About Reg Goes Swimming
After a long winter's nap, Reg wakes up in his snug little den, buried deep in the hillside---built under the tangled roots of a leafy tree.
Blog
Reviews for Reg Goes Swimming
I am very grateful for the following people’s involvement in writing reviews for my first book, Reg Goes Swimming. This is a public “thank you” to them and acknowledgment of the time they took to read my initial draft, prior to publication, along with acknowledgement of the time they gave to write a review for my …
Hello and Re-introductions
Oh, hi there! It has been a while since I introduced myself to you all. So glad you are here today. Welcome! I am delighted to have you land here on my website. Pull up a chair, grab a nice hot cup of something delicious and stay awhile. There are a few new readers these …
September days/ March craze
When September days arrived this past school year, I again faced the reality that I was staring down the homestretch with my precious second oldest. As when my very Oldest was in Grade 12, my only son, it was again, a bittersweet milestone to be reached. I (as mama) was so proud and so grateful …
Dear Students Everywhere…
Hello Friends, Over the past days, which now total near weeks (a week and a half, plus one weekend, to be exact), we have not been together. This has been hard. Really hard. And over these days and weeks, your teachers, and educational assistants, and custodial staff, and bus drivers, and resource teachers and support, …
Normal Things
Speaking of normal parenting things we did last night… We watched home videos, together, on the couch— in an act of complete and utter solidarity. God bless us everyone. ********************************** Providing some context, dear reader. {And we, as amatuer writers these days have been clarifying in these spontaneous blog posts, that emerge out of nowhere …
Comfort: I Find it in the Books
When I was nine years old, the bottom fell out of our family’s world with one, horrific phone call. The call that changed everything—it came on a December day, just before Christmas. I remember very little about the date—the common, everyday moments leading up to the call. But I will forever have imprinted in my …
Fighting the dark
Fighting the dark. Filling the empty spaces. Finding light. First, fighting the dark. I felt a cloud of darkness pushing in around me. Felt it for days. Heavy, ominous: it started with the light-hearted feeling of having done something helpful and hopeful, but left me feeling pinched for air, as if being suddenly choked by …
On Being Helpers…
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are …
Connection
I look out the double windows this evening at sundown, while wiping down the kitchen counters from a late supper. Noticing Husband out by the road, talking to an unrecognizable couple and their dog, I am drawn to the over-sized glass on our entryway door. Pausing for a moment, I take stock. Who is this? …
Life is changing…and we will get by
Over the past few months, a number of challenges have arisen in both my and my family’s lives. Sickness, stress, extenuating challenges, new opportunities with monumental struggles attached, time constraints, over-commitments, financial concerns, extra coursework…you name it, Just, life, man. A few weeks ago, in anticipation of March Break coming, I said to Husband that …
Storm Muffins and Parenting Connections
For quite some time, I have bemoaned the growing separation of our older children on the Second Level of the House, from the Parents, located on the First. Many tricks have been tried. I have begged and cajoled and lectured and flat-out scolded, with the sole intent of wanting them ‘down here’ to hang out …