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mm wmmmmmmm mmmmm st i a ii stouffville a omen fcnuuwi v where are i celebrations of canada i the weekend saw a hard- j fought battle for consensus being won by the constitutional committee in ottawa but now what as soon as the ink dried on the final draft pro posal critics like jacques parizeau were running it through their office shredders canadians must take this con stitutional medicine even though it has been hard to swal low in the past distinct society elected senate and aboriginal rights must be enshrined and enshrined now as a community we must show our support as an exam ple this is canadas 125th anniversary yet this paper is unaware of any special events taking place outside of regular canada day ceremonies in this community it is time we stood up and made our voices heard for this country if we dont chances are we wont see 150 years great extinctions i3 the qtzs bptt a no drooly face and cookie paste on this job t here is life beyond the world of plucky duck playtex bottle liners and mother goose i know this because i left it all behind last week for the first time in eight months no more morning walks no more sally jessy raphael no more sillywilly wittle games with baby my sevenmonthold son kody is now being entertained by grand ma while i return to my computer i forgot how to turn it on i forgot how to walk in heels and how to apply mascara i forgot that every one on earth does not spend the majority of their time wiping cook ie paste off little mouths i forgot what its like to sit in any chair other than a rocker and i forgot how to talk to other adults its hard for someone to take you seri ously when youre shaking your car keys at them making a happy face and tickling their chin i have to confess that while on maternity leave the zillion prob lems of the world entered my mind on rare occasions only i became more concerned with creating the right consistency for oatmeal cereal avoiding diaper rash and choosing which toys float best in the tub everything took a back burner to more important dilemmas like how to keep my eyes open longer than little mr nonap whether huggies or pampers sop up more mess and how to eat my dinner in three quick gulps during this time i learned to launch into a whole new routine and to make an adventure out of keeping the kodester happy ever tried smiling at 3 am its an obscene time to even be out of bed let alone happy but babies demand happiness at all times in fact they insist on it after a few hundred nights of waking up at 3 am you almost want to smile its not hard when someone is trying to stick their fat fingers up your nose while devouring a bottle then theres the early mornings singing songs you dont feel like singing playing foolish little peek- aboo games behind the tea towel all the while trying to get some work done but life goes on babies get older and mortgage payments dont disappear ill have to forget about changing diapers playing eeniemeenieminey mow and scrubbing carrots off my carpet at least during the week i seriously hope this job can keep me occupied after eight months with mr mon ster everything now seems slow paced sitting through council last week was like a vacation all i had to do was sit there pay attention and write things in a book no kneeling down playing carcar and hoppy hoppy goes the little bunbun no wiping off a drooly face no picking anything up no smiling tickling or blowing big fat noises onto a bare tummy just sitting then theres the office routine and going through papers and press releases and books and dictionaries and thesauruses and notes what did i do with my free time before i dont know but whatever it was i know ill never miss it being a parent is ultra cool wet march one stennearer june stouffville tribune publisher editorinchief editor advertising director business manager promotionsdistribution mgr operations manager patricia pappas jo ann stevenson andrew mair debra weller vivian oneil jennifer hutt pam nichols stalf- reporters tracy kibble jute caspersen roger bekjrave photographers stoerd witteveen iin somerville reel estate joan marshman classified doreon deacon debbie amundson plbrfdge l retail sales joan marshman doreen deacon heather hill gibson uxbridge dlstribu- tlorr artene maddock canadian publications mail sales product agreement 439010 pushed every wednesday by melroland printing publishing and distributing at 9 heritage rd ssham ontario l3p 1m3 itel 2942200 second class registration number 1247 sfvito tribune publshed every wednesday at 6244 main st stoufmlle is one o the metroland d2npwmshina and rastributing group ol suburban newspapers which includes the acton free eatowews adverser aurora banner brampton guardian burlington post etoblcoke sswlsweeswswi independent kingston this week undsav this week mariham wndsun milton rchampjonmississauga news newmarket era oakwlle beaver oshawa- sssthu fspsrwfln tws week richmond hihthornhillvaughan liberal scarborough mr- jotrjicnewsmnrwxdale mirror and uxbridge tribune metroland printing publishing and 6402100 6405477 fax c ebruary is like a month of mondays what else can you say about a 29day period which makes march look enticing yesterday i gleefully tore february from my calendar and welcomed march with open arms no more nightmares because science projects werent ready no more sleepovers for rats temporarily imported to chateau gilderdale to prove beyond reasonable doubt that they prefer cheese and carrots to regular rat food one look at regular rat food would have convinced me but it wasnt good enough for the board of ed my daughter had to document the evidence with the unwitting assistance of bunny the rat my son meanwhile produced a science project on stealth fighters which would have mer ited an a in art thanks to the spiffy illustrations i wont go into the quality of the scientific research you can take a child to a project but you cant make him stay on topic anyway i think that any assign ment given out in february should be marked with much greater leniency than something due for example in may has it ever occurred to anyone that if they ran science fairs at a time of year which was compati ble with human life there would be a lot more students choosing sciencerelated careers right now droves of wouldbe nuclear physicists may be turning their backs on science simply because they hate february march may be cold wet slushy windy and cloudy but its one step nearer june on some tuesdays in march i may actu ally drive along highway 47 to uxbridge without encountering snow flakes as big as golf balls hairraising whiteouts or roads which could double as olympic arenas you may be wondering what on earth a nonwinter person like me thought she was doing immi grating to canada in the first place the truth is lifes no fun without something to moan about then theres the undeniable fact that in canada we have four seasons while in britain there is really only one the name changes but the conditions remain the same cool damp and cloudy and now that the winter of my discontent is coming to an end i know i made the right decision