Motherhood is quite like running an unending marathon – it requires an immense amount of preparation, strength, flexibility, patience and determination. Before you become a mother, many will sound you off about the do’s and don’ts needed to master this life marathon. Only when you experience the run yourself will you truly enjoy the euphoria associated with each little victory and realize how every bit of your effort was worth it! Being a mother is unique for every woman in the world. Just how no two people in the world are alike, so is the experience of bringing them up equally different. Some, experiences, however, form a part of every mother’s life and leave a mark far beyond the baby-naming, breastfeeding, nappy-changing and sleepless nights! Here are ten things you never knew about motherhood (unless you are a mother, of course):
1. Your Focus Will Shift From Yourself – Ever had your husband complain about how long you take to dress up before a party? When you become a mother, the complaining won’t stop; only now, it would be directed towards how long you take to dress your little one! Doing things for your kid will give you greater pleasure than doing anything for yourself.
2. You Will Cherish Being At Home – If holidays mean traveling the length and breadth of the world with your partner, wait till you have a baby! You would want to spend all your free time at home playing and fooling around with your little one. You’ll cancel lunch dates with your girls, your monthly spa appointments, and many other commitments so you can cuddle with your cute little angel all day long. You won’t have any regrets!
3. You Will Become An Excellent Multitasker – Of the many life skills that being a mother teaches you, multitasking features high on top! You’ll learn to do everything, from cleaning your baby’s dirty diaper to cheering him up, while gearing up for his next meal, all together. You’ll play the roles of a chef, doctor, entertainer and caretaker all at once!
4. Your Child Will Be Your Therapy – The world raves about peaceful retreats to help calm the mind. Only a mother, however, knows that her child can light up her life with the greatest amount of happiness and harmony, beating every other therapy hollow. Looking at your kid sleep is indeed the most beautiful sight that can bust your stress in a matter of seconds.
5. You Will Grandly Celebrate Every Achievement Of Your Child – No matter how self-critical a person you might be, when it comes to your kid, you will be an unabashedly proud momma! You will fawn over everything from his smile to his cute talks and will want to capture and share everything he does with the world!
6. You’ll Be Amazed At Your Strength – The world may see women as the weaker sex, but the truth is that they are much stronger than what they get credit for! Experiencing over 12 hours of painful labor to going many nights without sleeping and keeping composure in the most stressful days of initial motherhood, is highly brave! Motherhood requires not only physical strength but also emotional and mental strength.
7. You Will Discover A New You – Though you were once known to be the most impatient and non-accommodating person in your group but when you become a mother, you’ll discover a whole new side to you. You’ll amaze everyone around with your patient and calm demeanor! No matter how big a problem might arise, you’ll handle it with an immense amount of composure.
8. Your Friend Circle May Change – From a gang of crazy girls to a gang of overanxious mothers, your friend circle may also change over the course of your motherhood. Given the drastic turnaround of things and situations after the arrival of your baby, needless to say, your equation with your pals is also likely to get impacted. When all you’ve left to talk about is your kids’ weird rash and his potty training stories, you need someone who can relate to your situation and share tips that have worked for them!
9. You Will Become A Nutrition Expert – Vitamins, minerals, calories, fiber content – all of these details of various foods will be at your fingertips when you become a mother. You will become extremely cautious about healthy-eating to be able to give your child the wholesome nutrition he needs to grow up into a healthy individual!
10. You Will Love Beyond Comprehension – One never truly learns the meaning of the word love until they become a parent. It’s only your child that you can love unconditionally, even more than you love yourself. It’s the most satisfying feeling to see your child flourish and grow more than you did! Your child will give your life a whole new purpose!
Most importantly, motherhood will make you realize that there isn’t anything else that could give you as much happiness as seeing your child smile! Not a perfect job, a lottery or a couture gown – nothing at all!
– Aradhana is a veteran writer on topics concerning parenting, child nutrition, wellness, health and lifestyle. As a regular contributor to popular sites like Huffington Post, Natural news, Elephant journal, Thehealthsite, Naturally Savvy, Curejoy and MomJunction.com, Aradhana writes to inspire and motivate people to adopt healthy habits and live a stress-free lifestyle.
This Moroccan Chicken Couscous is perfect for a school lunch. Served hot or cold, my kids adore every bite.
Some lies I have told I’m proud of and some I wish I could take back. I’ve never really been the ‘black and white’ person, to the extent where I’d question psychometrists during IQ tests… “But what if the car travelling 50km/hr was using high-octane gas?” “Do I have to count the triangle in 2-D or can I add a dimension?”…
If you’re a baby boomer or part of that X-Y alphabet generation, you probably don’t have a ton of student loans, never lived with your parents ’til you were 40, and only worked ‘for free’ to pad the ol’ resume. If you are a parent of a millennial, on the other hand, you probably realize that those days are gone. There is an unfounded perception that millennials are unskilled and lazy and now, years of unpaid internships are the norm. Housing prices are too high to support with entry-level jobs and university costs continue to rise. And there’s another problem. The gap between entry-level positions and senior executives from the boomer generation who are retiring is a cavernous chasm that you could drive a truck through. In a few years the top decision makers will be embarking on the Grand Tour they never made time for in their 20s, and there will be no junior executives who are able to take their place because anyone with potential has been relegated to the mailroom on an unpaid internship for a few years.
I had the pleasure of meeting Ryan Boyd, the first successful intern in the Next to Succeed program. He explained the perilous job search he faced upon graduating and how many of his classmates are still working retail jobs or earning wages in fields other than what studied. So how did he land the role that is the envy of bright young stars across Canada? His Dad put an article on his bed about the new internship program with Walter Surface Technologies. Open not only to residents of Montreal, it was a well-paying internship with housing included where the employee would learn many facets of the business – from flying on the corporate jet to meet with the board of directors, shadowing executives and working on a high-level project in an area of his schooling. Boyd had been offered a full time entry level marketing position in another company but turned it down to be able to get the exposure and training with Walter Surface Technologies. We experienced close-knit, working relationships with senior management and was offered continued work with the company once the internship was complete. As Boyd says, “You don’t have to limit self to just one department. If you are going to be a CEO you have to understand them all.” To me it sounded like an executive MBA that you’re actually paid for. And also a win-win for the graduate and the business.
Bank-issued Interac debit cards with chip technology (the ones that give you access to your millions stashed in your bank accounts) are now more secure than ever thanks to comprehensive fraud prevention tactics and the new introduction of Interac Flash. Unfortunately, I’m not talking about the Avengers, though I do think Interac should be given a place in the superhero hall of fame. 
Not sure about you, but as a small business owner, I get very few days off (and as a Mom, asking for help has been a lesson I haven’t quite mastered!). It’s strange that despite how hard I work in business, I tend to freeze up when my bank telephones. Am I overdrawn? What is wrong? Apparently I must be banking in the wrong place because when I watched this video I started tearing up and started craving a Montreal smoked meat sandwich!
A herd of caring Bank of Montreal bankers – branch managers, tellers and assistants – proved that they are truly there to help a hard-working client. Sheila, the Assistant Branch Manager, knew that Arash hadn’t had a day off from his deli since he started the business, and genuinely connected with his kindness and diligence. Sheila and her BMO team surprised Arash at his deli and send him to a local hotel for some coveted rest and relaxation while the bankers staffed the popular lunch spot.
I melted and tingled when I saw the video. The internet definitely needs more of this! His real tears and appreciation were contagious, and not only was he shocked, but the BMO staff were authentically thrilled to be there helping him out.
Dealing with fickle picky eaters can give moms and dads a bunch of extra grey hair, and at times it is hard to remember that fussy eating is a normal stage for kids when learning about themselves. Experts constantly weigh in on methods to ensure healthy eating and Jessica Seinfeld’s 
You can learn lots more about nutrition and health on the Iron Kids website, and they also have a great bi-weekly newsletter!
A: Aisle Seat: Get one on the left coming and right going down from Miami to Turks. Fly in the daytime to you can see the white beaches against the turquoise water.
C: Coconut Water is serves out of a fresh coconuts after an exceptional early morning Zumba class.
D: Dunes in Key West Village house hammocks overlooking the blue water.
E: Elegance exudes from every staff member, the presentation of each meal and the luxury of each resort room.
F: Firepits light up the night at Key West’s restaurants, surrounding you with earth, water, air and fire.
G: Grover is available to read aloud to your kids at bedtime in your own room!
K: Kitty Katt is a great catamaran available and included for all guests.
O: Over the top desserts mean you may want to pay attention to ‘Z’.
Q: Quaint sidewalk chalk sketches of Elmo are a joy to discover!
R: Raw Sushi at the Soy Sushi Bar is great – and I’m from Vancouver so I know my sushi. But if you don’t like sushi there are 19 other restaurants to choose from.
Y: Ye ol’ Pirate!
It’s that time of year when cherry blossoms pop out and science fair projects are top-of-mind. You might be travelling for March Break and getting questions about volcanic sand or downloading the latest star-gazing app to search for Orion’s belt. (My husband insists that Orion’s jock strap is also part of the constellation, so I’ve taken to handling the kids’ science education myself).
Here is our recipe for 
