-
The Art of Hope and Parenting Teens
At some point this past year I realized my children aren’t really children anymore, not in the strictest sense of the word. One is a teenager and the other a tween and that means that in the context of child development they are in fact closer to being adults than they are to being toddlers or preschoolers or children. My heart simultaneously leaps, shouts, cries, expands and contracts as I write that. As they bloom so do I, and yet it also tugs heavily when I think that they will soon be adults. Oh my god how I hope we still have a lifetime together. How I hope I will…
-
My Ontario Valentine Or Ten Reasons We Stay #ohip4ivf #onpoli
Ontario is the province I choose to raise my family in, to build a business, to make my home. There was a time before we adopted our beautiful kids, when we were set to move to British Columbia. We priced it all out and were ready to go as a young married couple. But instead we stayed. There have been many occasions when I’ve contemplated moving to the United States and finding a way through that red tape so that I might work there. But still we stay. This Valentine’s Day, I wanted to take some time to reflect on why we live in Ontario. True, I was born here. I…
-
Male Infertility Infographic #abhc4ivf #abpoli
One in six couples of reproductive age will experience infertility. Infertility can be a devastating diagnosis, financially, emotionally and physically. Male infertility makes up about 40 % of all infertility cases. But somehow male infertility seems to have less awareness than female infertility. In fact the split between the genders and infertility rates is close to equal at 40 % each. There are many causes of infertility from cancer to Crohn’s Disease. A prior sexually transmitted disease can mean you might be at high risk for infertility. There are a few myths and facts here I wanted to share about male factor infertility. Whether infertility is caused by male or…
-
Infertility Community Reacts to IVF Funding Announcement for Ontario #ivf4ON #onpoli
Ontario’s infertility community reacted with many emotions this week to news that IVF will soon be funded. That’s long awaited for many who took two or three jobs and sometimes used credit cards and second mortgages to be able to pay for health care treatment needed to get the health care treatment prescribed. Last Thursday, Ontario’s Minister of Health and Longterm Care Deb Matthews announced that public funding would be made available for in vitro fertilization. IVF funding is part of the draft budget officially. The funding will take place starting in 2015. An advisory committee or board will be appointed to help roll the program out. There will be…
-
But I Am Not Done with You Yet
In the end, you think about the many times she danced through the living room holding the cat, with those tiny cat antlers it used to hate. The times she dressed at the vanity in her room draping jewelry on and your eight-year-old eyes thought it was magic. You dreamed she was beautiful and then wished years away so you could grow fast forward. You asked her to twirl. She did and spun you around. She held your hand and said I love you and then she gave you a kiss before heading off to the dance with a friend. The grief fills you with an overwhelming sad stone in…
-
Five Things I Know About Adoption – Adoption Facts
Without a doubt adoptive parenting is the hardest thing you will ever do. But it can also be the most rewarding. For us, adoption was the only way we were going to become a family. It is the greatest gift we ever received and we are always grateful. However, adoptive parenting is not the same as traditional parenting. From the start this journey is harder. You will go through all sorts of grief and loss just to get here often. And then it will be intrusive. It will be hard and also very worth it. But you might question that often. In the interest of helping somebody else maintain sanity…
-
I Didn’t Know I Was a Health Blogger until…
A funny thing happened on the way to my first rodeo – or my first trip to Blogher. I was signing up last minute as I do, because life is busy, when all the schedules started coming and they were addressed to this health and fitness track blogger. Health Blogger? Fitness blogger? Now, I’ve been blogging a good three years easily. And I can tell you categorically that I have not once thought of myself as a health blogger. I am, at times, all over the map here. I know it. I like a lot of things and I like to stretch myself as well. I talk adoption, special needs,…
-
The End of School Blues: Triggers for Grief in Adoption
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. The Triggers for Grief in Adoption For adoptees, or children…
-
Mommy’s school board adventures
This is the story of Mommy’s school board adventures. If you know me, you know I am an advocate and I use my voice for good whenever possible. So I have been gathering ideas on how best to use that locally to help adoptive families and those struggling with demands of special needs adoption. I mean it’s not always enough just to have a loving family. You have to also have a family of champions willing to stand up for you. Anyways enough serious stuff – this is the story of Mommy’s school board adventures. Ever have one of those days? All dolled up last week. Cute new H&M spring…
