Working Motherhood Is Insane… Or Is It?

Editor’s Note: If you missed out on this morning’s review of the luxurious Tigh-Na-Mara Spa & Resort, you can read all about it HERE. Now, here’s Robin with a look at working motherhood.
It’s hard to hear, that sweet voice sitting next to me coloring at the kitchen table that pipes up when my computer mysteriously [...]

Buyer’s Remorse – Facing The Barbie Dilemma

Editor’s Note: Good morning! Karen Pantuso-Swanson is here with another insightful look at the trials and tribulations of parenting. Here she is:
“Math class is tough.” – Mattel’s Talking Barbie
I lost myself for about half-an-hour one Saturday afternoon. I’m not sure where I went, but another mom who buys high-heeled shoes and Barbies for her daughter inhabited [...]

Remember Your Teens? Start There with Your Teenagers

Editor’s Note: Good Morning. Today I am excited to introduce to you a woman who I think may be as brave as she is foolish:) Highland Secondary English teacher and mom of three Tara Colborne is here to help us all gain some insight into that scary, amazing and oh so wild world that is [...]

Choosing Love – Making Friends From Enemies

Editor’s Note: Good afternoon. If you missed Gayle’s post on culture and waste, you can read it HERE. Now here’s Karen Pantuso-Swanson with another lovely story of motherhood:
“The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.” – Abraham Lincoln
Not everyone is a fan of Valentine’s Day. Some people detest the commercialization [...]

Empowering Your Kids to Become Housework Helpers

Editor’s Note: Good morning. Marcie Dumais is here this morning with some tips and insight on getting our kiddos to clean up after themselves and share in household chores. Here she is:
I get serious heebie-jeebies about clutter at this time of year. Who am I kidding? I can barely make it through Boxing Day before [...]

Year In Review – Family Health in 2009

Editor’s Note: If you missed this morning’s post, check out Assistant Editor Bevin Clempson’s tips for reducing holiday waste HERE. Now, it’s time for a trip in the way back machine to check out 365 days of preventative health care with Dr. Amy Wells:
If there is one thing that has dominated family life this year [...]

Mom-P-Inc. – Do What You Love

“I write because when I was an adolescent I looked in the mirror and no one was there. Can you believe it? Complete nothingness. And then, beside me, “others” assumed great importance.”
– Rosario Castellanos
I actually remember feeling that way, looking in the mirror and having no clue what I saw. It scared me and [...]

Halloween Safety Tips for Families

The trick-or-treat festivities are just about upon us… and so is the weekend. Fright night or a Monday or a Wednesday, well, pretty chill. Saturday’s frightful activities might be a bit less tame than usual.

So, in the name of good, clean, spooky fun, here are some hot tips from the Comox Valley’s own Street Smart Kidz, [...]

What Is Your Personal Parenting Style?

Editor’s Note: Good Morning, today early childhood educator Heather Magdanz is here to talk shop about parenting. She’s got some interesting insight into why we all parent the way we do… food for thought. Here she is:
Have you ever considered what kind of parent you are? Come on… who thinks about that really?
It is busy [...]

Review of The Grateful Mama

It was only a few weeks ago that I had the chance to meet local mom, blogger and teacher Karen Pantuso-Swanson in person.

As we sat across the table from each other at Benino Gelato, I thought to myself “How amazing she is, taking such a huge chance on her life.”
It’s a rarity – someone who [...]

Preparing Kids for the 1st Day of School

Editor’s Note: Today we’ve got School District 71 teacher Marieke Holtkamp in the house talking shop about how to help your kiddos and yourself ready for the first day of school. Enjoy.

“Will my teacher be nice? Where will I sit? Will the other kids like me?”
Ah, back to school a time of excitement and anxiety [...]

The Green Kid Party In Action

Editor’s Note: Bevin Clempson is here today letting us take a peek into her son’s very cool green birthday bash and her adventures in planning. This whole green thing is complicated some days. Have a great Friday!
Last month my wee dude turned 3. It was the first ever kiddo-centric party I had ever thrown. The [...]

Michael Jackson through eyes of Mom

Editor’s Note: Good morning. BUMPS mama Deepa Upadhyaya is here today to take a look back at one of her childhood idols and how his death has effected her perception of parenting.
Enjoy:

I was a Michael Jackson fan before I was a mom.
Ok you probably did not know this about me, but in high school I [...]

Accepting Change By Creating Memories

Editor’s Note: Marcie Dumais is here today to offer up a very personal perspective on coping with major changes in our lives with grace while helping our kids cope with their own change-related anxieties.
Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a sense of grace…here she is:

Let’s face it.  Having children is all about change.  I [...]

Out and About – Does Sunscreen Equal Prevention?

Editor’s Note: Beat the heat today out at ASH Berry Farm as Don and Louisa McClellan host the final Farm Event of the Eat Real. Eat Local 30-Day Food Challenge. This fun day is all about berries, pigs (brings your veggie scraps to feed them) and farm sprinklers.
It’s all from 10 a.m. to 2 [...]

Mommy Talk – On Fatherhood

I am the first to admit that I totally take my husband for granted.
It’s an embarrassing reveal. There’s a part of myself that takes a bit of pride in owning the burden of primary parenthood. If there’s laundry to do, meals to cook, noses to wipe, temper tantrums to navigate – I’m the it girl [...]

Parent Wellness – Facing Fear

I had no choice.
I had to write this article about the fears that accompany motherhood. I apologize in advance for the heaviness of the topic. I realize it is a contrast from the usual sweet spirit of most Our Big Earth posts, but like I said, I had no choice.
Let me explain.
It [...]

Esther Kane – Mindful Eating Roadblocks (Part 2)

Editor’s Note: Speaking of mindful eating, get yourselves on over to the Today Party from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at Karen McKinnon’s studio, 4th Street and Cliffe Avenue (enter in the parking lot behind Brambles).
There will be cupcakes to decorate and take to someone special, not to mention a few to nosh on [...]

Parent Appreciation from the “Middle Place”

A few months back, a friend sent me a YouTube internet link that led me on a journey. The link was to Kelly Corrigan reading words about women and strength in a speech she calls “Transcending.”
A full Kleenex box later, I was ordering her book The Middle Place and within days of receiving the [...]

What to Do When Kids Cook – Chill Out

At the end of a rather exhausting day, my oldest asked “what’s for dinner?”
Feeling a little cheeky I retorted with “I don’t know. What are you making?”
It’s a little game my husband and I play when we should cook but want to eat out. K didn’t catch on.
An unmistakable glint of excitement and a flare [...]

Grand Parents – A Love That Defines Generations

Editor’s Note: Good Morning. I am over the moon to have Solutions for Seniors Eldercare Planning’s Wendy Johnstone here this morning to kick off our new Grant Parents column.
Wendy brings with her a lovely, warm, soulful perspective on learning, love and compassion through the generations and I am truly honoured that she has agreed to [...]

Mom-P-Inc. – Aline Wittwer of Benino Gelato

Editor’s Note: Happy Mother’s Day!!!
I could wax on for days about motherhood. But, this year – I have to say – is the year of inspired motherhood for me. The women in my life – so many of them mothers even if they do not have their own children – are remarkable.
They have guided [...]

Dr. Amy Wells – Taking Charge of Our Fertility

Editor’s Note: Good Morning. Dr. Amy Wells is here this morning talking about a hot topic in our house right now – fertility. Plugging in to your body cues is an amazing way to feel empowered when working on getting pregnant.
On a couple of other notes, I posed the question over on our Facebook page [...]

Mom-Rated Family Learning Websites

The kiddo totally decides what is cool in our house.
Yeah, I lead her in directions I would like to see her pursue. But, cripes if she thinks my coffee filter butterflies are lame and I am a dork for any number of not-so-veiled attempts and exercising my parental will in the educational universe lately.
She likes [...]

Green-e-ology – Equitable Eating’s Many Forms

Genetic engineering. Antibiotics. Pesticides. Additives. Air pollution. Animal welfare. Economics. Irradiation. Hormones. rBGH. Water pollution.
Now that I’ve got your attention, do you think about any of the above before making food choices?
If so, then you’ve likely been far ahead of me for years. I’m a little slow with the food.

[give that head [...]

Kids In The Arts – Get Perspective on Competition

I had a conversation a while back with someone who asked why I did not place my students in competition.  When I conveyed my mandate of non-competition the reply was, “Oh, you mean just for fun.”

This is an interesting perspective because it is not necessarily what I have in mind when I talk [...]

Where is The Love? Finding Time for Each Other

“It feels like I’m running a daycare with someone I used to date.” I’m not sure who the frustrated husband is who made this remark about parenting, but it really struck me and made me laugh.  I think the statement was particularly meaningful because I fell in love with my husband 13 years ago… at [...]

Homeschooling – Choose The Right Books

Editor’s Note: Good Morning. Today, Royston farmer and homeschooling mom Louisa McClellan is here to talk shop on how to find the right books for your kids.
Reading is a HUGE part of our lives around here and I, seriously, pound through dozens of books a month searching for the gems out there (long live the [...]

Get Organized – Planning Out A Nursery

Editor’s Note: Today the lovely and ever-organized Arran Kerrigan drops by to give us the scoop on getting the nursery organized.
I sure could have used this advice the first time around. I’m still looking for that pair of Canucks Robeez that disappeared about six weeks after the tiny person was born.
Organization is something I could [...]

Parent Health – Managing Blasts From The Past

Many of my clients express confusion and concern about the new complexities of human relationships Facebook and other websites that have resulted from the advent of that make you easily accessible to the world, including people from your past.
I, personally, took myself off of Facebook after about two weeks precisely for this reason.
Clients often [...]

Mom-P-Inc. – Boundaries vs. Balance

Editor’s Note: Karen McKinnon is dropping by today to offer up her insight into life as a mom in business for herself.
If anyone can lend a hand in working the kinks out, it would be Karen. With her busy house, growing business and warm sensibility, she’s mastering the art of learning how to say [...]

Parent Wellness: Rejuventating Power – Girls Night

As a little girl, I can remember the delight of falling asleep to the chitter-chatter of four women, my mom among them, who met weekly under the guise of playing bridge.
Don’t get me wrong, these four women, known endearingly as the “Bridge Ladies,” do gather to play cards.
They even have an annual trophy ritual – [...]

Mom Poll – Tips to Sneak In Food Kids Won’t Eat

It’s the ultimate parenting dilemma – how to get your kids to eat healthy foods.
There’s always the theory that if you never give things like candy and cookies, pizza and McDonalds to them that kids will never know what they are missing – until a friend of yours catches your kiddo in the corner [...]

Monday Morning Mom Poll – Toilet Paper

Seriously, I kid you not, today we are talking TP. If there is one thing that I struggle with EVERY time I put it in the grocery cart, it’s toilet paper.
Ummmmm, not going to go without it. Can’t think of a way to make me think I’m doing something eco for the universe by using [...]

Digital Dating & The Single Mom

Editor’s Note: Esther Kane is back today to talk about digital dating for single moms and I have a quick digital dating success story to share – mine.
Ken and I had moved to Seattle within two weeks of each other eight years ago, and both of us for just about all the reasons Esther points [...]

Green-e-ology – Save Money, Unplugged

Not so long ago I was searching online for power saving ideas (no gigantic bill this time, just pure curiosity).
I came across information about power usage for electronic devises that are not in use and was amazed to learn that many electronic devices continue to use power when switched off, or in stand-by mode.
This continuous [...]

Parent Wellness – Trading Tots for Time

Editor’s Note: Happy Thursday. I am so excited to introduce Comox mama of two Marcie Dumais and her wise parenting ways as she shares her take on parenting and taking care of ourselves.
I am legendary in the “can’t ask for help” universe – some weird mental health issue that I apparently need to take some [...]

Family Eats – Getting Your Kids In The Kitchen

Editor’s Note: Good Morning and welcome to our first installment of Family Eats – a journey in getting kids back into the kitchen – with lovely local mama Sarah Stromquist and her family.
Sarah lets us peek inside the food-friendly evolution of her family and the family-friendly evolution of her kitchen, offering insight, tips, recipes and [...]

Healing Childhood Eczema Naturally

Our skin is an amazing thing. The largest detoxifying organ of our body, our skin functions as a protective barrier from the outside world while providing a route of elimination for waste products within.
As kids, our skin takes a beating.
Learning to walk results in tumbles and bruises. Bike riding spills end up with [...]

Homeschooling – Child-Guided Learning

Editor’s note: Today, homeschooling mom Susan Spyker joins us with her first homeschooling column. Susan has spent years educating her children at home – exploring a huge variety of learning paths including Waldorf, Montessori and more.
Her insight into giving children the space to discover how they learn best is a great first step for [...]

Our Big Earth – Now with 35% More Content

Good morning! February has started off with its usual gray and rainy patina outside. But, it kicks off with a bright, lively celebration here at Our Big Earth.
Today, we unveil a new tab structure to make it easier to find the features you are looking for as well as some fantastic new features, columnists and [...]

Product Review – Bambu Utensils for Kids

We have de-plasticed. From cups and bowls to forks and spoons, the melamine and other kiddo plastic gear that has dotted our house is gone.
There’s lots that says melamine (hard plastic) and the #5 is fine. But, I totally admit that my reading and a certain relative who shall go un-named scare the hell out [...]

Homeschooling – Car School

Editor’s Note: I am sad to announce that this is Rosina’s last homeschooling column with Our Big Earth. Life is a busy, happy, complete place for her and balance is the key to anything good and true in life.
So, she is off to pursue more homeschool, family-focused goodness and we’ll all be looking forward to [...]

Best Family Food of 2008

I love to eat great food. My mother, brother and father all duked it out over time in the kitchen when I was a kid. So, I enjoyed being out of the mix, eating rather than creating.
(there’s a pattern surfacing here. My parents suspected I came out of the womb a career girl)
But, as usual, [...]

Mommy Talk – Cure Post-Holiday Blues

It hit me about 9 a.m. yesterday morning – Christmas is over. All the wind up, the preparation, the crazies (which I could have totally lived without) and sugar rushes are now just a memory and, whew – I feel a little low.
While we kept it all pretty darn modest this year – no big [...]

Love The Skin You’re In – Say No to Dieting

Editor’s Note: Local clinical counselor Esther Kane joins us today for the first of many a guest column about self-esteem and healthy body image for women and girls.
I have most definitely struggled with my weight and a pretty warped out body image since I was a young girl going through a terribly awkward chunky phase [...]

Parent Getaways – Snuggles, Wine & Dessert

Editor’s Note: Reality of Parenthood #1 – if mom and dad aren’t happy, nobody is happy.
Finding those moments to reconnect as a couple or spend a bit of time regrouping by yourself may seem nearly impossible most days. But, making them possible can be what levels your head, rejuvenates you and helps you [...]

Get Water Wise, Turn the Tap Off on Your Hydro Bill

Editor’s Note: I very much believe that it is up to us to make sure our children’s Earth is alive and well. We are the keepers of the future. If we live for today, that’s not good enough.
I could, and often consider, going on a mad tirade about it all. But, we all know [...]

Mommy Talk – Behavioural Modification

Editor’s Note: Good Morning! If you are looking for some fun social time today where you can check out some new businesses in the Valley, make sure to hit the grand opening parties over at Firefly: New Beginnings on Fifth Street in Courtenay and Dark Side Chocolates on Dunsmuir in Cumberland.
These mom-owned businesses are AWESOME…and [...]

Frank Talk on Motherhood

I don’t read much for myself any more.
There’s not enough time. I don’t make enough time. It isn’t really on my to do list.
I read about 100 children’s book a month (I do not kid). But, when it comes to me, I’m lucky to get through our book club read every four weeks – until [...]

Motherhood Shared can Truly Inspire

As I was reading through Seeds Natural Food Market owner Tina Willard-Stepan’s Mompreneur Profile last week, I was entirely inspired to see her talking about times and places for what is important in life.
Her wise insight about childhood being too short and that putting many of the things she’d enjoy doing on the back [...]

Cell Phones and Kids, the Debate

I’d feel naked without my cell phone.
It’s my only phone (I’ve chosen not to get a home phone line) and it remembers all my family and friends’ phone numbers so that I don’t need to.
It serves as my alarm clock.
For a lot of parents, it’s mandatory to help keep control over their busy schedules. If [...]

Book Review – Reverse Psychology to Eat & Sleep

Ken and I, we were quite skeptical at first.
These books, they seemed too easy to actually work.
Could it be possible that all we had to do was read an engaging story, with adorable, lovable characters who didn’t want to eat or sleep to make our grumpy 3-year-old think that eating and sleeping was cool?
No…way, we [...]

To Nap or Not to Nap, the Drama

I don’t even remember what it was like to have our daughter nap on a regular basis.
The occasional act of God does occur, with her crashing for hours on end with no sign of waking while her go-go disposition refuels. But, when my friends who have 3+ year-old kiddos who are still napping in the [...]

Product Review – Mama Merit Badges

There are those days when we’re all solid in the belief that the phrase “Motherhood has its rewards” was coined by the same soulless *&^%& who invented high heels and panty hose.
I survive those days by knowing the tiny person HAS to go to sleep at some point and, honestly, by treating myself to something [...]

Mommy Talk – The Grandparent Effect

Today is Grandma’s birthday.
July happens to be a big month in the being born universe here (five family birthdays).
And, Ken’s Mom kicks it all off in style.
While I know she will be stomping up the stairs and kicking me in the head for announcing her big day in a public forum, she will be doing [...]

Which Cloth Diaper to Choose?

Editor’s Note:
Comox Valley Mom Kathy Roberts is a cloth diaper convert.
In her quest to make life easy and non-disposable, she took it upon herself to test drive just about every type of cloth diaper out there, even making a few of her own.
Thankfully, I’m annoyingly persistent and she is incredibly generous, now sharing her cloth [...]

Summer Reading Together

Editor’s Note:
Mom and CV teacher Helen Oliphant has dropped by today to lend us a hand getting into the learning that happens away from the classroom this Summer.
She kicks it all off with tips on how to help your kiddos get reading, with a little help from mom and dad.

“Thurs. June 2, 1977.
I want to [...]

Hanging with Dad!

Editor’s Note:
In celebration of Dad’s Day, we are taking a break from regularly scheduled programming.
We’ll be back with the final Mompreneur for June next Sunday. The Mompreneur series has received a really great response from everyone. So, we’ll be turning it into a regular monthly feature starting in July.
If you have someone you’d like to [...]

The Sacrifices Dads Make

The day our daughter was born, my husband knew his personal universe had to change.
The 3-hour commutes into downtown San Francisco, 15-hour work days, no longer made sense. He spent more time listening to audio books on the ferry or bus than at home hanging out with us…and that killed him.
I first started taking pictures [...]

How Much Is Too Much Safety

I have a reoccurring waking nightmare that I am always just out of reach as our daughter falls off of a cliff, slips off the side of a building or tumbles down a 1,000 meter embankment.
When I watch her run to the railing at the Comox Pier or the Courtenay Estuary and peek her head [...]

A Case of Mommy Guilt

I am, how do you say it, feeling a bit guilty lately.
Not enough time outside.
Too much time playing by herself.
Sending the tiny person off to grandmas.
Planning my life around meetings and the ever-growing to-do list of work and home instead of focusing on all the goodness that is our daughter.
Griping at my husband because he’s [...]

When Preschool Gardening Gives Way to Absentmindedness

Bad news first: I have no brain.
It has been missing since about six months into pregnancy…and it is now becoming painfully apparent that its continued decline is starting to effect our day-to-day well being.
…at least when it comes to gardening.
After our unfortunate leaving-outside-overnight incident last week, I lovingly put the sprouts back on the front [...]

Help! My Kiddo Hates Veggies (for now)

So, well…
…our daughter, who has always been a wonder in the eating good food department, is on strike.
Where I used to be able to set down bowl after bowl of carrots, broccoli, cabbage or swiss chard now lives empty space.
I was sharing with a pal last night that it’s like she’s put herself on a [...]

The Not-So-Comprehensive Guide to Potty Training

When it comes to potty training tiny people, the verdict remains out on how to best do so (click the link above to see for yourself).
From the minute our daughter was born (actually, even before), advice about potty training was one of the most common topics in terms of other moms and professionals passing along [...]

Holiday Family Cooking with Kids

I am NOT the queen of the kitchen.
Growing up in a family of pretty darn great cooks, I never bothered doing much of it myself. It was something so much more beloved to other people. I happily watched while they created.
What I discovered years later, when I finally felt confident that our daughter could safely [...]

Dr. Carl Ivey – Family Holiday Survival

Campbell River parenting coach Dr. Carl Ivey is back today talking about ways to lower the stress factor around your house this holiday season.
I hate to say it. But, the grumpy season has officially kicked in. I was hoping it had skipped the Valley this year – folks had been all smiles and really enjoying [...]

Dr. Carl Ivey – Effective Discipline: Gain, No Pain

Finally, Dr. Ivey’s debut.
I had the great opportunity to meet this retired pediatrician turned holistic parenting coach a while back and, over lunch, he changed our lives.
My husband and I had been struggling deeply with ever-increasing toddler behaviours that we plainly had no tools to cope with and it was really starting to effect [...]

Mommy Talk – Thrifty Mommy

I’m not cheap.
I’m joyously frugal.
There are plenty of things that I’m happy to pay full-price for. We shop local, try to steer clear of Wal-Mart and are happy to pay for high-quality.
But, there’s nothing I love more than a very serious bargain.
If you are looking for me on the rare afternoon that the tiny person [...]

Holiday Stress Busters

My parents are in town.
It’s all good, as they seldom make the 3,000-mile journey around the holidays. So, it’s a fantastic chance to hang out, tour the island and have one of those classic family moments that is the idyllic notion of Thanksgiving.
Oh, the expectations.
I don’t think I’m the only one around who busts out [...]

Mozart to Soothe the Savage Baby

There once was a rather charming, easy-going tiny person running around our house.
While other people coped with whining, meltdowns and fear-striking behaviour, our daughter was going along doing her thing wondering why some of the other kiddos were so upset.
In the last two weeks, something has snapped and the terrible twos have kicked in with [...]

The First Day of School – Parents Need Classes Too

With a mix of groans and cheers, I’m sure this morning was a bright and early one for you parents of school-aged children today.
Lots of excitement and mixed emotions, I’m sure.
Our youngest nephew launches into his school life today with his first Kindergarten class out at Miracle Beach Elementary and was just about ready to [...]

Getting Back to the Workout as Parents

If you are one of those women who gained like 25 pounds while you were pregnant and lost it all within a few months of giving birth, I salute you for recovering so nicely.
For the rest of us, it’s hell.
Actually, I did only gain about 28 pounds while pregnant with the tiny person. But, I’d [...]

Lavendar Essential Oil Helps Kids to Sleep

Working through our nightly routine of dinner, bath, books and bed last night I figured that today’s post would be my regular photo + “Have a lovely weekend” greeting.
Running the tiny person’s bath totally changed that.
Our daughter has always been an excellent sleeper. She’s the kid who used to take a 2-hour nap in the [...]

Safety First – Water fun for Everyone

I admit it, I’m going through a phase.
You know, the one where everything that used to be fun and carefree now completely terrifies me when it comes to participating in it with a toddler in tow.
…and I only have one. Yikes!
One of the biggest concerns now that the sun has returned from Florida for the [...]