A weekend away
My wife went away to the cottage this past weekend with a few girlfriends from college. It’s an annual event. The participants change slightly each year depending on who can escape work and family responsibilities, but there’s a core of
Kids in the kitchen
I’m a big proponent of kids in the kitchen. The first and most obvious reason is that cooking is the kind of basic life skill that everyone should have. If we want our kids to grow up and eat healthy, we
Discipline vs. punishment
By Christine Davis Discipline is the art of teaching kids to behave properly. What it is not, says Katherine Firestone, founder of The Fireborn Institute, is punishment. “The purpose of discipline is to teach self-discipline so children can then learn to
Burlington Synchro! Summer Camps 2018 begin August 20th, Fall Recreational begins September
If your child aged 3 - 16 years old enjoys music, dance, gymnastics and swimming - Synchro is the ideal sport to try something new and exciting!
Snow days in April
Today is a snow day. Or, more precisely, it’s a sleety freezing rain day, which means that all the kids are home and that I’m writing this to the sound of one child playing video games, another watching cartoons, and a
It’s hip to be in Goderich’s Square
By Stephanie Redmond It’s touted as “the prettiest town in Canada” and Goderich is indeed, really pretty. Take a short, few hours drive from the GTA, along beautiful country roads and you’ll find yourself in this historic town. Settled in 1827 on
Letting Go
Every family gets to the point where it stops growing. For some families this is a deliberate choice they make (I think we have enough kids now), and for some the choice is made for them (whether through infertility or
Broadening Your Community
One of the things that I’ve found myself saying more and more as time goes on, whether I’m teaching an adoption course, or leading a writing workshop, or just chatting with friends, is this – “broaden your community”. This can mean
How to handle your child’s first crush
By Sandra Gordon “Oh, how cute.” That’s what crossed my mind when a boy from summer camp asked my oldest daughter, who was in Grade 4 at the time, to go to the movies. (She said “No!” then ran from the
Birth plan blues: When childbirth doesn’t go as planned
By Malia Jacobson For the birth of her first child in 2011, Charla Ojala envisioned a simple, uncomplicated birth at a carefully chosen birth center minutes away from her home. She hoped for all the components of a gentle, low-intervention birth:
Becoming a man
My eldest son will turn 13 this week, the age in many cultures when a boy is considered to become a man and to start occupying a more adult role in his family and community. Certain traditions mark this coming-of-age
Busy hands
It’s March Break! Unfortunately, I have no absolute cure for the craziness you’re probably enduring right now, but here are a few hints: 1) Get them to help. Help with what, you ask? With anything and everything. Each of my kids
Sharing your feelings
I come from a family of five boys, and I have three boys of my own. I’ve played and coached sports all my life. I’ve also worked a fair amount in “macho” settings like factories and construction. All of which
Take the stress out of packing for March Break travel
By Susan Toth March Break is around the corner. Your vacation destination awaits you and your family. Have you started to think about what to pack? Planning ahead will make your travel experience and the fun adventures ahead of you far
Jamaican me crazy
By Christine Davis There’s an old saying that goes: Once you have kids you no longer go on vacation, you take trips. But what if you could take a vacation – one in which both parents and children can relax, explore and
Tapping into the sweet season
By Jane Muller Canada tastes like maple syrup. Maple sap simmered to its sweet golden state is a technique inherited from Canada’s First Nations and savoured by all who posses a sweet tooth. Syrup season is in March, when the sap freezes
What Not To Say
As an adoptive parent, I some times hear some pretty insensitive things. It’s not that people are intending to be rude (not usually, anyway). It’s just that they haven’t really thought through what it might be like to be in
Get ready to party on Sesame Street
By Christine Davis This weekend the way to Sesame Street is via Rose Cherry Place as the Sesame Street community takes over Mississauga’s Hershey Centre on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 24 and 25. This all-new, interactive show unfolds on one of the
Babies for sale: Navigating the grey areas of assisted human reproduction
By Christine Davis There is just one aspect of women’s reproductive health that is still attached to criminal code: Assisted reproduction. Under the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, it is criminally indictable to pay for a surrogate, intermediary, gamets (sperm or ova), embryo
Getting Motivated
I’ve always been a pretty self-motivated person. If I think something is worth doing, I don’t generally need people to give me a pep talk in order to get it done. If I think something is the right thing to
