How to be a great step parent

Saturday brought Little Sis’s camp experience to a close, hubby and I found a delighted girl bouncing in a magical forest. A presentation in the “AC” (I was quickly informed it wasn’t cool to call it by the full name – Activity Centre) showed a DVD full of smiling faces and wonderful activities. Little Sis was full of stories of all her great adventures, the highlight when she was the only girl to make it to the very top of a rock wall and ring the bell of victory!!! The delusions we fall... Read Full Story

As my nail technician filed and buffed my gel nails she spoke of her life before kids and marriage and toted the joy she experienced when living on her own and expressed how she sometimes longed for those days. I then realized that in my entire 27 (dangerously close to 28) years I have never lived by myself. Granted I had a good six-year run of not co-habiting with a mate and of course there was the eighteen-year stint of the life of luxury and ease under my parent’s roof… still I had never... Read Full Story

My stomach topsey, turvey, a slight shake in my hands, joy caught right at the bottom of my throat I braided Lexie’s hair this morning…. I’m going to summer camp!!! Well not me – sadly I don’t think there are summer camps for 27 year olds, but my body doesn’t seem to know that. I feel anticipation and excitement all over just as if I were going! I am sure Lexie will have the most amazing time!! I picture her riding horses, swimming, playing tag and paddling a canoe. Nothing could squash the... Read Full Story

One secret to living harmoniously is the recognition that family members are unique. Sharing a residence is no guarantee that ideas will line up. One person may think that having a neat and tidy home is important, creating a haven and sanctuary, while another person (perhaps an oldest daughter) prefers to live in utter chaos. It is the adult’s job to compromise, recognizing that a child’s room is their space and that it doesn’t have to be as orderly and as neat as the rest of the house... Read Full Story

What makes a blog fan worthy is honesty, the more bungled and wacky the honesty the more readable the blog. Candor comes easy to me, almost to a fault. As a teen when my friends jumped onto the sullen, tight-lipped bandwagon, I was an open book and shared too many details turning more then a few of my mother’s auburn locks grey. With the blessing of a truthful tongue it would be easily assumed that the makings of a noteworthy blog would be abundant. I am left to ponder that perhaps then my... Read Full Story