When I read Lindsy Van Gelder’s “The Great Personhole Cover Debate,” I was seventeen and in my last year of high school. I remember the essay so well. It opened my eyes to the obvious injustices of gendered language that exist in my everyday—injustices that I had never noticed or worried about until that moment. And, as a lover of…   …read more.

Echo was born on the 2nd and here we are at day #12, nearly halfway through the moon month and she is nearly two weeks old! They say time goes fast when they’re so little, but I really didn’t expect it to race by this quickly. Sometimes it feels so natural to have a child. Like nothing monumental has happened…   …read more.

As I’ve spoken about already, we started living together before we got married. Guo Jian wasn’t comfortable with it. It’s still a new concept in China and even though he’s a modern guy who looks like he stepped off the streets of Toronto with his dreadlocks and stage-ready stance, he is still a product of his culture. Up until just…   …read more.

The good news has arrived! I’m no longer “preggers in China”! Our sweet little one is here and I’ve written out the birth story for you all. I warn you: this post is LONG! I wanted to remember as much as possible and so I wrote it out in the first two days of motherhood, in between feedings. After this…   …read more.

Sorry for the delayed posting of this regular blog, but it’s been a big week! This is a regular series that tells the retrospective story of my current partnership, but the current version of this story includes the recent birth of our new little girl! So, thankfully, I had per-written this posting before she arrived on Monday and so I’m…   …read more.

Happy New Year! It’s New Year’s Eve day here in China (at least, the Western version thereof) and I hope that your NYE celebrations are wonderful and that you can all welcome 2012 in with a smile!! Today, that is my challenge. I am pushing myself to rejoice in a new year rather than grumble about this continued pregnancy! But…   …read more.

Sometimes love is revelatory, not unlike religion… Seems fitting to post this one right after the Christmas holidays! Here’s hoping your holidays have been wonderful and I want to wish you all a very Happy New Year! -es ****************************************************************************************************** After the three-month living together experience in China that spring of 2008 was over, I went back to Canada. At the…   …read more.

Well, Christmas is upon us and here I am on Christmas Eve day having pulled out my red “footie” pj’s and Santa hat. They actually still fit! I think I’ll dress like a “Pregger Elf” tomorrow. Why not? Little Spark can create the Santa-inspired “bowl full of jelly” impression when s/he gets excited, too! Why not emphasize this bulbous shape…   …read more.

Why do men seemingly feel no sense of urgency when it comes to changing boxers or socks? We fought. When one of us made dinner, didn’t it make sense for the other to do the dishes? He agreed to this, reluctantly, but never agreed to a timeline on the task. Sometimes two or three days went by before he actually…   …read more.

Newsletter Final Thought: December 2011 I honestly don’t have much to say this month. As you all know, I’m about to pop a human here and I’m conserving my energy! LOL! I’m 37 weeks pregnant and the baby could come anytime. When the labour begins, when there’s still a few moments in between contractions to breathe and think straight, I’m…   …read more.