parenting

This past weekend was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  Jews around the world were fasting and asking each other and God for forgiveness of their sins.  Read more »

Guest Writer: Social Justice Mommy (SJM) is a regular blogger.  When she is not writing for this blog, Heather Setka, is an editor and freelance writer and single mom raising a five year old daughter.

Where There's Smoke, There's Ire

Sometimes in my quest to raise the perfect socially conscious child, I fail. Read more »

When my daughter stuffed her brand-new Pegasus figurine into her backpack before school one morning, I knew it was a horrible mistake.

“Ajmal comes from a country where there’s a war, mommy.” Ajmal is a boy in my daughter’s class. Read more »

“Who invented money?”

My daughter and I were driving home from the grocery store earlier this week when she dropped this bombshell. It was a natural follow to my most recent, “we don’t have money for that” speech in reference to something frivolous like toys or fancy soap.

I’d take anything over this question. Something about how babies are made or where hamburgers come from would be preferable to talking about money.

I picked my daughter up from her day home last week, and received news that I never EVER thought I’d hear out of ourbeloved babysitter’s mouth. “She kicked one of the dogs, today.”

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I think I’ve really screwed up the whole stranger danger thing. Sure, my daughter and I have had many talks about safety and what to do if someone threatens her or tries to hurt her. These are frank discussions, and I’m pretty sure she gets it. Read more »

My daughter’s first exposure to volunteering came at an early age. I used to be a regular volunteer for Inn from the Cold (IFTC), an awesome Calgary charity that provides a place to sleep and warm meals to families without homes.

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My daughter loves nature and science books. I’m a writer, so this perplexes me.

There is a vast world of children’s literature that I, as a reader, would much rather explore than learn about the mating habits of orcas, the many varieties of house cats or the unique properties of volcanic lava.

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I volunteer at my daughter’s school. Sometimes when I’m sharpening pencils or making sock puppets, I wonder if this is really how I’m meant to change the world. Then I picture the mayhem of 30+ Kindergarteners trying to sharpen their pencils at once, and my work feels purposeful, meaningful. Call it the butterfly effect. Read more »