• My Kids Learn How to Place a Call.

    24/08/2015 - By 

    Do you know what I realized as I dropped the kids off at their grandma’s for a week? I haven’t taught my kids how to dial a phone, or make an emergency phone call! I am kind of appalled with myself. So…before I left grandma’s house for the long drive home, I taught the kids how to dial my phone number and reminded them how to make an emergency call…and also what constitutes an emergency, just in case they thought not being able to find a toy counted. The wonderful off-shoot of this life skill being taught? My daughter has…

  • To New Moms

    08/01/2015 - By 

    If I could write to all new moms I would say so many things. One of those things is that the biggest lie out there is it gets easier. You will just have to rise to new challenges. Some of these challenges will seem less, um, challenging than the last but it will never be easy. If it is easy then you have a kid who acts as if he is always on Prozac. Wait, that’s a new challenge right there. You will never feel like you have had enough sleep, you will never feel that you have enough time,…

  • Little Nighttime Rituals

    08/10/2014 - By 

    Isabella is a sensitive kid, just as I was when I was little, and maybe still am. As a sensitive person in an unpredictable world, she needs a certain amount of routine she can count on. I started a new night time ritual just so she would have a nice transition in to sleep. It all started when we were building Lego as a family one Saturday afternoon and Isabella turned to us and said, “I have a secret I have been keeping for awhile, and some of it is bad.” Did your blood just run cold? Mine did! My…

  • A Six Year Old View of Australia

    25/04/2014 - By 

    All she talks about is animals and her goal is to “either be a singer on a stage or work at the zoo” .  That dream should change about a million times from now until she is working. Any way, so she mentions Australia. I don’t know what got in to my head but I asked her if she wanted to hear something cool as she got ready for bed. Of course she did. So I picked a sticker on the wall and said “this is the sun” and then I formed my hands in to an “O”. The thumbs…

  • Why Rewarding Expected Behaviour In Your Kids Is Wrong

    25/04/2014 - By 

    I was on Pinterest today. There were so many pins and boards dedicated to motivating kids to do chores. A lot of the pins involved crafts to set up punch cards or checklists for chores, and at the end the child would receive a reward. I was thinking a sticker, or a family bike ride, a movie night,  or something similar. I was wrong and when I started to read the comments I realized this quickly. Many of the parents posted “Oh this works so amazing. At the end of the list I give him $20 and he has to…

  • Isabella’s Fifth Birthday

    28/08/2013 - By 

    In the not-so-distant past… Today I had Izzy. On that day she isn’t even born yet….. I am in super painful back labour, and telling the doctors there is no way I can go through with this. But thanks to miracle drugs of the modern world I was able to relax and get through it. On the original birth day she was born at 10:22pm. 😀   I had her birthday party with friends in June, but today is her actual birthday and in September I am planning to have a family dinner for the family that lives here. Oh,…

  • The Successor. Welcoming a New Cat.

    10/07/2013 - By 

    Summer is always so busy. I find it busier than the school year. Days are filled with visitors, travel, day trips and play dates. I’ve been so busy that I temporarily fell off the fitness and yoga wagon. 🙁 But I’m back on it!! I started up again and the Husband and I are even planning on doing our yoga DVD tonight. (Transformation with Jivamukti Yoga, if you’re wondering). I’ve also been doing my weights again and have been trying to eat better. For awhile the patio furniture kept calling for me to sit on it and drink beers. I’m…

  • Rest In Peace Simon Cat

    19/06/2013 - By 

    We had to put Simon down. I am heartbroken and devastated. The vet agreed with my choice and we talked at length about it. He was beginning to act feral. He had even begun targeting Hunter’s things and hissing and scratching at Hunter. Some days he would hiss and scratch at us and act as if he had never seen us before in his life. The vet said if it is medical it would be something that would need intensive treatment and it would be an extensive process to find out. But she suspects I would have a lengthy vet…

  • My Cat Has Behavioural Problems

    12/06/2013 - By 

    I have a cat because dogs take a lot of attention and care. You need to pet them and walk them and kennel them when you are out so they don’t get pissed off and pee on your couch or rip up a pillow. But my cat Simon is being like that. We’ve decided we are going to take him to the vet again next week. He doesn’t seem to be in pain so we are waiting for payday, as sad as that may seem. I am guessing either he has another bout of urinary tract crystals or it’s behavioural…

  • The Trouble with Cats.

    09/06/2013 - By 

    There is so much conflicting advice on the internet about what to do with a cat that seems to have a behavioural problem. And believe me, I have tried it all. Well, all feasible options. My cat Simon is peeing in inappropriate places. Wait, that makes him sound like a flasher. Haha. Let me start at the beginning. Simon started to act grumpy as soon as we had Isabella. He acted so grumpy around her we’d lock him out of her room at night, just in case. He doesn’t seem to like them touching him, doesn’t seem to trust them.…