No matter where in the world you were raised, your country and it’s culture will inevitably shape who you are and most likely determine how you raise your kids. I was born and raised in Canada and am absolutely certain, that I owe most of what I do right with my kids, to my Canadian roots.

Below is a list of things that I attribute to being Canadian and as such, am deliberately passing onto my American children.

1. The Ability to Apologize – It’s a pretty well known fact that when it comes to saying ‘sorry’, no one does it better than Canadians.  I am not afraid to admit when I’ve done something wrong, and everyday my kids are learning to apologize when they too, are in the wrong.  Some people may think that it makes me weak but I think the ability to take responsibility for your mistakes is a sign of strength and I’m not going to apologize for it.  Or wait, I am. No.  I’m confused. Sorry about that. Shit. [Read more…]

It’s a pretty well known fact that the moment you become a parent just about everything in your life changes.  In an instant you go from taking care of yourself to being responsible for the health and welfare of a whole other life which, if I haven’t already made it clear in previous posts, is no easy feat.  From the very first moment you lay eyes on your little munchkin, you are forever changed for the better, but as any parent will attest, joy like this does not come without sacrifice. [Read more…]

When I was about 8 months pregnant with my son, I was driving down a busy street in LA when I spotted a cat in middle of the road that had obviously been hit by a car. I watched in horror as he tried to get up while other cars swerved to avoid him but did not stop. I knew that despite the fact that I would be putting myself and my unborn baby at risk, I would have to be the one to do something. So, without even the slightest bit of hesitation, I jumped out of my car and carefully scooped the tiny, broken cat in my arms and gingerly laid him on my back seat. Like a pro, I navigated my way through traffic calmly and void of panic with one goal; to save that cat. For those few moments, I was like a real life hero, I was willing to do whatever it took and I remember thinking to myself, yes, I am that kind of person. The kind of person that can be counted on when shit gets real. [Read more…]

Friends of mine just welcomed their first child and adorably named him Hudson after the name of the street on which their first apartment together was located.  If my husband and I had done the same, our kids would sadly be named Burbank and Hazeltine Sussman. Instead, we named our son ‘Nate’, after the lead character from the HBO series “Six Feet Under”. During my pregnancy, we were binge watching the show and fell in love with Peter Kraus’ character because he was such a good guy, the kind of guy we would want our son to grow up to be like. [Read more…]

Just shortly after our son was born, my husband and I did the responsible thing and both purchased life insurance policies.  A necessity for anyone with dependents, the purpose of life insurance is to ensure that your children will be financially taken care of in the event that the unthinkable happens. To me, the very idea of buying, let alone cashing in, a life insurance policy is devasting but everyone we spoke to all said the same thing.  Take care of it now, so that you never have to think about it again.  So we did just that.  We called our guy and after a barrage of questionnaires and medical exams, we were insured and ready to move on with our lives.  Of course the exact opposite occurred, I found it hard not to think about it once I knew there was a price on my head. [Read more…]

I have noticed that for the past year or so, I’ve been doling out punishment for bad behavior at an alarmingly high rate. I have also noticed, that despite all of the practice, I have admittedly found myself making amateur mistakes when determining what is an appropriate punishment.  Just the other day in response to my son pushing his sister off of the slide, I marched up to him in a huff and proclaimed “That’s it.  No more.  I’m taking that away”.  At the time, I didn’t know what “that” was, I knew he had something in his hand, perhaps a car or an action figure, but I didn’t take the time to properly investigate.   [Read more…]

For those of you who are celebrating the discovery of the New World by staying at home with the little ones, I took the liberty of putting together a small pictorial of our family’s favorite tv free activities, in the event that you discover that this long weekend, is starting to live up to it’s name.  I cannot guarantee that these activities will keep your kids happy for any significant amount of time, however, they may help create the illusion of above average parenting on an otherwise painful Monday. [Read more…]