32 articles Parenting
All the Rotten Stuff
If you were wondering why my posts have slowed to a trickle of late… I’d imagined my sabbatical as time to renew – either recharging to throw myself back into my normal life with vigour, or else take stock, make informed changes, increase harmony – y’know, get better at, well, life. But no. Same mistakes,…
The Benevolent Farce
I’m no mathematician, but if monogamy is about finding the right algebraic equation to create balance and harmony on both sides of the equals sign, then polyamory is calculus. And in the same way that I never actually learned calculus in school, I did not join the polyamory platoon with an instruction manual; hardly anybody…
Transforming Potluck
The potluck is at S’s boss’s house. The house used to belong to a different colleague, a fact which reflects the two-tiered world of Cape Breton: the academic haves trade resources – projects, homes – while the local-born blue-collars cling to a shrinking raft. But the neighbourhood kids don’t distinguish; they have invaded the potluck,…
Transforming Offerings
Transforming Triggers
Transforming Therapy
I have never shied away from therapy. Psychology ought to be universally available and free from stigma. While therapy requires patience, I’ve always found it valuable in helping me to make decisions, and cultivate habits, that benefit me and mine. But it also bears remembering that, like all other branches of medicine, psychology comes with…
Transforming Homeschooling
In preparation for the final exam, let’s review: our nuclear family took flight to France for a sabbatical that was meant to last ten months – September to June, the same length as one year of public schooling. The school calendar shaped a lot of our plans: French students get four two-week holidays, spread out…
Transforming Estaminets
As our time abroad comes to be measured in weeks instead of months, our planning becomes precious; we feel we must choose wisely if we are to snatch up a few final, essential experiences. For who knows when we will be back this way? Sometimes this involves seeking out enriching cultural events, like this week’s…
Transforming B&B
SPOILER WARNING: This article spoils minor details of the 2017 Beauty and the Beast film. My daughter and I caught a matinee of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, a live-action remake of the 1991 animated film. P claimed to know the story well, despite having been born 20 years after the original came out. Myself,…