There are concrete blessings for kids who learn to count their blessings, the Wall Street Journal recently reported. In one study, high school students with high levels of gratitude reported having stronger marks, less depression and envy, and a more positive outlook than less grateful teens.
But gratitude is like a muscle – it needs regular exercise. You have to use it regularly if you want to see the benefits.
Canada Day is a great opportunity to nurture gratitude in our teens and younger children. As we prepare to celebrate with parades, fireworks and barbecues, we can also explore with our kids the many reasons why it’s great to live in Canada.
Here are five suggestions for building gratitude muscle this Canada Day:
1) Compare notes: Spend some time with a friend, acquaintance or neighbour who has immigrated to Canada. Encourage your kids to ask questions about life elsewhere. How is life different for kids here?
2) Dollar a day: Brainstorm over a meal about how living on a dollar a day would look. What would have to come off the dinner table to make the budget? What else would have had to go that day?
3) Watch the news: Have each family member recall a news story that makes them feel grateful to live in Canada. Share stories making the news, such as the war in Syria, or child slavery.
4) Pick a kids’ issue: Look together at a web site exploring a challenge affecting young people, like www.nochildforsale.ca or www.child-soldiers.org.
5) Start a tradition: Make an online donation to an organization helping children overseas, as a symbol of your family’s gratitude for life in Canada.
It’s almost here!! Canada Day long weekend is as synonymous with outdoor grilling as Victoria Day is with the number 24. You have the grill, the apron and the tools that a certain someone received for Father’s Day, but now comes the hard part: recipes and spices. My son has taken to creating special dry rubs for ribs and marinades for beef, but at the age of eight he’s no match for the two celebrity chefs going head to head for a culinary Canada Day grilling dual! It’s The Great Canadian Grille-Off!
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Yield: 4 portions
If you’ve cared for kids during summer break, you know how those ten weeks can stretch out! But summer is also a wonderful time to learn with your kids, in ways that might not normally have time for. Best of all: they can help someone (or something!) in need, and feel really great about it.
Earlier this year, a letter sent by a child to the LEGO toy company went viral. Seven-year-old Charlotte complained about the lack of opportunities for the LEGO girls available at her local toy store. She noticed that the girl figures only visit the beach and the shops, while LEGO boys have interesting jobs and even save lives. LEGO wrote back, adding to the story’s viral appeal and confirming for Charlotte that her questions were worthy of a response.
Many parents are wakened on special occasions by an ominous clattering in the kitchen: loving-hearted children preparing to surprise us with coffee or hot chocolate in bed. There’s also that cinnamon toast or oatmeal positively doused with sugar.
3. Golden Snitch Cake. With white ostrich feathers from the craft store and golden sparkles.
One highlight of the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration this year was not only posing with Maleficent (while protecting my son!) and seeing the first 9 minutes of the film Maleficent which is classified as PG and opens on May 30, 2014, but hearing Elle Fanning speak about her first starring role opposite Angelina Jolie. To Fanning, “Aurora exudes lightness and it’s so great in our movie that we have the dark and the light, total opposites, because they work so well together, like opposites attract in a way.”
“Elle is Aurora,” comments Jolie. “From the moment I met her, she is just sunshine. She’s a wonderful, sweet, intelligent young woman. Elle’s such a capable actress and a very strong person, which is nice because this Aurora is not just in love with the flowers; she is elegant and beautiful and delicate and loving, but she’s centered and she’s quite
Diane’s Lingerie invited me and a group of notable Vancouver women to become a work of art. To honour the beautiful shapes and sizes of women they assist every day, Diane’s asked 25 women to paint their naked bodies and create art. The concept would be rolled into the new look and feel of the brand and exhibited at a gallery be creating an art exhibition and silently auctioned, with proceeds going to support the 
What I realized as I wrapped myself in the snuggly robe provided by Diane’s Lingere was that society’s current ideals should never sway our sense of whether or not we are beautiful. Different shapes have been idealized over time, and every body tells a story. A curve here, a scar there, a bellybutton that implants so clearly onto the canvas it reminds us of our origins. We are a community and I am so grateful to have been a part of such a groundbreaking campaign. No wonder there are so many shapes and sizes of lingere! In the end I began to value my body and its curvaceous shape. I am a phenomenal woman. And Diane’s really does fit them all. 
It’s hard to classify anyone as ‘Mom of the Year’. What criteria does one use? While women sling insults at each other in the name of the mommy wars, we seem to be forgetting about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes.
There have been many times over the years when I’ve wanted Elsa’s powers. Wouldn’t it be incredible if you could build a whole mansion with the flick of a hand like Disney’s Frozen star? Or maybe master a project that’s a tad less extensive – like tiling a floor, using a jigsaw or hanging a light fixture. There are thousands of people across the country who need housing, live in poverty and feel isolated. The power of community and charity can not only transform not only the individuals in need, but also empower the people who want to help others. There are problem-solving women across Canada who can help while working as a team and developing construction skills in the process. The women build with 
What family doesn’t want simple, decent and affordable housing? As an ambassador and fan of Procter & Gamble, I have been asked to represent UrbanMommies and put together a team of women in the Vancouver area to build a home! The program is part of a three year partnership totalling $900,000, that will see P&G support Habitat’s family home builds throughout the county, on behalf of its Household Needs brands such as Tide, Swiffer and Mr. Clean. This year there are builds happening in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal and approximately 350 new builds are expected across Canada in 2014.
Habitat for Humanity is a special charity, and I love that one hundred percent of all administrative and fundraising costs are paid for by the operation of nine ReStores in the lower mainland. It’s great when not a dime is wasted.