november 2015 | mtparent.com holidaysbuy +local 8gift guide Thanksgiving through New Year’s + local event info, deals & more As a Montana Parent, it’s good to know that, with Wheat Montana, your child can enjoy healthy bread made just down the road. We grow our grain, mill it, and bake it ourselves, so we know that nothing is added, and nothing is taken out. It’s a big helping of Montana whole grains baked into quality you—and your kids—can taste. From our Farm to Your table… www.wheatmontana.com 800-535-2798 2 NOVEMBER 2015 | mtparent.com Sports Bugs/Mini Movers $60 Members | $75 Non-Member 3-5 year olds | T/TH each month from 9:00-10:30am A game in the gym or outside, a snack and cruise through Ridge Kids, followed by a swim in our pool will have your little one wore out for the day. We teach coordination, and gross motor skills through enticing games and pool play. PIR Kidventure Days Full Year & Drop in Pricing Available / Family Plus Included 6-13 year olds | Bozeman PIR Days from 9:00-11:00am This program mimics our summertime kidventures program. We play different fitness focused games with the kids while parents workout or run errands. We've scheduled the days to coincide with Bozeman Public School PIR days and No school days. See schedule for days the program will occur. Saturday Group Swim Lessons $60 Members | $70 Non-Member Parent tot | 9:00-9:30am Clamdiggers & Turtles | 9:30-10:00am Starfish & Crocodiles | 10:00-10:30am Surfers & Barracudas | 10:30-11:00am November 7th-28th Mon/Wed Group Swim Lessons $75 Members | $85 Non-Member Clamdiggers & Turtles | 3:45-4:15pm Starfish & Crocodiles | 4:15-4:45pm Surfers & Barracudas | 4:00-4:30pm November 2nd-30th 4181 Fallon Ave. 406.586.1737 www.ridgeathletic.com :: NovemBER ACTIVITY & EVENT CALENDARS + BLOG + MORE @ MTPARENT.COM :: NOvembER 2015 | mtparent.com 3 montana parent NEW growing up under the big sky from birth to college ` website coming soon! Holiday Gift Baskets Have Arrived! Need more information,resources or fun things to do with your kids this Fall? E. KELLEY PHOTOGRAPHY KELLEY E. visit mtparent.com PHOTO U S A PUBLISHER MEDIA MAVENS LLC BUSINESS MANAGER/SALES/OWNER ADVERTISING SALES: CORA DESANTIS • [email protected] • 406.579.0746 BOZEMAN AREA (GALLATIN, PARK & MADISON COUNTIES): CORA DESANTIS • 406.579.0746 EDITOR IN CHIEF/ACCOUNTING/OWNER [email protected] LEIGH RIPLEY • [email protected] ANDREA BROTHERS • 406.539.7601 CREATIVE DIRECTOR/LAYOUT & DESIGN/OWNER [email protected] SHAUNESCY WILLARD • [email protected] JENNIEVEN COLE • 406.579.5640 COPY EDITOR ELEONORE SNOW [email protected] AD DESIGN JENNIEVEN COLE BRITT EWERT • 406.788.2254 [email protected] COVER PHOTOGRAPHER SIMPLE REFLECTIONS PHOTOGRAPHY HELENA AREA (LEWIS & CLARK, BROADWATER, JEFFERSON COUNTIES): STYLING MOLLY MCGEARTY-FAWN & CO. AUDRA SHROPSHIRE • 773.895.6446 [email protected] BLOG BUNNY FUFU, LEIGH RIPLEY BUTTE AREA (SILVERBOW COUNTY): ONLINE CALENDARS [email protected] TARYN CALDERON • 406.498.9451 [email protected] SOCIAL MEDIA GLORIA RAVI INDER OVERCASH, SAMMY FARMER Build a gift basket filled with goodies. CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: We have a variety of LEIGH RIPLEY ROCHELLE DAVIES SIMPLE REFLECTIONS PHOTOGRAPHY STACEY TOMPKINS ELEANOR BARKER MARIAH ALLEN PHOTOGRAPHY sizes & prices available. MARIAH ALLEN NOELLE BUTLER PAM MOLNAR PAM MOLNAR MARIE MITCHELL ROCHELLE DAVIES Choose from a wide selection of: DR. DONNA KELSCH TERI JACKSON E. KELLEY PHOTOGRAPHY JULIANE MCLEAN NORA DANIELS MCKENZIE SACRY Gourmet Meat & Cheese ALI SCHWEITZER GENNIFRE HARTMAN S. WILLARD MEGAN ULRICHS LAYNE FISHER Wine DR. MICHAEL ZACHARISEN PAULA K. BESWICK SHEL SEBREN MYRA NORMAN HARTZHEIM Beer JENNIE PARTISS ELEONORE SNOW A LIMITED NUMBER OF FREE PRINT COPIES ARE Artisanal Chocolate SARAH NORMANDEAU KATIE GOODMAN AVAILABLE EACH MONTH. Local Goodies SIERRA FEIN PLEASE SHARE WITH A FRIEND, READ ONLINE OR CAROLYNN BRIGHT SUBSCRIBE AT MTPARENT.COM & Much More! 290 W. Kagy | Bozeman, MT 59715 M-F 7-8pm S-S 7-4pm | solacafe.com This magazine is printed on FSC © Copyright 2015 by Media Mavens LLC. Certified paper that is 100% All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without Please recycle this magazine! a product of USA. permission prohibited. 4 NOVEMBER 2015 | mtparent.com DANCINGDANCING SNOWFLAKESSNOWFLAKES growing up under the big sky from birth to college LIVELIVE SYMPHONY A BOZEMAN TRADITION A BOZEMAN TRADITION TheNutcrackerNutcracker December 4 ��. 7pm December 5 . 2pm & 7pm Willson Auditorium also Don’t miss Tea with Clara, a Victorian High Tea created especially for children. The event includes excerpts from this year’s Nutcracker. TEA with Tickets: Call 406.585.9774 or CLARA visit bozemansymphony.org Sunday, November 22 10am, 12:30pm & 3pm seatings $18 For reservations, visit montanaballet.org Sponsored by Baxter Events :: NovemBER ACTIVITY & EVENT CALENDARS + BLOG + MORE @ MTPARENT.COM :: E NOvembERlizabeth 2015DeFanti, | mtparent.com Artistic Director 5 november 2015 holidays + much more COVER PHOTO BY SIMPLE REFLECTIONS PHOTOGRAPHY | STYLED BY MOLLY MCGEARTY - FAWN & CO. Holidays Spiritual Holiday Anxiety-Induced Dyslexia 10 Pro Secrets for the Best Holiday Pictures: Christmas Morning Memories 12 Celebrate Thanksgiving Charlie Brown’s Way 13 On the Couth with Dr. Kelsch: Gratitude Instead of Greed 14 Raising Philanthropic Kids 16 ‘Tis the Season for Stress 17 Food News You Can Use: Pear & Hazelnut Salad with Chicken & Cranberry Dressing 18 Tempting Treats for the Holidays 19 Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Sides 20 Be Present, Go to Bed and Schedule a Lazy Day: Tips to Ease Holiday Stress 21 Edible Arrangements 22 Chalet Market 23 Postal Annex 24 Crystal Snowflakes 25 Buy Local Gift Guide 26 the Best toys of 2015 30 NOT ONLY ARE WE ALWAYS THERE WITH GUIDANCE AND SUPPORT, BUT Montana Parent Health & Exercise ALSO SAVES YOU MONEY! Cooking with Kids 37 Keep a copy in your car so you always have the Clean Your Plate…Or Not 38 coupons on hand. Follow our quick reference Cancer and the Family 39 guide for on-the-go help: Corner on Health: Does Your Child Have a Hearing Problem? 40 ashley dawn photography 50% off any session Page 10 Hearts & Dreams Columns Free 15 Minute Consultation Page 21 Book Release: The Night our Parents Went Out 34 bridger pilates holiday specials Page 27 Movie Lovers Movie Review: Holiday Films 35 College Goal Montana: Bibs & Binkies black november sale Pages 32 & 33 Get the Help You Need Filling out the FAFSA 36 Youth Dynamics: heeb’s grocery store What it’s Like Working in the Mental Health Field 42 $5 off a $30 order Page 34 Parenting Single 43 i love kickboxing The Family Business: Florence Coffee Company 61 3 classes and free gloves Page 35 Photo Candy 62 Dinners Done Right free bread sticks with any 6 or 12 meal purchase page 38 What’s Up? Montana Deals & Discounts Page 58 After School & PIR Day Activity Guide 46 Tri Therapy Free phone consultation Page 61 What’s Up? Bozeman 49 PHOTOGRAPHY REFLECTIONS SIMPLE Holiday Inn What’s Up? Helena 59 $79 Room Rate Page 62 PHOTO What’s Up? Butte 60 6 NOVEMBER 2015 | mtparent.com holidays + much more editor’s E. KELLEY PHOTOGRAPHY KELLEY E. voice WRITTEN BY LEIGH RIPLEY PHOTO my side of the family hates charades. My husband’s side loves it. Out of my three children, the youngest got the charades gene. Recently we had the whole family over for dinner and, as usual, the kids inhaled their meals so they could do what they do best: try to ruin our dinner by running around the dinner table, crawling underneath it, climbing on laps, screaming and (naturally) fighting. As this unfolded, I noticed the youngest sitting quietly (on her grandmother’s lap) writing on small pieces of paper and folding them up. I asked what she was doing and she answered with the dreaded response, “I’m making a charades game for us to play.” The Ripley side was all in; the Valletta side fell silent. I mean, how do you tell your cute little munchkin that you would rather endure bamboo torture than play her game? So we just sat there and finished our dinner. Luckily, I had made dessert that night, so the meal went on, and on, and on, and everyone forgot about playing the game. The next morning, I found a red binder on the dining room table with a title page, “Sherads,” followed by little scraps of paper with words like: napkin, horse or chicken, “capps – the kind of hat,” gramma and “techer.” My heart sank, thinking of her sitting over there, quietly creating a game for the family while we just chatted it up with each other and lollygagged over our lemon pound cake. I approached my child about the red binder, apologized for not playing and complimented her on all of her hard work. We flipped through all of the clues she had created and talked about how we would have acted them out. After a long hug, I told her we would play on Thanksgiving when the whole family would be here again. She smiled and said, “Well then I’ll have to make all new clues because you know these already and if you have time to practice, then you won’t look silly and embarrassed.” Ah ha! And the truth comes out: Maybe she really does love the game, but it appears that her real objective is to get all the adults to look like idiots. Well, due to my poor judgment in parenting at that recent family dinner (and overwhelming mommy guilt) it looks like I’m going for the silly and embarrassed look on Thanksgiving. And you know what, I may just love it, because she loves it – and I love her.