Recipe for a rainy day
By Chef Shai Mandel It’s raining, it’s pouring …. but no one will be snoring when you mix up your day with some cooking activities! Just because you are stuck inside doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun in the kitchen.
Vaccinations
I generally keep away from politically touchy subjects in this column, not because I don’t have opinions on those subjects, but because I don’t think that public forums are a very effective place to raise difficult issues. People’s emotions usually
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,
Play Dating
By Cheryl Maguire When I married my husband, I thought that I was done dating. It turns out I was wrong. I went on several dates with people I met at the library or the Internet. They were playdates for the
Making New Traditions
Annual holidays have fallen into a fairly settled routine for my extended families. We haven’t really had any big adjustments since my wife and I and our siblings got married, moved out, and started having kids, so we’ve had about
Who Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
Adults are constantly asking kids what they want to be when they grow up. It’s the default conversation when an adult doesn’t know what else to say, just like talking about the weather with the person beside us at the
Dating Drama
I always knew that the day would come when I’d need to help my kids negotiate the emotions and drama of romantic relationships. I just didn’t think it would come so soon. Over the past few days, we’ve had one ex-girlfriend
Chocolate Raspberry Bread Pudding
Get a taste of chocolate for breakfast, brunch or desert with this set-it-and-forget-it slow cooker bread pudding recipe courtesy of the Egg Farmers of Ontario at getcracking.ca Total: 135 min. Prep: 15 min. Cook: 20 min. Ingredients 4 eggs 2 cups milk
In search of Ontario’s Monarchs
By Carol Patterson Sweat trickled down my back as I got off the Parks Canada shuttle and started the short walk to the tip of Point Pelee National Park, the most southerly point of mainland Canada. The forest hummed with the
A No-Pet Policy
I’ve always had a firm “no-pets” policy in our house. My feeling is that three children and various longterm housemates constitute a sufficient menagerie for any one household. I don’t need additional dependents that will never go to the bathroom
Get It All Off Your Chest
I met an old friend in the grocery store today. We don’t see each other that often, and when we do it’s mostly about getting our kids together, but we have lots in common as parents. We both have three
Getting creative
I think everyone needs to be creative. Now, I can almost hear a whole portion of readers collectively shaking their heads, eyebrows raised, muttering to themselves, “Well, he’s certainly never seen me with a paint brush,” but that isn’t really what
To be what they want to be
You know how often kids change their minds about what profession they might want to pursue as adults. In fact there are plenty of people who are still changing their minds as adults. So I don’t read anything too specific
Passing the torch: Olympians’ stories aim to inspire kids
By sharing stories of Canadian athletes, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) hopes its new multimedia series “Pursue” provides inspiration and, most importantly, life lessons that kids Grade 2- 12 can connect with and apply in their own lives. Since the 1988
Childhood food allergies linked to skin
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says four out of every 100 children has a food allergy, and such numbers are on the rise. While the mechanisms by which a person develops an allergy to specific foods
Giving Them Something to Run With
I wrote a few weeks back about how kids will often surprise us with their initiative, dedication, and passion if we actually give them opportunities to take leadership and ownership of what they do. I’ve since had that conversation with
Plan for some Family Day fun
Whether you prefer to stay indoors or get outside, Family Day, and the weekend leading up to Monday, Feb. 18, offers us the opportunity to spend some extra time together. It’s also a great time to explore Toronto and the
Little hands make light work
By Christine Davis Making mealtime family time is a great way to not only encourage kids to eat what’s in front of them, but also learn valuable life skills. Chef-in-training Liam Lewis of www.thelittlelocavore.ca became interested in cooking and where food comes
