New book sheds a positive light on teens and social media

Nancy Smith’s 81-year-old mother is on social media. I guess you could say it runs in the family. Smith, who spent 12 years working in social media and digital marketing, is now guiding both her son and her mom through the complex online world…in a positive way.

The 10 best loyalty programs for teens and tweens

There have been a lot of changes recently to some our our favorite rewards and loyalty programs in Canada. The Scene program, Shopper’s Drug Mart and Ivivva have all made changes to their programs. Read on for an update to this post, which was originally published last year.

Genetic testing – would you want to know?

I love writing about inspiring women and Melanie Beckwith is certainly one of them. I sat down with her recently to talk about the BRCA1/2 genetic mutation, hard choices and finding happiness. 

Out of sight, out of mind – CELLslip removes the distraction

I received a free CELLslip in exchange for writing a review of this product. All opinions are my own.

When a motorist on a cell phone rolled through a stop sign and right into the rear-end of his wife’s vehicle with his three young children inside, Mitch Bain wasted no time in launching CELLslip.

Dear Daughter, you want to wear what??

I received this question from a reader the other day about girls and clothing. I thought it would make a great topic for a blog post because, honestly, it’s something I’ve struggled with too.

Teens and sexual consent

With Stampede, summer parties and music festival season upon us…it’s a good time to talk to your teens about sexual consent.

Is your teen ready to travel the world…without you?

This article appears in Calgary’s Child Magazine, May/June 2017 issue.

So, your teenager has the travel bug. Maybe she wants to travel abroad to study, develop a second language or volunteer with a service organization? Teen travel is becoming incredibly popular with young adults who want to spread their wings of independence and see the world.

Thirteen Reasons Why – the Netflix series about suicide

When I worked in news, we stayed away from covering individual suicides. You might hear it on the police scanner, everyone would shake their head in sadness and then we’d carry on, listening for the next potential story.

Tips to help your teen find a summer job

Are you dreading the thought of your teenager sitting at home this summer mindlessly gaming or pouring over social media? It’s not an option at our house, so we’re encouraging our older kids to look for a summer job –  and now is the time!

Social Media Citizenship launches in Calgary

I’m so pleased to tell you guys about a new resource to help parents navigate the ever-changing and complicated world of social media.