We recently drove 800 miles with our seven-year-old twins. We’re lucky; our kids are good travelers. Throw a DVD on repeat play, and they’ll stare at the screen without noticing our Loser Cruiser came inches from killing Bambi’s mom. Every now and then, though, Guilty Mother Syndrome (GMS) hits me. I shut off the DVD […]
children
Kids Using Google: The Cons
This past Sunday, I once again tried to sleep in beyond 6:30, the time when my seven-year-old twins opted to wake. “Just go play computer games,” I told Vivian. William was already safely absorbed in some violent cartoon on TV that was three inches from his face. Vivian left. The world was quiet, and the […]
Math, Kids, and Fidelity
I like giving my kids math problems. It’s comedy in action. When Vivian and William were five, I blogged about fun-with-math. I wrote: A couple of years ago, in a good parenting moment, I started playing math with them while driving. I gave them number problems, and they figured out the answer (or not). The […]
When Irony Ruins Your Day
I’m starting to think I have irony tattooed on my forehead. Either that or naive. Or idiot. Take your pick. Before I share greater irony than even Alanis could wail about, please click the link below to read the humor column that I wrote. It was published in The Calgary Herald this morning. It has […]
Routines, Apples, and Underwear
Most of my at-home evenings look the same. They involve my husband relaxing upstairs, watching his favourite sports team lose (Toronto Raptors, Toronto Maple Leafs, Canada’s Rugby Team) and me pfaffing on my laptop in our library, sometimes writing, sometimes tweeting, sometimes chatting with Kelly from Dances with Chaos. The second part of this routine […]
Children: the world’s first poets
My daughter, Vivian, loves words. I know, because she uses a lot of them, some of which I even listen to. When she really wants my attention, she writes notes. When I came home after a three hour writing session, this was taped to our front door: Last week, after I vacuumed the shards of […]
3 Things You Should Never Teach Your Children
1. What Sarcasm Is It’s not much of a secret that I unsheathe my sarcasm sword regularly. When William knocks his glass of milk on the floor, I can’t stop myself from quipping, “Thanks for the help cleaning up.” It’s not going to get me any Parent of the Year nominations, but it’s my style. […]
The Zoo: Seeing Much More Than Expected
While I was chatting with Colin Firth at the Oscars, my husband took Vivian and William to one of our favourite family activities, the kind where you can waste half a day with children and still emerge more coherent than Muammar Gaddafi. They went to the zoo. We love the Calgary Zoo. When the animals […]
Teaching Children Conversational Skills
Vivian, my daughter, is gifted in the art of conversation. Not only can she can ask questions and empathize with both peers and adults, but she can do so with her mouth stuffed with food, mid-chew. Although her twin brother, William, will wait until he swallows to speak, he then proceeds to speak at you […]