• family

    My #Thanksgiving Social Media Gift To You: A Top Ten of How To Do Social Media Well

    October 1, 2012 - By 

    Lately I am doing a fair bit of social media consulting which means I am thinking through the ways in which we connect on line. And more than that, the ways in which connecting builds business. This is a massive area of growth for me that has come after several years of blogging. It is a 24/7 job, like blogging and twitter and social media, period. It is a constant evolution and it is dynamic and challenging and I love every minute of building strategy. It is a great fit for me. When I not monitoring my own social accounts,…

  • family

    Social Media Superstars: Who Won My Third Ever Award

    September 29, 2012 - By 

    Alright, alright! I know what you are thinking. Well it’s been awhile since I dusted this award off and you are right too long perhaps. But I have been busy scouring the nation for social media superstars.  Not really, but I had you for a minute there, didn’t I? Anyways the first ever Social Media Superstars Award went to my amazing bank TD Canada Trust several months ago and the many reasons for that are here in my first social media superstars award post. But this week, this award specifically for rock stars of social media, is for – drumroll…

  • family

    Curious George #WordlessWednesday

    September 25, 2012 - By 

    Meet George. Curious George. Our latest. Because you know we just can’t get enough of baby guinea pigs. He will be Georgia if it turns out he is a girl. But for now, based on past experience with ummmm gender and guinea pigs I think it best to assume he is a boy. This is Wordless Wednesday, a photo meme. I link up at Tara’s View of The World.

  • Parenting

    Walmart Canada #MOTY Finalists and Inspirations #adoption

    September 18, 2012 - By 

    At the start of the summer I was fortunate to work with Walmart Canada to promote this incredible (soon- to-be annual) Mom of The Year campaign. So many Moms qualify for Mom of the Year every year because of the Herculean efforts juggling so many important things every day. Kids, work, marriage, volunteer commitments and sometimes caring for grandparents too. So here’s a big fat pat on the back for every Mom out there who deserves recognition. Hip Hip Hooray for Moms everywhere. Kudos to Walmart Canada for recognizing Moms in Canada. This is the kind of campaign that makes…

  • family

    On Things That Mothers Keep

    September 14, 2012 - By 

    Some day when my hair is silver grey and you are older you will find tiny baby teeth held back from the tooth fairy`s vast collection, random works of my kindergarten Picassos and every hand-drawn card my grandchildren ever sent me. When I am old and you are older and all this is meant to be emptied, divided up, sold off or given out you will find the cards I forgot to send and some that were sent to me when my heart was full and I was young and I made my mark on the world as a teacher,…

  • family

    What Hooked Me First #PTPAInsider

    September 13, 2012 - By 

    What hooked me first was the hair. Oh, I’m deadly serious here. Anyone who hangs out at PTPA media web site, or watches the great televised appearances of the PTPA (parent tested and parent approved) winner’s list of products knows who I am talking about when I say PTPA and hair in the same sentence. I am of course, talking about CEO Sharon Vinderine.  A couple of years ago at a digital media conference, PTPA CEO Sharon Vinderine spoke. And then again last year at She’s Connected 2011. Vinderine is a savvy business woman and the head of a really…

  • Health - infertility - Parenting

    Explaining Why #OHIP4IVF #onpoli Makes Sense

    September 9, 2012 - By 

    Some of my readers and followers will have noticed I am on a new mission here lately _ one that involves championing the needs of families as usual, but from a slightly different perspective. Lately I am tweeting with the hashtag #Ohip4ivf because I have joined forces with a group called Conceivable Dreams. Conceivable Dreams is an advocacy based grassroots organization that started with the passion of two parents bent on educating public and government about the needs of parents in waiting, parents seeking to become families through the help of a process known as in vitro fertilization. I typically…

  • family

    Big Time Rush Concert #WoohooLondon

    September 6, 2012 - By 

    Several months ago I spied a great Groupon deal for tickets to see Big Time Rush. Now, to my girls, Big Time Rush is kind of like oh I dunno Bay City Rollers were to me. So that was a no brainer. I bought the tickets and put them away for my oldest daughter’s eleventh birthday. That was my very first Groupon purchase and let me tell you it was a learning experience. I had no clue I was supposed to print out the voucher and bring it with me to reimburse for tickets. Be warned: do that first. Anyways,…

  • Back To School - special needs

    The Next Big Buzzworthy Kid’s Accessory: Gutzy Gear Review

    September 4, 2012 - By 

    I am crazy for these little collector items called Gutzy Gear and I will tell you why. Gutzy Gear is a collector system that appeals to kids and tweens, maybe even teenagers. You start with a hat or backpack straps (as seen here) and then you build and collect these velcro patches and customize each strap. There are also collector books and visors you can buy to dress up. My girls received some of the backpack straps from my time at Blogher New York this summer and so I let them dress their backpacks up for the first day of…

  • Back To School

    Bras to Back to School Shopping – All in a Week #sandgen

    September 1, 2012 - By 

    From bras, to brakes, to back to school shopping. This was one of those marathon weeks in the life of me, when life became achingly exhausting. Deadlines mounted, a magazine article was due and then back and ready for edits that needed to be done yesterday and then of course brakes on my mini-van needed an unexpected service and eight paid jobs were due and so on and so forth. Oh, and somehow in there I am supposed to squeeze in massive dental restorations and back to school shopping – Huh?!  Anyways the life of a sandwich generation Mom is…