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    Best Inspirational Quotes About Being Different – For Misfits and Rebels

    March 2, 2020 - By 

    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…

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    Five Easy Ways to Encourage a Reluctant Reader to Read

    February 26, 2020 - By 

    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…

  • family - Health

    The Year of Clarity and Positivity

    January 13, 2020 - By 

    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…

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    Karate Lunch Box Jokes

    December 30, 2019 - By 

    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…

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    New Affordable Canadian Mattresses – Mirabed

    December 26, 2019 - By 

    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,…

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    Adorable Burrito Surprise Toys for Children

    December 23, 2019 - By 

    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…

  • Parenting

    We Don’t Get That – Friendships and FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder)

    December 4, 2019 - By 

    “You know how everyone else has a best friend when they are small and they kind of grow up with them? Well, it’s like we don’t get that.” – my daughter, 15, who has FASD. Recently we found a peer support group for my younger daughter. This has been a long time coming. In fact, I’ve basically been looking since she was old enough to have been diagnosed with FASD (fetal alcohol spectrum disorder) at 4 or 5. For years, we had nothing. No support. No local FASD parenting group. I mean, I had a loose group of online advocates…

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    Inspiring Imagination with Zing

    November 24, 2019 - By 

    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…

  • Parenting

    Best Gift Books To Share This Christmas

    November 14, 2019 - By 

    It’s time for my Christmas gift guide! This year, I am starting with my recommendations for gift books. These were sent to me for consideration in the gift guide this year. My kids love to read. Do they pick up books as often as I wished? No. They often read fan fiction online but it’s still reading and literacy, so there’s something to be said for that. Over the years with teens, I have learned to pick and choose my battles. We keep bookshelves stocked full of books and we visit the library and use Kobo’s and other ereaders too.…

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    London Santa Claus Parades and More

    November 10, 2019 - By 

    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…