California moms are throwing pot parties. No, not pot luck. Pot, as in marijuana. For a certain group of ladies who lunch, cannabis is now on the menu. In a state where the drug is legalized for medicinal use, Mary Jane has become the mother's little helper of our time, with mothers infusing foods with pot leaves and cannabis oil.
According to an article in the Huffington Post, the moms not only credit the drug with helping alleviate the symptoms of chronic pain caused from early arthritis and , they believe it makes them better parents.
One such mother, 37-year-old January Thomas claims she smokes marijuana "up to five times per day" all the while caring for her 2-year-old daughter Zeena.
"Marijuana makes me a better and more creative parent," says Thomas. "It puts me in the moment with Zeena and stops me worrying about everyday problems." Thomas reads her daughter books, such as Mommy's Funny Medicine and It's Just a Plant, about the pros of cannabis.
Like any other group of moms, the friends meet up and exchange recipes—with one vital difference: their dishes tend to be laced with pot.
"Seeing how medicinal marijuana helped me when I thought I was going to die made me realize how much good it can do," says entrepreneur Cheryl, who medicated with marijuana while she had ovarian cancer. "We've all come up against people who say marijuana is for dirty druggies, but we are proof you can be good parents and productive members of society and use it."
In an effort to bring some glamour to the drug, Cheryl enlisted the help of a chef, who created dishes like "cannabis leaf salad, chicken fried in cannabis oil and marijuana milk shakes."
Another mom, previously "a zombie on prescription medication," credits the drug with making her a better wife and mother.
Do you remember your first time? That you got your period, I mean. Well, an aptly named online contest from Crankytown wants to know about your experience in all its tragi-comic glory.
While I can't quite recall the very first time Aunt Rose paid me a visit, I do remember spending what felt like hours locked inside the bathroom, wrestling—unsuccessfully—with a tampon.
Not long after, at the peak of summer, I was invited over to my (literal) aunt's pool. The water looked so cool and refreshing, and I wanted nothing more than to dive in. My aunt kept hounding me to have a swim, and I kept insisting that I just didn't feel like it. Ah, teenagers! Little did she know what was holding me back...
Yeah, sometimes having your period SUCKS. But it also has the potential to be uproariously funny, and like it or lump it, that time of the month is what unites us women.
To give you a flavour of the contest, check out the inaugural winner below. Need more inspiration? Watch Mad Men's Jess Pare dish about her first time on the rag.
The rules are pretty basic:
Videos must be no longer than three minutes.
The deadline for Crankyfest is October 15.
Divorce is a messy business. No matter how amicable relations between partners, children are invariably shuffled around from one home to another. But one couple has found a novel solution to the complexities of custody sharing. They call it the transporter.
According to an article in The Province, a former husband and wife team took it upon themselves to create a duplex connected by shared, neutral territory, i.e., the hallway.
Of course Monica McGrath and Kent Kirkland are not your average couple. She is a business manager, and he the owner of a home building company. Frustrated by the logistical nightmare of ferrying their kids between two homes, McGrath designed the transporter, while Kirkland brought her idea to life.
The unconventional Edmonton home has a shared front veranda and two separate entrances, and a communal hall locked off by fire doors. Depending whose 'week' it is to look after the kids, the adjoining door remains locked. If a child wants to get in touch with the other parent, they have to knock on the front door or use the phone. And if there is an emergency, help is never far away.
Sound like a beautiful concept? Well, it is, superficially at least. Not too many divorcees would conceivably be OK with living next door to their ex. Try not to be a peeping Tom when your ex has overnight company, for instance (not to mention how prospective new partners would feel about the arrangement...)
In some cases, physical distance helps dissolve a bad relationship in a healthy way. Partners can move on with their lives, without the risk of facing their former spouse during their comings and goings every day.
I repeat: this is not your typical couple. For a start, though they don't actually hang out without the kids, they are actually friends in the real sense of the word; what's more—they still occasionally holiday together as a family.
“It was a lot of work to get here,” says McGrath. “There were hard feelings. But now I think we look out for each other. I don’t think we feel like single parents.”
It may not be every divorcee's cup of tea, but for couples willing to put the kids first and their pasts last, the transporter may just be the home of the future.
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