There's a reason I don't have house plants. I kill them. Over-water, under-water, too much sun, too much shade. I kill them. I tried to put in a vegetable garden with my son last summer, and there were no carrots, pumpkins, peppers, cucumbers, or tomatoes to be had. We were lucky to get a dozen strawberries.
So it should not come as a surprise to anyone that Rainbow, our family's betta fish, died way before his time. Betta fish can live up to seven years. Ours lasted SIX. HOURS.
If you're "of a certain age" the name Erica Ehm is a lot more to you than just the name and face of the Yummy Mummy Club.
To those of us that grew up in the 80s, Erica was one of the faces we would rush home to see on tv every day interviewing the day's biggest stars and telling us the day's biggest music news. This was pre-internet, gang—Erica was our internet.
At first I loved it when my kids napped. It was a nice little 2-hour break in the day where I could be me, not a parent. Rooms could get organized, shows could get watched, work could get done.
That was then. Now, with a nearly 5-year-old and a just past 2-year-old, the younger's nap is becoming a pain, especially on the weekend.
If we want to do something as a family, it needs to be done in the morning. Home by 12 or 12:30 so that #2 can get his 2 hours in. It's frustrating.
Having kids really does put pressure on your career. Finding a work-life-family balance is one that every parent struggles with, some more than others.
For many it's a cost/benefit equation that must be performed to see if both parents can continue to work once the cost of daycare is subtracted from one spouse's income. Is that take home pay enough to put the day-to-day care of your children in someone else's hands? It's a calculation we all do.
Which came first in your relationship: the baby or the wedding?
My wife and I got pregnant. Bought a house. Then got married. We were even "pregnant enough" with baby #2 to announce the news to the guests at our wedding.
It's a simple question: at what age is it no longer okay for kids to be in opposite gender bath/change rooms?
The question has been solved at most public pools and spaces by having "family" rooms, a place where moms and sons or dads and daughters can do their business without intruding on others.
It's a reasonable question to ask too because it's tough.
Alberta is one of a few Canadian Provinces that doesnt have mandatory full-day kindergarten across the board. The Premier had promised to bring it in for fall 2013, but that promise has been watered down.
Every one of Alberta’s littlest learners will be provided the option of full-day kindergarten someday, but the education minister says it’s unlikely the program will be made mandatory.
For many, today is Valentine's Day. A day reserved to overpay for flowers, scramble for restaurant reservations and rifle through the remnants of cards to show you care on this Hallmark holiday.
The first rule of Facebook is that nothing is ever private.
The second rule of Facebook is if your dad works for an IT company and you ask him to fix your computer, he's probably going to know his way around the machine enough to find out all the smack you talked about him on Facebook.
Confession time: I have spanked my kids and it really did hurt me more than it hurt them.
Spanking is an outlet for a situation gone bad. A build-up in parenting pressure that explodes on your child's behind.
A point of clarification: I have never "consciously" spanked my kids. That is, I've never plotted it as a reasonable punishment for a transgression. Instead, a spank is a blind, fury-filled over reaction. It's a blood-boiling attempt to control my kids and show them who's boss.
Cute is taking adult things and shrinking them down to kid size.
Little hockey jerseys. Little polo shirts. Little dishes and utensils.
Most kids' stuff is run-of-the-mill, middle-of-the-road cuteness. Y'know, the awwww factor. Then you have the stuff that would be popular with the Jersey Shore/ Teen Mom crowd.
One of the greatest experience as a parent is the experience of firsts. The first solid food. The first smile. The first crawl. The first step. The first word. You get the idea.
For a Canadian parent, one of the greatest firsts happens with two strips of steel and some frozen water.
According to a new survey, the top resolution (again) is getting fit. Unfortunately the survey also found that 3 of 4 people making the resolution won't follow through.
Statistically, if you can make it past January 13, you've got a better chance of sticking to your goals. So why not get an app to help? Here's 3 to push you through the next week:
I noticed something interesting 5 minutes into Christmas morning. My 2 year old had ripped open a couple Chuggington train cars and was in bliss. He was hooking them up, driving them around the carpet and oblivious to the flurry of wrapping paper flying around him.
I have two boys. And I'm thrilled. As it was once put to me, when you have a boy you don't need to worry about everyone else's penis, you just need to worry about your son's.
True.
My guys are only 4 and 2, but in a decade I'll be glad to worry about just 2 boys instead of a locker room full of them.
There's another reason I'm glad I have boys—the pink princess thing.
When I was 6 my grandparents drove me from Ontario to Disney World in Florida. I swam in the ocean, visited the Kennedy Space Centre, climbed trees to pick oranges and did all the Disney stuff.
Going back in time, that trip is one of the first things I can remember. It started an annual family tradition of trips to amusement parks when you turned 6.
If you're one of the parents going through the hoops to perpetuate the spirit of the Santa Claus myth (like by going so far as to explain the Santa math behind how he does it), Justin Bieber thinks you're a liar.
Growing up, Bieber's mom didn't do the Santa thing.
He says his mom, Pattie Mallette, “always told me there wasn’t a Santa.”
