Parenting is Political

"The trouble with normal is it always gets worse."
— Bruce Cockburn
It's been a while since I've posted in this space, and for good reason: my kids graduated from high school last June, which means that our lives are no longer enmeshed in an education system whose flaws were the catalyst for many of my posts over the...

This morning I was a guest on the CBC Radio show The Current with Anna Maria Tremonti. The topic was homework, about which I apparently never lack for things to say. Tremonti is a great interviewer, and I was happy to be able to share my family's homework...

From the Toronto District School Board's Mental Health and Well-Being newsletter:
Some of the activities that wellness groups have done in schools in the TDSB include: yoga before exams, mindful minutes on the announcements, speed friending, mindfulness bubbles, mentoring new students, teacher thank you cards, puppy rooms, and more...

Not long ago, while walking down Yonge Street, I overheard two girls talking. One stopped for a moment and grabbed her friend’s arm: “So grade 11, fuck! I’m actually going to have to work. Every. Single. Thing. Counts.”
My twin daughters have started Grade 11 this fall, so I’m familiar with the anxiety underlying this snippet of conversation. My daughters worked hard in Grade 9 and 10, but they, too, are feeling the extra anxiety of this year’s marks “counting” for...