• Health - parenting - Parenting

    This is Who She Will Be #tweens

    January 17, 2013 - By 

    I am always proud of my kids. Every day from the second they joined our home, their tiny hearts beating in sync with mine. I love them beyond measure, like many Moms the world over, and yet, sometimes parenting is dull. It is magical – ephemeral – a little unbelievable – and then it is exhausting. Draining. Bone weary hard work. The older they get, the further and faster they speed away from you. Daily. You can see it when they wake up and walk down to make their own cereal. And it is good and welcome and even a…

  • Food

    Cooking With Kids – Turkey Stuffing Pot Pie

    January 17, 2013 - By 

    TURKEY stuffing pot pie is a recipe I’ve had my eyes on for weeks. Yesterday we decided to give it a try. At one point somebody sent a flyer around with the usual Dempster’s promotions in it and I found this recipe for Turkey Stuffing Pot Pie. I thought it looked so yummy that I had to make it. The ingredients and instructions are perfect for tweens who like to help cook and Payton was eager to help. We ended up with two versions. The Turkey Stuffing Pot Pie can be served in individual ramekins so everyone has their own…

  • Parenting

    Are They Real Sisters? – National Adoption Day Bloghop

    November 17, 2012 - By 

    These are my girls, Ainsley and Payton. Sisters. Daughters. Great friends. They love and fight and play and hug and eat and drink and dance and dream and share part of our lives, our home and hearts.  They are the reason we wake up and breathe and do – pretty much everything. There was a time when we didn’t know if we could be parents. There was a time I didn’t even know if I wanted to be a parent, if I am being 100 % truthful. I wanted a career – writing was my passion – and many days…

  • Food

    Best Apple Cinnamon Butternut Squash Soup

    October 25, 2012 - By 

    If it’s autumn here it’s all about the squash. I don’t like much about autumn transitions, but the food is amazing. Butternut squash and apples and corn and pumpkin pie are some seasonal favourites. So when I found this recipe for Apple Cinnamon Butternut Squash Soup on Life Made Delicious I was keen to try it. Now, the kids didn’t help much with this one because they were at school when I made it, but Thursday is my Cooking With Kids segment and soups and stews are always a hit with my kids. I anticipate they will give this a…

  • active family travel - family - parenting - Travel

    Addalock Review – Safe on the Go #Travel Lock

    April 30, 2012 - By 

    Addalock Review   Imagine a lock on the go. Addalock is a simple effective little invention you can toss in your suitcase and carry with you anywhere. When I heard about the device I was interested because safety is a huge priority here and because I have a child with special needs who wanders. Now, I am pretty sure that Addalock wasn’t intended necessarily as a special needs tool, but I can see useful applications here. My daughter from a very young age could get out any door and had very little impulse control, so we were hypervigilant, and we…

  • Technology

    One Word New Year’s

    January 4, 2012 - By 

    Productivity is a goal here every day. Writing can be a solitary activity. It is indeed a craft and vocation that only works if you are super self disciplined. I am actually mostly that person. I can focus hard when necessary and get jobs done. But, it is with renewed intent that I am choosing this as a word to guide the next year. Productivity. Here’s why. People have been asking me repeatedly this week about New Year’s resolutions and really, they aren’t a thing I do. Instead, I choose goals and try to meet them and strive to improve…

  • family - Parenting

    Ten Ways to Carve Out Family Play Time in the Fall and a Contest too!

    September 28, 2011 - By 

      The race cars in the new Kindertoys are a big hit here Well my last #KinderMom post was all about my summer bucket list and I am happy to report that, with the exception of manicures and pedicures, my kids and I managed to cross off most of the items on our To-Do bucket list. Labour Day weekend was a whirlwind. But play doesn’t stop just because it is September and we are back to school routines, homework, Original Kids, martial arts, swimming and riding lessons. Whew! Did I really just say all of that? I am tired just typing…

  • advocacy
    family - Parenting

    Advocacy – WIN THEN BUILD Philosophy

    September 13, 2010 - By 

    This is something I share when I do workshops throughout North America on advocacy. But because I know so many friends with children who can use this information I thought I would post a tipsheet on the topic. I call it the WIN then Build philosophy of advocacy. I run a non profit (Canadian Coalition of Adoptive Families http://www.canadiancoalitionofadoptivefamilies.ca/) in which I often use these tactics and I am a Mom and I have a child with special needs. This is what works my experience. Of course there’s more than one way to make things happen but this worked well…

  • grief_in_adoption
    Parenting

    The End of School Blues: Triggers for Grief in Adoption

    June 7, 2010 - By 

    Let’s take a minute to talk about triggers. We all have them, triggers that sometimes seize us by the heart and drag us back to a memory – good, bad or otherwise. Triggers can be like strange little portals to the past. Sometimes brought on by a smell, a time of year, a feeling, a picture. Triggers for Grief in Adoption are many and they sometimes arrive out of the blue for parents. But for kids in care and adoptees they can be hard to cope with and even harder to communicate clearly to adults. They are visceral and emotional.…

  • family - Parenting

    Building Adoptive Family Traditions at Christmas #adoption

    December 23, 2009 - By 

    People are forever writing and asking about traditions this time of year. I didn’t always feel as strongly as I do now about creating family memories and traditions. In fact there was a time I would have scoffed out loud at that kind of talk. My traditions in my family of origin were sometimes fun and sometimes, as a child, they seemed painstaking. Many were aimed at pleasing adults and a lot were centred around eating and sitting around the Christmas tree. When I got married I made a choice to create my own type of marriage, my own style…