We live eleven minutes from the beach. For the past four years we have lived 21 minutes from the beach (that should tell you roughly how far we moved). In all that time, (plus the previous three years I’ve lived in this city,) I have only been to the beach twice. Once last year, and…
Family Life
An Empty Fridge
I’m sentimental. That’s the nice way of saying it. You could also call me cluttered; a pack-rat; hoarder. I have a hard time throwing things away. Even when I know that I am not using something and probably won’t for a while, the what-ifs mute any voice of reason. But it is worth something. It would…
How To Explain Marriage to a 3 Year Old
I see him looking up at the walls, eyeing those pictures. In that little three-year-old brain of his, he is wondering if those people in the pictures are really his Mommy and Daddy. He is questioning why Mama looks like a princess. He is trying to remember if he was there. Every once in a…
Not Crying Over Spilled Milk
Text message. 10:24pm. Tuesday night. Hi. Any idea when you’ll be home? When I arrived home from work earlier that day, I didn’t automatically run to my bedroom to take off my bra and throw on sweat pants and put my hair in a ponytail, like I normally do. In fact, that morning I had…
Grownup Time? What’s That?
My five year anniversary is coming up in a couple of weeks. As such, I have been thinking about finding some alone time with my husband, if even just for a meal. In fact, as this is our fifth wedding anniversary, we were planning to take our first vacation since the honeymoon, kid-free. Alas (or,…
How I Went A Full Year Without Medicating My Baby and Other Second Child Problems
Oh, the stories my second child will have to share in therapy. Like how I never put shoes on him, even when we went out. Or how I did nothing for his first birthday. Or how he didn’t have a bed for a whole year. Or how I didn’t get him medical attention for the first…
My Favourite Colour
I am sure there are reasons we are drawn to certain colours at certain times of our lives. My love of orange in junior high coincided with a few years of serious self-discovery and self-creation. Orange was bold and quirky but often underestimated and undervalued in a way that completely mirrored my own feelings. When I…
Dinner Talk
As a newly working Mom, I am really beginning to realize the importance of conversation at the family dinner table. After a long day of being away from my children and my husband and with only a few short hours before bedtime, dinner is the perfect time to grow closer and connect. Cameron is at…
“I Wear My Cloth Diapers At Night”
There’s a little secret that some cloth diaper users don’t always choose to tell you. We don’t cloth diaper exclusively. Sure, we love the financial savings that cloth diapers afford, and we love knowing the materials that are sitting so close to our children’s sensitive skin, and we love knowing that we aren’t filling our…
Stressfree Family Dinners
Stress-free family dinner… is there such a thing? I’m not sure if I have a good answer to this. I think stress-free family dinners are only found at the bottom of a pizza box, and even then you have to worry about your finances. But dinner always comes around once a day and as a…
Dear Gavin: Happy Birthday. It’s Not Fair.
Dear Gavin, This letter is late. You turned one a week and a half ago on April 29th. Whereas I wrote a whole series of posts for your brother’s first birthday, I haven’t written anything for you yet. Until now, that is. Part of me worries about this. I wrestle daily with the guilt that…
