As I get older the list of "things" I want for Christmas becomes shorter and shorter. It's the realization of course that the things we really want in life, can't be bought in a store. Memories, unique experiences, and emotional connection are truly the best gifts we can give each other. I can't recall what anyone gave me from one year to the next, but I can go back through pictures (to date, 64K of them in the cloud) and recall every emotion I felt hugging a child or seeing them respond …
Keeping Your Senior Dog Healthy With Purina Pro Plan Bright Mind
Most people think I’m kidding when I say that my favourite child is my dog, but my other three children will tell you, it’s no joke. For the last ten years, Honey has been the child that I dote on every single day, and why wouldn’t I? Honey snuggles on command, she’s never been sick, she’s always happy to see me, never cops a surly attitude, and loves me unconditionally. This dog has brought me nothing less than pure joy for the last ten years, and that’s why I take such good care of her …
American Girl: So Much More Than A Doll
My daughter loves dolls. LOVES dolls. In fact, she loves them so much that she magically transforms into them whenever the mood strikes her (cue every single Disney song you ever heard, butchered by a three-year old). Learning how to parent a young girl has been tough for me; I have always struggled with body image issues, so the desire to keep my daughter from being inundated by false body messages from the various types of dolls out there has been strong. The messages in the media, even on …
The Great Gilly Hopkins Nails It
Movies need to get quite a bit of information across to the viewer in their very short opening scenes, and The Great Gilly Hopkins did not disappoint; Gilly showed her tough-as-nails attitude and made me love her completely within a few seconds; what's not to love about a sassy tween?? Says the naive mother of a sassy threenager... Adapted from the award-winning, 1978 novel by Katherine Paterson, it's not a "new" story--angry tween bounced from foster home to foster home, finds family at …
Ten Things You Don’t Have Time for This Christmas (And One Thing You Do) #Giveaway
In the past, as soon as the calendar would flip to December 1st, I would fly into high stress mode faster than you could flip on the Christmas tree lights. What was supposed to be a wonderful and joyous time of the year, simply turned into a stress-fest which left me feeling like a failure by Christmas day. Thankfully with age comes wisdom and I've been trimming the holiday fat each year, and I am happier and dare I say, more festive because of it. Since the …
