To say that COVID has shattered the lives of many would be the biggest understatement of 2020. I recently learned that a place very dear to my heart has been forced to shut its doors as a result of being dark since March. I am a...
This blog is about recovery. I will not share the details of what living with an eating disorder was like or how it played out in my life. I do not want anyone to compare, feel invalidated, not “sick enough” etc. My intention in writing...
Motherhood is a mindf#$%. Pretty bold statement, I know, so please allow this mama to share her journey with you. I am 7 months postpartum, and while I pretty much despised being pregnant, there is this sadness that this chapter of my life is now over....
As a grade 7 high school student, I was asked to write an English essay about my "hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the future". Most teens in my class described ambitious academic and career goals and philanthropic intentions. I chose to write about my hopes...
This is not a pretty pregnancy. This is a pregnancy I worked damn hard for. Today I spent a day at the pool and looked around and saw this beautiful pregnant woman with a perfectly round belly (like she had a basketball hiding in there)...
As I pass the 20 year mark on my diabetic journey, I have come to a place of reflection on the reality of what I have been through. Before I begin with the personal side, I should shed some light on the disease I have...
The time is now. This is my story, her story, his story‒this is our story. Mental Health Empowerment Day is the brainchild of Leanne Matlow, Special Education Resource teacher, and CBT Counsellor. Leanne is a Professional Colleague of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. She is the...
Dear Teenage Self, I have been thinking about you a lot lately and I wanted to tell you how happy I am that you got to be you in all your teenaged glory in the 1990’s. I’d feel really stressed for you if you had to...
I’m finding myself in a free fall, a downward spiral into the depths of self hate, self doubt and general malaise. I’m working at climbing out of it, but boy, it’s a long way up. It started to take its toll last summer while on vacation...
The first time I witnessed my oldest child having a seizure was almost exactly five years after he was diagnosed with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy at the age of 15 years old. I had always felt guilty for not being there when he had a seizure,...
We were two seven year-old girls. Playing gift shop in my bedroom. Placing price tags on EVERYTHING. We were very busy merchandising all my toys, from my Raggedy Ann doll, to my bedroom furniture. It was all for sale, if you were willing to pay...
It's not you - it's me"! A line made famous by George Costanza on Seinfeld – is one I can’t wait to repeat - not to my boyfriend, husband or partner – but to my employer. After almost thirty years of participating in cubicle life and such rote robot-like...
I’ve been studying dreams for forty-five years. My interest in dream analysis began in my early twenties. At twenty-one, I gave birth to my eldest daughter Tina, who was born with Down Syndrome. Not too long after, I became depressed and was fortunate to end...
“You look so tired….” is a comment that I’ve been getting from people on a pretty consistent basis. It’s a comment that has always bugged me, cause, seriously, what good can come from telling someone they look tired? Perhaps I’m being a tad sensitive, but to...
Having an eating disorder is like living with your worst enemy; it is sharing your mind with a mean, heartless bully. It is a voice that is always there, telling you how ugly, worthless and powerless you are. Food becomes your rival, and the only way...
The first day of high school can be a flurry of emotions for your kids. New school. New experiences. And new freedom to gain. It’s both exciting and frightening. If you have a teen with first-day jitters at home, here are a few ways you...
When I am not cursing the harsh cold winter days, or the excruciatingly humid summer nights, I am grateful for seasons in Montreal. Changing seasons make me reflect that there is movement in life, nothing is permanent. Like nature’s dog-eared bookmarks, seasons are reminders for me...
Have you ever looked in the mirror and not recognized the person staring back at you (either from weight gain, loss or aging skin? You feel like it happened overnight and wonder why no one told you to “get your act together.” This was my...
We, as women, never think we can take a risk. It is always about our families, managers and that our partners are looked after, nourished and secure. We forget that we must fill our vessels. Let’s be honest, it is scary to take that leap...
There is definitely something wrong when we find ourselves falling into the cantankerous trap; “but we don’t agree on venues and we don’t agree on menus”. Planning a family vacation can sometimes provoke angst amongst the members of the group. We have to take a...
’Tis the season to love… yourself! The Holiday blues gets to the best of us. But I am here to remind you that there is no better time to indulge, both selflessly and selfishly, than during the Holidays. Singles can (and should!) revel in the fact...
Breast cancer. We hear about it, see campaigns for awareness and prevention and know someone who knows someone who had it. We never think it can be our reality. As some of you read in a previous blog of mine back in May, I had done...
Several years ago I was sitting in a psychologist’s office when my personal narrative was unexpectedly uprooted, violently rearranged, and permanently altered as if hit by a tornado. As soon as I heard the words, “What she did was selfless and in fact an act...
This is not a blog about how heavy I am and how badly I want to lose weight. This is not a blog about how I wish my boobs were higher, my ass were smaller, my thighs were slimmer or that my arms didn't giggle. This...
Sometimes, things don’t always work out the way you thought they would. I never necessarily envisioned myself having a huge family, but after having my son and experiencing that ridiculous, unique love that seems to be inherent to becoming a mother, I had always imagined I would have another. But after my painful struggle with infertility, I have finally come to terms with the fact that my son will be an only child and essentially, I will be a mom to one, single, extraordinary little boy.
