I have been blessed with one amazing son who is now a young adult and my greatest joy has been as a mother and raising this loving, thoughtful and caring young man! I truly miss the wonderful days of childhood and adolescence with Jeff and all of the tournaments and games for hockey, basketball, soccer and speed skating. I thoroughly enjoyed the field trips during his elementary school years and living every moment of everyday as his Mom. As I look back over our time together as mother and son, I am reminded of how much he taught me along our journey and how rewarding and fulfilling my life is because he is my son! I am so proud of the man he has become and I still receive positive feedback from anyone who meets him and from those that know him well and this warms my heart! As I mention in my book, parenting is the hardest job you will ever have but it will be the most rewarding and fulfilling!!  
 
I left my College classroom and career as an Early Childhood Education Instructor in the Spring of 2014 as I was diagnosed with the rare and very invasive Inflammatory Breast Cancer and had to start chemotherapy treatments in May as the cancer had spread to my lymph nodes. I fought the horrendous side effects of those drugs during 8 rounds of Chemo every three weeks and had a left breast Masectomy and 16 lymph nodes removed on Nov. 5th, 2014. I endured 28 consecutive treatments of Radiation from January 6th-Feb. 16th, 2015 and received the amazing news that I was “Cancer Free” one year after the diagnosis! I battled hard and fought for my life and have so many wonderful friends, family members, and truly amazing people from my hometown in Penticton to thank, as they supported me through my difficult journey. There were so many days that I did not want to get up and out of bed……but I did……I walked almost every day and spent time with Nature along the creeks and lakes of beautiful Penticton, sometimes alone and other times with my special friends who would encourage me. I lost my hair, eyebrows and eyelashes to the chemotherapy drugs and suffered chemo burns on my face and mouth sores that kept me from eating solid foods during the last 3 treatments, intense bone pain and aches that kept me awake……but I did not lose my positive outlook on life, optimistic attitude and personality. I survived and beat this terrible disease and feel so blessed that I am healthy and happy and fully recovered. I am celebrating 4 years Cancer Free and through that horrendous ordeal and battle something very positive and simply wonderful happened!!! I found a lost love from my early 20’s. My sweetheart, Kenny, came back into my life at a time when I truly needed friendship, love and caring support. We rekindled our love from the 80’s and have a beautiful story to tell! We have been together since the Summer of 2014 and are married now and have vowed to spend the rest of our lives together. Kenny’s unconditional love warms my heart and soul each and every day and as I mention in the conclusion of my First Book, he has been the driving force behind the completion of my book and website and he encourages me daily with his thoughtful, caring, loving and humorous manner. 
 
I loved you yesterday,
I love you still,
I always have and
I always will.
 
~Author Unknown~
 
As I have mentioned throughout most chapters of my book and within the pages of this beautiful website, my love and passion for children is strong, deep and true and comes from a place of understanding their needs and developmental stages along with a feeling of complete joy and amazement when I am with them. 
 
As a parent, I too know how difficult it can be to be the best version of ourselves for our children and everyone we come into contact with and to want the best for them.
 
I truly believe that when we offer our children our time, our affection, our sense of optimism, and our unconditional love we help them find a way to be successful through any adversity along their journey.
 
I truly miss my time spent in my College Classroom, mentoring, guiding and educating the next generation of Early Childhood Educators. It was a very rewarding and fulfilling time for me over 18 years and I was blessed each day that I was able to spend with my College students! 
 
I am now moving on to the next exciting chapter of my life as an Author and Public Speaker. I am presenting Workshops and Seminars, consulting for parents, families and ChildCare Centres and continuing to support and educate, nurture and mentor Educators and Caregivers in this amazing profession of mine! 
 
As you may have noticed, I also have a NEW Online Workshop/Course to offer on my website. My 1st Course from "Dear Brenda Lee", is for Early Childhood Educators, Parents, Grandparents, Caregivers and Educators, Foster Parents, Adoptive Parents, and anyone who works with, lives with, or just loves to be with children. Within the 7 lessons of Course 1, you will find positive strategies, new ideas, tools and up to date research from my 35 years of practical experience working with numerous families, educator/caregivers and children of all ages.
       
I was asked the other day, what my hobbies and interests were and I had to reflect on the amazing life I share with Kenny! We truly love walking and hiking, especially at sunrise and sunset and find this activity very therapeutic and so important.  I have been spending my days hiking, biking, swimming, boating, and travelling with the love of my life, Kenny, and I am staying healthy and active so that we may live a long and wonderful life. 
I look forward to hearing from you and supporting you in any way I can with your family, children, classrooms, childcare centres and your re-certification needs for your Early Childhood Educator License to Practice.

Dear Reader,

This wonderful book you are about to read is the Revised edition of Volume One and I am very excited to share twelve of my parenting advice columns I wrote in my hometown of Penticton for the Penticton Herald. I thoroughly enjoyed answering parent’s questions and offering ideas, support and strategies in my column.

Along with twelve of my favorite columns, I have also included new and current ideas and research on managing children’s behavior, along with my own personal experiences as a parent and early child¬hood educator. I am excited to share new strategies and tools, real life experiences and small discov¬eries for coping, nurturing, enjoying and surviving the early years with your children.

​​~ Brenda Fisher-Barber, a.k.a. Ms. Barber