family

  • How to Miss it.

    “Quick! Quick!” I attempt to hustle her along. Her warm pudgy hand is held tightly in mine as we rush through the mall ticking one last thing off my to-do list. Her tiny, clunky, pink winter boots are hitting the…

  • When She’s Halfway to 20

    We are sitting side by side at our beat up kitchen table. Yes, the table where I fed her her first bits of solid food, food she sucked back so quickly because this first time Mom didn’t realize she shouldn’t…

  • What You Can Not Know

    A lump rose in my throat as he reached for the giant pliers that would break open the hopes and prayers of the past, kept safely, for a time in that box. 10 years ago we stood together, pregnant with…

  • When Failing Doesn’t Mean You’ve Failed

    We walked through the woods together talking through the details of this difficult day. The moon shone through the trees and it was strangely quiet considering the island was bursting with over 100 little campers and another 50 plus counsellors,…

  • The Last Day of School; Who Grades Mom?

    Raise your hand if you’re a Mom and this week, or two, or three, was a tad bit overwhelming? Both hands raised here. The schedule alone was demanding. The back and forth, the here and there. Literally Saturdays and every…

  • Fight: Parenting 101

    FIGHT. Not likely the first words you expect to hear as one of the most important words we can remember as parents. Perhaps you’re a mom or dad of a newborn and when you hear those words all you can…

  • Significance

    Front porch creeks with a new chair, joining the cricket chorus And she lifts me into her enfolding lap; Flushed cheeks turn up to greet deep grey eyes Pudgy knuckles trace, cup and grasp; and I sing, “Do you see…

  • It’s true. Sometimes you’re cooking for the dog.

    Another Wednesday. My day off. Well my day off from work but absolutely my day “on” at home.  Here in Fredericton, Wednesday is a half day from school, so Vi and I spend the morning together before the other three…

  • Coming Home

    I stumbled, cross eyed out of the bedroom to find Chad and his brother Doug sitting at the kitchen table brewing a cup of tea. It might have been 8 o’clock but it was Christmas week and it’s hard enough…