“This year we need to give ourselves space to mourn what we’re missing.” Are you wondering how to celebrate the holidays this year when COVID has made so much impossible? As a parenting coach, I’ve been telling my clients that we all need to remember this mantra: This year we need to give ourselves space
Nurture
It’s hard to be pregnant, dealing with the drawn-out uncertainty of COVID, and facing down a holiday season that looks totally different than years past. Put those together, and it’s an emotional shit storm. “For the first time during the pandemic, I view myself as high-risk,” says a rural Southern Ontario mom in this position,
Here’s everything you need to know about the service that lets online shoppers buy now and pay later. Plus, two financial planners share their takes on its pros and cons. As you check out your online retail purchases this holiday season, you may have noticed an Afterpay icon pop up under the payment options. So
F*ck bubble baths—what moms really need is someone to show them a clear-cut path to economic freedom. That’s the real self-care. You’re pregnant. Holy f*ck. You exit the bathroom, tell your partner the happy news and enjoy a private celebration. That night, you lie in bed, hand on belly, staring up at the ceiling, experiencing
For the last couple of years, Toronto mom Salma Syed and her kids, Maarya, 12, Ibraheem, eight, and Sameeha, six, have been part of Spreading Salam, a group created to help kids volunteer and give back. The kid volunteers socialize a bit with their buddies in the group, make sandwiches and pack them up. Then the parents and
From shopping for gifts and picking out a tree to what happens on Christmas morning, the holidays are never quite the same once kids are in the picture. It’s no secret that pretty much everything in your life changes when you have kids—and that includes Christmas. Here’s what Christmas was like before kids, and Christmas
Every December, when the radio starts playing “All I Want is You,” I’m overcome by the urge to craft, bake, plan the perfect holiday meal, and decorate the house just so. And despite Mariah Carey’s insistence that she doesn’t care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree, it seems imperative to wrap beautiful, Insta-worthy gifts.
There’s nothing like a sibling to shake up the family dynamic. These adorable shots perfectly capture kids’ mixed reactions to the arrival of a new baby. After the birth of a first child, one of the most magical moments in parenting is when that little one meets their sibling. These first meets can be rife
They mean well, but grandparents often go overboard. Here’s how to deal when they won’t stop buying new things for your kids. Almost every time Andrea Langley’s* two-year-old visits his grandmother, there’s a surprise waiting for him. “It ranges from dollar store toys to more expensive ones, like light-up trucks and books,” says Langley, whose
My list of holiday tasks is long enough, thank you very much. Driving to school last week, I asked my 11-year-old whether she had thought about getting Christmas gifts for her dad and stepmom. As usual, no, she hadn’t (because she is 11 and more concerned about spending her limited funds on stuff for her
“Scrolling through my phone between contractions, I was overcome by the fear that I would never be enough.” The following is an excerpt from The Juggling Mother: Coming Undone in the Age of Anxiety by Amanda Watson. Copyright © 2020 Amanda Watson. Reprinted with the permission of UBC Press. The morning I gave birth to
Looking for an excuse to head to Ikea (either virtually or in person) this weekend? Here are five new collections you’ll want to check out. Are you currently trying to design a nursery? Perhaps your kid’s room needs an upgrade now that you’re spending way more time at home? There’s a reason why so many
When I was a little girl, my appendix burst during surgery and I almost died on the operating table. My recovery was slow and complicated—my parents didn’t know if I’d live. During the weeks when I was in bed at the hospital—in great pain—my mom read a story to me about an older girl who
Trying to stick to a plant-based diet this holiday? It is possible to be festive while skipping out on the meat and dairy. Holiday brunches, festive sweets and so many treats don’t have to derail your plan to eat plant-based this year. These new meat- and dairy-free essentials deliver all the right flavours of the
As wave after wave of the pandemic pummels our world, working women have felt the sand rushing away from under their feet. Here, three women tell Chatelaine about the stresses of balancing paid work with domestic responsibilities. Photo: Courtesy of Rowena Alivio Rowena Alivio, 48, Vancouver I started working as a dealer at the Parq Casino in
Here are two things we know for sure: Marriage is hard, and kids make it harder. So what happens when you throw a global pandemic into the mix? With all the extra stress in parents’ lives, it’s no surprise that marriage therapists report seeing an uptick in couples looking for help. Multiple surveys suggest that
I thought we’d get a sweet “first haircut” memory for the baby book, but it was derailed by systemic racism. About a month ago, we took our two sons to get haircuts. It was two-year-old Léo’s first time getting a professional cut, so we took him to the Montreal salon where his big brother, Gabriel, has
From simple to elaborate, these celeb parents have chosen to honour their kids in the most permanent way—by getting a tattoo. Photo Gallery Celebrity tattoos that honour their kids 1 / 17 Photo: @chrissyteigen via Instagram Chrissy Teigen & John Legend Back in April 2019, Chrissy shared a post on Instagram showing off her and John’s then-new