How to Help Your Daughter Handle Peer Pressure
WORDS BY Elizabeth Casciaro from Apricotton As your daughter grows, so will the amount of peer pressure she faces. Pressure from friends to act a certain way can be brutal to deal with all on your own, especially when you’re so
HOW FAMILIES CAN USE HUMOUR TO RELIEVE COVID-INDUCED STRESS AND ANXIETY
After a year of dealing with online schooling, working from home and a restricted social life and activities due to COVID-19, parents and kids alike may be struggling to find the funny in everyday life. As a Chinese proverb says, a
Holiday Memories
By: Marylene Vestergom What makes the holidays special? Sometimes it’s the memories of family gatherings -- the exotic aromas coming from the kitchen, the scent of freshly cut evergreens or the festive lights twinkling in the night that strike a chord. For
Learning to Say ‘No’
By Lorraine Pelley Saying no to your child is never easy. The tears, emotional pleas, and tantrums make it difficult to stand your ground and fear of your child not liking you for doing your job as a parent adds to
Having a Safe and Fun Halloween During a Pandemic
By: Lorraine Pelley One of the most enjoyable holidays is just around the corner, and for many children and parents, that means picking their costumes, buying treats, decorating the house, and planning the best trick-or-treat route. Overshadowing the excitement of the
Free Stay at Home Resources
During these times of social distancing and #StayHome initiatives, it may be challenging to find alternative options for usual out-of-home activities. How do we keep our family engaged from the safety of home as we all work to do our part
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
Making good manners cool again
By Sandi Schwartz Have you noticed that kids these days do not have the best manners? When I volunteer at my daughter’s school at lunchtime, I rarely hear the children saying please and thank you, although they are certainly not shy
The Right Situation
Helping your kids be successful is in many instances about putting them into the kinds of situations that emphasize their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses. This is true in big ways, like when choosing high school classes. Why force your
Dropping the “n” word
My middle kid had the N-word dropped on him again yesterday (he’s had to put up with this at least once a year since he was school aged). This time he was playing basketball with a kid he’d never really
This is our day to do our way
By Jane Muller Even on days when we’re not feeling it, there is love. And even though our loved ones know they are loved, it’s reassuring to them when we express those feelings. We’re not an “I love you” out loud kind
The Right Time Question
There’s a kind of question that comes up constantly when you’re talking about parenting. I call it the “right time” question, and it starts way before there are even kids around to worry about. You know the kind of question
The Principles of the Thing
Setting clear but reasonable boundaries for children is an essential part of parenting. We’ve all seen situations where kids have been given either too little or too much structure and end up unable to regulate themselves. Kids need boundaries. It’s easy
Making a nest
This week has been a great week, because we finally (knock on wood) discovered a solution to our bedtime woes. My youngest son has real difficulties going to sleep at night. It isn’t for lack of trying, but some combination of
Parenting Induced Exhaustion
You may have heard this from a parent before, but sometimes looking after children makes me tired. I’m not talking about the physical tiredness that comes from children waking up in the middle of the night (which, thankfully, I no longer
A Chance to do Something Real
I’ve written before about how our family often hosts homestay students from other countries – Japan, Spain, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and now Germany. These students are usually in late high school or early university, and they stay for a semester
Growing up
You know how you see a picture of your kid from 10 years ago, and you know it’s your kid, and you even know it was you who took the picture, but you can’t for your life figure out how
When I have kids…
My sister-in-law and three year old niece are up from Louisiana for an early Christmas visit this week. It’s been a lot of fun having a little girl running around the house. My boys love it (although there have been a
Making Beautiful Music
I’m the only musically useless person in my family. Both of my parents and all four of my brothers play at least two instruments, some of them many more. All of them except my father have at least some post-secondary training
Watching it live
I have a friend who lets me use his company’s season tickets to see the Toronto Raptors a couple of times a year. They’re really good seats, way better than I’d ever spring for, especially if I’m taking a kid
