Category: Parenting
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Surviving the new normal: Divorce and the first day of school
This is a story about accepting the new normal—and not looking back. I was the one who dropped my son off for his first day of school. He started kindergarten during COVID, and his small country school had created an elaborate system to keep the younger kids separated from the rest of the population. What…
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Road trip bathrooms – the spooky and the spectacular
Before Ray Kroc became the billionaire behind McDonald’s, he was a traveling salesman. Life on the road made him—and many of his colleagues—keenly aware of which rest stops had the cleanest bathrooms. Kroc believed so strongly in the power of clean facilities that it became a core part of McDonald’s business strategy. When you work…
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The lies we tell the children
When I realized I’d forgotten to bring diapers, the first thought that crossed my mind was: This is a sign I’m not ready to be on my own with the kids. It was my first night solo with them. We were in our room at the Ramada Inn on Riverside Drive in Ottawa, smack in…
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Waterpark adventures in the time of three
I don’t know if they give medals for this, or maybe just a certificate of achievement, but I can say with hand on heart that I have survived solo trips to the waterpark with two young children—more than once. The first time we went, it was easy. They were both too young for the waterslides,…
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Cleaning fantasies and the Apple Pencil hunt
I have two recurring fantasies on the morning after the kids leave. Fantasy one: Someone walks into my house, stops mid-step, and says, “Wow—your house is really clean. How do you do it?” Naturally, I reply, “It’s not that clean. This place is always a work in progress.” We both laugh nervously—like someone just farted….
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When the kids return.
The first thing you notice when the creatures leave is the quiet. At the moment we’re on a 2-2-3 schedule. For those new to the divorce game, all that means is that I have the kids 2 days on, 2 days off and every other weekend. There’s a lot of back and forth between the…