14 Nice Things I’ll Remember About Shutdown

School is upon us. Students, parents, and teachers are, I believe, universally unsettled about back-to-school. Whatever the normal preparations, uncertainties, anxieties, and excitements would be, they’re different and more intense this year. I’ll be honest: after three days of training last week, discussing with my colleagues ways to deal with all the million tiny details Read More

Gratitude to my Stillborn Son

Dear Sebastian, It’s that fragile time of year. It’s hot and humid here in southern Ontario – exceptionally so – which always makes me think of you. And cabbage leaves. (To be honest, fridge-cold cabbage leaves in the bra sounds like a pretty good idea right now. But it would definitely make me cry. The Read More

Breaking the Ice with Words and Grief

Dear Sebastian, Forgive me. I know you need some attention. You’ve been persistently reminding me for more than a year, but somehow I haven’t managed to sit down and contemplate you properly. Last summer, your days were rushed into the beginning of Family Camp. I thought of you all the time, but couldn’t grieve or Read More

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Ahh, summer. As a teacher, I had two months of glorious relaxation punctuated by regular days of satisfying productivity. Here’s a little example, typical of this summer. Dilovely’s To-Do List: Fold/put away laundry from yesterday Do another laundry, hang to dry Work out Tidy living room Finish blog post Answer pending emails Take kids to Read More

Black Raspberry Cobbler: Summer with a Spoon

This week, in Southwestern Ontario, has been that magical time of year when strawberries and raspberries overlap in their ripening. Last Tuesday, I finally got to pick black raspberries at our local berry farm. Just to clarify: black raspberries are not to be confused with blackberries, which look similar but A) are not raspberries, B) Read More

Summer Sequence Initialized: Check.

Summer has begun! Favourite Last-Day-of-School Moment: All the Grade 5 boys from the 5/6 class, who were actually getting along for once in their alpha-dog lives, TOTALLY ROCKING OUT to Beyoncé (All The Single Ladies). They danced and they knew the words. Summer: Day 1 and 2 are IN THE BAG, folks. Daddy had to Read More

Baby AB’s Fashion Blog – Issue #15: “Summer” Theatrics

Last week, the weather showed us how flexible it can be in September. On Tuesday it was 34C (93F), feeling like 42C (108F) with the humidity. (Inside my school, ’twas even hotter.) So although school has started, we were reminded that IT IS STILL SUMMER, Y’ALL. Then a few days later, it got down to Read More

Summer with a three-year-old

I think 2012 was the fastest summer in history. Cliché or not, I don’t know where that time went. It seems like it was June yesterday… and yet, there’s been lots of summer weather, lots of time at the park, lots of splashing and sand-playing, lots of ice cream. I know we did the whole Read More

Family Camp at NeeKauNis 2012

Here we are at Family Camp, at Camp NeeKauNis. It’s the only place I can think of where daily life truly does fall away and become a distant background. As soon as I get here, it’s hard to remember what my priorities were when I was at home… Not the fundamental ones, of course, but Read More