Blogs on More

… in the same house. It’s not a horror story: it’s reality for many midlife moms these days.

I’m going to have to put this one on the list of “things people never warned me about before I went ahead and had a child” (probably because my parents had their kids earlier, so it wasn’t an issue). Over at the NYTimes.com’s Motherlode blog, there’s a lively discussion taking place.

At least if we can’t sleep because of night sweats, we can check if our teens made curfew… right?

Slate is running this amazing feature on pictures of the recession. I love this so much - the historical capture; the personal story; the using art to record human struggle -  I’m going to steal the idea. If you have a picture that expresses something about the recession, email it to me at jgruden@more.ca. We may have a contest but if we do and you’ve emailed yours already, I’ll enter you automatically.

People who are subscribed to More.ca’s Twitter feed know that we posted about the IBM and CBC layoffs last week to invite those of you laid off to come find your tribe in our forums.

To everyone struggling with a layoff or being a survivor of a round, my thoughts to you. It’s very easy to say it’s an opportunity for change - which it is - but that doesn’t remove the very real struggle.  Let’s share our experiences.

I’m loving Fiona Beatty’s piece in the Globe and Mail about teaching her 16 year old daughter to drive.  So true. I intend to outsource as much of this as possible - after all, that’s what the cars with the extra set of brakes are for.

It’s been a rough week in parenting news, with more stories about sexting, the role of text messages and instant messages in the Toronto-area trial of M.T., and a 16-year-old charged with causing the death of wedding guests by providing ecstasy.

Maybe the driving is not so bad.

What keeps you up in the night when it comes to parenting your teens?

This post is about to produce at least 7 days of bad editorial karma for this web editor, so keep an eye on our site and sign up for our newsletter because when I make that mistake, it’s sure to be a doozy.

However, Linda Lewis, editor-in-chief, and Brenda Thompson, copy editor, were laughing too loudly about this Globe and Mail typo this morning and we just had to share it:

What do you think about both this older scandal and the recent issue regarding Nortel bonuses when laid off workers aren’t receiving severance? Have you received a bonus this year?

Yesterday I was lacking inspiration, but today, via the Well blog, I found this very pretty slideshow of objects as seen through a CT scanner.

Although the blog piece makes it clear the artist uses a scanner at a research facility and can be bumped at any time if needed for patient use, I do, as a Canadian, find it a little shocking. But the images are still beautiful, so have a look.   Satre Stuelke has opened up a little slice of the beauty of ordinary things - and that’s truly inspirational.

Here are some health headlines that have caught my attention this week:

• Fish may not be that great for you, and consuming it may be bad for the environment. I’m taking this one a bit personally since I’d made a year-long effort to reintroduce the “fish on Friday” tradition.
• But I’d better not substitute red meat; it seems that it’s not good for you after all.
• More reasons to love vitamin D.
• Talk to friends along with your glass of wine; it makes it better for you. Cheers!
• ADHD can be such a difficult problem (as we explore in our ADHD guide for adults), and now it seems that obesity may be linked to the neuro-developmental irregularity. 

That’s it; I’m going for a walk.

It seems to be in the air this week:

• The Toronto Star: When a Twitterer becomes a twit
• Globe and Mail: Twitter at work: Just don’t be a twit
• The National Post: Twitter, Facebook beget the “social cameleon”
  

I love social media’s fundamental goal: Connecting people to people. I felt in love from my first experience chatting on UseNet over a 2400 baud modem from Sackville N.B. (before the dawn of the web browser, I must say) and have stuck with it through IRC, ICQ, forums, blogs, and now Facebook and Twitter. (Twitter streams: Mine, and More.ca’s)

But each time it seems like the potential for humiliation increases. Back when the ‘net was mostly scientists, university students and computer fanatics, there was a kind of cowboy atmosphere. Okay, we had all-out flame wars, but it had that “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” feel to it. It helped that Google wasn’t a twinkle in a venture capitalist’s eye yet.

But now that all the cool kids have signed up, HR departments take notes, and my neighbours have friended me, I’m starting to sweat my statements a bit more. It seems a bit like the interesting police are out there, keeping score. Do I really want it out there that my musical taste hasn’t improved at all in the last 25 years? That I occasionally eat a Wagon Wheel?

Of course I have control over what I say and post, but if social media is truly a conversation, we need to give each other some space to converse the way human beings do - occasionally boring, occasionally snippy, but mostly just wanting to be part of the tribe.

Natasha Richardson’s death this week really touched me, even though I can claim no special relationship to the actress, unlike Jane Fonda. I think it may be because I used to spend my summers just down the road from Mont Tremblant, and so it feels like she had this terrible accident close to my turf.

Not just any turf, either: This is where I did a lot of my growing up as a teen camper and then counsellor at Camp Ouareau: learning to windsurf, canoeing up through Papineau-LaBelle, kissing the odd Quebecois boy and basically trying out my wings as a young woman. Learning new skills. Taking physical risks.

And for me, I know that it is at least partly because of those experiences that I later felt confident enough to travel and pursue my passions: To become the kind of woman who would be happy to take a skiing lesson while my husband was pursuing his own goals.

So maybe that’s why I’m having a kind of adolescent reaction to all the news stories about helmet safety, medivac helicopters and brain trauma. Yes, yes, yes those things are important in their own way. And if my son goes out riding his bike without a helmet, he is in serious trouble.

But if there’s something I learned up there in the Laurentians, it’s that sometimes you have to give up the fear and get out there. Most of the time, it will be okay.

I am so sorry for Richardson’s family and so sad that her life was cut short. But I am glad she was out in the mountains, taking a ski lesson at 45 years old.

Many of my friends are disappointed when they ask for product advice and I recommend a “drugstore” brand. It’s not surprising, really - we’ve all been led to believe that priciest is best when it comes to beauty.  But, the speed at which research and development moves these days means that big advances travel quickly down the product pipeline.

Of course, there are many well-formulated, effective, (and just plain lust-worthy) high-priced lotions and potions  on the market, but it’s always good to know you don’t need to break the bank to look and feel good. Want some examples?

Gillette Venus Disposables Spa Breeze are razors that come with shaving gel already built in.  As you would imagine, they’re great for traveling or reducing space in the shower rack.   I’d recommend them for legs and under arms this spring and summer. $15

The new Herbal Essences Hydralicious collection does exactly what it says - hydrates hair while smelling delicious. I used the Self-Targeting shampoo one morning and all three people that shared the elevator with me commented on how great I smelled. $4

Soap & Glory is a fun British brand that has people talking this side of the pond. I’ve been using Flake Away, a spa-strength body polish that now sits front row in the bathroom after sorting out my winter snake ski

Check out Nathalie Atkinson’s coverage of the David Dixon collections, shown yesterday at the LG Fashion Week in Toronto. To love: the clothes. To fear: the line “biceps are the new breasts.” If Michelle Obama is definitely the newest fashion muse in town, I think I’d better get to the gym. But rock on, 40+ woman power.

By the way, you can win a David Dixon t-shirt, along with a fabulous Barbie prize pack, in our Barbie at 50 contest.