INSIDE SECTION B COMMUNITY CRIS LEYKAUF EVENTS B2 ~CHARLYNN TOEWS Clients to see Make a list. 2. In your list of things {o do, in- clude the task of writing a list, That EE way, as soon as you have written up the list, you can check off one item right away. 3. Some time ago, I read in a book where the heroine takes a peck at a lawyer's List of things to do. But the list isn’t called '‘Things to do,”’ it’s called ‘‘Clients to see,’’ The heroine is very impressed by this and from then on calls all her lists ‘‘Clients to see.’’ It boosts her self-esteem somehow, cheers her up. So naw I do it too. Try it yourself al home, 4. There isn’t a problem in the world that can’t be solved with a clean sheet of paper folded in the middle. Grab a pen or crayon and list the pros (good) on one side and the cons (bad) on the other. I like to draw square boxes around the words pro and can. Any type of problem works. with this method. For example, you may ask yourself, ‘Should I go?” Take a fresh sheet of paper and list the pros and cons of going, “Should J tile my bathroom floor?’” you may be wondering. New shect of paper, good points, bad points. Left list, right list. T promise you that if you take this task seriously and think very hard and write it all dowa, your two lists should be more or less even, That’s righl. This exercise doesn’t tell you what to do. Instead, it shows you that the reason you don’t know what to do is because you ‘ate really truly right smack dab in the middle of a difficult question. If the right thing to do was obvious,. you’d have done it last year already. So if you’re really stuck and unsure, do the pro and con list. Then the next lime your sister- in-law goes, “Oh, I thought you said you were gotina tile this,’” you can just tell her you have a list, 5. Keep a small spiral-bound pad of paper in your pocket or purse, and the next time anyone ' Dugs you, write their name down in it. If they notice, it will visibly unnerve them, If they don’t notice, and you’re in the right mood, ask them to spell their name for you. Don’t forget to say thank you. 6. Finally, whatever happened to Do and Don’t lists? What exactly happened on our fair planet recently, that tumed them into Never and ~ Always lists? You know the kind I mean — they used to sound so helpful and kind. ‘‘DO throw flour into a oily pan fire. DO NOT use water, as it tends to spread the flames.’” Now these lists have changed, horribly, into some- thing much harsher, “ALWAYS use BOTH restraining straps.’’ This was on a Baby Bouncy seat we had, | could figure out what the first strap was for: it obviously held the baby in place. The second Sirap seemed to have na other purpose than to discourage lawsuits. Those corporate lawyers know full well that humans don’t tend to do ALWAYS well. Most of us just manage to do usually. Tam usually on time, for example. Or how about “NEVER leave baby un- attended.”’ This dictum is on every baby con- tainer, from jolly-jump-arounds to wind-up swings to high chairs that parents purchase in the vain hope of a five minute breather, They would put “‘NEVER leave baby unaltended”’ on cribs, too, if they could get away with il, NEVER is such a big word, What if one day my cat caught on fire and he happened to be standing right next to the curtains and I hap- pened to have a pail of water in my hand and the baby was happily strapped in his high chair finger-painting with yogurt? Couldn’t I just this once leave his side and dash five feet to save my house from burning down? ‘‘NEVER!" says the manufacturer. Talk about tough. Why do they do this? Are they trying to scare us? Do they think we will be more obedient if they shout commands this way? . “Don’t’’ isso much more a courteous thing to say. It assumes a reasonable reader who might murmur, ‘‘Nalurally not,’’ in agreement. These days, instead of saying ‘‘Don’t,’” then perhaps explaining why not (Electrical shock or serious injury may oecur,) they just shout NEVER at us and hope we're left trembling in our boots, Goodness gracious. My advice to the new breed of arrogant, im- patient list-makers is this: Try to avoid the use of words such as Always and Never. They tend not to be applicabic to humans, who are, as I understand it, your main customers, However, homo sapiens are also known for their reasoning powers, so exploit this characteristic for best results. me 7. Type it up, print it out, drop off it off. By CRIS LEYKAUF SOME OF THE best ideas have already been thought of. We just have to re- discover them. That’s the theory behind a resurgence in the popularity of doulas. Doula is a Greek word meaning ‘‘slave to the mother” or ‘'mothering slave.”’ Essentially, it's a person who's with a woman during her delivery, and who pro- vides her with non-medical support. “It's a heart profes- sional,’’ Says Peggy McCleary. She's one of three people in the Terrace area who plan to work or- who are working as doulas, “A doula is there to pro- | vide continuous pliysical, emotiotial and informational support to the childbearing family,’’ says McCleary. The doula helps the woman and her pariner deal with the labour. “The focus is on the woman and not on the pro- cess,’ says McCleary, A doula encourages and sup- ports the woman through the labour. And she can suggest alternatives io make the woman more comfortable, such as a bath, music, mas- sage, ora walk. Doulas, or non-medical labour supporters, are bee- oming more popular as the medical community recog- nizes the important role they can play. A international - certifying body — Doulas of North America -~ was Set up in 1992. Many studies ~— have determined that having labour support reduces a woman’s chance of having a caesarean section. It also has been proven to reduce the need for pain relief, such as epidurals.. The potential for substantial savings to the medical system is large, says McCleary. There’s no obvious medi- cal reason behind the studies. Many women in the studies simply say they had a sense of security. The benefits go beyond the physical McCleary adds. Mothers usually fecl more “confident © through the ‘delivery and belter after * wards, Dads can be helped too, Sometimes the husband feels lost in the delivery room. “It’s hard on dads to see their women go — through labour,” says McCleary. And they may panic, nol knowing whal they can do to help. “Let him do what he’s capable of doing and she (the doula) can do the rest,” says McCleary. ‘His rote is still complete and, he feels more salisfied,’” And at the same time the mother is still getting the support she needs. McCleary is a labour room nurse and she became inter- ested in becoming a doula because she wanted to ‘‘gel involved at a_ different level.”” She and another Terrace local, Lana Geier, look a course through Douglas College on becoming doulas in Late Nov. Although McCleary is a nurse, you don’t need any special qualitications. How- ~cver, you do need lo be a “people person’? and be : x0 MOTHERS WHO HAVE labour support are less likely to need expensive painkil- 638-7283 lers or have caesarean sections, say medical studies, That theory is led to a resurgence in “doulas,” a Greek word meaning ‘slave to the mother.” Peggy McCleary and Lana Geier both just finished a course on being doulas, and are of- fering their services here, very accepting of others. McCleary has begun working as a doula, and plans to fit it in around her nursing job, She says that most of the doctors and nurses she’s spoken to are very -en- couraging, and are willing to have doulas in the delivery room, as--long-as- the mother and baby are kept safe. McCleary says Mills already. Memorial Hospital takes a very family-centered — ap- proach io health, and the concept of doulas fits well with that. ‘ Local midwife Margaret Miskelly is already working as a doula, or a labour sup- She’s charging approxi- mately $200, and that in- volves a visit before the birth, and support ia the delivery room, ‘McCleary isn’t sure yet what she will charge, but says the average is between rl @ If | were a rich man CALEDONIA STUDENTS treated the town to a rendition of one of the most popular musicals of all time — Fiddler on the Roof — this past weekend, Over 50 students acted in the musical, and more than 100 people were involved, in- cluding musicians, backstage hands, fighting techs and more, $200-$600 in Vancouver. She plans to offer one pre- birth visit, labour support and a few post-partum port person. She's primarily done it for acquaintaiices and col- leagues, but plans to offer her services more widely in the future. visits. Around Town Take a break with improv IF THE PRE-Christmas season is already getting a Hille hectic for you, than the best cure would be a good laugh. And you'll get plenty of those if you take part in an improv workshop on Monday, Dec, 23 at 7:15 p.m. in the olf Zer- race Standard building at 4647 Lazelle. The workshop is being put on by Joe Zuchiatti Jr., who is currently working with Vancouver Theatre Sports, The evening is sure to be fun, and anyone who wants to drop by is welcome, Christmas crunch takes on new meaning THIS YEAR instead of seeing all those discarded Christ- mas trees piling up at the dump, they’ll be put to good use. Kitimat Understanding the Environment (KUTE) is organizing a Christmas tree chipping project in conjunc- tion with the regional! district, city of Terrace and district of Kitimat. Christmas trees will be picked up in the usual way in Terrace and Thornhill, or area residents can deliver trees to a designaled area at the Terrace dump. Instead of going up in smoke the trees will be stockpiled until spring when a chipper will be brought on site to crunch up the trees and turn them into landscaping mulch. Residents can look forward to free mulch when it’s time to prepare gardens in the spring. In order. to ensure good quality chips, everyone is asked to make sure that decora- tions and lights are removed before the trees are set out for collection, Mothers’ march FROM JANUARY 15-31 over 15,000 volunteers throughout BC will be knocking on doors asking for con- tributions for the Kinsmen Rehabilitation Foundation of BC. The Kinsmen Rehabilitation Foundation provides ser- vices and technologies for British Columbians living with physical disabilities. Emphasis is on giving people a greater degree of independence and dignity. So give generously when a voluntcer canvasser comes to your door, . Tick tock ANOTHER TERRACE Little Theatre play Is. in the works and the cast and crew are looking for a few key items to make the set complete. a The two things they need the mosi are a grandfather clock and six blinds. No, they're not talking about those lead mini blinds. TLT is after the wider, old-fashioned kind of slats, with a size of 14-18 inches wide by 72 inches -long. The loan period Is from March-May, 1997, If you can help calt Marianne at 635-2268 or 635-2942.