Glue, paper, scissors rock
By Jane Muller I associate the sound of scissors cutting through construction paper with Mr. Dressup and the craft projects he demonstrated on his long-running television show. It’s a rhythmic seesawing sound as the blades snip along a deliberate path that transforms a
First date
So my eldest son is planning his first date. To be clear, the girl in question has been his friend-not-my-girlfriend for a number of years now, and I don’t think that status has officially changed. He first told us about her
So much mess
I need to begin by admitting that I’m not the neatest person in the world. I’m not exactly a slob either – I don’t like clutter, and I don’t like dirt – but I’m generally okay with things being a
How to talk to kids about marijuana
By Dr. Yashar Khosroshahi With the legalization of marijuana upon us in Canada, it’s important to open up the dialogue around cannabis in our homes and with our children. Change is always met with a mix bag of emotions, and this time
Affording the cost of your kid’s sports
Kids like to play and that’s a good thing. Playing promotes health and fitness and being part of a sports team of any kind is not only a terrific way to make friends, it’s also a lot of fun. But
For the Love of the Game
My middle son, who had been playing rep level soccer as recently as September, has decided to switch his attention to basketball. The choice is partly because so many of his friends play basketball, and partly because of club issues
Make intelligence cool again
By Christine Davis You know him from the hit CBC show “Kim’s Convenience,” but come Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m., Paul Sun-Hyung Lee will be the host of “Canada’s Smartest Person Junior”, also on CBC. In this elimination-style competition featuring 12
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
Magical money leaves them toothless for toonies
By Jane Muller The tooth fairy is a major source of income for kids. Not sure about the logistics of her delivery system but it’s best that little ones don’t think about it too hard. The tooth comes out, money gets
Too Many Funerals
It’s been a rough few months around our family when it comes to great-grandparents. At the beginning of the year, my wife and I had all four of our grandmothers between us still living. Then my dad’s mother passed away in
Five ways for Mom to make money
By Carol J. Alexander Few women look forward to returning to work after having a baby. Financially, some don’t have a choice. Yet others have enough wiggle room in their income to start earning money from home. Here are five proven
Anxious about school
I’ve never had to deal with real anxiety about school before. My kids displayed lots of other emotions about school – Boredom? Yes. Apathy? Sure. Loathing? Check. Uncertainty even? Sometimes. – but never what I would call real anxiety. My youngest,
Three Things I don’t Know About You
I’ve mentioned before that I try to do “devotions” with my kids before they leave for school each morning. Despite the name, this time isn’t necessarily or even frequently religious in nature (though the name does come from the idea
Healthy minds
I feel that one of my jobs as a parent is to expand my children’s cultural horizons beyond the commercialized pop culture bubble that mainstream media implies is the only culture worth knowing. They’re not always convinced that this is
Be afraid, be very afraid
I was never truly afraid until I had children. That’s not to say that I was never in some scary situations. I’ve been in more than one car crash. I’ve been lost and alone in Killarney National Park for almost 24
A real summer vacation
Just as a head’s up, I’m going to do some complaining. It’s possible that you’ll even be one of the parents I’m complaining about here, so I’m apologizing up front, but I’m going to complain anyway. There are no kids to
Family camping back to basics
My wife and I took the kids camping this past weekend. We went with a few friends and a few friends of theirs who we didn’t really know, so there was quite a gang of us. To be clear, we didn’t
Device addiction
If you’ve read this column at all over the past six years, you’ll know that I’m not an alarmist. I tend to approach parenting (and pretty much everything else for that matter) with a healthy dose of skepticism. When I
It’s worth the drive to Pumpkinville
Where the heck is Pumpkinville? It’s a question followed by an equally puzzling answer. Pumpkinville is near Ellicottville. Where is Ellicottville? It’s just about a half hour south of the Buffalo border crossing in up-state New York and it’s not just for skiing
The brain + body equation
By Christine Davis The benefits of exercise are many and new research from ParticipACTION now shows that students who exercise before a test show stronger brain function than those who don’t. “Evidence shows that kids who are active for 15-20 minutes
