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FAM

Getting Organized with a Parent Coach

books, FAM By June 13, 2017 16 Comments

As a parent coach, I spend a lot of time with moms. More often than not, there is one common thread: She is overwhelmed, exhausted and feels locked into certain patterns with her kids.

Does this sound familiar to you?

It’s a very common story but it doesn’t have to be this way…

Have you ever had this interior monologue?

How can it be Sunday night already? Where did the weekend go? I’m so tired. I’ve got so much to do before I get to bed. Every Sunday night is the same and every Monday morning I feel like I’m starting off on the wrong foot.

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Talking To Your Dad On Father’s Day

health By June 12, 2017 No Comments

Father’s Day is a great reminder of how important our dads are. Even as adults, raising our own kids, they have a place in our lives and taking the time to nurture that bond is crucial as we and our dads age. It can be easy to rely on the relationships we have built over time and go into autopilot with making connections, but there is so much we can learn if we take the time to listen to the insights they’ve gained since we spent so much time sitting on their knees. Taking the time to get to know the man our dads have become is a great way to learn more about ourselves and our own futures. My husband is a great dad and my boys are so lucky to have him. Let’s face it, dads are special. 

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Walking For Diabetes Awareness

health By June 6, 2017 No Comments

I’ve had many amazing role models in my life, but as far as parenting goals, there’s one person whose experiences have shaped my #motherhoodgoals more than any other. Well before I planned my own family, a co-worker (who became one of my dearest friends) saw her child go into crisis. It had started innocently enough. She told me later that if she’d known the symptoms of a diabetic crisis, she would have worried more. But, as a pre-teen, it was easy to dismiss some of the symptoms as related to a growth spurt.

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Summer Backyard Bbq Grill Party Scene

Allergy Season Doesn’t Have To Be Terrible

health By June 5, 2017 No Comments

If a mom sneezes when her kids are too busy playing outside to hear her, does it make a sound? Spring and summer are great opportunities to get out and play with your kids. It’s no fun if sneezing leaves you on the sidelines. They only want to play with you for so long before we become “embarrassing” and “no fun ever.” Take advantage while you can. Make hay while the sun shines, so to speak 😉 Speaking of hay, how about that hay fever, eh? 

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Morning People

When Your Kids Aren’t Morning People

FAM, kids By May 15, 2017 1 Comment

It’s May and while we are supposed to be seeing earlier sunrises and spring blooms, the weather has been horrible. Mayvember. Daily rain, with grey skies and chilly air are not a recipe for wanting to jump out of bed at an early hour. Apparently, though, track and field begins in the spring and the hardcore teachers facilitating the 7am practices didn’t receive the ‘raincheck’ memo. I try so hard to teach the kids not to quit things, and me not wanting to drive in wet weather wouldn’t set a very good example!

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Mother’s Day Without Mom

FAM By May 12, 2017 No Comments

Mother’s Day sucks. There, I said it! I fully admit it. It shouldn’t. I’m the proud and lucky mom of two great kids, a girl, 10, and a boy, 4. They are my life, my joy, and I couldn’t imagine my world without them. But see, I belong to this club, the one that no one ever wants to be a part of.

 I’m a card-carrying member of the “my mother is dead and it sucks club.”

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Mommy’s Month and Memories

FAM By May 12, 2017 No Comments

Somewhere I have a black and white photo of my mother’s purse, hanging off a tree limb, on the edge of a beach in Maine. It’s not a particularly great photo. But I still remember the moment I took it, thinking it looked odd and a bit lonesome. 

We’d been at my cousin’s wedding in New Hampshire. The day after the wedding was overcast and rainy. Instead of driving south to head home, Mom first drove north. Just so we could stop for a while at a beach. She needed to see the ocean; walk in the sand. Like the photograph, there’s not much to the story. It was just a very “Mom” thing to do. Like hanging her purse on the tree.

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Spa Day

Thank You, Mom(s)

FAM By May 12, 2017 4 Comments

“What’s it like, being adopted?”

Not a ton of people have asked me this question, but maybe more than you’d think , and it’s really never bothered me because the answer, for me, was easy.  “I don’t know,” I’d always tell people.  “What’s it like not being adopted?”

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heart-for-maternal-health

Heart For Maternal Health

charity, FAM By May 11, 2017 No Comments

We are so very blessed in Canada. When we get pregnant, there is nursery-planning to be done, websites to study and prenatal vitamins to consume. This magical time isn’t so exciting in other parts of the world. We are very much the exception and not the norm. In countries like Cambodia, Myanmar, Philippines and Rwanda, the outcomes of pregnancy can look very different. Every day, more than 800 women die from pregnancy or child-birth related complications in developing countries.

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I’ll Never Diet Again, Part 3: Avocados and Ice Cream are Both My Friends

health By March 31, 2017 1 Comment

“Throw away your scale.”

“Just throw it away! Never weigh yourself again.” This is one of the tenets of intuitive eating for several reasons, key among them being the notion that a “bad” weight reading will lead to disgust/discouragement, which can lead to why-do-I-even-try, which can (and in my case, will) lead to a binge. A food extravaganza.

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