No goal left behind

Homeschooling is a hot topic. Literally every group on social media is just exploding with worried parents inquiring about how to homeschool their children. I am going to be honest and say that I have never really given any thought to homeschooling my children. It is the cultural norm to just enroll your child in kindergarten at the proper school for your district. Some parents do their research on schools and drive their children to a better school district but that is the extent of diversity with schooling that I have seen.
With the threat of the viral pandemic, most parents have had to sit down and really give some thought to their child returning to school. Parents have also had to deal with closed daycares and limited child care options. I read an article stating that women were hit the hardest financially during the pandemic because in alot of cases, they had no choice but to quit their jobs to watch their children.
At first, I was scared. I was scared for the moms losing their jobs. I was scared for the children losing their social interactions. I was scared for the frontline workers. I still continue to worry about each of these things and I also worry about what life will look like if a second wave hits.
However, despite all the worry I feel, I am coming to realize just how blessed we are. I have enjoyed almost 5 months off with my girls. No school to hustle them too. No work to stress me out and no social engagements to attend. My mom and I have been consistently working to teach the skills that we can to my girls. This is what I’ve learned: my oldest has a strong desire to work with animals. She learns by repetition only and has an excellent memory to recall facts. She also struggles with english but excels with patterns. My youngest has an ego that can’t be tamed. She thinks of herself as a beautiful model, a talented artist and a singer. She is extremely bright but absolutely hates book work. Stubborn and rebellious (no idea who she gets that from!).
The school system does the best it can with the resources it has. It caters to large classes and teaches everyone in the class in the same way. This system might work for the majority of students but with my brief description of my girls, you can see where they are both going to struggle. Having them home has allowed me the time and opportunity to buy school workbooks and see where their strengths truly lie. Where their weaknesses are and how I can best cater to their specific learning needs. My mom and I have been cheerleading. Encouraging and explaining why a good foundation in education is an important tool that will help them live their best lives.
So if you’re a parent and you’re worried about homeschooling your child, please know that this just might be the best path for your child. That although you may not be a teacher, you are your child’s best advocate and that is enough.

The world is full of uncertainty right now. Fear is running rampant. I’m worried for my family. I’m worried for all the loved ones and friends in my life. It seems life was just turned upside down. Amongst all this turmoil… I cannot forget to pause. To stop reacting and start looking at the current situation as is. Right now there are happy dogs at my feet. My girls are happily playing a game together. My cat is snuggled up to them. The sun is shining. My cupboards are full of groceries. My coffee pot is wonderfully warm with its precious liquid. A week from now, things might be different. But if I pause in the here and now… everything is fine. Everyone is happy. And if I give myself a second to breathe…. I am calm. This too shall pass and life will resume its chaotic pace. For now. We rest. We play. And we wait out this storm.

My girls have a large collection of VHS tapes given to us by their Grandma. There are alot of old classics. This morning, they are watching the original teenage mutant ninja turtle movie. When they chose this… I was thinking they might not be ready for it. It is a more adult movie than the cartoons they are used to enjoying.
So flash forward to the end of the movie. Splinter is tied up and these loyal turtles are going to fight a whole army of ninjas to get him back. They fight their way to the inner circle where splinter is. Cue shredder. A terrifyingly large man with an affinity for metal gear. Raphael steps forward. “I got this!” He says! My girls reaction ” You’re going to kick his butt!!!”.
What a wonderful moment for the kids. I never really thought about the ninja turtles being good role models, but they are! They practice meditation and self awareness. Discipline and inner strength. Above all else, they are loyal!
Everyone thinks that super heroes have to have super strength or super powers. The reality is, choosing to be the best you, is the super hero way! So go about your business today, strut your invincible Cape and inspire others to do the same! 💕

Each morning I get up, get the kids off to school and then I sit quietly with my cup of coffee and I decided what I am going to do with my day.
Every morning I have my common elements, I do the dishes and put away atleast one load of laundry. The rest of my day is up to me.
I give alot of thought to the week and what things must be prioritized into today. I set my small goals and move on with my day.
This morning I looked ahead at the weather in the next 24 hours and realized that cold fall chill is arriving. We live in a rural house and our only source of heat is wood and space heaters. Starting a fire in our woodstove just went to the top of my list.
This got me thinking of how much fulfillment I feel with just this one small task. In my last house, I would have relied solely on my gas furnace and I would not have thought about how much I appreciate a warm house. After building and nurturing the fire in the woodstove, the heat is now radiating throughout the room.
When you have to work or create in your life, the impact on your fulfillment is extraordinary. I built this fire. My children are going to come home to a warm house because I took the time to start a fire hours before they arrive.
When I do the dishes and the laundry, this also adds to my fulfillment. They will have clean clothes. They will have their favourite bowl clean for tomorrow’s cereal. All these little tiny things really do amount to a very large impact over time.
So today, take pride in the little tasks you do that contribute to a full life. Whether that be feeding a cat, taking your dog for a walk, prepping clothes for tomorrow’s spirit day at school or just taking really good care of yourself.

Monday through Friday, my girls attend public school. The bus comes at exactly the same time every morning.
This morning my youngest was running about roaring like a monster when the bus pulled up. I had to convince her to get on the bus. Patiently the bus driver waited as my five year old slow walked to the bus. I could see the bus driver was amused at my childs behavior. Once my little one had scaled the stairs, the bus driver looked into her rear view mirror to ensure the kids were seated before she continued her route. I feel such love and appreciation for this woman. I am so thankful that my girls are in such good hands.
Last year when I had mentioned the bus drivers name to a friend, she had went on a monologue about how mean this woman was. She had asked me if I had ever seen the woman discipline my girls. Indeed, I had. One afternoon while the bus was pulling up to my driveway, it was clear that my girls had attempted to move to the front of the bus before it came to the stop. The bus driver sternly scolded my girls. At this point in the conversation, my friend looked concerned and she asked “what did you do?”. My response “I continued to scold them and reinforced how dangerous what they did was!”.
[ ] This was the only time the bus driver had to speak to my girls and I am so thankful she did. It takes a village to raise a child, and she is sure doing her job! The scolding did not phase my girls and everyday they get on the bus and greet the bus driver by name. We also give her a gift at Christmas time and the girls fight over who gets to give it to her (maybe this year we will give two small gifts).
[ ] Take a moment to think about the strong guides in your life. The people who have your best interests at heart, even though sometimes they come across as overly strict. Show them some gratitude today!

Have you ever been out in a public setting and a stranger ahead of you noticed you are going towards a door. They reach the door first, and then proceed to hold it open for you. This small act of kindness elicits a fantastically funny dilemma. Your need to be polite and not delay the stranger encourages you move quickly. You also don’t want that stranger to think you are slow. You feel obligated to move quickly to show appreciation for the gesture. This happened to me today. I am not an athletic or quick moving individual at all. I also wasn’t blessed vertically which means I take incredibly tiny little steps. So the lovely stranger is holding the door open, I now have to react, I say thank you and do an awkward half jog, half quick walk.
This whole situation got me thinking about how a stranger just had complete control over my speed and focus, if only for 30 seconds. How did she just do that to me !?
Let’s break it down! So first she knew where I was going. I wouldn’t run towards just any door held open. Secondly, she was already ahead of me. And third and arguably the most vital step here, she used a non verbal cue. If she had of spoke to me, asked if she could get the door for me, I would of politely said no thank you and the whole forced aerobics could have been avoided. So her cue triggered a formed habit. This habit was formed because there is a reward. In this case the reward is not feeling guilty for delaying her and also showing her I valued the gesture and her time.
Now here’s the exciting part. You have a goal in mind. You want to get to that goal as fast as possible and with excellent results. So we’re going to take what we just learned and apply a habit to that goal. Let’s use reading as your goal. The goal is to read 30 pages a day. You will use the calendar on your phone to set the “event” to read at a time you know it is possible. This is your cue. Trigger- go to a space that is quiet and not distracting. Reward- you do an enjoyable activity directly after finishing all 30 pages. In this way the whole process of reading the pages becomes entwined with positivity. Message your brain recieves- reading leads to reward.
Try setting a helpful habit to achieve a goal and leave a comment about your experience!

Today’s blog is dedicated to books. Hardcover,paperback and audio. Whenever I hit a transition or rut in my life, the first thing I do is pick up a book.
In my teen years, I struggled to understand the impact that I had on those around me. To put it lightly, I was an extremely emotional and vocal teenager. A door slamming, parent challenging, wrecking ball of teen angst. My mom gave me a book to read. It was call The Celestine Prophecy (written by James Redfield). In this book, it talks about energy fields, types of control and how winning control takes away from someone else. Boom. My mom had hit the nail on the head with this one. It made me realize that challenging for power/control over a situation was actually hurting the other person. That when you fight, the outcome is always negative. It emphasizes that there are better ways to handle things with a more positive outcome. My tiny teenage mind was absolutely blown!
Flash forward to when I was 22. I was with my first boyfriend from 15-22 but in my heart I knew I had outgrown our relationship and we were both heading down very different paths in life. This was playing on my mind for months before the actual break up. The morning of the break up, I went to the bookstore in the mall and got three books on break ups. Yes break up books do exist! I sat at the park and read the first couple of chapters. That was all it took for me to have the courage to do what needed to be done. I had to relearn who I was. For so long I only knew myself in relation to him. I hadn’t spent anytime defining myself as a person. That’s where the book came in. I read it everyday. Anytime I was sad, out came that book to change my mind.
After I had my girls, I didnt have as much time to read as I did before. Getting quiet uninterrupted time is pretty much unheard of in my house. Then this summer I needed to make another huge change to my life. My career! I downloaded audible. Every morning while my girls were having breakfast and watching some cartoons, I would sneak out to my patio and listen to the audio book while having my morning coffee. This was truly life changing. For about 1.5 hours every morning, it was just me and the author. Oh and the caterpillars, butterflies, hummingbirds, chipmunks and song birds. Since the second week of August, I have listened and learned from 14 self help audio books. I have two more on the go right now. These books were on everything from life coaching to marketing. Listening to a wide variety of authors and topics is really expanding my mind to new ways of thinking.
The most important task right now is prepping myself to help others. I am three days away from starting my Life Coach certification at York University. I am bringing 10 years of nursing, 7 years of parenting and countless knowledge from some of the most creative coaches out there.
If you are not a reader, I greatly encourage you to begin! It doesn’t make a difference whether you listen or read. What matters is that you get the information you need for personal growth! Feel free to comment or send me a message to inquire about which book could help you most.

When I was in nursing school, I had to do a rotation on the medical/surgical floor. I had a nurse preceptor who gave no instructions to me. Basically go get report on your patients and away you go. During this time, I was 18. I was definitely needing some guidance. This mentor denied me opportunities to go to the OR where everyone else got to go see an operation. She told me I was slow. She told me I didn’t understand nursing. She told me she didn’t think I would pass the semester. I was heart broken. I was scared. I thought maybe this nurse was right about me. I stuck with it because I felt I had no choice. Somehow I made it through and this nurse did pass me through her clinical. My next rotation was mental health. My preceptor loved me! She gave me a letter of recommendation and said she hoped to see me apply there when I was finished school. How could I be graded so differently in two different areas of nursing? It all comes down to that teachers personal values and teaching skills. The second teacher spent time answering all of our questions. They genuinely believed in each student. They created an environment for learning. If you’re wondering what prompted the first teacher to judge me so harshly? It was because I would not get all my bed baths done on time. I would ask the patient if they wanted their bath, they would say “no, I just woke up” or “I have company, could you come back?” And as the decent human being I am, I would honor their wishes. My preceptor for med/surg was task oriented. I was taught to be patient oriented. I had a different skill set and a completely different set of values I was upholding. My last placement in nursing was 4 months in a longterm care facility. I was hired there before I finished my placement. I went on to work in other LTC facilities. It turns out, there is a place for a nurse like me. That nurse was really wrong about me. I passed my nursing exams the first try. I had the intelligence and the skills to make it.
The lesson in all this is, that one person’s judgement of you cannot be taken to heart. Everyone is judging you based on their own values and beliefs. If you are struggling to learn, ask for a different teacher or supervisor. Ask for a change. Always believe in yourself. And never let a bad teacher make you feel like an inept student.

I have been very open and honest about leaving a “good” government nursing job to chase my dream of becoming a life coach.
Recently, a relative asked me what exactly was going on. I explained that I quit my job and would be attending a life coach certification course. My relative actually recoiled. It was as if they were a cat and I had just spritz their face with a water bottle. The idea of giving up my secure job in Hopes of chasing my “foolish” or “immature” dream was so foreign to them. To be honest, I was totally shocked by their response. I didn’t elaborate or try to win them over to my side. I let them do the talking. While they were telling me about their stressful job, it suddenly clued in to me that this was a societal norm. Going to work 40hrs+ a week to a job that affords all the necessities and some luxuries is considered the norm. Hating that job? Being stressed out? Bottling all your feelings towards it and letting it eat you alive? Yep. All normal things. Dancing in a field of creativity where you are an entrepreneur? Being happy and your authentic self in your work ? Totally unheard of. When you are attempting a goal outside of the norm, guess what? People will get uncomfortable for you. People will highlight the “what-ifs”, people will point you to the path back to security, people will try to shrink your ideas small enough to fit snugly into their comfort box. Their safety blanket of acceptable, average, boring things.
Once you start to make people cringe with fear of how bold your move is, that is exactly when you need to hold tight! YOU ARE BEING UNIQUE! YOU ARE MAKING A NEW PATH! AND THE WORLD NEEDS YOU TO DO WHATEVER IT IS THAT SETS YOU APART. SO LET YOUR WEIRD SELF OUT OF THE DAMN BOX!

When I first began nursing, I was in an overcrowded, outdated building. There were over 40 patients to one nurse. It is definitely the hardest nursing job I have ever had. Handling the unit was enough to give anyone premature grey hairs. Enter nurse Jeanette. She was feared by staff. She always had a sarcastic retort to every question. She could silence her team in one look. Everyone had warned me about this woman. They said things like “Don’t worry, she is just a B!tch to everyone” “don’t take anything personally” and so on. Basically expect nothing but evil and you won’t be hurt or disappointed. Well when I got to know Jeannette, it was blantly obvious that she was an excellent nurse and one that could mentor me. So instead of fearing and avoiding her, I did whatever I could to help her. I stocked the cups on her medication cart, I would gladly get her supplies from another floor. If she was sarcastic to me, I’d explain that I just needed to know the right thing to do and she would change her tune from mean supervisor to awesome mentor and sometimes even friend!
Jeannette taught me one of the most important lessons in life. It is all in the way you approach someone. If you’re defensive and unkind, you can pretty much expect a negative outcome. If you approach a situation with the best of intentions and give someone a chance to be kind, then you can generally expect good things.
I never fear the “bully” or the “B!tch” anymore. Instead I view them with respect. I know they are a head strong individual and I know that there is a way to get along.