• Royal Canadian Circus Weekend

    06/06/2016 - By 

    Sometimes weekends fly by. This one did. We were very busy, it seemed, which is unusual for us. Normally we try to keep weekends low-key. We all need the time to become hermits and recharge. I never regret saying no to weekend plans. That sounds awfully anti-social, doesn’t it? I think we are just so in tune to how we work now and, with the weeks being so busy, it is our only time to reconnect as a foursome. My little tribe of 4. I love us. As a result of our busy weekend, though, I can’t help thinking- “Monday,…

  • Kid Fitness: Our Little Ones are Motivated to Move

    13/05/2016 - By 

    If your kids are anything like ours, they always want to move. We try to encourage it as much as possible. This being Calgary and it being “only” May, it ended up snowing and then raining and then snowing and being miserable all day yesterday. (Today the sun is out, because, Canada.) Of course, that was the night Hunter wanted to go for an after-dinner walk. Although none of us were up for it, we did set up an impromptu floor hockey match in the basement. We live in a townhouse where the levels are split up by stairs and…

  • Mother’s Day Weekend AND My Sixth Wedding Anniversary

    09/05/2016 - By 

    I hope all of you momma’s had an enormously good Mother’s Day Weekend. I spent a lot of it wondering how the mothers from Fort McMurray were holding up, and if the Syrian refugee mothers would be celebrated somehow. Let’s keep them in our thoughts. I donated to both causes this weekend, not sure how I could handle such a tragedy. Especially since my weekend was the opposite- my weekend was exquisite. I spent Saturday finishing up cleaning and shopping for my husband’s anniversary present. I was on a budget but found a suitable present within my budget. Just those…

  • Things My Husband Has Taught Me

    02/05/2016 - By 

    My Husband is very wise. Here are some fun things his steady, calm, patient attitude has taught me: Things always go on sale. There is no need to pay full price for (almost) anything Some things may be fated, but hard work gives fate a helping hand and will lead you to it faster and surer Kids need limits to feel safe and loved Being outside is a natural anti-depressant and when you don’t feel like doing that at all, that is when you need it the most Good things come to those that wait; but also to those that…

  • It’s All About the Wording. How We Can Change Our Parenting Strategy.

    11/04/2016 - By 

      I had a thought the other day. In our front hall is a mess of coats and shoes and at the end of this controlled chaos is a spot for the kid’s backpacks. Just behind that is a lovely wall adorned with a mirror, three lovely art prints and hooks for our favourite scarves.  So why does it make my kids cringe? Because, silly me, I have decided to put the kid’s chore charts there as well, just beside the scarves and under the art prints. In big BOLD letters it yells at them CHORE CHART. The chores they…

  • I Went All the Way to Cuba to Gain Confidence in my Parenting.

    29/03/2016 - By 

    My little family of four just went to Cuba for a friend’s wedding. It was magical. The midnight flight there wasn’t magical, but totally worth it to end up in paradise.  My kids were tired but also enthralled by the sight of the blue water and the white sand. None of us had seen such a perfect landscape in our entire lives and I felt like a billionaire being able to show my kids this so early in their lives- endless memories being made for them. Isabella and Hunter couldn’t wait to get down to the water so they went…

  • Be A Rebel.

    21/02/2016 - By 

    Be a Rebel. Be a positive thinker. I was standing with a bunch of moms once. I didn’t really know any of them. It was one of those weird city things where you end up in a group of random people and you eavesdrop on their conversation. They didn’t know each other that well either. Chit–chat ensued and they started to bond the only way they knew how. First, they bonded over their complaint about how hard parenting is, which I don’t wholly disagree with. Then they talked about how the weather was terrible, how they don’t get enough sleep,…

  • February is “Eat all the Carbs” Month, Right?

    11/02/2016 - By 

    What is it about February that makes me want to eat only chocolate and bread, pasta and crackers? I crave carbs like crazy, along with sweets. I have started to log my food every day, and as soon as February hit I ate 6 snacks a day instead of 3. Why?? I didn’t even realize I was doing it until I had to sit down every night and write it all in. I think it is that storing up for the cold, dreary month ahead vibe that hibernating animals get. Thank goodness gluten free bread is expensive and not as…

  • A Day With My Kids.

    01/02/2016 - By 

    Today is Monday. The schools here are having a PD Day, where teachers go to learn and the kids stay home from school. My kids ate breakfast for an extra hour and now are running around pretending to be Pokemon characters and dragons. They are hyper! Normally we would have struggled them in to their snow pants, coats, hats and mitts and walked them to school. I would be back home,  having coffee and looking up emails on my phone. Josh would be working from the living room while finishing up a coffee before taking off. Today has been different…

  • Feeling Calm All The Time is BullSh*t.

    19/12/2015 - By 

    I see a lot of articles lately on teaching yourself, or your children, to reach a “lasting calm” that “never” fades. Teach your children and tell your friends, folks! You will only have one emotion until the end of time! Fabulous, correct? No. There are so many articles about this that I am starting to get a little affected by them. It’s not right. People who are always trying to achieve a “lasting calm”, even during their most stressful times, are doing themselves a disservice, I think. They come back from yoga or a meditation retreat feeling “blissful” or “enlightened”,…