Surmounting the Seventh-Grade Syndrome

For most of my childhood, I was your typical ugly kid: a dynamite blend of coke-bottle glasses, braces with neon rubber bands, and pasty-white, gangly limbs. I say this not in an attempt at false modesty or a consequence of deep self-loathing. If you were to look at my seventh-grade yearbook and point to the ugliest child, you…

Preparing for Group Care: Label Everything, But Expect to Come Home with Someone Else’s Sippy Cup

Finding quality childcare can be one of the most stressful tasks for working parents. Like many, we decided group care best fit the needs of our family. Leaving your child with others is never easy, but here’s a few tips I’ve learned from having two children in daycare that might make the transition easier: 1) Label Everything, But…

What My Daughter’s First School Assignment Taught Me About Myself

At my daughter’s kindergarten open house in June, she received a Flat Stanley and a colourful folder with a detailed description of “Our Summer Flat Stanley Book Project.” During the open house, my daughter coloured and cut out a picture of a little boy to glue onto a tongue depressor. I never interfere with her…

Happy Kid, Sad Kid, Same Mom

The exuberant faces beaming from glossy family magazines is proof positive that, in our society, a happy child is synonymous with good parenting. If your little one smiles easily, laughs with enthusiasm, and toddles through life relaxed and content, you must be doing something right. Bravo! After your happy kid is in bed, pour yourself…