The experience of approaching my kids bathroom or bedroom door and finding is locked has become a ‘thing’ for me. She’s only 7...which is still 5 years older than it feels like she should be but still, we’re here. She’s beginning to reach an age where there’s an awareness and desire for privacy and alone time and I have not emotionally processed it yet. I’m unpacking, I’m thinking and we’re in discussion. Help me. Is that weird? Is it weird that I need to have a conversation

With every negative parenting moment comes a thought about another mom who is probably better than me. I am not proud of the fact that I’ve caught myself comparing myself to other mom’s. How do I stack up in the mother of year race? It’s ridiculous and something I have endeavored to banish from my mind. And not only banish it, but banish the subconscious resentments or jealousy of other moms wins. Admit it, can anyone out there honestly say that they’ve never felt insecure wh

"First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage." Next come toddlers who act like c&*%s and then comes mom rage that makes us drink wine. ....has a nice ring to it, non? Ok well it's my life right now. 'Terrible twos' as we've all heard it a million times, are challenging but at this particular moment in time, the Three's are just killing me. Please tell me I'm not alone?? I cannot even comprehend how someone can be so contrary, argumentative, de

When you’re raising a high needs infant and toddler it’s so easy to feel caught up in all of the ways they make you feel. Tired, wait...exhausted, strained, stretched, tried, tested, angry, and frayed! All of it wrapped up in one. For the longest time I tried to understand what we were doing wrong to cause him to be so difficult but I have come to terms with that. There is nothing to judge, I feel no more shame for ‘making’ him the way he is. This is simply him and I have com

I work in a largely male dominated field. As a working professional in the construction industry I cross paths with a lot of male contractors. Plumbers, electricians, tilers, painters, you name it...all male. Most of the time I have a pleasant working relationship with them and only a fraction of the time do I encounter someone that I perceive to be condescending me or making assumptions about my knowledge or experience based on my gender. I have always known there to be a do

Something inside of a child’s mind seems to make the determination that if their sibling seems to be playing along nicely to mom’s instructions the time has come to take her down a peg. I’m always torn about how to handle these situations. What is the motivation? What is behind it? Attention? Rebellion? I seriously don’t understand but I would like to so that I can tailor my reaction most appropriately. Now I’ve been blessed with a fairly easy going, mild mannered daughter. E

It’s a common refrain in my house, after coming home from a solo grocery, shopping or basically anything trip involving me being out of the house and Dad parenting solo: ‘Seriously, he’s been amazing until this very moment.' What is that moment? It’s about 5 minutes after I get in the door. It’s also not long after we get home from daycare either. It’s the moment when if anyone saw the behaviour my 3 year old was exhibiting, they would think ‘that kid needs a kick in the ass.

It was January 2015…and I was in hell. I rotated between rocking a screaming baby, trying to feed a screaming fussy baby and snipping at my young daughter. Lather, rinse, repeat. Seriously…..lather, rinse, repeat. Pile on top of that frigid Northern Ontario weather, a small business struggling to survive it, and you begin to get the picture. My husband and I were in a miserable place. Rendered miserable by the months of stress compounded by lack of sleep, stresses from both o

Your bladder is going to be in seriously bad shape…if that baby comes out your vag…don’t be hard on yourself about it. It’s going to happen. Two days after I had my daughter my husband starting recounting my birth stories and was taking some liberties with the material. Well it was funny shit and I realized my bladder was a fucking mess when a 2 foot perimeter was saturated in piss and there was not a damn thing I could do about it…except grab for my newborn daughters spare b

A very wise person once said: ”Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere….write that down.” When baby No.2 was about 8 weeks old and we were 8 weeks into the nightmare that was his infancy as is well documented on this blog, I was thrilled when a relative volunteered to pull a night shift for me. Hubs was out of town and having experienced children with colic, this aunt was more than sympathetic to our plight. I was so thri