When your child is sick, it’s just about the worst feeling in the world. It’s worse than being sick yourself. You would do almost anything to take it away, and be the one to suffer instead. E has been “under the weather” – coughing, runny nose, whatever – many times (and even then I get…
Tag: parenting
Encouraging the love between boys
Imagine a 12-year-old boy with a chip on his shoulder. He moves from an inner-city school in a large metropolis to a well-to-do urban school in a much smaller city. He has been moved, for the most part, because his mom doesn’t have a clue how to control or improve his behaviour. The administration at…
The Christmas Conundrum
When I first started thinking about the Santa Claus myth in relation to my own child, I wasn’t sure I liked the idea. A bit of a bleeding-heart “How can I lie to my child?” thing. Why would I bother with this farce, this deception? Now that my child is old enough to start getting…
Stillbirth: O Magnum Mysterium
This Tuesday, Sean and I were back at the out-of-town hospital, to speak again with the doctor about Sebastian’s autopsy. Thankfully, this time we didn’t wait long at all – and we had already eaten lunch at my favourite Indian restaurant, so that helped my state of mind. The doctor cut right to the chase:…
Why I Vaccinate My Child
I first became truly aware of vaccination when I was about eleven. I’d had my standard (Ontario) childhood vaccinations, but didn’t remember them, and hadn’t actually thought about them. Then I read a story about Edward Jenner in Cricket magazine – and I never forgot it. As you may know, Jenner was the English scientist…
The Knife-Edge of the Family Bed
Parenting is tough. Not just because children are ever-changing, high-needs, ultra-raw humans – although that’s a definite factor. Part of what makes parenting such an intimidating venture is the judgment of other people, especially other parents. Or rather, it’s the disapproval. (My friend BangtheGeek recently wrote an interesting and forthright exploration of the difference between…
Toddler Tracks: Some mornings are a laugh a minute
Thank goodness for the mornings we don’t all have to get up and rush out. Mornings when we can wake up slowly as a family, and pass E around for snuggle-hugs in our family bed – mornings when we get to really listen to the strange things that he thinks to say when he wakes…
The Emotional Rollercoaster of Toddler Parenting
I tried to think of some non-cliché for that title (the emotional elevator? swing-set? hilly gravel road?) but nothing says it like rollercoaster. Fast-then-slow, precipices not always where you think, hectic twists and turns and loops… that’s what we have around here these days. For example, bedtime has become, er, difficult. Leading up to E’s…
A little note to my favourite two-year-old
Dear E, Yesterday, we went to the hospital. No big deal for us – you’ve been to the hospital several times recently because Daddy has follow-ups for his surgery. You like it there; there are elevators, and a tree of balloons outside the gift shop. You especially like the parking meters. (E: “There’s the meter!”…
How the Little Boy Saved the Summer
I’ve finally finished reading Empty Cradle, Broken Heart, after almost three months. It’s not a book I always felt like reading, but I’ve been glad to have it around. Funnily enough, just during E’s crankiest sick days last month, I got to the part about parenting your previous and subsequent children after experiencing a loss….