Hello Fall
Well, that’s a wrap as we say goodbye to summer and hello to fall. After months at home with the children, you may be feeling a little bit of anxiety. With them returning to school full time, you must have
Best Way to Help Your Kids? Don’t.
One of the secrets to raising your children to love, respect, and be confident in everything they do is—don’t help them! What? Yes, you heard me correctly. No, I am not suggesting letting them fly free and learn everything on their
Summer Time Fun
The school year is over, and I say let the summer fun begin! With restaurants, shops, and camps returning to operation, what plans are you looking forward to taking advantage of without putting yourself or a loved one at risk? You
Up front – Minimalist Moms
As children, we’re given dolls to play with, make believing we are moms, leading us to dream that one day this will come true – this is where our story begins. Who is with me and thinks that being a mom
Spring is in the air
Who else feels like skipping now that Spring is in the air? I, for one, do! I’m not a winter person and rarely venture outside in January and February —usually, I’d go somewhere warm. However, we all know why that
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
March 17th, 1994 was truly a day to be celebrated. Another blessing and just like that “Dream #2 was born.” As a toddler he was very strong willed and my life at times was challenging. However, as he grew to
Breaking bread together while apart
Flour has been scarce in our neighbourhood grocery stores for more than a week. Seems bread making and baking in general has been a preferred pastime for those of us who are housebound. This baking bonanza temporarily left the flour shelves
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
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
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
Room for everyone and so much more
By Christine Davis The hunt for the ideal family vehicle is different for each family and at each stage. Ours has been content with a sedan and a small SUV since becoming a family of four, but as the kids grow
Deciding the Future
In less than a month my eldest will start high school, and I’m having some trouble wrapping my head around that. It’s not that I’m terribly worried about him. He’s a level-headed kid, with good friends, and lots of family support.
Real reading
As a writer and a publisher, I’ll admit that I can be a bit picky about books, but when it comes to the kids books I’ve seen recently, I think I’m justified in being a little disappointed. It’s not all books
Something They’ll Never Forget
I took my two younger kids to see the Toronto Raptors’ championship parade and rally in Nathan Phillips Square. We had to get up at 5 a.m. to catch the train to Toronto, then walk from Union Station to the square,
Other people’s kids
It seems I’ve hit a new stage as a work-from-home parent, one where my kids are old enough not to be around the house during the day so other parents see me as an ideal target to hit up for
Learning to Succeed
My youngest son decided to grow a garden this year. He arrived at this decision while watching me turn soil for my garden, and then sow a bunch of kale, which is about the only thing hardy enough for me
Cringey Parenting
I’m lame, and I know it. ‘Cringey’, is the word my kids prefer, meaning that I’m embarrassing, uncool, and unhip. If you need proof, the very fact that I use words like ‘lame’ and ‘unhip’ is undeniable proof that I
A Child’s Perspective
Part of being a child is having a deeply limited perspective. That’s not to say that our adult perspectives aren’t limited in many ways as well, of course, but for a child, with so very little experience of the world,