• IVF funding in Ontario 2015
    family - Health - infertility

    One Year Later: Happy Anniversary to Infertility Patients And What is Happening with IVF Funding in Ontario 2015

    April 11, 2015 - By 

    One year ago so many infertility patients in Ontario breathed a huge sigh of relief. I remember ecstatic voices and many tears too. I remember this post from last year and the patient reactions. It was an exciting time to be involved in this advocacy effort striving to generate support and IVF funding for infertility patients in Ontario. When the announcement came I remember being here watching it all unfold on television. Right before an election was called. The election plunged everyone into a period of high activity, anxiety and nerves too. It was a roller coaster ride added to…

  • LinkedMoms-Twitter-parties
    active family travel - family - family travel - homes - parenting - Travel

    It’s Time to RSVP For The #ParkbridgeLife Twitter Party April 15 at 8 p.m. EST #travel

    April 10, 2015 - By 

    It was a rainy afternoon in August and our second day at Parkbridge Resorts, Lakes of Wasaga. We were there for three nights as guests. The kids had a friend with them and I was wrestling with the urge to tell them all to get off their Nintendos when I heard my youngest daughter holler: “There’s something over there by the lake.” All three children threw their sandals on and they ambled towards the lake. That weekend we had already spied dozens of groundhogs, we’d been swimming multiple times, made our own fishing poles of twine and branches, spied many…

  • Microsoft-summit-for-21st-century -learners
    family - parenting - special needs - Technology

    Microsoft Summit on 21st Century Learners – EVENT in Windsor, Ontario, April 11 Geared Towards Teachers

    April 9, 2015 - By 

    When I see educational opportunities like this Microsoft Summit on 21st Century Learners happening nearby in Windsor, Ontario I get excited, for several reasons. I am a parent of two children who are still in grade school. Digital kids. I arm both of my girls daily with technology at home and at school and I am abundantly aware of how they absorb media and how they learn. It’s radically different than how I learned 20 to 30 years ago.  Only 20 to 30 years ago we trotted off to school with books and pencils and paper. Now kids carry tablets,…

  • carbon monoxide detector placement
    family - Health - homes - parenting

    Carbon Monoxide Alarm Installation and Maintenance is Key for Family Protection

    April 8, 2015 - By 

    Carbon monoxide alarm installation is important for the maximum protective benefit to you and your family. Tragically, everyone has seen the stories on the news of families that simply don’t wake up. Entire households can die from carbon monoxide, a poison that many people don’t even know is in their home. Carbon Monoxide is a colourless, odourless and tasteless gas and it can be deadly. There is nothing scarier to me as a parent. Danger from carbon monoxide poisoning is not restricted to any one season. It can be lethal all year round. That’s why carbon monoxide alarm installation, maintenance and replacement…

  • LinkedMoms-Twitter-parties
    active family travel - family - Giveaways - parenting - Travel

    Save the Date For Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities Twitter Party – $1200 in prizes April 15 8 p.m.

    March 30, 2015 - By 

    Super excited to share this save the date post with everyone! Remember last August when we visited Parkbridge Lifestyle community in Wasaga Beach? It was really lovely. You can read more about that if you click through to the post from last August. We know that it is almost spring and some people are already starting their summer resort and cottage planning. After all when you live in Canada where we have a mere two months of summer, you need to get accustomed to wringing it for all it is worth. So you plan every last weekend and you map…

  • sex-education-curriculum-Ontario
    family - Health - infertility - parenting

    Should Sex Education Curriculum in Ontario Also Include Infertility and Fertility?

    March 23, 2015 - By 

    Starting in September 2015, Ontario’s schools are working with a new updated sex education curriculum. I am happy to hear that the new Ontario school sex education curriculum will include topics such as transgendered people, homosexuality, sexting and consent. This conversation inside a school might make kids a bit squeamish while sitting through it, but it’s important for life. One morning before school this month, my daughter and I had an open conversation about transgendered people. She legitimately wanted to know something about someone she met while travelling one weekend to Mont Tremblant, Quebec, where we learned to ski. “Mom,” she asked,…

  • family - Health - infertility

    Ontario Infertility Patient Chat Tonight #ohip4ivf #onpoli

    February 25, 2015 - By 

    Ontario is the province I call home. Many of my readers also live in Ontario. I believe strongly in the leadership of this province and I believe also that Ontario values families. There is no greater evidence of this than the recent commitment to fund IVF for people struggling with infertility. Infertile couples will soon have access to vital efficient fertility treatment. Why is that such a big deal? WELL, let me tell you: 1. Funding IVF (in vitro fertilization) with SET ( single embryo transfer) saves money. When couples must pay 10,000 to $13,000 for a round of IVF…

  • Public funding for In Vitro Fertilization is Efficient
    family - Health

    Families Are the Future of Alberta: Public Funding For In Vitro Fertilization Is Efficient #abhc4ivf #abpoli

    February 14, 2015 - By 

      Family Is The Future: In some small way I started in Alberta. It’s true. When my Mom and Dad got married they had their honeymoon in Banff. From Ontario, they took the train through the Western provinces to stay in Alberta. For a truck driver and a teacher in their twenties, newlyweds, Alberta was glamorous and beautiful and different. It was the destination where they started to think of the future, together planning for a family that would come first in the shape of  a baby girl and then 2 years later, a baby boy too. Alberta is a…

  • Ontario Valentine
    family - Health - homes - Parenting - parenting

    My Ontario Valentine Or Ten Reasons We Stay #ohip4ivf #onpoli

    February 13, 2015 - By 

    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…

  • Health

    What To Expect from the 2015 IVF Funding Program: An Interview with Dr. Marjorie Dixon #ohip4ivf #onpoli

    November 13, 2014 - By 

    This year infertility patients in Ontario welcomed the announcement that in vitro fertilization would be funded here as soon as 2015. Public funding for IVF would be a reality. Or would it? After that announcement last April, a spring election was called. That left many feeling worried that proposed funding would never arrive. For infertility patents in Ontario it was a roller coaster of emotions. But remarkably, the spring election resulted in a Liberal majority and the government did in fact reiterate its promise to support an IVF funding program in 2015. Members of Conceivable Dreams were overjoyed and hopeful with the announcement. But…