KidsOutAndAbout Weekly Newsletter |
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Dear KidsOutAndAbout readers:
When Madison and Ella were young, I made it a point to stretch their comfort zones in small, manageable ways. They’d order their own food at restaurants, they'd arrange their own homeschool work schedules, they'd try activities where they didn’t know anyone. I did my best not to step in unless invited. Over time, they started trusting their
own ability to navigate the world without me. That, of course, was the point. But the better they got at being independent, the more I started to feel a quiet kind of discomfort. They were moving outward—into the world, into themselves—and I could feel the shift. There’s a concept in astrophysics called red shift. When a star or galaxy moves away from us, the light it emits stretches, shifting toward the red end of the spectrum. The farther away it moves, the
redder the light appears. It’s how we know the universe is expanding. The movement doesn’t mean the light is gone—just that it’s arriving to us in a new form, from farther away. I think about that a lot as my kids are no longer orbiting so closely. I still see their light; it just looks different now. I’m learning to recognize their new wavelengths. The trick, I think, is not to see red shift as loss, but as evidence of motion. The fact that I feel the stretch means the
universe is doing what it’s supposed to do: expanding, evolving, moving outward. I remind myself that this kind of shift is a mark of success. Increased wavelength, decreased frequency... it's all part of the natural order of things. Light travels and stretches, and love does, too.
—Debra Ross,
publisher
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KidsOutAndAbout.com: Discover more. Do more. Connect more. If you like my publisher's column, you can easily scroll through past columns in the "Notes from Deb" section of our site. |
- Sharks at ROM - Royal Ontario Museum, Queens Park,
Toronto, ON M5S 2C6, Friday, January 22, 2026, 10 am - 4 pm
- Skate by the Lake - Harbourfront Centre - Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto, ON M5J 2G8, Friday, January 22, 2026, Times vary, see website.
- Window Wonderland - The Junction - 396 Pacific Ave suite 205, Old Toronto, Toronto, ON M6P 2R1, Friday, January 22, 2026, All day
- Sharks at ROM - Royal Ontario Museum, Queens Park, Toronto, ON M5S 2C6, Saturday, January 23, 2026, 10 am - 4 pm
- Skate by the Lake - Harbourfront
Centre - Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto, ON M5J 2G8, Saturday, January 23, 2026, Times vary, see website.
- Window Wonderland - The Junction - 396 Pacific Ave suite 205, Old Toronto, Toronto, ON M6P 2R1, Saturday, January 23, 2026, All day
- Free Public Skating at Evergreen - Evergreen Brick Works, Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON, Saturday, January 24, 2026, Saturdays 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm
- Sharks at ROM - Royal Ontario Museum, Queens Park, Toronto, ON M5S 2C6, Sunday, January 24, 2026, 10 am - 4 pm
- Skate by the Lake - Harbourfront Centre - Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto, ON M5J
2G8, Sunday, January 24, 2026, Times vary, see website.
- Free Public Skating at Evergreen - Evergreen
Brick Works, Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON, Sunday, January 24, 2026, Sundays 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
- Sunday Lego Club at Toronto Public Library - Agincourt - Toronto Public Library - Agincourt Branch, 155 Bonis Avenue, Scarborough, Toronto, ON M1T 3W6, Sunday, January 24, 2026, 2 - 3 pm
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Winter is here and fun options for families just keep getting better! Whether you stick with what you love or decide to try something new, KidsOutAndAbout has plenty of ideas. From Ice skating, kid-friendly museums, indoor play centers, and outdoor
activities to thinking ahead to next year's school options - we've got you covered.
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Looking for a thrilling family-friendly adventure in the GTA? Escape rooms are interactive, puzzle-packed experiences where you and your team work together to solve clues, unlock secrets, and
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Click here to discover Birthday party locations in the Toronto area. From Arcades to Ziplines our Big List will help you think outside the box and plan the party of your kids' dreams! KidsOutAndAbout has dozens of ideas!
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2025's best places to take kids in Toronto, based on KidsOutAndAbout's annual reader survey. Our Top 20 results page is an annotated list of the winners, both of the top 20 slots and of the category winners. But there is LOTS more to do in and around
Toronto!
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Wishing you and your family health and happiness,
Debra Ross
Publisher, KidsOutAndAbout.com
Mom of Madison and Ella |
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