May 2024 Movie Loves
Cheaper By the Dozen (2003) By 20th Century Studios Tom and Kate Baker have made sacrifices in their professional lives in order to nurture their brood of 12 children. Their lives take an unexpected turn when Tom is presented with an
National Adoption Month
By: Marylene Vestergom Did you know according to the Adoption Council of Ontario (ACO), since 2011, there have been over 30,000 children in care across Canada? In Ontario, there are approximately 17,000 children and youth in foster care. Of these, 8,400
How to set up parental controls on children’s tablets
The internet is a valuable tool that can benefit kids. But as parents know, the internet also can be a danger to youngsters. As hard as parents may try to govern their children’s internet usage, kids’ curiosity often compels them to
Routines help keep families happy
The following are some ideas from Larissa Mills, director and founder of IparentGen.com, for parents who are spending a lot of time at home with their kids during the COVID-19 pandemic. By Larissa Mills 1. Keep bedtime routines! Of all of the
Make play a priority this school year
Between attending classes and homework the school year is a busy time for kids. One thing that may fall off the priority list is how to keep kids active when there is limited free time. As a parent or guardian, it’s
Making a List
One of the things I’ve written about in this space before (and that I also talk about with parents all the time), is not just scheduling every minute of your kids’ summer, but allowing them unstructured time to hang out
Learning Hospitality
Most weekends during the summer, if we’re in town, we invite a few friends over for a barbecue at our house. Things are usually pretty low key – we pick up a few drinks, throw some sausages on the grill,
Learning to be a better parent
One of the curious side effects of fostering and adopting is that you usually end up with a whole lot more parenting instruction than if you have biological children. Whereas it’s possible to get pregnant on a whim (or even
Wedding Season and the mini-guests
It’s getting into the season where your weekend calendar will be filling up with weddings. And for parents some of these events welcome your littles to attend as mini-guests or to play an important role in the big day. The
Affording the cost of your kid’s sports
Kids like to play and that’s a good thing. Playing promotes health and fitness and being part of a sports team of any kind is not only a terrific way to make friends, it’s also a lot of fun. But
Garage Sale
We had a garage sale this past Saturday, our first ever. It came about through a combination of factors. First, with our lice outbreak a couple of weeks ago, we got in the cleaning mode and realized that there were a
Sitting in the stands
So, I’m not bragging (okay, I am), but my middle kid just took a first place and two second place ribbons at city track this year.
When breaking up is all you can do
How do you know when ending your marriage is the right choice for you?
As a family
I know that many of us parents end up feeling drained by our children’s schedules, especially as those children get old enough to have their own social lives and interests.
Calculating the cost of divorce
In Ontario, more than 40 per cent of marriages end before reaching the 30th anniversary, according to Stats Canada. And, this past month, January, has routinely been the preferred month for couples to start down the road to divorce.
In it together
My wife will likely be taking a year’s leave of absence from her current job to be the director of a local non-profit community organization.
Love means having to say more than sorry
Sometimes saying,“I’m sorry” isn’t enough to heal the pain caused by acts of harm like lying, saying hateful things, breaking agreements or excluding friends.
Preparing the family dog for the arrival of a new baby
With a new baby on the way, expecting parents may feel a variety of emotions ranging from excitement to fear, and many have questions about raising dogs and kids together.
