Based on the true story of author Alexandra Alessandri’s experiences with her family on Sept. 9, 2017, when Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida, this comforting children’s picture book relates how young Lupita and her family prepare for the storm’s onslaught. (Readers may now come to this book with images of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane…
I don’t like airline travel. It isn’t because I’m afraid of flying. It’s because I’m annoyed by waiting. Nothing is more frustrating than arriving at the airport at the recommended time, checking in and going through security, only to arrive at my gate to discover that the plane isn’t there. That description is similar to…
Chaim Potok would call it “seeing between the blinks.” He says an artist does this. And God. I believe my nephew does, too. He sees what the rest of the world misses. It started with a strawberry. One day we were on the grass in our front yard and my nephew told me he hated…
Being blessed financially allows parents to do some neat things with and for their kids and provides some great advantages. However, financial wealth also brings complexity and unique risks. It is hard to walk the fine line between using our money to bless our kids and overdoing it such that our financial blessing starts to…
Another laughing scream, and I send them all outdoors. /
Out, out!
When I started my post-secondary schooling You Can’t Say ‘You Can’t Play’, written by Vivian Gussin Paley, was on the syllabus for my first education class. Paley was an American primary school teacher and early childhood education researcher who took a special interest in observing the non-directed experiences in the classroom and the corresponding conversations…
My children take risks, and that’s all right with me. Risky play, or what we lovingly call danger play in our house, is an incredibly important part of childhood. While it can be difficult for a parent to watch, the thrill of it allows children to feel excited by their accomplishments and challenged by the…
Did you know that children have a right to play? Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes “the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child, and to participate freely in cultural life and the…
A few years ago, Jack and I stayed in a vacation rental home in Florida. It was nice enough, but the ornate chandelier was thick with dust and cobwebs. Even Jack saw it. (This is a man who believes cleaning should involve a high-pressure sprayer and/or a backpack blower. If he notices the dirt, it’s…
When I agreed to participate in a Vote 16 Summit on Parliament Hill, I expected to hear all the reasons for and against allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in municipal, provincial and/or federal elections. And I did hear that. Much stronger, however, were concerns about the state of democracy in Canada. Concern came from…
As Yuna, the protagonist of Marie Tang’s imaginative book, watches her parents “fold, fit, and tuck old things into new spaces,” the young girl wonders “how she fit into her new home.” Yuna and her parents have just immigrated from Japan to the United States, and she is homesick.As Yuna listens to neighbourhood children play,…
During the closing prayer at my friend’s memorial a few months ago, the officiating pastor included a request for “the courage to grieve.” This phrase still hovered in my mind as I opened Jason Dykstra’s memoir about the stillborn death of his third child, Ezra. What does courageous grief look like when a much-loved son…
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