It all started with a tummy ache. Not a terribly bad tummy ache -- enough to miss school -- but not enough to worry me just yet. A little later on, I turned to Facebook for advice instead of commiseration: At this point, everyone (myself included) thought she was the victim of a … [Read more...]
Hope Takes Flight
It was the summer of 2009, and I was at one of my lowest points. My mother was dying, and my sisters and I, along with our dad and my brothers in law, stood vigil by my mother's bed in the palliative care unit at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (Canada’s leading cancer research centre and one of the … [Read more...]
InTVention
The kids have all taken turns getting sick this week. Barfing, coughing, fevers, you name it. And when a child gets sick in this house, it means one thing: unlimited TV. Maybe you do it differently in your home, but I love to get the wee sickie propped up on the couch, barf bucket nearby, and let … [Read more...]
Broken Wing
All parents know that even the most well planned events can very quickly change to a big ball of poo due to life's cruel jokes. Take this past Thanksgiving for instance. Here it was a beautiful weekend planned in Hudson, the quaint town where my wife grew up just outside Montreal. Her mom's place is … [Read more...]
The Man Cold
I've always said that I'd take 3 sick children over 1 sick husband. The past 2 days have reinforced that opinion. I looked up the definition of a man cold and found the one that was most suitable for my man: A man cold is found exclusively upon the Y chromosome. This particular strand of … [Read more...]
Getting Colds 12 Months a Year (And How to Get Rid of Them)
I don’t know what is going on but my family is always sick. There are 4 of us in the house and there isn’t a day that goes by where at least one of us isn’t sick. You'd think we go around licking shopping carts or anything germ infested just for the sake of getting sick. I can’t figure it out - we … [Read more...]
La Roche Posay, Part Two
I know it sounds nuts, but even though I returned from France two months ago, I still keep thinking and talking about my experience at La Roche Posay. Just the other day, for example, my cousin said she'd heard I went there and wanted to hear all about it. I could have told her about the spectacular … [Read more...]
Here’s to you, Dad
me and my dad 1967 "Here's to you As good as you are And here's to me as bad as I am But as good as you are And as bad as I am I am as good as you are As bad as I am" Today is my dad's 80th birthday and for some reason I remember the first gift … [Read more...]
Hurting for Lisa Gibson…Surviving PPD
Last week it happened again. A mother, suffering from postpartum depression (in this case, likely psychosis), saw no way out but to take her own life and the life of her children. And like these cases always do, it divides people into two camps. Those who are left in tears, nodding their heads … [Read more...]
BAM!
I have been busier with work in the past two weeks than I have ever been in my life. It's been wild, and hard, but good and I was coping alright until I found a lump on my middle daughter's neck the size of a half-golfball. That will make the world stand still for you. I've taken her in to … [Read more...]