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Ask Questions. Get Answers. Ask the Professionals E-mail your questions to: features@independentfreepress.com DR. ANOOP SAYAL DR. ANOOP SAYAL Family and Cosmetic Dentistry located in Georgetown Marketplace Mall (905) 877-CARE (2273) Q:Are you someone who believes pregnancy causestooth decay? A: This longstanding myth has been circulated foryears. It is understandable. Pregnant women experience hormonal changes which may cause some puffiness and bleeding of the gums. This will usually occur in the last three months or so of the pregnancy. In addition, its very easy for the pregnant woman and new mom to put off proper dental care and hygiene. After all, is there anyone busier than a new mother? The delay in dental care may pose problems for the teeth, including decay. The delay in dental care may pose problems for the teeth, including decay. Keep in mind, most dentists will try to avoid x-ray when examining pregnant women. If done, it may only be for a single suspected tooth. The experts agree that proper rest, good nutrition, and excellent prenatal care help the new baby and the mother. Good dental care is a crucial part of the care you need as a mother-to-be. PCCS Individual, Couple & Family Counselling, Family Mediation, Parenting Coordination, Separation & Divorce Services www.pccs.ca info@pccs.ca 1-866-506-PCCS Offices in Georgetown, Mississauga & Orangeville Q:I would like couple counselling but myhusband won't attend with me. What do I do? A:Obviously having the two of you attend counselling can be more beneficial. However, marriages can improve by having one person make changes. We can help you focus on your role and behavior which may be feeding into the difficulties. You can obtain assistance in terms of how you respond to issues or your spouses' behavior. Once you begin to make a difference, and your spouse notices, he/she may respond more positively. Why wait? Nothing improves unless one person begins the process! Give us a call for further assistance. 10 Tips on achieving Your Goals. Q:As a Life Coach, what advice do you have on How To Achieve My Goals? A:We all know how excited and motivated we can be with new Goals. These newobjectives fill us up with hope and a sense of renewed focus and energy. Once again we are determined to take charge of ourselves. However, in no time, we find ourselves struggling with our old habits and compromising our plans to realize this journey. After a while, we find ourselves hoping that nobody will ask us an update on this goal we had so proudly set. Eventually, like many others, this goal joins the unfinished pile. Most of us have not been trained to develop; future visions, goals, action plans, strategies to overcome obstacles, and sustain the effort to reach a goal. Yet they are skills that you can acquire. 10 Steps to achieving your goals. 1. Be specific in what you want to accomplish. 2. Write your goals down. 3. Have a way to measure your progress and success. 4. Assure yourself that your goal is attainable. 5. Fine tune your attitude and mindset to reach a successful completion point. 6. Address any distraction that would take your focus away. 7. Forward your goal into action: make a list of actions to take and determine a completion date. 8. Act as if you have already achieved your goal. 9. Keep moving. Even the smallest step counts. 10. Hire a coach! Manon Dulude is a Life Coach with a practice in Georgetown. Manon coaches individuals of all ages; Business Executives wanting to achieve a more balanced lifestyle, couples who need to revive their relationship, parents who need support to positively discipline children, adults going through life transition and needing to re- design their life, students needing to raise their grades for university. Everyone can achieve greatness and be successful! For more information on Life Coaching call Manon Dulude at 905 873- 9393. Manon Dulude is a Professional Certified Coach and Psychotherapist. She can be reached at 905 873-9393. MANON DULUDE Manon Dulude Psychotherapist Individual, Couple & Family Counselling DAY & EVENING APPOINTMENTS 905-873-9393 AAAA ssss kkkk TTTT hhhh eeee PPPP rrrr oooo ffff eeee ssss ssss iiii oooo nnnn aaaa llll ssss 222 Mountainview Rd. N. Bus: (905) 877-1800 Georgetown, ON L7G 3R2 Fax: (905) 873-9083 www.mountainviewresidence.com Christoph Summer Owner/Administrator Mountainview Residence owned and operated by the Summer family Q:As a senior in my 80s how do I decide if I should still be driving? A:This is a very important decision, and one that should be part of allretirement planning. According to the Canada Safety Council, road accidents have dropped significantly in all age groups except 65 and over. Medical conditions are a major reason driving abilities decline. Deterioration of eyesight; hearing loss; movement - limiting disabilities such as arthritis and rheumatism; medications; slower reflexes and of course, dementia are some factors contributing to this statistic. Include your family or doctor when you consider the following questions: Have you, or others, noticed a change in your driving skills? Do others honk or show signs of irritation? Are you driving less often because you have lost confidence? Have you ever become lost or forgotten where you are going when driving? Have you had any car accidents or minor fender benders? Have other criticized your driving or refused to drive with you? If independence is a concern, consider all the costs involved with running your car. You can take a lot of taxis for this amount of money and to simplify matters, many taxi companies will bill you monthly. There are also other alternatives. Many grocery stores, pharmacies and libraries offer home delivery. For a nominal cost, Activan is a public transportation service for both persons with disabilities and seniors. For information, call 905-873-2601, extension 2617. For information on a variety of services, call your local Links2Care Information Centre: Acton: 519-853-3310 Georgetown: 905-873-6502 211 Guelph St., Suite #5 Georgetown L7G 5B5 905-873-8400 www.haltonspeech.com Karen MacKenzie-Stepner Q:I read to my pre-school child every day. What else can I do toprepare him for learning to read and spell? A:Recent literature has linked development of early reading skills to a childs oral language ability. One particular oral language skill which impacts reading development is the child's phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is the awareness of sounds that make up words. For example, being able to identify the sound that begins or ends a word, knowing that two words rhyme, being able to produce rhymes, and recognizing the number of words in a sentence or syllables in a word. Parents can do a number of things to develop their childs phonological awareness. Story time can be used to enhance sound awareness by reading rhymes, poems and simple pattern story books. You can have your child complete a familiar phrase using rhyming words e.g. Jack and Jill - Went up the ____. You can also have your child clap along with chants and songs using one clap for each word. While playing the game I Spy ask your child to find things that begin with certain sounds (e.g. look for words that begin with the sh sound). Most importantly, make the time enjoyable. You know that he's learning, he thinks he's having fun. The Halton Hills Speech Centre offers programs throughout the year that focus on increasing phonological awareness. If you would like further information about these programs or have further questions, please feel free to contact our centre. Cyndi Olsen Education Co-ordinator 324 Guelph Street., Georgetown 905-877-3163 Q:Any suggestions on keeping my children motivatedwith their school work? A:Yes, develop a School Strategy: Part Two DONT Praise their intelligence. Intelligence is innate and not something that children can control. If children are consistently praised for something that they essentially have no control over, they will feel powerless and unable to find a solution when they dont succeed. Instead of saying you are so smart, try You worked really hard and deserved it. Awesome job! Its Okay to Fail Students with little confidence are afraid to fail, so they dont try. This is a protection mechanism. Teach them that its OK to fail. Everyone who tries will fail at one point or another- its part of the process. Tell them not to worry about the mistakes and help them focus on failure as a learning experience. Please feel free to contact us with any questions: (905) 877-3163 or visit us at 324 Guelph St., Georgetown! BIRTHDAY/PARTY Happy 80th Birthday Bernice Whaley Its a party! Come help us celebrate: When: Sunday, November 18th, 2007 1pm - 3pm Where: Huttonville United Church Hall Independent & Free Press, Wednesday, November 14, 2007 27 Acton Home Hardware holds holiday light exchange Acton has been chosen as a holiday light exchange community. Residents can swap strings of old, incandescent Christmas lights for energy- efficient seasonal light emitting diodes (SLEDs). These festive lights are 97% more energy efficient than the old style lights. It works this way: On the day of the event Nov. 18, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., con- sumers can bring in one set of old style festive lights for recycling; buy one set of SLEDs and they will receive an additional string of new SLEDs free! Note: while there is no limit on the number of old strings which can be brought in for recycling, there will be only one free string of SLEDs per cus- tomer. The event will be held at Acton Home Hardware, 362 Queen Street E. (Hwy. 7) in Acton. Local representatives and volunteers working with One Change, the not-for- profit organization that runs the Project Porchlight campaign, Bill and Valerie Manes of Acton Home Hardware and the Ontario Power Authority are sponsoring this event. AHS craft sale set for Nov. 24 The 12th annual Acton High School craft sale will be held on Saturday, Nov. 24, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the school, 21 Cedar Rd., Acton. Up to 50 vendors will be offering a wide variety of items, just in time for Christmas shopping. There will be a bake sale and raffle of items donated by the vendors. Lunch and refreshments are also available. This sale is sponsored by the Acton High School Advisory Council and stu- dents will be assisting the parents to make this a memorable event. All proceeds from table rentals, admission, baking, raffle and refreshment sales will directly benefit the students activities. Admission is adults $2 and children age 12 are free. Please contact the school for more information, 519-853-2920.