BY LAURA VAN MAREN, ACS PARENT It was the first day of school in a brand new place. We all had a wonderful relaxing summer, while trying to prepare the kids for a new school. We talked about the new school, met a family from the school, and toured the school. The older kids had [...]
BY TRACY RAHN, ACS PARENT I didn’t expect to start my Saturday morning off by being jolted out of bed at 7:30 am to dive headfirst into a discussion about defusing bombs. But here we are. To be clear, the subject matter at hand was actually how to defuse a situation with our words, but [...]
As the only female in my male dominated household, I’ve become accustomed to some of the idiosyncrasies of my situation. Things I used to wonder and shake my head at no longer faze me and I ponder whether they’ve rubbed off on me a little too much. Flinging cloths and tossing trivets There’s the constant [...]
BY JACQUELINE BUSINK, ACS PARENT I am a mom of 2 middle school kids; my daughter is in grade 6 and my son is in grade 7, putting us right in the thick of middle school. Over their school years, we’ve endured some rather interesting trends! Our kids find joy in all kinds of strange [...]
Another school year is under way. And while only a few weeks ago I was resisting the idea of my low-key summer days coming to an end and ushering in the season of routine, there is comfort and stability in predictability. As much as I miss my guys when they are gone, I was looking [...]
Apparently the tradition started about 15 years ago. A dad of a kindergarten student decided to call around to other dads in the class to encourage them to make arrangements and “give their wives a day off.” To the surprise of the kindergarten teachers at the time, there were more dads than moms on this [...]
The email was followed up by a text; the kind that starts off with polite pleasantries about the weather and courteous queries about how I’ve been, only to make the awkward shift into, “So…while I’ve got your attention, I was wondering….” It’s the ever-popular approach of requesting a favour of someone or reminding them of [...]
“Puh-lease?!?!?” came the persistent begging, once again, from my Star Wars crazed son. He had only asked EVERY DAY to battle me—light-saber style, which is really not my style at all! Always after dinner. Always just as my hands were getting sudsy, cleaning the mess from the last half hour. It was always then that [...]
When I was a young girl, my sister and I spent hours doing the stereotypical little girl thing – playing house with our dolls. We were unconcerned with stereotypes, feminism, and equal opportunity for women. We simply loved our dolls, dressing them, feeding them and playing the role of mom. We attempted to include our [...]
Expectations. We've all got them. In fact, we often have high expectations; especially of ourselves and the ones we love most. Expectations can be great. They have the power to motivate and kick us in the butt. They push us to do our best. Like when my boys look to the bench and see the [...]
