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Leanne Shirtliffe

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Top 5 Fridays (or Wednesdays)

Surviving the Calgary Stampede with Kids

There are many ways to survive The Calgary Stampede as an intact family. Here are five. 1. Leave town. Without your children. I’m on Breakfast TV this morning. Then I’m heading east for a girls’ trip with my mom, aunt, sister, and cousin in Saskatchewan. Yeehaw! 2. If you can’t leave town, hire a babysitter to […]

10 Reasons Why It's Awesome to Be a Picture Book Author

I never expected to enjoy the publication of my debut picture book, The Change Your Name Store, as much as I have. I kind of expected it to be like hosting a dinner party. You spend relentless hours preparing and then it’s over before you manage to take the battery out of the blaring smoke […]

5 Books You Don't Want Your Spouse to Sign out of the Library

My husband is a recovering librarian. This means that when we were first dating and he wasn’t yet recovering, I’d call him and say things like, “Hey, Babe. How does ‘822.33 SHA’ sound to you?” William Shakespeare—one of the many Williams we named our son after (see also William Wallace and my grandfather)—has his own […]

A Parenting Dictionary: 5 British Words We Need To Adopt

This is a post based on one I  published in March 2010, when not even my mom read my blog. Enjoy. ~ Sometimes I think North American English is limited, especially when it comes to parenting. So, since I can’t borrow Colin Firth, I’m suggesting we adopt more British words. Let’s face it, English, the language […]

A Fun Intrepretation of the Year of the Dragon

Gung Hay Fat Choy! It’s the Year of the Dragon according to the Chinese calendar. You likely already know a few dragons, and I’m not referring to your in-laws, either. People who were born in 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, and 2000 are dragons. Babies born in 2012 will also be dragons. I’m sure their […]

10 Junie B. Jones Titles That Were Rejected

Vivian, my 7-year-old daughter, is devouring chapter books. She’s been through the Rainbow Magic series, Jigsaw Jones, Ivy and Bean, and Judy Moody. And the infamous Junie B. Jones. Now that I’m pitching my own book, I’m thinking about rejections. So here are ten Junie B. Jones titles that likely would have been rejected by […]

A Twisted Guide to the Worst Toys of 2011

If you’re planning to purchase toys for some darling children this holiday season, you might want to look elsewhere because my annual list of toys-that-suck is here. Without further ado, I present the worst toys from Santa’s workshop, where quality control appears to have taken an extended vacation. A 365 day one. Toys That Assault […]

Stephen King on Parenting

If you have children, you’ve lived a horror story or two. You know that bad things happen at night and that fear (of disease, of cheese curd vomit on your shoulder) drives anxiety. No one exemplifies the horror genre more than Stephen King. Below are 10 of his titles applied to parenting. It: What you […]

Shakespeare on Parenting

 We have to study Shakespeare to graduate from high school, yet we don’t have to study anything to become a parent. What if Shakespeare could instruct us on the demands of childrearing? Or easier yet–what if we could twist the titles of his plays and apply them to parenting? Here are 10 titles of Shakespeare’s […]

5 Tips for Traveling with Children

In December 2009, prior to leaving on a trip to Arizona with our then five-year-old twins, I posted this piece. Now that it’s summer and many families are embarking on long flights or longer drives, I thought I’d post the piece again. If you’re looking for new content, check out Vivian’s “meen” notes to her […]

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