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Is Every Step of the Way the Hardest Stage?
Is every step of the way the hardest stage when parenting? Lately, I ask myself a lot of questions related to parenting teenagers. Like how is this stage even harder than when they were infants? How am I losing more sleep than ever over my kids? Why did I think parenting would be a good idea? How is it possible this is the hardest stage yet? Are you a parent of teenagers? Do you know what I mean? Do you ever ask yourself why did I have kids? Be honest. Of course we love our kids, who are now teenagers. I am not calling that in to question. Many of…
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11 Survival Tips For Raising Teenage Daughters
Raising teenage daughters is not a walk in the park. Your sweet little girl, that adorable baby you used to dress up in cute pink dresses, who insisted on reading Robert Munsch bedtime stories all snuggled up in her toddler bed for years, is now a teenager. Oh yeah, it happened fast too, didn’t it? Overnight, she’s a surly teenager with attitude, and you wonder how your relationship will survive this. Relax, the good news is you’ll both be fine…eventually. There are just some things that you need to remember. Chief among those is DO not take it personally. You were a teenager once. Try to think like your teenage…
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Stupid Tears and Being a Special Needs Parent
I’ve become a spectacle. The crazy Mom sitting in the grocery store parking lot crying stupid tears in a minivan. You don’t want to know her. She’s pathetic and cliche. But too many times lately she’s me crying in the parking lot at Sobey’s, No Frills or Food Basics. Look away. Perhaps you are new here and you don’t know me, but I am not a cryer. In fact crying is something I typically do once or twice a year maybe. Like a thing I allow myself very rarely in controlled situations at home. Nobody needs to see me crying in the parking lot at the grocery store. Or anywhere…
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Alone at Home Overnight – When is it Okay for Teens to Man the Fort
Alone at home. The ultimate test for a teenager. Mom and dad are gone overnight. The house is theirs. How will they handle it? Will mom and dad come back to a home just as they left it. Will they discover a beer bottle under the couch from the wild party that 16 year old Jessie had. Or will they simply return to discover too many dishes in the sink from too many hours on the PS4? These questions and more go through all of our minds when the day finally comes to leave the kids alone at home. But when is that day? Leaving the Kids Alone at Home…
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Conversations With My Canadian Kids About The US Election Outcome
It started this morning when my youngest got a text from a friend that stated: “The World is Ending.” “Mom, what does this mean?” “Well,” I said, “I believe she’s referring to the US election outcome.” Picture a giant question mark hanging between us. “Donald Trump won last night. It was close.” I think she said “No Way” or something to that effect and we ate breakfast in our home, in a suburb in Ontario, Canada. I told the news to my eldest daughter before she left for high school. Because I wanted her to hear it from me first. Throughout the campaign there were a lot of strange rumours that germinated…
