Passion Power

The adolescent stage is between 13-19 years of age. They are filled with untapped potential, but the teenage years are often not seen as positive. It’s the stage of life where we are fraught with insecurity and self-doubt. The stage where we make mountains out of molehills. We sit around feeling isolated, lonely, and believing we are the only ones. The brain is still developing and there is a lot of life lessons learned during this period of life and it doesn’t always go smoothly. It can be explosive and full of drama. Author Cassandra Clare writes, “All my life I've felt like there was something wrong with me. Something missing or damaged. Every teenager in the world feels like that, feels broken or out of place, different somehow, royalty mistakenly born into a family of peasants.” I don’t know anyone that wishes to go back to that time in their life again, yet it’s a time of great discovery about ourselves and world around us. There has been so much emphasis on redefin...

I do not like the narrative that a working Mom is essential to the economy. The Throne Speech promises a national childcare system with high standards that is accessible and affordable for all women. First, I do not believe any government can run a fiscally responsible business like that and it will be a gong show. Second, a Mother will never look back on her life and think, “I spent too much time with my kids.”  What they are basically telling us is that it is not going to be affordable to stay home and raise kids and there is something better and more worthwhile you should be doing. It is a reasonable choice for a family to have a parent stay home full-time protecting, supporting, and providing to her family. The government should support Mothers that choose to work outside the home and Mothers who do not. There are benefits to both.  Growing a child inside of us for 9 months and then giving birth is the most magical and divine experience a mother will ever have. It ...

I helped my 5-year-old daughter make lemonade once. We loaded it up with lots of ice, added enough sugar, but not too much and squeezed a cutting board full of fresh juicy lemons. It was the best homemade lemonade I’d ever tasted. I watched from the front window on one of the hottest days of the year as she poured her juice at the end of our driveway in her sundress and baseball cap. She insisted doing this herself. “I got this, Mom” she said. She believed in herself. She had no reason not to. At 5 years old she had nothing to lose. Her sign attracted our neighbours and a bunch of construction workers that just so happened to be working on our street. As I stood and watched her confidence build with every customer, she served I thought to myself, why do we stop believing in ourselves and when do we let our own fear get in the way of letting our kids fail and fall? There was a time when we didn’t know the things that we now know because we tried something and gained experience...

Parent’s need to step up to the plate and get in the game and stop being spectators in the lives of their children they so willingly brought into the world. Values must be taught. You don’t just get to have kids and hope for the best. “Treat others the way you wish to be treated”. This golden rule is important to every relationship they will ever have, and it’s taught in the home. As the old saying goes, “The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.” Some parents don’t even try to teach manners or respect or good hygiene. That’s your job. Am I The Only One? Kids seem to able to manipulate and lay around a lot more than we could. A wise man once said to me, “kids that get on the couch stay on the couch.” Kids without discipline and direction don’t go anywhere. Initiate a new rule in your house, no loitering, and put a sign above your couch. “KID FREE Zone”. You might even see some initiative, another important life skill taught in the home. Boundaries make us feel ...

When I read your note about all your feelings and ways in which you beat yourself up I thought it's no wonder she's having a rough time. I agreed with many things you said and believe me your self awareness is pretty good but not as gentle as I would like for my oldest daughter. Acceptance is just sitting quietly and acknowledging what's true. What's true is you're having a wonderful time and there are days when you meltdown. What's true is that you have limiting beliefs about yourself and are ordering shit sandwiches instead of roast beef. You are Gold my dear. Your greatest worry shouldn't be that you are nuisance to someone else. There is no such thing as a 'great' worry. Worries aren't great. This approval seeking is immobilizing you and making you neurotic but don't worry my sweet daughter it happens to the best of us. This universal popularity you so desire with every fiber of your being is.... well.... shall we say a waste of ...

I was raised in a household in seventies where nurturing a child’s self-esteem would be considered laughable.   I remember hearing, “good kids should be seen and not heard” and my Father would get a few laughs saying that “the joys of raising kids are grossly exaggerated.” I know that my Father loved me, but I did feel small and insignificant. Parents don’t purposely try to lower their child’s self-esteem.   It happens by accident.   We must remember our own baggage and not be a bully or worse, overcompensate by treating them like a victim.   There’s no power in being a victim. I remember notes being passed around in class. Am I The Only One?     Hats were getting rip off people’s heads, people were being followed home from school and tripped.   It’s not much different now but kids have lost their ability to cope. Social media has amplified this, and many can’t deal with the stress of not being accepted or good enough.   To make matters...

It’s a great way to control what they say about you.  While you decide for yourself whether it’s an outlandish, morbid or self absorbed idea, here's mine.  Mom’s going to miss rainstorms and the smell of warm scented wax.  She’ll miss fighting with my dad whether to open the windows or turn on the air conditioner. One day she drove us to school and realized we weren’t in the car.   Mom loved herself and never apologized for it.  She had so many passions and interests it was hard for her to pick so she didn’t.  She just did them all.  When driving us around she would point at trees, flowering bushes or a beautiful orange sky and would practically run us off the road. We use to yell at her. I kind of regret that little now. When we were 2 and 3 years old she took us to McDonalds.  Amy got stuck in the tube slide at the very top the same time Kay bolted across the busy restaurant in her red rain boots heading for the toilet and disappe...

Judging by the caravan of vehicles pulling in and out of the high school at 8:00 am every morning I’m guessing I’m not the only one driving kids to school every day. “They could walk, it’s not that far” I tell myself as I wait for them in the driveway. I pass the other kids who are walking and question, “Am I doing the right thing? Their parents are smarter making their kids walk to school. Their kids will be my kid’s bosses one day.” For parents who are driving kids our excuses are so varied: They slept in, missed the bus, or like mine, too lazy to walk. Perhaps their books are too heavy or they need extra time in the morning. Maybe we fool ourselves into thinking it’s “quality” time. My Father said to me, “no offence honey, but I’m glad I’m not raising kids in this day and age the way your generation caters to their children.” Does he have a point? Are we going overboard? Time will tell. We will all measure our parenting based on whether our children are living happy s...

This is a beautiful poem and a great reminder on how to be a wonderful parent and to raise happy healthy children. Blessings and love to all, Carrie A Parents’ Prayer (by Okomfo Akua Duku) Dear (God, Creator of your understanding). Remind me to teach my children to call on You in times of challenges and difficulty and to thank You afterwards. Teach me how to understand my children’s needs, to listen patiently to what they have to say, and to answer their questions with kindness and wisdom. Help me to be as courteous, compassionate and cooperative with them, as I want them to be to me. Heal me of all thoughts, habits and actions that lead me to shame and ridicule them when they make mistakes. May I never punish them out of spite or anger, or to show my power. Help me to demonstrate by all that I say and do that honesty, honor and humility will produce joy. Eliminate any meanness in me, when I am out of sorts, and help me to hold my tongue. May I be ever mindful that my c...

This is my own rendition of the Poem by Michael Josephson called “What will matter” The son I’ve raised, my daughter’s self-esteem, the role model I’ve been to them and anyone else who may have been paying attention. Any nugget of wisdom I provide that changes the course of someone’s life. Any act of courage, strength or faith that inspired others. The love I gave, the kindness I’ve shown and the Joy I’ve shared. The attention I gave to those who didn’t think they mattered. The example I’ve set. The Parents I’ve honoured being the best I can be. The chances I’ve taken and changes I’ve embraced. Saying YES to what God created me to be. The patterns I’ve recognized and released. The principles I’ve stood for and my devotion to clarity, wholeness and freedom. The marriage I’ve worked for. Every moment I choose a life free of addiction and struggle. How closely aligned I’ve been with my values and the principles in my book. The number of times I say I love you, I’m so sorry, pl...

You call it gallivanting, we call it fun. You call it mischief, We call, just hanging out with our friends. You call it disrespect, We call sticking up our ourselves; sorry we don’t have it perfect yet. What you call sense of entitlement, We call providing. Is there a misunderstanding? What you call caring, we call control. What you call advice, we call self-righteous. What you call rebellion, we call anger. What you call rage, we call suffering. What you call curfew and boundaries, we call conditional love. “I’ll only love you if you act a certain way.” What you call drama, we call wanting to be deeply seen. Dear Parents: Do I have to be wrong in order for you to be right? If lessons and mistakes make me stronger, let me make them. I give you permission to let go. I need emotional risk and uncertainty, to help me find my own courage; to feel my own joy. Do you feel yours, or are you too entrenched in raising me that you forgot about your own life. We see things d...