family
Families are all shapes, sizes and colours. The content here about parenting tries to reflect the various ways that families are built in the 21st century. Whether you are a single parent by choice, a divorced mom or dad, coparenting or a family that struggled with infertility and eventually conceived via IVF, there are a few common threads. We all want the best for our children and our family, no matter how big or small. Parenting is the hardest job yet by far, but it can also be the most rewarding too. Here's what we've learned. We hope it helps on those days when you are contemplating how you can keep going.
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I Still Believe Opens This Week
When was the last time you saw a movie that truly moved you? I Still Believe, opening this week, is a powerful tale that will touch your heart. I am taking part in the I Still Believe Influencer activation with Graf-Martin Communications. I have been compensated and my opinion is all my own. I Still Believe in Faith and Romance From the makers of I Can Only Imagine comes the true life story of Jeremy Camp and his remarkable journey of love and loss that proves there is always hope in the midst of tragedy and that faith tested is the only faith worth having. Seventeen Magazine voted I Still…
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Greece Coloring and Writing Book For Your Family Trip
In May of this year my oldest daughter and I will travel to Greece for the first time ever. We are beyond stoked. It is her last year of high school and she literally just a few days ago got accepted into university. Her first choice for the subject she wants! Can’t wait to celebrate that in Greece. Learn All About Greece Now While my children are way too old for this cute Greece coloring and writing book, yours might just be exactly the right age for it. I love getting kids psyched about travel and geography and learning all of the things about this beautiful world we live in.…
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Best Inspirational Quotes About Being Different – For Misfits and Rebels
Here’s to Being Different and having the strength to stand strong in a world that makes you feel often as if you need to conform. What a dull place the world would be without unique and rare thinkers. Last month, my inspirational mental health quotes post did really well. So, with that in mind and because I love creative thinkers, here’s the Best Inspirational Quotes About Being Different. Post may contain affiliate links as a service to readers. I receive a small commission via qualifying purchases. “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.…
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Five Easy Ways to Encourage a Reluctant Reader to Read
I had a super reluctant reader. It was kind of devastating to watch her struggle with learning to read because reading and writing are my favourite things and it’s also how I make a living. But, my one girl did not do well. Her processing speed is slower due to a few things such as FASD (fetal alcohol spectrum disorder) and ADHD symptoms of hyperactivity and so she struggled decoding language and making it work. She has several diagnoses and school can be harder for her than it is for some other kids. So instead of literally and figuratively beating our heads against the wall trying to teach her, we…
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The Year of Clarity and Positivity
What are your plans and goals this year? Lately, my daughters and some of my friends have been talking about plans for 2020, the year of clarity. 2020 vision equals clarity. Get it? I really like that metaphor for the new year and the new decade. Perhaps, this decade will be one of clarity. One daughter has a goal to drink more water and frankly that’s clearly a goal I am all about. I think that’s a great ongoing goal for me, but I am already doing well there, so it’s not really my resolution. That same daughter, who has anxiety disorder, has a goal to be less hard on…
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Karate Lunch Box Jokes
Karate Lunch Box Jokes are the cutest thing to add to your kid’s lunch when they go back to school in the New Year. I mean New Year new approach to lunch, right? Listen, if your kids are at all like mine they might need a bit of encouragement going back after Christmas. Oh, I know a lunch box joke set might not change the world but it is a nice little reminder that even when you are apart you are still thinking of them. Karate Love Most of you know that my kids are karate black belts. They’ve been at it for years now. My younger daughter has been…
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New Affordable Canadian Mattresses – Mirabed
We received product in exchange for honest consideration in this post about affordable Canadian mattresses. My youngest daughter has been asking for a room makeover for months. There never seemed to be time. But last summer when she went away to camp in Muskoka, we stripped everything off of the walls and painted the room three different colours. Of course, she helped picked the shades out. That gave her space a big boost of colour. And she was thrilled with the results when she came home. But, there was still the matter of the furniture and a mattress. Her bed, a loft bed, was way too small and she had…
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Adorable Burrito Surprise Toys for Children
I received product for consideration in the gift guide this year. Post may contain affiliate links. Have you heard of CuteTitos? Or Babitos yet? You will. These CuteTitos and Babitos are currently wrapped and under my tree for my niece. She’s too little to read this content, so there’s no chance that she will find out. Anyways, CuteTitos are sweet little stuffed animals and unique creatures that come with their own small blanket burrito. Unroll Something Special So adorable! These are surprise toys because you don’t know what you get until you unroll the burrito pet inside. Unroll to reveal a new soft pet with its own burrito. Each pet…
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Inspiring Imagination with Zing
I received Zing toys for consideration here. My opinion is all my own. Inspiring imagination is what play should be all about. When kids play, either indoors with a game or construction set or outdoors with their friends, their imaginations are what make it so much fun. In my opinion, the best gifts are the gifts that work towards inspiring imagination in our kids. Inspiring Imagination Indoors and Out Remember when you were a kid? Every game was so much bigger than what was really happening. Tag was a battle for survival. Hide and seek was a stealth opp. Those were the times when we had the most fun, and…
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London Santa Claus Parades and More
There are several London Santa Claus Parades so the good thing about that is if you miss one or can’t make it, then you will in all likelihood be able to catch a different local Santa Claus parade. When our kids were younger this was an annual event, even those years when it snowed like crazy, and those years when it rained cats and dogs. There’s something fun about watching a parade together, all huddled up trying to stay warm while watching the faces of your children light up every time a float passes by. It’s beginning to look a lot like Holiday Season is here in London Ontario. Which…