Monthly Archive for October, 2009

Kidz Biz

Published on October 30, 2009 in Children & Childhood and Family. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Kidz Biz

Kidz Biz is an article written by Jeanne-Vida Douglas (this link takes you to the article, you can sign in and read the full article if you are a subscriber of BRW)  appeared in the 22-28 October issue of BRW magazine.  The article follows on nicely from the theme of our previous blog about population growth.

The theme of the BRW article is that Australia is growing through a massive baby boom not seen since the early sixties and it is 30 something year old first time parents that are responsible (not a boom of teenage mums encouraged by the baby bonus).

The article discusses the consumption patterns and changes in consumption of new parents and children in this baby boom and the implications for business and marketers.

Jeanne-Vilda suggests that there is a real shift with older parents looking for more wholesome and organic brands and especially craving active and engaging entertainment for their children.  This is a shift away from the sugary sweet offerings marketed to children and the sedentary activities (TV, Xbox, DVDs etc) that previous generations have grown up with and have contributed to massive increases in childhood obesity since the 70s.

Rosie & Lucy Run M Ragged Annual Members

Rosie & Lucy Run M Ragged Annual Members

This was an encouraging and re-affirming article for Run M Ragged as we believe our venue and others like it really do provide an opportunity for kids to be active, creative and social.  We have always provided a cross section of food for kids to choose from as well.  We were initially surprised that hot chips was our biggest seller (and it continues to be) as we thought that the market would be more interested in our fruit platters and vegetable dips platters.  We have come to realise that a trip to Run M Ragged is seen as a special treat for kids and so they can be indulged in the food that is not an ‘everyday’ item.  We would really love to get your feedback on our menu for kids and we are always open to suggestions on delicious, healthy and affordable options we can add.  In recent times we have tried noodles, pop corn and yoghurt based on our members’ requests.

We also think it is very important that we continue to provide easy access to free fresh water to keep the kids well hydrated, especially with summer nearly on us.  Which reminds me we have already had to put the air conditioning on today for the first time since last summer, to make sure that all the activity and running around can continue regardless of how hot it might get outside.

Cheers,

PS.       We are also considering running a school holiday program in January 2010, we would love to hear your thoughts and ideas on this so we can create a program that would best meet your needs.  Something tings to let us know would be:

  • What age group are the kids you would consider putting in?
  • What daily times would you like care for?
  • Would you like to be able to send your own food in for their lunch and snack or would you prefer us to provide the food?
  • Would you be happy to pay additional for outside excursions?
  • What type of activities would you like us to run on a daily basis in the program?
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Who wants to see Tony grow a Mo?

Published on October 30, 2009 in Events, Family and Fund Raiser. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Hi,

Tony & Steve at Run M Ragged are growing a moustache for Movember this year and are looking for recruits to join our team.  This is a pic of the guys that I took today Friday 30th November 09!  They will start with a clean shaven face on the 1st November 09 and we are going to take a photo everyday to post up here for you to watch it all happen!

Tony and Steven are going to go the Mo!
Tony and Steven are going to go the Mo!

Movember is about raising much needed funds and awareness for men’s health – specifically prostate cancer and depression in men. Important when you learn that close to 3,000 men die of prostate cancer each year in Australia and one in eight men will experience depression in their lifetime – many of whom don’t seek help.

The more people we can get onboard, the more awareness and money will be raised and so we are asking you to join our team and either grow a moustache as a Mo Bro, or sign on as a Mo Sista and help out with raising funds.

To join my Movember team go to http://au.movember.com/register/24693 and follow steps. Once registered you’ll be sent all the information you need to get donations and get growing as part of my Movember team.   It would even be great if you could sponsor us even if you dont want to grow a mo.  You can donate some funds by clicking here!

2009 is Movember’s sixth consecutive year. If you are interested in learning more about the work that is being carried out as a result of Movember funds, check out the details at http://au.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs.

Hope to welcome you to our Movember team shortly, if not we would love to see your donation on our page!

Tracie Dickson

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So, What is the Net Value of a Child these days?

Published on October 27, 2009 in Children & Childhood, Family and Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , .

I was recently sent a copy of an article written by Ben Stein, who is (among other things) a writer and an economist.  The article which you can read in full here, discusses the Net Value of Children and suggests reasons for a diminishing birth rate in the US.

I found this article to be really interesting, mostly because I love the study of economics and  the models it provides for explaining how the world works and because its about kids and I spend almost every moment of my life surrounded by children either here at Run M Ragged or at home.

The article itself is obviously based on America and the upper-middle class (well it was written for FORTUNE magazine) but it does raise some interesting points.

What Ben says is that the cost of raising a child in upper middle class America has become too great and to the point that it has exceeded the benefits of having children and therefore the birth rate in America has dropped.

In modern Australian society is the benefit provided by having children greater than the cost?  Under economic theory if the cost of an activity outweighs the benefit then people will stop doing that activity (in this case having kids).

Traditionally having children and lots of them was sound economic policy.  More children meant more hands in the field, more bodies to protect against raiders, better chance of being looked after as you got older plus it provided redundancy needed in a harsh environment which was pretty dangerous for children.  Now society provides for most of these functions without the need for children.  So why do we keep having them when you look at the cost to raise a child (not to mention the devastating non financial costs of having teenagers)?

For our economy to grow and prosper we need our population to grow and grow rapidly.   So from an individuals point of view it may not make sense financially to keep having kids, but from a society and community point of view both economically and financially it is essential.

Remember Peter Costello urging parents into the bedroom to reproduce and the resulting baby bonuses offered?  The government understood the imperative to reproduce faster.  The result is a baby boom now that has not been seen since post WWII.  The economic wave that we rode as the previous baby boom generation grew can only be replicated by another baby boom generation.  An aging population with low birth-rates does not thrive.

So I guess what I am saying is that the net value of a child (financially cause we just love ‘em anyway) might be reducing from a micro perspective but from a macro or society perspective it makes good economic sense to keep having kids, so do the right thing by your country and keep making babies.

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Geelong Cup Catered by Run M Ragged and gets kudos!

Published on October 25, 2009 in Events. 0 Comments Tags: , .

It’s amazing how racing fever hits at this time of the year.  People really get into the horses in the lead up to the Melbourne Cup.

The Geelong Cup this week was a huge success and it is an event that really adds to the prestige and profile of Geelong.  It’s great to see big crowds and lots of businesses supporting the event.

We had a fun opportunity to help out the team from Bellarine Trees and provide catering services for their marquee.  Our team has been preparing for days and I admit we were a little nervous as we weren’t  familiar with the venue even though we have catered for lots of groups.

Race day ready, we were all up early Wednesday morning, well organised and set up with time to spare and just like the weather, the service went perfectly.

The food prepared by our expert chef Kylie and Shae our resident RMR Cook  was exceptional.  The service on the day delivered by Kylie and Elodie was much appreciated by the Belarine Trees guests.  I have included a copy of the thank you note from Mary, which we are very proud of.

Hi  Kerri,

Just wanted to thank you and the girls for the great job  yesterday. Kylie and Elle were lovely, helpful and completely  professional.

The food was delicious and in plentiful supply –  just a shame that there were people away from the marquee for a fair bit of  the time and that some of the food was not even touched.

I would  have no hesitation in recommending you to others and hope that you would  consider doing the catering next year, if we have the same  event.

Once again, thank you so much for all your  assistance.

Regards,

Mary  Ryan
Office  Manager
Bellarine Tree  Services Pty. Ltd.

So well done Leica Ding, well done Geelong and great job to our team!!!

PS.       We are open on Melbourne Cup day, bring the kids down to Run M Ragged and enjoy the coverage while the kids get run ragged.  Oh and we can all watch the race

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Childhood Obesity Declining in Geelong

Published on October 19, 2009 in Children & Childhood and Family. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

<a href=”http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2009/10/17/112901_news.html”>

As someone who’s business is about keeping kids moving, I am really impressed with the declining obesity rates in children in Geelong. Click here to be taken to full article from The Geelong Advertiser.

At Run M Ragged we chose to have really affordable membership options from just $7.00 a week for the whole family to come and play every day if they like. At least this way it doesnt matter what the weather is doing the kids can keep active at a price that ALL families can afford. In the UK the Government is actually subsidising kids play in indoor play centres and there are many reports that show how effective indoor play centres are at keeping kids moving. As soon as they walk (run) through the front door, they dont stop running, jumping, climbing and sliding. What a great way to keep them moving! It would be really great to see the Australian Government do the same thing for Aussie Kids.

As far as drinking water my own kids much prefer to drink water over anything else, so we dont really offer them anything else to drink and they love it! At our Indoor Play Centre we always have free jugs of water out for the kids so that parents dont get nagged about buying softdrinks.

We also try to keep fun healthy things for kids to eat like fruit kebabs and fruit & cheese platters. I think that Geelong Parents are great at offering their kids healthy snacks and lunches because the healthiest foods on our menu are very popular.

Keep up the great work Geelong!

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5 Fun Little Known Lego Facts….

Published on October 15, 2009 in Events and Family. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

As a kid one of my favourite toys (especially when it was too wet to play outside) was lego. I loved building and then being able to break it all up. As a Dad I love that my boys love it too. It is great to watch their imaginations run wild and it is something that we can do together as a family, like I did with my Dad.

Here are 5 fun Lego facts I have learned over the last few weeks.

1. It is estimated that there are 6 billion pieces of lego floating on the surface of all the worlds oceans.
2. 5 Billion hours are spent each year by children playing with lego.
3. Enough Lego has been manufactured to give each of the 6 billion people on the planet, 62 pieces of lego each (thats 372,000,000,000 pieces if you don’t have a calculator handy).
4. 7 Lego sets are sold every second.
5. The worlds tallest Lego tower is 28.7m tall.

No wonder Lego is still so popular and fun after over 50 years.

Because we love lego and family we are holding a Family Lego Night where you will be able to win some really great prizes. In our next post we will be giving you all the details about the Run M Ragged family lego night.

Tony

Run M Ragged Family Lego Fun

Run M Ragged Family Lego Fun

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Run M Ragged all dressed up for the Cats Big Game

Published on October 2, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Well the team at Run M Ragged are really excited about tomorrows grandfinal and have blue and whited the place!

If your looking for somewhere dry to go and watch the big game, we would love you to pop into Run M Ragged with the kids.  We will put some facepainting on for the kids and have the coffee machine ready to go for you.

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