Extricating Myself From The Triangle

Tee is in grade four at the local public elementary school this year. One of the programs his teacher has in place is called Home Reading. As the teacher explained at the beginning of the year, it has been proven that readers become better readers by reading, and for her, the next logical step was [...]

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I like this shot…

..because it captures one of the many moods of this mercurial girl. Most of the photos I have of her show her beaming, because that’s her baseline, and it’s not often that I snap a shot of her like this. I look at this one and I know exactly what she’s about to say. It [...]

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What Not to Say When Your Daughter Says She Feels Sick

Why don’t you come for a little car ride with me honey?
On the plus side, I can honestly say that at this moment I truly appreciate having a 12 year old van. After scraping the frozen vomit off the upholstered seats and floor mats, I didn’t have to worry one speck about whether I’d made [...]

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Score!

The second trip to the Big Library in 3 days, and this time I found a totally unexpected surprise….the new David Sedaris book When You Are  Engulfed in Flames. It was one of three Recent Bestsellers (which can only be taken out for a week and can’t be renewed and cost two dollars a day [...]

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Who Has Their Priorities Straight?

Behind our house is our garden.

At the bottom of the garden is the river.

On the river is an ice rink.

In the middle of the rink is a snow fort.

And in the middle of the snow fort is a tunnel.

(thanks to our neighbors, who dedicated the afternoon to shoveling snow off the river instead of off [...]

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In 1989 the United Nations approved The Convention on the Rights of the Child which has now been signed by all but two of the 192 members of the UN.

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There’s Nothing Simple About it

Jay (age 7):  Mom, do you believe that the Canadian warriors in Afghanistand (sic) are important?
Me: AfghanisTAN.
Jay: Yah, that’s what I said, Afghanistand. Well do you?
Me: Well, that’s a tricky question. It’s complicated. What do you think?
Jay: Yes. They’re important because they’re making peace. That’s what my teacher said.
Me: If a Canadian soldier kills an [...]

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Driving the Driven

Another year of extracurricular activities officially kicked off with the start of gymnastics.
Next week we add diving, which L has been participating in so long that we’re all as familiar with every nook and cranny of the pool complex as we are with our own house. Jay practically grew up there.
Soon Tee’s basketball starts as [...]

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A Confession

A beautiful Sunday morning sleep in. I was poked in the ribs at 7am by the littlest princess, who said she was hungry and could I make breakfast, but I only half awoke, just enough to tell her to make her own toast, and then fell right back asleep.
When I finally stumbled down the stairs [...]

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