What happens when three children, one Grandmother and two Mamas/Aunties go shopping together in a crowded mini-van during a down-pour? A whole lot of candy gets bought. And very few Christmas gifts. Santa should provide a few of his slacker elves for babysitting service and maybe a reindeer or two for entertainment. Believe you me. …
So. Son thinks his folks are hill-billies (which he equates with being cheap, I might add). And he calls [one of us in particular, and it’s not me…] this over and over. And as a dear friend said to me tonight, I guess we could be called worse names. However, I guess the jokes on …
We are sitting in circular formation, teaching colleagues, acquaintances and friends. The atmosphere is warm and inviting. Soft lights sparkle on a tree over against the wall. And we wait. In anticipation. Our facilitator directs everyone’s attention to the meeting at hand and then asks us to introduce ourselves. A discussion begins as to what …
Is it just me, or are we as a western society forgetting what it feels like to anticipate the anticipation of a holiday, season or milestone such as Christmas? (And this sentiment could be applied to other holidays spread throughout the year). But since Christmas is coming, and it is the biggest holiday of the …
Love isn’t love. Until you give it away. She leans in to talk to me, dark eyes sparkling. A beauty of a girl. I ask her what she has planned for the rest of the weekend. And then, her face lights up. And she tells me that she is going to see her son as …
Summer heat, haze of humidity presses down. I am sitting on the porch swing. It is August, and I have escaped to get a break from the children, from the craziness going inside the house. I settle in with a good read, or so I hope. And occasionally, I look up from my book to …
Another typical evening at the Gard household. Everyone going off in different directions. And so it was immediately upon finishing supper that we all left home together, half of us going in one direction and half in the other. As my regular Thursday evening activity was cancelled, I was given the rare and exquisite privilege …
I am standing in front of him, my fists clenched. I feel frustration in every pore, every cell. My blood pressure is on the rise. Pulsating. Throbbing. Everything is crashing down around me, and I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders. Sometimes a day just seems to bring more than one has …
It’s been an interesting, eventful, exhausting day. I woke this morning, and about an hour and a half into my day, I actually thought to myself, “This could make for one funny blog this evening.” Stress on the could. There are some days when it is even a stretch for me to find the funny …
Halloween, come and gone. And another fantastic Prince Edward Island Halloween for the record books. Halloween is but a one day pass to the ultimate in children’s Mardi Gras-like carnivals. During which, one is (of course) encouraged to eat as much sugar and grease as is possible for human consumption, forgoing anything of nutritional value. …
I had a conversation the other day with a friend on the subject of, among other things, how absolutely fantastic and wonderful my children indeed are. She said it first. And yes, you read that right- I, the mother that tells it all, just like it is, agreed that my children were amazing little individuals. …
Second youngest daughter is that excited about tomorrow. Her class is going to a local veteran’s cemetery. You read that right…she is excited about going to a cemetery. She actually asked me for camouflage pants, and my guess is she believes this will help create the mood necessary for one visiting a war memorial/veteran’s grave …