I am $1.20 in the hole. My youngest daughter made me a bet that I had to take for the weekend. She challenged me to quit swearing. Ten cents a swear word. So I set up a swear jar. A dime? A couple of my friends huffed angrily that I was taking advantage of my daughter by not advising her that she should have made it a loonie a swear word, but the amount wasn’t the point. I am not proud that I swore twelve times over the weekend (within hearing range of my child. She might have missed a…
This summer I am trying my hardest to trick my brain into forgetting summer math. June plus July plus August equals my three favourite months. Summer is fleeting, especially in Canada. It’s a blink-and-you-miss-it-kind-of-season. Time flies, but summer time well that’s like a Concord whipping by at breakneck speed. how many more weeks do we get to enjoy this beautiful weather? How much more time off school? How many more summers with my kids at home? Only 6 more years and one will be in college or university. That’s tween Mom math. Summer math. In my experience, the only way…
I had beautiful nails for months. It’s true. They were gorgeous. And I got a lot of comments back when I was using gel polish, getting my nails done professionally. My professional image is part of my business. When I look good, I present a more professional image to the world as a strategist and entrepreneur. I feel more confident and I land more contracts. Confidence is important. I had lovely, coloured, polished, shiny nails for maybe even the greater part of a year and I enjoyed having them done. So, what’s the problem, you ask? Well, I mean,…
Think they don’t care much about what is written on report cards? Think that little people are oblivious to how the teacher sees them and feels about them? Words matter, and never more so than when someone is assessing a child with special needs after a year of school. This is our first experience with a really accepting and lovely teacher who clearly understood and liked my youngest daughter. I am driving both my kids to Build-A-Bear to celebrate their last day of school when the little one cracks open her report card and starts reading it word for word.…
I am the daughter of a teacher. My memories of marking papers and playing games at the back of my mother’s grade two classroom are strong. Many August days at end of the summer, I worked with my Mom, steadying the ladder as she lovingly decorated her classroom. Teaching is a calling I respect. A teacher’s job can be hard, rewarding and trying all at once. This post was sponsored by the Ontario College of Teachers. I was compensated as a result. My opinion is my own. However, as the parent of two girls in the school system and I am very often…
Until recently I assumed Puerto Vallarta was simply a cruise ship stop. I was so wrong. Puerto Vallarta Mexico is a destination with a rich culture, amazing food and a host of activities for travellers of all sorts. This is another post in my Puerto Vallarta family travel series. This month I visited Puerto Vallarta for the first time ever. I have been to Mexico a few times now. We travelled to Cancun as a family and we toured Chichen Itza a few years ago. I find Mexico to be extremely affordable and enjoyable for family travel. We have also stayed…
This past week Payton and I spent some time in Puerto Vallarta. One morning we went to Dolphin Discovery and we had time to interact with dolphins. It was a fun morning and it was a special few days with my oldest girl.
Books about Bullies can be a great tool for classrooms and children at home to learn appropriate behaviour among peers. Bullying is an issue that unfortunately doesn’t seem to go away. And bullies occur everywhere at every age and stage. In every school too. So equipping your child with tools to battle bullying is important. These Books About Bullies can help. Bullying is a hot topic in today’s world. It seems to be an unfortunate reality that when we put a group of kids together, some are going to pick on others. As parents, we need to teach our children…
Linked In is often the punchline in people’s social media jokes. But honestly if you are ignoring this platform entirely then you are missing the point. Linked In can be a powerful search engine and a very useful professional channel for connecting and sharing leads and information. Linked In Groups are one of my favourite things about Linked In. I’m forever amazed at the business people and bloggers who are not yet capitalizing on connecting via Linked In or Linked In Groups. I have heard Linked In dubbed boring and dull, even pointless. Frankly I am not here to convince you…
Spider Force Web Blaster is great for children who love active play. So when this fun new Spiderman themed toy arrived here I pictured her using it many times and having a great adventure creating scenarios where she is a superhero like Spiderman or Super Girl. She’s very into the superheroes. No surprises here she loves the new Spider Force Web Blaster. Friday night fun around here took on a whole new dynamic once we had kids. When they were tiny Friday was blur of feeding, dressing, chasing and diapering the kids. Now we drop the diapering portion of that, but the…