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Ever since I wrote a story last summer about the houseboats that you can rent on the Erie Canal I have been looking forward to the chance to rent one for myself. I am doing just that this week. My “kid” brother is in town with his family and we rented a Canal Princess Charters houseboat to use as a floating cottage so we could spend some time together in a central location. It has worked out better than any of us expected.
For the most part, we’ve stayed park in the Gateway Harbor, on the North Tonawanda side in front of the former Packett Inn. Every night we’ve had a gathering of the clan and my nieces and nephews, cousins and aunts have joined us for a dinner on shore, right next to the boat.
I must say, the location is gorgeous. All the flowers are in bloom and every dime the city has put into the landscaping and upkeep is evident in the clean, colorful harbor and park. Even when it rained one night, we simply put a table under the ivy-draped shelter where bands often play, and we were dry and happy.
Those who want to get a taste of the life on the waterways can cheaply rent a floating bike or kayak, or even a pontoon boat from Waterbike Adventures, another rental business on the Tonawanda side right near the Harbor masters’ cabin.
I’m heading out to the Wednesday night concert and my family and I will be enjoying the event from the plastic green Adirondack chairs on the upper tier of the boat. The rain and stopped and so I’m hitting send on the blog entry and I’m off to “staycate” in the harbor!
My friend John Loss of Grand Island called me after reading my column questioning why we make people take tests before they can drive a car but send them off with brand new babies without a thought as to whether they can raise a child.
John was delighted to tell me about a program he and his wife, Suzanne, are learning about. They traveled to Omaha, Nebraska where they watched a graduation of parents in a program called the “Building Families Boutique,” through the Lutheran Church. Parents in the program participated in parenting classes and in exchange received points toward baby clothes and other necessities. Check it out at www.lfsneb.org. The program is “just such a beautiful wonderful way of helping people to see what its like to be a parent,” John said, hinting that he and his wife are planning to get much more involved in the near future. It reminded me of another program locally I did a story on, which does the same thing for new mothers, at the Summit Life Outreach Center in Wheatfield. New moms can earn points to purchases baby supplies by watching videos and participating in counseling. You can watch the video I shot at the Outreach Center at http://www.niagara-gazette.com/niagaraliving/local_story_060160027.html.
Last but not least, a reader blogged this response to my column: “Just read your column in Niagara Living about a parenting test. I too think people are having children woefully unprepared for the experience. People used to be around family a lot more when Grandma and Grandpa and maybe an aunt lived under the same roof. We live in a society today that has us lugging babies around in 10 lb convertible carriers instead of picking the baby up and holding them close. I can bet that physical therapist offices are filled with moms and dads with strained elbows due to lugging the extra weight. Wouldn’t it be great if kids actually graduated from High School knowing the basics of child rearing and how to balance a check book?”
Yes, I think it would!!!
