Category - family

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From Sympathy There’s Gratitude
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10 Offline Family Activities To Enjoy This Summer
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Running For The Cure
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Super Simple Summer Fun
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Hot For Teacher

From Sympathy There’s Gratitude

It’s Thanksgiving here in Canada and there is so much to be grateful for. But with all the awful things—the violence, the tumultuous and surreal (I mean, can you even believe this has been allowed to go on this long?) political climate, not to mention the unnerving actual climate, it feels like we have to squint to see the good. But it’s there.  I’ve been watching it fill my Facebook feed. It feels right and affirming to see all the happy today.  But then I looked out my window and saw the saddest thing. It literally squeezed the air out of my lungs and made me dizzy with sympathy.  My family room window faces my neighbour’s kitchen window. We didn’t have blinds for a few months when we first moved in here thirteen years ago, so our poor neighbours were likely privy to way too much Thornbury in various states of undress. Tall trees, a substantial generation gap, and a language barrier prevented us from becoming close with our neighbours. But they’ve always smiled and said hello over the fence whenever we’re both out in our yards. And they happily throw back the balls and frisbees that ended up underneath[…]

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10 Offline Family Activities To Enjoy This Summer

I have a love/hate relationship with technology. Social media, cell phones, texting — we have instant access to each other 24 hours a day. We tend to log in and tune out. Canadians spend more time online than any other country. This can mean that every member of a family is online on their own device, even in the same room. I just emailed this shocking fact to my husband sitting across from me on the couch. Many parents have expressed concern about technology’s intrusion into their family time. I feel it. Do you? I grew up pre-internet, so I learned how to maintain a conversation and can easily make human contact without being digitally connected. But can I say the same about my children?  Even if we limit our kids’ screen time, their learning and social skills are still impacted by OUR screen time. Have you ever shushed your child so you could finish composing an email? Have you looked away during your child’s soccer game to post an Instagram photo? Have you texted from the dinner table in the middle of your son telling you about his French test? Not proud of it, but I’ve done all of these[…]

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Running For The Cure

I have so many fears that I’m afraid there’s something wrong. It frightens me.   I worry about things like Hog Weed, and Lyme Disease, and plane crashes, and nuclear war. I’m scared of penicillin resistant super bugs, and child abduction, and funnel clouds, and pesticides, and GMOs, and solar flares destroying the earth or at the very least, our internet access. And tsunamis (which is dumb because I don’t even live near an ocean, but we occasionally visit the seaside). Oh, and Ebola. But the thing that scares me the most; the one fear that consumes my thoughts on a daily basis, is cancer. It’s the Exorcist of diseases. Gory slasher flicks don’t scare me, but horror movies like Paranormal Activity and the Exorcist terrify me because they could happen. Just like cancer could happen. And it does. Based on 2009 estimates two out of five Canadians (45% of men and 41% of women) are expected to develop cancer during their lifetimes. And one out of four Canadians (29% of men and 24% of women) is expected to die from cancer. Source This is truly frightening. FYI, fretting over every lump, bump and funny mole doesn’t actually help. In[…]

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Super Simple Summer Fun

  As Canadians we spend a lot of time indoors. This past winter was especially brutal. Spring arrived just in the nick of time because the Thornburys were getting dangerously close to a “The Shining” situation. Rum—good. Red rum—bad. My kids have been itching to get outdoors and back to nature and that’s exactly what we did last week. We spent seven glorious days with family at their cottage on a lake in New Brunswick— sans wifi or television. No iPhone grafted to my hand? I expected it to be difficult. It wasn’t. It was heaven. Here are a few of the activities we enjoyed: On day one of our vacation, thanks to the last remnants of Hurricane Arthur, we had no choice but to make our own indoor fun. To be clear, the dads coordinated the fun. I sat on the covered porch and read for three solid hours. Bliss. So what fun did the guys come up with? First they played a game — “Super Moose” (Reg. $29.99). It’s a wooden puzzle challenge where players take turns balancing antlers on a wobbly moose head. It’s meant for ages 3+. The older more dextrous and patient kids enjoyed it,[…]

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Hot For Teacher

    *Disclaimer: This post is me making nice for calling my husband “Susan” in a recent blog post*  I married a teacher and I highly recommend it. Teachers love kids, they’re silly and creative, and best of all they’re home all summer! Though by August 31st I’m pretty much ready for him to pack his school bag and hit the road.   Ten reasons I’m lucky to have him With hashtags. #justbecause   1. He’s always the first to apologize. Even if he didn’t do anything wrong. #peacekeeper 2. I don’t have to remind him that I don’t like bok choy. He just knows. #expertchinesefoodorderer 3. My mom told me that you can tell everything you need to know about a man by his eyes. If they’re cold, he’s cold. If they’re kind, he’s kind. If they’re crossed, well, he’s probably being goofy and that’s a good thing. #babysgotblueeyes 4. Even though it’s kind of emasculating he’ll walk the chihuahua if I ask him to. #mychiguy 5. He’d rather stay home with his family than go out on the town. #homebodyhardbody 6. He’s allergic to whining, gossip and cattiness. #Imarriedagrownup 7. He laughs at my jokes. #noaccountingfortaste 8. He[…]

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