adds, “You need to manage electronic use and make sure they have friends who are not distracting.”

Cheyette says another way to help teens with ADHD to focus is to create goals. Once a goal is achieved then it will help them to feel successful which will lead to achieving more goals.

It is important that the teen is an active participant in creating the goals so they “own” it.

As a parent, you may be tempted to provide directions or “nag” your child to make sure they are working towards their goals. Instead, Cheyette says, “Make observations and ask questions. If you notice your son’s backpack is a mess, instead of saying, ‘You need to organize your backpack,’ try saying, ‘It must be difficult to find your homework when your backpack looks like this’ or ‘How are you able to find your homework?”

She also says, “Ask questions such as, ‘How can you help yourself?’ or ‘How can you act differently next time?’ to allow your child to think about and own their behaviors.”

Cheyette says, “There are differences between a child and a teen with ADHD.” When a child has ADHD, parents tend to be more forgiving and help them with their unfocused behaviors.

But a teen with ADHD wants to be independent, yet they may lack the skills. A teen’s unfocused behaviors can often lead to more severe consequences such as getting arrested or causing a car accident. It is important to understand these differences when trying to help your child deal with having ADHD. I spoke to three different parents of teens with ADHD. They shared their tips for helping their teen deal with ADHD. Amy*, a parent of a fifteen-year-old son diagnosed with ADHD, agrees with Cheyette and thinks exercising is helpful for her son. She bought her son a trampoline to help him release his extra energy when he gets home from school. In addition to exercising, Amy saw the most improvement when her son began taking medication. She says, “Once he was medicated he could use self-regulating strategies. Before that, he wasn’t able to learn these strategies since he couldn’t pay attention.”

Emily*, a parent to a fourteen-year-old son diagnosed with ADHD, says, “I encourage my son to stay after school to do his homework. This way he doesn’t become distracted by things at home, like his phone, and he can receive help from his teachers.

He pays attention better to his teachers than he does to me.”

Jen*, a parent to a twelve-year-old daughter diagnosed with ADHD, also agrees with Cheyette about the importance of eating

healthy foods and getting enough sleep. She notices that when her daughter doesn’t get enough sleep or doesn’t eat nutritious meals, she experiences intense mood swings and has difficulty dealing with stress. She also suggests starting with small social settings. She says, “Instead of having my daughter join a large group like Girl Scouts, I invited two or three girls over at a time and kept the gatherings short and monitored the group. Then I worked up to larger outings.”

All the parents I spoke with and Cheyette agree that you are your child’s best advocate. This means having open communication with the school personnel, doctors, and anyone else involved in your child’s care. As Jen says, “The best advice I can give other parents is to tell them that there are going to be really bad times, but your child needs to know that you are in their court.

When your child feels like a failure or has no friends or school is horrible, they need to be able to come home to you and release their frustrations and emotions.” *names have been changed for privacy

Resource: ADHD, By the Numbers https://www.additudemag.com/the-statistics-of-adhd/

Cheryl Maguire holds a Master of Counseling Psychology degree. She is married and the mother of twins and a daughter.

Her writing has been published in Parents Magazine, Upworthy, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Count Your Blessings and Twins Magazine. This article was originally published on Your Teen.

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September 2021 WNY Family 29

FAMILY TRAVEL continued... a massive ledge of solid rock known as the Niagara Escarpment.

The countryside east of Lockport was 70 feet below. Somehow canal boats traveling west would need to be raised to the top of the mountain and those traveling east would need to be lowered.

A single lock could not solve the problem.

The solution was two sets of five locks each so that twoway traffic could be served. These locks were built from 1823 to 1825. A deep channel was also blasted out of the rock west of the town.

When today’s canal was built from 1909 to 1918, one set of the locks was replaced with two power-operated locks. The other set remained. They are Locks 67, 68, 69, 70 and 71 of the 72-lock Enlarged Erie Canal. They are often referred to as “staircase locks” due to the succession of one lock to the next.

“We have reconstructed three of the locks with the goal of having the entire Flight of Five Locks rehabilitated by 2025, the 200th anniversary of the completion of the original Erie Canal,” explained David Kinyon, chairman of the Lockport Locks Heritage District Corp.

“When completed this will be a unique Erie Canal heritage site, the only site in the country with a set of two 20th century mechanically-operated locks and an authentic set of 19th century manually-operated locks.”

The fun part of this project for visitors is there are demonstrations of the restored locks Saturdays from 11 am-1 pm.

The demonstration includes an early 19th century boat named the Erie Traveler built by the Buffalo Maritime Center. With its crew of volunteers who staff the boat and other volunteers who manually open and close the massive white oak gates, it is easy to imagine that you are back in the mid 1800s.

Saturdays are a good day for a visit because there is also a farmers’ market alongside the canal complete with live music.

Next to the Flight of Five is another Heritage District project that has quickly become a favorite selfie photo site. It is the Lock Tenders Tribute Monument designed to recreate an iconic 1897 photograph of Lockport Lock Tenders seated on the stone stairway in the Lockport Locks.

The monument consists of life-size bronze sculptures of the Lock Tenders. So far seven of the 13 figures (plus a statue

30 WNY Family September 2021

of the photographer) have been installed. The rest will be installed as successful fund raising allows. All the people in the photograph have been identified except for one. There was even a child in the photo, Bessie Wagoner, the daughter of one of the lock tenders.

The project celebrates and memorializes the 19th century lock tenders who worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week, from April through November to enable boats to traverse the canal.

The canal attracted businesses and inventors and Birdsill Holly was a mechanical genius, who devised a method to use the water from the canal to power his factories. This was just one of many historical tidbits we learned as we walked along with our guide Katherine Keleher.

She led our group of children and adults on a walking tour that is the first part of the Lockport Cave tour. Be prepared: there is much walking as well as many steep stairs. The highlight of the tour is a boat ride in an underground cave.

Our next stop was a 2,100-foot water-power tunnel blasted out of solid rock.

“This Hydraulic Tunnel provided power for several of Birdsill Holly’s industries,” our guide explained. “After providing the power, the water was returned to the canal.”

Holly held more than 150 patents and his inventions include the fire hydrant, central steam heat, and the rotary pump.

At one point, when we were deep in the tunnel, our guide asked us not to move and then turned off the electric lights plunging us into utter darkness. Fortunately, lights were quickly turned back on.

Our final stop was our underground boat ride, billed as one of America’s longest underground boat rides. Our boat was powered by an electric motor, and we glided along through the lifeless water with just a smattering of small electric lights to light the way.

It seemed fitting that the amazing ingenuity that helped to create the nearby canal and Lockport itself would attract a creative genius like Birdsill Holly. These tunnels have also attracted the Ghost Hunters show. During October, visitors can take the Halloween themed Haunted Cave Lantern Tour which includes the tunnels and cave.

Travel Tip of the Month: For information on Lockport Locks & Erie Canal Cruises visit lockportlocks.com or call: 716-433-6155. For information on the Flight of Five demonstrations visit www.LocksDistrict.com. For information on the Lockport Cave & Underground Boat Ride visit lockportcave. com or call 716-438-0174.

Deborah Williams is a veteran travel writer whose work has appeared in national and international publications. She lives in Holland, NY and is the recipient of the Society of American Travel Writers Lowell Thomas Gold Travel Writing Award.

September 2021 WNY Family 31

Why Parents are Hesitant about Vaccinating Their Kids Source: Northeastern University, August 12, 2021

W

hy do parents, especially mothers, continue to have misgivings about the COVID-19 vaccine for their children, even as youngsters made up 15 percent of all new infections as of early August?

s s e n l Wel

Choices

Their chief concern is vaccine safety, according to a U.S. survey by researchers from Northeastern, Harvard, Northwestern, and Rutgers that sheds new light on specific parental worries.

The study found that doubts about whether the vaccine has been tested enough was the most pressing concern, as cited by 51 percent of parents who

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won’t allow their children to be vaccinated. It was followed closely by the potential for long-term health effects (50 percent) and the newness of the vaccines (46 percent).

The June to July survey of 5,000 parents listed 10 possible hesitancies and asked respondents to rate each as either a major concern, a minor concern, or no concern.

Religious objections to vaccines and the government using them to harm people were of no concern to most people.

A prior Northeastern study found that parents held a more favorable view of COVID-19 immunizations for their

children than they had earlier in the year.

However, researchers had not honed in on particular hesitancies until now.

Decisions by parents on whether their kids are vaccinated “becomes increasingly important as kids are going back to school,” says David Lazer, university distinguished professor of political science and computer sciences at Northeastern, and one of the researchers who conducted the study.

“And we do see more and more children getting infected with the Delta variant, so there are clearly consequences to not getting vaccinated,” he adds.

Specifically, data from the American Academy of Pediatrics found “a continuing substantial increase” of COVID-19 cases among children. They now account for 15 percent of all infections.

“As of August 5, nearly 4.3 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic,” AAP says. “Almost 94,000 cases were added the past week, a continuing substantial increase. After declining in early summer, child cases have steadily increased since the beginning of July.”

Parents’ concerns about the COVID-19 Vaccine Whether the vaccine has been tested enough

51%

Long-term health effects

50%

Whether the vaccine actually works

44%

Immediate side effects (e.g. fever, nausea)

44%

Health effects specific to girls or women

37%

Health effects specific to boys or men

35%

Whether the vaccine companies want to harm people

32%

Whether the government is using the vaccine to harm people

30%

Religious objections

16% 0

10

over age 12 are authorized for emergency use, we can see that mothers are more concerned about these issues than fathers,” researchers wrote in the latest survey.

Maternal concerns persist despite assurances from health authorities that vaccines are safe for children.

Northeastern’s Lazer notes that

20

30

40

50

while COVID-19 vaccines are new, they have received enormous scrutiny.

“The reality is we’re not done learning things, but the evidence highlights that if there are any side effects of the vaccines that we don’t know about, they’re likely to be quite rare and less consequential than the actual disease that the vaccine is preventing.”

(You can download the most current 2021 American Academy of Pediatrics reports regarding children and COVID-19 online at: https://www. aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/childrenand-covid-19-state-level-data-report/) Among moms and dads, a higher percentage of mothers rated the same four worries as a major concern than fathers. Moms were more likely to report questioning whether the vaccine has been tested enough as a major concern than dads (58 percent to 44 percent) and more likely to cite how new the vaccine is (52 percent to 39 percent).

The mom-dad divide is consistent with a March 2021 Northeastern survey that uncovered a wide gender gap between mothers and fathers over who would vaccinate their kids if the option had been available at the time.

“Now that vaccinations for children

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REMOTE LEARNING AND SCHOOL REOPENINGS continued... ue through the recent influx of federal dollars in the American Rescue Plan, many students have remained offline. One reason for this was a nearly 5-million-unit laptop shortage at the beginning of the school year that left districts waiting while delivery dates were pushed further and further back.

Many school districts used internet-equipped school buses to provide hot spots to students. While an innovative solution in the short term, cramming students in cars or sitting them outside next to a school bus in the heat or cold for hours is not an ideal learning environment. For households with multiple students and other family members working from home, providing internet service did not always solve connectivity issues.

In some rural communities, providing personal hot spots to students still did not allow them to get online, as their hot spots were not in range of cell towers.

Furthermore, providing technology and internet access did not ensure that every student could thrive in an online learning environment. Many schools were not regularly using computers as part of their school work prior to the pandemic, and students who did not previously have these devices at home were more likely to have lower computer literacy levels. In one RAND Corp. survey, only 51% of teachers said that all or most of their students have the age-appropriate skills to successfully navigate technology for distance learning.

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Many students also lacked support in the household. In Washington state, for example, just 60% of parents rated themselves an A or B for their technological savviness. As a result, providing technical assistance to students and their families was a necessary support to ensure student success, but one that was not always available.

While educators may now have more access to technology and support, adjusting to teaching remotely was an entirely new skill set to learn. One study found that only 66% of teachers reported being very or extremely confident in using digital media services for teaching, and 1 in 7 had not previously used K-12 digital media services. Training opportunities often depended on district resources, giving educators in wealthy districts an advantage.

TREND 3: Student resources in academics, school meals and extracurriculars Remote learning and the digital divide resulted in students and schools having to adapt to new academic challenges. At the same time, the important nonacademic services, such as school meals and extracurriculars, that schools provide to students were also affected by the pandemic.

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The transition to remote learning was a difficult shift across the board. In spring 2020, many schools decided to forego traditional grading and switched to a pass-fail system. Five of the largest districts in California changed their grading systems in

the spring to ensure that students were not punished for the sudden change in learning. Nine states also waived some of their graduation requirements, such as mandated courses, end-ofcourse exams, and minimum attendance hours.

Likewise, the pandemic created upheaval with the college application process. In spring 2020, the College Board amended the Advanced Placement (AP) exam to be taken virtually at home, which resulted in some technical difficulties. Dates for the SAT in spring 2020 were canceled with no virtual replacement. When testing dates resumed in fall 2020, many students had trouble finding an available slot due to increased demand.

The uncertainty and lack of access to testing led most colleges and universities to drop their requirements for applicants to submit test scores, and about 616 additional colleges reported that they would adopt test-optional applications for the 2021-22 school year.

While many districts reverted to letter grades in the fall, some continued to modify their grading policies. Some decided not to punish students for late work or unexcused absences.

Others directed teachers to reduce homework, not grade homework, and not give out Fs on assignments. Beyond simply reducing stress, providing these grading flexibilities to students could also help address equity concerns by not penalizing students who are low income or BIPOC, who were less likely to have access to technology.

The need for school meals Schools not only serve as centers of learning, but also provide additional critical services to students and their families.

When schools closed during the pandemic, these services also had to adapt to the remote setting, pushing schools to implement new strategies for delivery or modifications to ensure safety.

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Before the pandemic, schools were serving approximately 15 million breakfasts and 30 million lunches every day at reduced or no cost to students. With school cafeterias no longer open, schools had to turn to alternative methods to distribute meals. In spring 2020, 81% of schools distributed grab-and-go meals at drive-thru pickup sites, 42% delivered meals directly to homes, and 32% used bus routes to distribute meals.

By the fall, however, only about 15% of children from low-income households who qualified for free or reduced meals were getting them. U.S. Census Bureau surveys found that children in 1 in 6 households were not eating enough in June 2020 because their families could not afford food, and the Brookings Institution estimated that as many as 14 million children were going hungry during this time.

School nutrition is essential to students’ ability to learn. A lack of nutrients in one’s diet has been linked to poor motor and language skills and has lasting effects on how children’s brains take shape. Childhood hunger has also been tied to hyperactivity and poor memory, further reducing students’ ability to access a quality education during the pandemic.

The impact of extracurriculars Extracurriculars provide important opportunities for students to create social connections with peers, explore different interests, and reinforce lessons from the classroom, and they continued on page 36 September 2021 WNY Family 35

REMOTE LEARNING AND SCHOOL REOPENINGS continued... help pave pathways to higher education. Research has also found that participation in extracurriculars increases students’ engagement with their school and decreases the likelihood of school failure and dropping out.

At the start of the pandemic, however, schools rightly canceled extracurriculars and sports as they closed. By the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, 16 states and Washington, D.C., had canceled or postponed at least some fall sports seasons. Others postponed to spring 2021 what they determined to be “high risk” sports that are not conducive to social distancing, such as football and soccer, but allowed “low risk” sports, such as golf and tennis, to go forward in fall 2020.

As the pandemic progressed, many schools turned to innovative solutions to safely engage students in extracurriculars, including virtual student clubs or building dedicated time into the school day for club meetings to ensure that students were able to participate.

TREND 4: Community engagement and activism The pandemic and the move to remote learning has highlighted the importance of community engagement in education. With the uncertainty created by constantly shifting situations, effective communication with families has been essential to maintaining contact with students and providing them with the supports they need.

Twenty-nine states engaged community members in some capacity when developing their reopening recommendations, and 36 states recommended that districts engage the community when developing their own plans.

Similarly, transparent communication with the community about COVID-19 cases in schools after reopening was critical. Fewer than half of states collected and provided any public data on COVID-19 cases in schools at the start of the 2020-21 school year. This left districts to take the lead on reporting their cases.

The absence of clear communica36 WNY Family September 2021

tion, transparency, and community engagement often manifested in a rise of protests, both in favor of and against reopening. By the start of August 2020, protests had already popped up in at least three dozen school districts across the country in favor of following state health guidelines to reopen schools.

TREND 5: Educators Like students and families, educators have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. When schools closed, educators had to completely reinvent how they performed their jobs.

The stress of the pandemic clearly took its toll. A November 2020 report found that 77 percent of educators were working more hours than in the year prior, 60% enjoyed their job less, and 27% were considering leaving their job.

For teachers younger than 40, low pay that did not justify the stress/ health risks and child care responsibilities were their top reasons for leaving. Teachers older than 40 cited health conditions putting them at risk as their primary factor.

While some teachers chose to leave the workforce, others were laid off as their schools faced the brunt of the pandemic-caused economic recession.

Both resignations and layoffs have contributed to a rising number of teacher shortages, a problem that existed before the pandemic.

One of the biggest factors in getting educators back into the classrooms was vaccinating them as soon as possible.

Twenty-eight states and Washington, D.C., had opened priority vaccination to educators by mid-February 2021. All educators were eligible by April 2021.

With the newest influx of relief funds in the American Rescue Plan, districts will have the opportunity to invest in supports for their educators, avoid layoffs, and hire additional staff to address unfinished learning and safe reopenings.

Megan Ferren is a research assistant for K-12 Education at the Center for American Progress (www.americanprogress.org).

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September 2021 WNY Family 37

Waffle Sandwich

B

reakfast has long been called the most important meal of the day, and with good reason. It’s the morning fuel we need so we don’t run on empty by mid-day. For kids, breakfast is essential to help them with their concentration at school and provide the energy they need to perform throughout the day. Many children skip breakfast or grab a sugary snack that won’t sustain them with a steady energy supply. The reason most frequently cited for skipping a meal or grabbing junk food — not enough time.

How much time does it take to eat a good breakfast? About 15 minutes, on average, if you’re not eating on the run. You don’t have to take much time to prepare it — most cereals these days are fortified, and healthier if you avoid products high in sugar. With a bowl of cereal or oatmeal and fruit, you have a good start to the day. If your child isn’t big on cereal, or craves variety, think outside the bowl. Gluten free waffle sandwiches are my son’s favorite breakfast on-thego. Below are a few ideas to get your family started.

A few tips:  Make it fast and easy to prepare. Aside from relaxed weekends (and who has those anymore?), few people are making pancakes and big breakfasts during the week.

For hot breakfasts on the go, prepare and freeze in advance.

We make a big batch of gluten free vegan pancakes every other weekend and freeze the leftovers. They can be microwaved or re-heated in a toaster oven.  Vary the foods for a healthy diet: protein provides steady energy, carbs a quick boost, fruits and vegetables a wealth of nutrition.

2 frozen gluten-free waffles (check label for allergens or use homemade) 2 Tablespoons sunbutter (or alternative) Banana slices, fruit spread, jam, pumpkin or apple butter Heat waffles in the toaster. Spread with sunbutter and fruit.

Variations: Replace waffles with gluten-free English muffins, whole grain bread, or tortillas.

Replace sunbutter with vegan cream cheese, or avocados, and top with tomato slices.

 Leftovers can make a great morning meal — no rule says it has to be eggs or cereal.

One of my co-workers enjoys fish tacos for breakfast! Anything nutritious your child will eat is a good option.

Yogurt Sundae

Free of: DAIRY, EGGS, SOY, PEANUTS, TREE NUTS, FISH, SHELLFISH, WHEAT, GLUTEN, VEGAN Yield: 1 serving Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 0 minutes 6-8 oz. vegan yogurt 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh fruit, berries, raisins, or other dried fruit 2 Tablespoons pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds 2 Tablespoons gluten free cereal Place yogurt in a cup or sundae dish, top with remaining ingredients.

If you have any questions about our column, e-mail Kathy at allergy@roadrunner. com. For further information about food allergies, contact FARE www.foodallergy.org, or call 1-800-929-4040.

Kathy Lundquist is a Western New York parent whose son, now an adult, was born with severe food allergies. Over the last two decades, she has worked tirelessly, in a variety of capacities, to increase community awareness about food allergies.

38 WNY Family September 2021

Free of: DAIRY, EGGS, SOY, PEANUTS, TREE NUTS, FISH, SHELLFISH, WHEAT, GLUTEN, VEGAN Yield: 1 serving Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 2 minutes

Breakfast Shake

Free of: DAIRY, EGGS, SOY, PEANUTS, TREE NUTS, FISH, SHELLFISH, WHEAT, GLUTEN, VEGAN Yield: 1 serving Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 0 minutes 1 cup berries, or a banana, or other fruit 1 cup vegan yogurt 4 ice cubes Optional: 1 tablespoon agave syrup or other sweetener Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Variations: Freeze fruit (it will replace the ice cubes for thickness). Replace vegan yogurt with fruit juice or milk substitute. Blend and serve.

Add 1-2 Tablespoons sunbutter or alternative for extra protein.

THE KIDDIE GOURMET

D

— by Barbara Blackburn

uring the Olympics, we paid our second visit to the Olympia Restaurant.

Kids are welcomed with a menu for those under 10, including a small kid’s drink.

When we checked out, we noticed colorful pictures done by child artists/diners, hanging on the wall behind the counter. Kids’ seating is available and the menu accommodates breakfast served all day, as well as lunch and dinner.

Olympia Restaurant

3312 Niagara Falls Blvd.

Wheatfield, NY

716-694-6969

olympiarestaurantnt.com

~ SPOONS ~ FOOD 4.5/5 SERVICE 5/5 FAMILY FRIENDLY 5/5

Choices are Macaroni & Cheese, served with applesauce or fries ($7.99); Cheeseburger, with fries ($8.99); Chicken Fingers, with fries ($8.99); Kids’ Spaghetti ($6.99 or $8.99 with meatball); Hot Dog, with fries ($7.99); Grilled Cheese, with fries ($7.99); Pancakes or French Toast ($6.99 or with breakfast meat $8.99); and Eggs, Fries & and Toast ($6.99 or $8.99 with meat).

My Homemade Avgolemono soup was the best ever. This Olympia Specialty bore just the right amount of lemon, bolstered by chicken and rice. Mine was part of the Soup and Salad Combo ($7.00) with a grilled pita. This was the ordinary Greek salad similar to others I’ve enjoyed in Western New York — not the one in my memory from Tarpon Spring Florida, a touristy Greek fishing village. The pita partnered well with the soup and salad.

Gramps praised the Mousaka Combo Platter ($19.99). I would have liked a little lamb; yet, he was happy with the beef. Hurray for eggplant with a Greek touch! The menu description of the platter includes favorites: Mousaka (meat, potato & eggplant casserole), Chicken Souvlaki, Spanakopita and Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves). All are served with

Greek salad, Greek potatoes and grilled pita. Our favorite, in a serving big enough to share, was the blend of spinach, feta, cheese and onions in baked layers of phyllo pastry, called spanakopita.

The choices here are as large as the portion sizes.

Some categories include seafood platters, Greek dinners, pasta dishes, paninis and melts, burgers and hearty sandwiches, and all the breakfast choices, including pancakes, waffles and omelets.

When we returned for another round, we chose breakfast items. Since there was no hollandaise sauce that day and I couldn’t get the Eggs Benedict, I settled for the Country Style Skillet ($10.99). This was an excellent mix of two buttermilk biscuits, topped with home-fries, sausage gravy, Cheddar cheese and two eggs (my choice poached). Gramps chose the Breakfast Sandwich ($8.99). A scrambled egg was topped with American cheese with a choice of bacon, sausage, or ham and served on a hard roll with home fries. An excellent version of a breakfast sandwich!

Finishing with dessert is a smart plan for lunch or dinner. Just glance at the case at the entrance to see the pies, cakes, and baklava. I chose the simple satisfaction of rice pudding. The vanilla flavor was discreet but delicious.

Did you know the Greek iconic squiggles bordering the menu are called meanders? With pun intended, we suggest you meander to Wheatfield and go Greek.

Check out Barbara Blackburn’s blogs at frontierfare.wordpress.com and culinarrations.wordpress.com.

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September 2021 WNY Family 39

40 WNY Family September 2021