It’s October, and my calendar is laughing

  Sometimes life gets busy.  Sometimes the things we need to do pile higher than the hours available to do them.  It happens. And it’s happening here.  Not a single thing I can complain about, yet the days are whipping by.  I can’t be sure, but I think the calendar is laughing at me.  We are six weeks into our new house.  Most of the important settling in was done in the first three weeks.  But that devil routine...

Tiny girl, big back to school dreams

And just like that, we are living in our new house, my son is settled in his new grade three class and my daughter, my wee girl, my babe is in preschool.  Oh, my heart. Did you ever think back to school could be so precious? And precocious.  Lord, the sweet moments we have had.  She introduces herself with a handshake to other parents, is already charming her teachers – who were mistakenly led to believe she had...

Chasing the Good Life

~ my nomination for the Dove® Celebrate Mom Contest ~ This post is part of YummyMummyClub.ca’s support of the Dove® Celebrate Mom Contest.  I received compensation as a thank you for my participation.  This post reflects my personal opinion about the information provided by the sponsors. You can nominate inspiring moms here:  www.CelebrateMom.ca I was so pleased to be asked to take part in this project.  It’s so...

Tiny mirrors

One of the most beautiful things about having kids is seeing them learn to share their hearts with others.   But it can also be one of the most difficult areas of parenting to navigate.  Where are the right answers when dealing with kids’ emotions?  How do we know when we are on the right track?  Where is the finish line? Let me save you some time – there are no right answers, there are many different paths and...

Women to celebrate

A while ago I spent a Friday evening sharing some of my favourite women to follow on Twitter – with the hashtag #WomenToCelebrate.  I enjoyed it so much that I want to expand on the idea.  After all, not all of you are on Twitter, or perhaps that’s not where you find connection most easily. Every so often, I want to spotlight women who I feel are worth your time to celebrate.  Some may have given me a moment...

Knowing her own mind

We all know the signs, don’t we?  A certain set to a tiny jaw; the undeniable stamp of a small foot. My youngest is three, and there’s no denying she is going to have her own opinions.  I can already tell she’s going to be willing to express them, insist on them, and defend them.   As parents, what do we do?  Is it easiest to just insist she do what we want?  Should we expect her to meet our expectations, bend to...

Celebrating women on International Women’s D...

Today is International Women’s Day, and the day comes hard on the heels of my second screening of the film Miss Representation.  If you haven’t seen this film, get out to a local event or catch it when it airs (tonight on the Oprah Winfrey Network, check listings.) Between the two, I find myself overwhelmed with thoughts of women and what our lives are like today.  We have such privilege and freedom, yet...

Would you take it all off for a good cause? What ...

No?  How about taking some of it off?  We’ll get to why a little later, first I want to talk about health.  Our health.  Women’s health.  You, me, your sister, your mom, your aunt, your best friend…and maybe someday, your daughter. As we get older and start to own our health as adults, there are a few spectres that loom more than others. Heart attack, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and cancer, and most...

And life overflows

So this weekend has been full of warm fuzzies. I’m all the more convinced I know the best people.  Why?  Well, first I got news that I’d been nominated for a Canadian Family Readers’ Choice award!  A challenge was put out to attendees at a recent conference, and I decided to submit.  I feel appreciative of the opportunity to write, submit, and to have been chosen as one of the final group. I wrote a...

A perfectly imperfect Blissdom Canada

Inspiration struck Toronto this past weekend, and I was lucky enough to be right in the middle of some of the smartest, most committed women in online media. I attended Blissdom Canada ‘11 at the Hilton Toronto, and like last year, the anticipation ran high.  How could a meeting of this much heart and wisdom ever disappoint? Sure enough, I was amazed by the creativity and passion by the writers, publishers, and public...