The other night I called my mom to blow off steam. My teen girls had been pushing all my buttons, as teens do, and I needed a sounding board — someone who had been there, done that. My mother reminded me that there was nothing terribly unusual with their behaviour, they were simply doing what teens have done since time began. She encouraged me to be strong, it would all be okay, and then added as an afterthought, “I’m just glad I’m not raising kids in 2017.” Um, thanks Mom? After I calmed …
Am I Going to be a Tattletale Parent?
My son, Finley, is significantly bigger than a lot of kids his age. At just 5, he’s outgrowing many of his size 7 pants, his size 1 shoes are starting to get a little tight, and he weighs about half as much as I do. He doesn’t recognize his own strength, and I often have to remind him that he’s too big and too strong to be so rough… with me. I’ve had accidental bruises from playing with him and not so accidental bruises from the rare occasions when he's lashed out physically. Knowing his …
Sock it to Me; Life with Boys
I have two children. They’re…well, they’re many things but the point of my post today is my son. He’s nine and has a name with letters in it and the word means something in Greek or Italian or Latin I’m not sure which but boy did we pick the right one for him. Other suitable name choices would have been “JustGiveMeFiveMinutesPLEASE,” “OhferChrist’sSake” or “IAmBeggingYouAtThisPointToGoToBed!” Anything in that family. He is a conventionally beautiful child. This is meant to trick you. He …
The Pre-Teen Parenting Paradox
My ten year old daughter is a funny, beautiful, talented and intelligent girl. She is also utterly and completely exhausting. But not in the physical sense that my son is; he wears me out, yes, but nothing that a hot bath, a bottle of Shiraz, and a good cry can’t cure. Pre-teen girls, I am discovering, are exhausting on an entirely different level. It’s like comparing the pain of a toe stubbed through steel-toe safety shoes to a leg fractured in a fall down seven flights of wet, …
What Single Motherhood Has Taught Me
Today (January 14) will mark the five-year anniversary of my Momdom – it’s my son’s fifth birthday. I can still feel the weight of his 7lb13oz when the doctor placed him in my arms. I can still see the tears in his father’s eyes – and in my mom’s eyes – as we all marvelled at how one, 22-inch-long person could bring so much joy and so much life so quickly. I always balked at the whole miracle of life thing, but I don't anymore. That night, my now-ex-husband and I stayed up late …
