Category: Parenting
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You don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone
After a few minor crises with teenage daughters over the last week, I’ve come to a shocking realization: I’m through the sweet spot. It happened without me really noticing, as happens with good things in our lives that we come to take for granted. I knew my oldest were getting up there, and that diaper […]
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Maybe I just can’t take a compliment
Recently, an acquaintance of mine gave me a knock-you-over, stop-breathing kind of compliment. As a single woman with marriage likely in her near future, she said, and I quote, “I love what you guys have. I want a family just like yours.” More specifically, she explained, she wanted the relaxed, convivial atmosphere she felt in our […]
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Kid’s books for gardeners
In honour of my talk tomorrow at the Calgary Horticultural Society Garden Show (How to Make Gardening a Family Affair, 11 am at Spruce Meadows!), I thought I’d post some of my favourite garden-themed picture books. They’re perfect for sharing, especially on a sunny day in the hammock. The Curious Garden, by Peter Brown I […]
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Of getting at it and being in it
Three weeks from right this minute, I will be speaking at the Calgary Horticultural Society garden show. My topic this year: How to Make Gardening a Family Affair. And I had scheduled today for getting my notes together and starting in earnest on my presentation. I kind of forgot, however, that it is now officially […]
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A lot in the wash
I’ll be the first to admit, I’m a pretty unstructured housekeeper. Most of my work gets done on the basis of what I feel like tackling any given day. But there is one thing that gets done like clockwork, on schedule, every week, Mondays and Thursdays: laundry. With seven people to clothe, it’s an undertaking. […]