Summer Writing Contest Winners

Getting Your Kids' Schedule Together

admin — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:11:12 -0700

Ahhhh, the beginning of the school year.

It’s like spring time. Fresh, new, wonderful, bright…and hectic! All over town we see moms and dads pulling their hair out trying to juggle school with kid’s activities, work and home.

So how do we manage all this with much less stress? Here are a few Together Tips to keep you on top of it all.

Prohibiting Pink

Sherri — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 06:12:50 -0700

What a nightmare when “pink” became the new “black”. Men proudly wear pink shirts. Women’s fashion always comes in pink. Other than a t-shirt back in my elementary school wardrobe, I never liked this sickly sweet hue of bubble gum.

The Little Lie

Sherri — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:57:32 -0700

My six year old son lied to me. I’m a realist and know that it won’t be the last time. It’s a fact of parenting; children will sometimes lie.

This particular lie wasn't even about trying to keep himself out of trouble. It came flying from his mouth without thought to land squarely on my heart and change me in a profound way.

He had gone to a birthday party and played laser tag. He had never played it before so I asked questions. Did you have a good time? Were you on teams? Would you like to go again? Who won?

"I won, Mummy"

From Soft-core to Hard-Core – or, How to Beat Back Pain Once and For All

Sherri — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:01:17 -0700

Since my body type is that of a ruler, for years I blithely assumed that my core muscles were fine. Not so! Once I left my halcyon teenage years behind, back pain became my nemesis.

Gift From Heaven

Sherri — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 05:43:41 -0700

She now was in her 23rd hour of labor with her fifth child the longest yet by a long shot but she could feel something different with this child something unusual, the same feeling she felt with her second child and it turned out he happened to have autism something she wouldn’t change for the world. He changed her life around for the best. “Its time” said the doctor.

Mom-club

Sherri — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:52:48 -0700

Having moved to a new city in my mid-thirties, I entered a strange social abyss. People in Vancouver were friendly enough, but beyond polite conventions and niceties I wasn’t meeting many people in a manner of forming a permanent social circle. In short, friendship dating was slow. When I became pregnant soon after, a work colleague assured me that this would be a gateway to a whole new social world of mothers. This sounded good to me (although previously I had not expected a baby to be a social segue).

A Promise To My Children

Sherri — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:09:48 -0700

Becoming a mother is an experience that takes one from a life of inward focus to that of greater meaning. Suddenly it doesn’t really matter if the windows are spotless and the shelves are dusted. It doesn’t matter whether the laundry room is overflowing or dishes are always done. Instead, becoming a mother teaches one that life is full of much more significant definitions. Minutes that will pass by in an instant, children that grow and change so quickly. Motherhood is learning to draw pictures in the dust, run barefoot in the rain. To laugh uncontrollably, and to love unconditionally.

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Getting Your Mail Together

Sherri — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:33:55 -0700

Dedicated to all the people who would like to simplify their lives just a little bit more.

When it comes to our mail you will want to adopt the "Deal with it, delegate it or dump it" philosophy.

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Dating, for Five

admin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 12:51:40 -0700

Remember dating? Remember trying to find one person with whom you wanted to spend your free time? Now we’ve got five people in our family. So when we “date” other families, there are five judgers on our side, three to five on the other side, and all the permutations of relations that come with that many people trying to want to hang around together.

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Evolution of a Mom

admin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:00:09 -0700

Frriiyeep! I peered over the sloshing bowl of Cheerios at my son. The look on his face was unlike any I‘d seen before – a blend of extreme delight, pride, enormous respect, and shocked disbelief. Had his body emitted this glorious, odiferous, combination of disgusting sounds?

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