The Sole Surviving Mom at the Bus Stop
By Cheryl Maguire “Hurry up or you will miss the bus,” I hollered to my 13-year-old boy/girl twins. Opening the front door, the icy air jolted me awake faster than a caffeinated coffee. The three of us scurried on the snow-covered sidewalk illuminated
The rollercoaster ride of divorce and hope
By Karen Kaye I was blindsided. I did not see this coming. Sure, we had our issues, but I was not prepared for the volcano that would erupt and continue to overflow for a solid decade. I was a stay-at-home mom.
Climate change’s connection to anxiety and depression
By Sandi Schwartz Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, droughts, rising sea levels. These are not topics for the faint of heart. But the reality today is that these types of natural disasters are on the rise due to climate change, and more people
Celebrate the season at the Quebec Winter Carnival
By Jane Muller Quebec City hosts the world's biggest winter carnival with a history dating back to 1894 and a rebirth in 1954 when it became an annual winter celebration. While the February event is steeped in tradition, it’s not frozen in
Mom Stuff
By Jenna Mohammed Annabelle Enlighten Loose Finishing Powder Don’t struggle with your makeup sliding off before you’ve left the house. Applying a translucent setting powder should be a step in your beauty routine. It can help lock your makeup in place and
Decode Your Child’s Cold
By Sandra Gordon As miserable as a cough or stuffy nose can make your child feel, it’s helpful to know that cold symptoms can often seem worse they actually are. “Congestion is a normal, healthy response to a virus or an irritant.
How to safeguard children with special needs from bullying
By Malia Jacobson When young Cody joined the peer inclusion preschool at his neighborhood public school, he fit in from the start. His class was a mix of neurotypical “peer mentors” and children with disabilities, including students like Cody with apraxia
Holidays beyond belief: Celebrating winter holidays without religion
By Malia Jacobson Geroge Juillerat is an atheist who loves Christmas — and he’s hardly alone. During the dark month of December, you might see him shuttling his 8-year-old son to Christmas parties, carrying a hot dish into a holiday potluck
Not your last day
Live each day as if it is your last. You’ve likely heard this advice and maybe given it some thought. It’s one of those inspirational sayings that sound good if you don’t think about it too deeply. It’s factual, in that
Last call
I wrote my first article for this column in August of 2013, which means that I’ve been writing it weekly now for six years and three months. If you were wondering, that works out to something like 300 articles, give
The Game Master
I think I’ve already mentioned role playing games a few times in passing, but I don’t think I’ve ever written about them seriously, probably because I haven’t been very much involved in them myself. They were mostly my eldest son’s
Bullying then and now
I was rarely bullied as a kid. It wasn’t because I was cool. Just the opposite. I was a huge geek, but I was also just plain huge. So I’m sure that other kids made fun of my behind my
Mom Stuff – November 2019
By Christine Davis Rouxbe online cooking classes The world’s leading online culinary school offers memberships for students to learn the skills they want at their own pace. Choose from knife skills to making pasta, mastering the fry pan and more. It’s a
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
Simple tortillas for Hispanic home cooking
Tortillas come to mind when many people think of Hispanic cuisine. Tortillas come in many varieties and flavours. Hispanic cuisine lovers accustomed to store-bought tortillas may be surprised to learn that they can make their own tortillas at home. Simple and
Practical Learning
It’s part of human nature to think that others should find our own passions and interests and occupations as important as we do. I understand that. I publish poetry, and I sincerely think that everyone should love poetry as much
Upfront: What do we really need
We all have too much stuff. We have so much stuff in fact that there’s an industry built around organizing that stuff for us and another that provides plastic bins of all sizes in which to store it. In this issue
Cool Stuff – November 2019
By Christine Davis Intelino Smart Train This is the classic toy train, reinvented. This set includes smart tracks, smart train, colour snaps to help control the train’s actions, as well as decals for customizing the look, a USB charging cable and a
November Bookshelf
The Shortest Day By Susan Cooper, illustrator Carson Ellis Two award-winners have come together to create a seasonal treasure by presenting a poem that welcomes the winter solstice with illustrations that capture the magic of the returning light. From early hunter-gatherers
Celebrating Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day is a hard one for me to talk about with my kids. First of all, neither they nor I have any direct connection with war. It’s something we see on the news, but not something we’ve ever had to
