OPINION
This Year - Be Your Own Valentine
No, this is not another article for single women on how to get through Valentine’s Day on your own. This is an article aimed at ALL women, women with small kids, single parents...all of us that never seem to be able to find 5 minutes in the day!
Are non-stop activities enriching or exhausting?
We all want our kids to have as many opportunities and great experiences as possible. But does any of this sound familiar? Your children spend much of their time talking to the back of your head as you race them from one extra-curricular activity to the next. At least three times a week, your family scarfs down dinner in the back seat between hockey practice and violin lessons. You can’t honestly remember the last time your family had absolutely nowhere to be at any given hour. ...
I’m not ready to let go but he sure is!
I feel like Lady Gaga as she approaches the stage in New York City. The crowds are cheering with anticipation, people are waving their arms ...
Real camping is really for the birds
It was the hottest day of the year. Naturally, we decided to camp. But first, for added amusement, we spent the entire ninety-plus degree day on the lake with friends. All day we soaked in the sun and its glare off the water. Grownups quenched thirst with beer while kids gorged on Cheetos and orange soda. We all got sunburned. As the hour got later and hotter, friends questioned our choice to sleep in a tent. But we truly believed it would be fun....Kids just have a sixth sense, don't they?
Isn’t it funny how kids just know? You may not say a word, but they can identify when you are stressed, or in a hurry, or are about to give them a severe tongue lashing for some misdeed. They know. Here’s proof:...
The joys of learning from experience
“It’s cold outside. Wear a coat.” I am sure these words reached my young son’s ears, but they passed through his head faster than a hot chili dinner passes through your digestive tract. He’s going to school without a jacket – again. I know that the teachers think I’m the world’s worst mom for letting him run around coatless in April, but they don’t know my boy. This kid can learn via one method only. He must experience things first hand. Taking my word for it, or anyone else’s for that matter, is not possible for this child. The only way that he will put on a coat if it is cold outside today is if he froze his little tush off by not wearing enough clothes yesterday. ...
A broken humerus is not funny
When I heard about the neighbour’s kid breaking her arm, I didn’t give it much thought. I offered sympathies and moved on to more important ...
Liar, liar, pants on fire!
As a parent, one of the first things I vowed to teach my kids was honesty. It is a trait I have always admired, and I was confident it would be an easy one to teach. As tots, my children heard multiple repetitions of “Honesty is the best policy” and they’ve endured hundreds of readings of “A Big, Fat Enormous Lie”. The Berenstain Bears and the Truth was renewed so many times at the library that they didn’t even bother to shelve it anymore. I was serious about this truthfulness thing. We were going to be straight shooters – all of us. There was no way I was going to allow lying. It just wasn’t going to happen in my house....
My son wants a sibling, but the shop is closed!
During drop-off at my 5-year-old son’s pre-school a few months ago, I suddenly realized that I was the only mom who wasn’t either pregnant or lugging an infant carrier. I wondered if my little boy had noticed, too. I didn’t have to wait long to find out......