Rage Against The Minivan

This morning I was shopping for shirts for my tween son on H&M's website. As I scrolled through various options of gray t-shirts, I was struck by the forlorn expressions on all of the model's faces. You guys. I'm really worried about their male models. Why do they look so sad? Is it the knowledge of that these shirts will shrink after the wash? Are they thinking about the election results? Was the photographer playing The Smiths during the photo shoot? Are they unable to connect to . . .

This post is sponsored by Clorox. One of my New Year's resolutions is to simplify. I tend to go overboard, especially when it comes to buying products. From face washes to conditioners to clothes to cleaning products, I can be a bit of a hoarder. I like trying the latest and greatest, and then I end up with cabinets full of things I don't even use. In the coming year, I'm going to try to really pare down. I've seen a lot of people try to do a capsule wardrobe in an effort to simplify and . . .

Here are some things I read this week that made me think.  (These are just snippets - click on the title to read the whole thing.) Berets, badges, Black Lives Matter and social justice: the youth group for activist girls of colour from The Guardian "Dressed in berets and uniforms, the Radical Monarchs show us the neighbourhood where the Black Panther movement was born and meet veterans of the struggle against racism. The group was started by parents concerned that their daughters were . . .

A quick recap of the memories recorded on the Instagram page this week.... Jafta's science experiment: is the 5-second rule legit? No, we aren't going to Disneyland. They just decided it was a "matching" day. There are some mothers who, when their daughter expresses an interest in singing a vocally challenging Adele song for the school talent, say SURE and let them go for it. And there are other mothers who explain vocal range and the difficulty of runs and steer their . . .

The following is a snippet from my newsletter. To subscribe, click here. I decided not to do resolutions this year. It seems like an exercise in futility since I can look back and see myself making and failing on the same resolutions year after year. Instead, I decided to take a cue from some friends and focus on a word for this year. My word this year is enough. It has two meanings for me in this season: One, that I am ENOUGH. Who I am, right now, is enough. I do not need to be . . .

In our last three home remodels, we put down bamboo flooring. We had issues at every house. At one, it was mold. Any little spill caused mold to pop up in the cracks of the flooring. At another, the "floating" bamboo cracked and creaked as we walked over it. At yet another house, we had to have it relaid several times because of expansion gaps that keep popping up. I love the renewability and look of bamboo, and I love how affordable it is, but at this house I knew I needed something else. I . . .

Jafta turned 12 last week! It's hard to believe my oldest is twelve. We are in full-blown tween territory over here. Like Jafta, I also have a birthday right after Christmas, so I really wanted to give him a party that made him feel special, but also that didn't add to my list of things to do to prep for the holidays. I am a fan of the destination birthday party.  After years of throwing my kid’s birthday parties at our house, I made a discovery: having a party at my . . .