Christmas feels different when you’re grown up. I see this with my own children. Gone are the days when they would get excited over decorating the tree with pipe cleaner candy canes and angels created from dry pasta noodles. I fully relied on my older two to help share the cheer with Rachel and Janneke….
It’s 11 p.m., and I am headed to bed. Though it is suggested that the average family does eight to ten loads of wash each week (spruce.com), in our home, the washer and dryer run almost continuously throughout the day. Due to the specific nature of Rachel and Janneke’s needs, we average five loads a…
Young Sicily Bridges brims with creativity and believes she can make anything. She lives at 48 Grasshopper Estates with her loving mom and is surrounded by unique neighbours. Though Sicily’s home address alludes to grasshoppers, “in all her years there, she had never seen one grasshopper, or, come to think of it, any grass. That…
This month report cards will be going home to parents, assessing how well their children have caught up from more than a year of disrupted learning. Now that we’re back in the classrooms, I’m wondering – along with other teachers – about the long-term effects of our virtual education experiment. Anecdotal evidence suggests that during…
As face-to-face Sunday services are beginning to happen again throughout the country, so too will Sunday School/Children’s Worship recommence. This recalls a long-ago Sunday School teaching experience. “Come on Bob, how hard can it be to teach a group of three-year-olds?” Thus spoke my wife as I got off the phone and mentioned my reservations…
Art Linkletter asked children questions. He concluded “kids say the darndest things.” Do we ask enough questions? Questions play different roles. Questions investigate, inquire, interrogate. Questions expose need, attitudes, understanding, misunderstanding, interpretation and inconsistencies. Questions can challenge, express frustration or curiosity, create agreement, or show disagreement. Questions create interaction, discussion, relationships. Good questions invite. Do…
Independent schools in Ontario are hurting from the lack of public funding for COVID 19 relief. To keep their students safe, individual schools are footing the bill – where they are able. That’s why Woodland Christian High School in Breslau, Ontario, is part of a group of three independent schools taking the Ontario government to…
I can say without reservation that flying our kite is Rachel’s favourite thing to do. Unleashed in the wind, the colourful fabric and long tail is eye-catching and mesmerizing. As often as possible, weather permitting, we drive Rachel and Janneke to The Spit. It’s a narrow tree-filled stretch of land alongside the Welland Canal that…
“Now, more than ever, we need to be helping our kids. If you have a spare room, consider it,” Trever Elliot says. He’s a foster provider, advocate and care home provider in the UK. “Ultimately, whatever’s going to happen with this virus,” he says, “we’re either going to get through it together or on our…
My two adult children are both in their early thirties, married, with kids. Whenever I visit them I leave with my head spinning, my heart full, concerned, admiring and grateful. This is my ode, not simply to my children, but to so many of their age, the much-maligned millennials, for the gift that they are….
As I pushed the stroller down the path, I met a couple coming towards me. “Oh, what a beautiful baby girl,” said the woman. “You must be so proud of your. . .” and she froze, mid-sentence, looking at my white hair. “Daughter,” I said. “Daughter,” she replied, relieved. “You have a lovely daughter.” There…
Louisa:I found a treasure at the Thrift Store. It was an Anne De Vries Kleuterbijbel Vertelboek (Kindergarten Story Book Bible). Though the stitching is broken and some pages missing, Bob and I are taking turns reading it out loud after supper for devotions. Initially, we stumbled on lots of the Dutch words, but we are…
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