Legacy of an adopted child Once there were two women who never knew each other One you do not remember, the other you call mother. Two different lives shaped to make yours one One became your guiding star, the other became your sun. The first gave you life, the second taught you to live it The first gave you a need for Love, the second was there to give it. One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name One gave you the seed for talent, the other gave you an aim. One gave you emotions, the other…
It was May 2, 1986. Prince Charles and Lady Di were in Vancouver to open the 1986 World Exposition on Transportation & Communication – known more famously as Expo ’86. As part of their tour of our beautiful city, the royal couple paid a visit to my beloved Granville Island – the place where I grew up. Source Granville Island, May 1986 I was only 8 years old, and was doing a nightly dance performance at Expo ’86. My dance school was located in the heart of Granville Island, and our dance company was asked to do a short performance for the royal couple to commemorate their visit. As…
ON COMING OUT (AS A BLOGGER) It’s been just over a year since my very first blog post. When I first made the decision to start a blog, I was a bit (ok, a lot) shy about it. Everything associated with my blog – the name, the associated Twitter and Instagram accounts, and even the email account, were all under my alias “Bits of Bee”. With the exception of a few friends, no one knew that I was actively blogging, not even my parents. It wasn’t until I was recognized as a Top 30 Vancouver Mom Blogger by Vancouver Mom that I…
Returning to work wasn’t an option for me. Not only for the financial gain that comes with having a full time career, but for my own personal satisfaction. I had put in my time studying and obtaining a University degree, I had explored various career paths, and I knew that I would become a career mommy when the time came to start a family. What I didn’t know was that the struggle to find child care would be such a challenge. How do you choose someone to take care of your children while you’re away? Someone to help shape the people they…
1) “Don’t take any wooden nickels” When I was in high school, he said this a lot. At the time I just rolled my eyes and thought he was crazy, but it makes sense now. Don’t let anyone take advantage of you – don’t let them convince you of something that is not as it seems. 2) Patience is a virtue. When he first came into my life, I was difficult – it was challenging to accept a new parental figure after having spent several years as the only person in my mom’s life. He was patient with me. He didn’t…
I realize now that it has been almost 6 years since the last time I took an organized fitness class. And lots of poutine lunches, 2 babies removed, and 6 years of wear-and-tear later – well, let’s just say that I’m not quite working with the same machinery After a few inspiring epsisodes of So You Think You Can Dance, I decided that it was time to get my jiggly bits off the couch and into some sort of fitness routine. I had heard of barre fitness, and was intrigued by the idea of combining ballet barre moves with modern-day pilates fitness exercises.…
My little girl has always been surrounded by a diverse group of children, so it’s only natural that as she matures and becomes more inquisitive, she’s going to ask questions. The other day as we were driving home from daycare she asked me about adoption. “Mommy, what does it mean to be adopted?” she asked. I explained to her that sometimes people have babies, but aren’t able to take care of those babies when they’re born. I told her that there are many people in the world with lots of love in their hearts who want to have a baby,…
We were floating around in a pool – a sea of nervous pregosaurus’ when we first met. I had joined the prenatal aqua class to meet new moms-to-be, and as an excuse to have regular visits with a friend who had coaxed me to join. I remember one-by-one each classmate stopped showing up. Emails circulated with beautiful photos of the new lives they had brought into the world. A constant flow of congratulations, announcements, and birth stories flooded my inbox. Then one day I showed up for class, only to discover that I was the last one left from the original group. Ten days past my due…
I’m a word lover. I love them so much that I sometimes Google the definition of words just for fun. So today when my toddler threw himself on the floor and rag-dolled his tiny little body, screaming in pitches that Mariah Carey could never reach, I turned, walked away, and took my frustrations to Google. First, I looked up the definition of ‘temper tantrum’: A tantrum (or temper tantrum or tirade or hissy fit) is an emotional outburst, usually associated with children or those in emotional distress, that is typically characterized by stubbornness, crying, screaming, yelling, shrieking, defiance, angry ranting, a resistance to attempts…
I was visiting my sister-in-law and her family when it happened. Her boys have a Nintendo 64, and let’s just say, when I’m around a gaming console, I turn into a geeky teenage boy with a bit of a potty mouth (which is why I don’t own one). If video games were my addiction, then Mario Kart would be my drug of choice. So I was battling the go-karts, with my Koopa shells and slippery banana peels, when suddenly, my nephew came out of left field, and zoomed past me into first place. Naturally I was angry, who wouldn’t be! I…