• Back To School!

    08/01/2019 - By 

    My kids went back to school today. Oddly, because I’m a weird wannabe shut-in and usually value alone time above all else, I miss them. The missing them part is the odd part. During other school breaks, I’ve treasured the time we’ve had together but looked forward to sending them back. It felt too soon this time. I packed them off to school. It feels strangely quiet. I have all this time to get stuff done now: vacuum the floor without it becoming instantly covered in cracker bits or start work to meet January deadlines. Instead, I just want to…

  • The Time Hunter Cried at a Wedding.

    02/10/2018 - By 

    It wasn't until the first dance of the new couple that the emotions of the day really hit him. Speeches were done, dinner had been served and then they announced the first dance of the Mr and Mrs.. When the couple hit the dance floor and the love song started, Hunter came running back to Josh and I, silently weeping.

  • My Kids And Music

    24/07/2018 - By 

    My kids came out as independent old souls with their own opinions about everything- including music. I feel that I am less their teacher and more their guide through this life. I have asked other kids why they like the music they listen to. They say things like, “Oh I love listening to it because my dad does and we spend time together”…. or something similar. My two monsters don’t seem to have that gene. From the time they could communicate with gurgles, they have let me know if they don’t like my music choice. I remember playing a quiet…

  • Cornerstone Music Cafe, Calgary AB

    Entering the Tween Years or How Can I Stop Time?

    17/07/2018 - By 

    My daughter has become a tornado of ideas and emotions, seemingly overnight. Her favourite sentence is, “I know that already!”. We have officially entered the “tween” years. And here I thought I had more time. I believe she is raging with hormones already and it won’t be long until we have a full-fledged tween/teen monster on our hands. She is combative, competitive and bossy. She uses sass like no other. If there were an Olympic medal for back talk, she would earn it. There has been yelling and tears- on both sides. She always has to be the first and…

  • My Daughter’s Confidence.

    01/02/2018 - By 

    My daughter is amazing. She is smart, fiery, caring and forward-thinking. She is a champion of causes and a voracious reader. She can be opinionated and is quick to anger, but those propel her forward instead of letting her give up. A professional once told us she is, “Highly attuned, highly sensitive and impulsive” and was quick to point out that these are GOOD things, when that energy is directed properly, which we agree with. My daughter also struggles. She struggles with trusting her instincts. She has a lot of negative self-talk that stems from her perfectionism. She has high…

  • I Have a Smell.

    28/11/2017 - By 

    This goofball is my heart outside of my chest. Her and my son are my everything. She is my little firecracker: my small, resourceful, highly empathetic and sensitive girl. So I was not surprised, nor offended, when she said this little gem the other day: “Mom. Your skin has a smell. Actually, everyone’s skin has a smell. Not their armpits, but the whole thing. I sometimes choose friends based on that subtle* smell, cuz if I don’t like their smell, it is hard to be around them. It is a lot stronger in the morning than in the afternoon. And…

  • Almost Two Months Since We Moved.

    24/10/2017 - By 

    It has been almost two months since we moved from the other side of the city. I didn’t think it would feel very different, but it has, and that has shocked all of us. It is different in a lot of good ways. Our street is quieter, for one. Before, we lived on a very major road that everyone seemed to use for commuting. We were just off a highway, so cars would forget to slow down and would roar through our street, forgetting to look for kids, despite the fact that we lived four blocks away from a school.…

  • The One Thing I Do With My Kids to Make Them Happier and More Confident.

    19/10/2017 - By 

    Whenever I speak to my friends who don’t have kids yet, they relate to my stories about my kids by sharing stories of when they were a kid. We start to talk about fond childhood memories and I find that one type of memory always sticks out. That is the time we spent with one parent and had their full attention; no technology, no distractions, nobody interrupting. The memories are all different, of course, but they all have the same feel. Whether it was baking cookies, reading together (even quietly and beside each other rather than to each other), throwing…

  • Why Do We Have To Go To School?

    26/09/2017 - By 

    Every morning for my kids is a struggle. Hunter and Isabella are resistant to go to their new school. Isabella worries that her classmates secretly don’t fully accept her, even though she is extremely happy with her teacher and the school itself. Hunter says he is waiting until we move back to our old neighbourhood. I asked him if he had made any new friends and he said, “I don’t need any. I already have friends across town”. When I told him that it was good to have friends in his class and close-by, he just shrugged. Hunter is having…

  • Survival Mode

    26/04/2017 - By 

    Remember the Wizard of Oz? It is one of my son’s favourite movies. You know when Dorothy is trying to figure herself out and she gets so stressed out that she dreams of Oz? Yeah, that’s my life in a nutshell right now. I’ve been so stressed that I am in survival mode. I just go from one obligation to the next then pass out on my couch at night. The end of the school year is closing in and there is so much to do with two kids in full-time school.  All I seem to do is jump from…