In my quest to ensure that Isla feels at ease wearing her glasses, I decided to have a discussion with my son Jack about making sure he tells her he loves them, and that he looks after her if someone starts to tease her. I started by telling him that Peanut was a fairy-tale princess […] Read more
Jack’s take on Isla’s magic eyes…
Her magic eyes…
We recently paid a visit to our optometrist to get Isla’s eyes checked out. Seemingly overnight, she developed a lazy eye. Or maybe two. Turns out, she’s far sighted. Apparently enough for the optometrist to warn me that her eyes were going to be noticeably magnified. Translation: she needed glasses. Really thick ones. As we […] Read more
I got skills…
My skills used to include drinking vodka and chain-smoking. I suspect if we go far enough back, I’m of Russian descent. As a parent, I’ve had to hang up my shoes in these arenas and have attempted to better myself in the areas of baking, cooking, knitting, crafts… you know, all that crap that involves heavy […] Read more
Life’s secrets, according to you… Part 3
Our children are growing up in a world that has stripped away the need for any imagination. It’s all laid out for them. Every conceivable story from vampires to wizards to werewolves and back. Throw in technology and social networking, and everything is just one click away. We had “The Littlest Hobo,” “The Beachcombers” and […] Read more
Life’s secrets, according to you… Part 2
Be still my beating heart. My brain hasn’t caught up to you just yet. I’ll get there. My brain and my heart will reach a peace agreement, an armistice of sorts, one day. It’s dawning on me that yes, we are the architects of our own life. We can do just about anything. But we […] Read more
Feeling bored? Comfortably numb? Why not try something you can’t do here in the Prairies
The frightfully small metal cage I was about to step into was dangling precariously off a rickety boat, floating on the waters of the Indian Ocean. The swaying of the boat made it difficult to get a good look at the cables from which the cage was suspended. I could only hope they were made […] Read more
Feeling bored? Comfortably numb? Why not try something you can’t do here in the Prairies
The following is a true story. There’s no need to judge; I’m fully aware I should seek psychiatric help. Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was this girl. She was a small-town Prairie girl, who found herself in the most horrifying of situations. (OK, in case you’re not following, the […] Read more
Remember that free dental care we used to have in elementary school?
When a chunk of my tooth fell out while chewing gum last week, I was reminded of the good old days, back when dental care was free. Yes, friends, free. If memory serves me correctly (which is a toss, at best…), once a year, a van would come ripping down the streets of Mariapolis, pardon […] Read more
Our House Rocks…
Recently, I found myself uttering the following sentence to my two-year-old: “We, as a family, don’t sneak into the crib and slick our baby brother up like a seal with Daddy’s Old Spice deodorant.” Now this got me to thinking — I often find myself making reference to the collective “we.” We don’t do that […] Read more
New Year’s resolutions…
In case you missed my last two articles (cue gasps of incredulous disbelief from me this time… How dare you not immediately flip to the Farm Life section? Where’s your heart?), let’s recap. Recently, I found myself making a list for how I want to live my life, and more importantly, the lessons I want […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
