Last night my daughter went to her very first dance. It was a "Bubblegum Boogie" at the local community centre: a special event for students in grades 4-6 where the kids can get together and groove to their favourite tunes.I love to feel grown up!When my nearly-nine fourth-grader came home from school last week telling me that she wanted to go to "the Bubblegum" (as kids-in-the-know call it), I was enchanted. I willingly hared off to the community centre to reserve her spot and didn't give it a second thought. Some of my friends' kids have gone to these dances... More »

"...three...two...one!" Well, at least she warned us first. My younger daughter, who is six, said this Sunday morning in the van about 2 minutes after we left for the 1.5hour-long drive to the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta. Her beef? She wanted more money. Well, hell...who doesn't?But here's the thing: the little one's anger stems from her older sister's $1.00 edge over her, allowance-wise. Yes, that's right: my nearly nine year-old daughter gets $1.00 more in allowance than her six year-old sister. For some reason, I just think that's fair: when I grew up, I always got more money... More »

My children started school last Thursday. I love those first day of school pictures! Grade Four and Grade One this year...Calgary is hosting World Skills 2009; an international vocational skills competition, and the Ministry of Education thought it would be good for the students to attend/take part in/benefit from the event, so all Calgary students came back early (even though as far as I can tell, only the Grade Tens are doing anything related to World Skills). Anyway. I don't care all that much about why they headed back early, the point is: they did. And while some Moms regret... More »