This fall, hubby and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. Boy did that happen fast. Blink and your eyebrows sprout white hairs.
Continue reading “Twenty Years”Twenty Years
Category: Family
The Greatest Gift of Social Isolation: Time
This is a strange, strange season we’re living in. Never in my life has the entire world shared one single focus: the eradication of the COVID-19 virus. Here in Canada, we’ve been practicing social isolation for close to a month, and counting. As a family of six with a newly minted teenager, we have already had our share of intense, angst-ridden moments. The extroverts are bouncing off the walls and the introverts are craving some real alone time. We miss our extended family and our friends. And I really, really need a haircut.
Continue reading “The Greatest Gift of Social Isolation: Time”The Perks of having Mom in bed
Confession: I have been at low-functioning capacity (ie. in bed a lot) for a combined total of 28 weeks in the past year and a half. While this state of affairs has not been ideal, I have had plenty of time to reflect that it hasn’t come without its blessings. Because, while it has been a period filled with anxiety, worry and suffering, it is undeniable that much fruit has been borne from the pain. Every cloud truly comes with a silver lining.
Continue reading “The Perks of having Mom in bed”Watch this: The Nativity Story
Merry Christmas, dear friends! We are now right in the middle of the Christmas season, which ends on the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6). So while it looks like I’m publishing this post a tad late, it’s not late at all!
One of our favorite (and easy) traditions during Christmas is to watch movies. It’s not something that we do often, so it’s truly a treat to gather together under cozy blankets and watch family movies while drinking hot chocolate. While there are a few good movies which capture the spirit of the season (It’s a Wonderful Life and The Sound of Music are musts), for a while there weren’t any movies which actually told the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. Isn’t it strange and sad that among the myriad of so-called Christmas movies, hardly any of them mention the reason for the season?
Continue reading “Watch this: The Nativity Story”How to Observe Advent like a Boss
Photo by Simon Matzinger on Unsplash.
For those of us who live on this (commercialized) part of the planet, we often confuse the end of Hallowe’en with the beginning of the Christmas season. Secular Christmas decorations show up in the stores before we put the carved pumpkins in the garbage bin. People excitedly begin to light up their homes and radio stations start playing Christmas tunes. All of which make my inner Grinch come out.
Now please don’t get me wrong. I love Christmas like any normal, Jesus-loving person does, and I do love the lights and the trees and all the feasting. But did you know that before Christmas there is the beautiful, month-long season of Advent? Advent is a time of contemplative preparation, a time of anticipation of the epic event that is the birth of our Savior. As someone once explained to me, Advent is to Christmas what Lent is to Easter. I love the idea that we can unite ourselves with Mary and accompany her as she patiently awaits the arrival of her precious baby. Having had the privilege of happily awaiting the birth of each of my children, I keenly feel the sacredness of this expectant season and I wish for our family to enjoy it as fully as possible.
Continue reading “How to Observe Advent like a Boss”Need a laugh? Check out these Funny People
It’s been a rough couple of weeks. One of my kids and I are currently engaged in a brutal game of who-can-push-the-other’s-buttons-the-most. Super fun. Another kid has major disobedience/tantrum/sloth-like issues. I feel like I’m constantly running against the clock, wrangling the offspring to convey them to the next scheduled activity. As a result, I’ve got a bad case of the grumpies, which doesn’t make anything easy on the home front. Sigh sigh sigh.
While I figure out how to sort out this period of chaos and intense emotions, I’m reminded that one of the best ways to get out of a grumpy mood is to laugh. I also need a reminder that while family life sometimes makes me cry, it also has its hilarious moments. No one illustrates this better than a good comedian. Have you heard of Michael McIntyre, Jim Gaffigan, Jason Manford and Sindhu Vee? They are amazing stand up comedians who have had me in stitches over the realities of marriage and parenting. The fact that three out of the four hail from Britain only points to my obsession with all things British.
Continue reading “Need a laugh? Check out these Funny People”My Favorite Things: What is Leisure, Teaching Manners, why Graphic Novels count as Reading, and Bake this Cake
Starting the Homeschooling Year on the Right Foot
Have you heard of homeschooling burnout? Many moms experience it in the bleak month of February when the weather is frigid, noses are forever runny and it’s just been too many days of nonstop math and spelling. But not me! I actually burn out the second week of September. We haven’t even cracked open all the books and I already want to quit. I’ve thought a lot about why this happens to me. I’ve realized that I get incredibly ambitious and excited about our new academic goals, only to feel deflated and defeated when my offspring don’t share in either my ambitions or enthusiasm. Huh.
Continue reading “My Favorite Things: What is Leisure, Teaching Manners, why Graphic Novels count as Reading, and Bake this Cake”What I did last summer: Family Camp
Summer. It’s time to relax, reconnect with friends, and revel in the all-too-brief warm weather. As a homeschooling mom, it’s an opportunity to break from the intensity of the academics and focus on my relationships with my children. Yes, I know that I should be working on those relationships all year round, but it’s so much easier when I don’t have to ask/cajole/bribe/force my kids to do their math and practice their piano.
Continue reading “What I did last summer: Family Camp”Back to normal…sort of
Hello dear blog, how are you? It’s been forever since I paid any attention to you. I had grandiose visions of dedicating more time to my little blog over the summer. I thought that not homeschooling meant more time for other things, like writing. Isn’t there a Yiddish proverb that goes Man plans, God laughs? Wise words.
In many ways, the summer was amazing. In July, the big boys enjoyed summer camps and camping trips with Dad. We started a few renovations to improve the main floor of our home. The hubby and I even enjoyed a romantic weekend getaway.
Continue reading “Back to normal…sort of”Musings from my 12-yr Residence in Diaper Land
This post is for all you mammas of pre-potty-trained toddlers. This year we are celebrating a very special milestone in our parenting journey. For the first time in 12 years, we are diaper-free! Honestly, we never thought the day would arrive.
Before potty training becomes a fond, distant memory, I’ll share my humble thoughts about it all. While we were in the midst of it, I found it an intense, exasperating, and sometimes hopeless experience. This may sound extreme but it is, to this day, one of the hardest things I’ve done as a parent. And then, one day, the kid gets it. And then, another day, he goes to the toilet without you having to prod him like a broken record. Then another glorious day, he stops wetting at night! It really does seem magical. It’s like learning how to read, except way messier.
Continue reading “Musings from my 12-yr Residence in Diaper Land”