Diapers & Deadlines: Making Room For Life
When I started this column three years ago, I was six months pregnant with so many questions running through my mind about birth, motherhood, working, childrearing and ice cream – specifically, to eat or not to eat Ben & Jerry’s at 2 a.m.! Today, I have a beautiful little boy whose personality continues to reveal itself day by day … but I’m still...
Continue ReadingDiapers & Deadlines: The Hunger Game
As my picky toddler grows, he’s taught me a thing or two and redefined my relationship with food. It’s clear we were born with this innate ability to stop when we’re full; but as we get older, we lose sight of that. Taste, experiences, smells and other factors shape what and how we eat. I love food and I love to cook, but I no longer just eat because...
Continue ReadingDiapers & Deadlines: Give Yourself a Chance
Every January, I find myself pining over lost time and focusing on unmet goals. I sit there wondering exactly what it is I did the year before … well, I guess I really sit there wondering what I didn’t do. But 2011 was different. I may not have met all my goals, but I learned a lot about myself. Having started a health and wellness blog (poppyonakite.com),...
Continue ReadingDiapers & Deadlines: The Present of Being Present
If you didn’t know that about me, you do now. I take on projects when I shouldn’t and spend more time working than playing. I thought I’d get better when I became a mother, but I just “managed” my life in a way that enabled me to continue doing it. There’s another thing you should know about me: I love food. No really, I love, love, love food. So,...
Continue ReadingDiapers & Deadlines: The Woes and Pros of a Work-at-Home Mum
In the last few decades, the world has changed so much that it has made my job as a writer and editor very mobile. I can write from my bed or from a car on a road trip … heck, I can even write on a plane and still meet deadlines! For more than a year and a half, I’ve had the unique pleasure of doing so — working mostly from home. As a mother, this has...
Continue ReadingDiapers & Deadlines: Baby-Free Holiday
Last month I went to visit a close friend in Florida for four days. It was my first baby-free vacation ever. And although I missed him the entire trip, I embraced my time away as an opportunity to act like any parent would on vacation without a child — freely. Within those four days, I: Stayed up until 3 a.m. (and slept in!) Ate cheesecake for breakfast ...
Continue ReadingDiapers & Deadlines: Beautiful … Me?
There are many things I’d happily label myself: smart, funny, caring … but for some reason, beautiful never makes the cut. And you know what? It doesn’t matter how many times my husband, a loved one or a random stranger tells me. I have to feel it to believe it. The problem with that, however, is I’m not happy with where I am physically. I’m overweight...
Continue ReadingDiet Tips From My Picky Eater
I’m wearing an avocado mask this morning. I hear it’s great for the skin; an excellent way to clean your pores. But let me be honest … this mask was applied by my son, when he smacked a spoonful of avocado out of my hand and onto my face. Cute little rascal. I just don’t get it. I don’t get not wanting to eat, because I always want to eat! I love...
Continue ReadingDiapers & Deadlines: Happiness is …
How do you define happiness? For me, happiness can take on many forms. I know I won’t think of everything, but here’s a random list of things that come to mind: • A sweet-tooth craving fulfilled • A warm breeze on a summer evening • The smell of old books and libraries • A good hearty laugh (the more gusto, the better) • Reading • Travelling...
Continue ReadingDiapers & Deadlines: One Thankful Work-At-Home Mum
As I write this column, my son is calling out to me — in the only way a 9-month-old can — to release him from the prison known to us as the Pack ‘n’ Play. He’s bouncing, whining and using sounds a human shouldn’t be able to make to get my attention and distract me from the tasks that lie ahead. Before I sat down to write this column, he was kind...
Continue ReadingCubicle Chronicles: Take the Risk
Take the Risk … Pursue your Dreams I turned 30 in July. Yep, the big fat 3-0. Some of you might think I’m spritely and at the beginning of my life, and others might think I’m a digit closer to, well, “old.” I guess your view depends on what side of 30 you’re on! Having been in my 20’s two short months ago, I can tell you this decade hit me...
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Decisions, Decisions
Have you ever been at a fork in the road where you’ve had to make a decision in life that wasn’t easy at the time? Well, that fork came in the form of a career prospect too good to turn down. The problem, you ask? Choosing the new position solidified my hard work as a writing and editing professional, but also meant that I had to leave an extremely fulfilling...
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