Family Matters

Would you know what to say or do if a friend or family member told you they were trapped in an abusive relationship? You can't make them leave and you can't ignore what's happening. So what can you do? We turn to an experienced social worker for advice on how to help and how to sort through some of the myths surrounding family violence. Plus, Johanna Baynton Smith shares her powerful story of falling in love only to fall into a violent relationship.

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A rural Alberta school is going where it has never gone before… to four recesses. This year, Bruderheim School has doubled the amount of breaks it gives students. The school’s principal says it’s paying off. He is noticing students are having an easier time focusing and there are less students calling in sick. Paul McKay joins us to explain the new class schedule. Bruderheim School is on twitter.

Sending out holiday cards used to be simple – buy the cards, sign them and mail them out. But in an era of personalized greetings, we have more room for creativity and more room to make mistakes. The self-professed grammarian, Heather Nianouris, joins us with her viral pitch to change the way you might be signing your family name. Her video on Facebook has been viewed more than 14 million times. You can check it out by clicking here. We also talk holiday cards and teen slag with YMC’s editor-in-chief Jeni Marinucci.

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Surrogacy!

It’s illegal to pay someone to carry your baby, but legal to compensate them. To help clarify the difference, Ottawa is proposing long-awaited regulations on when a surrogate can accept money. But not everyone is supportive of the proposed new changes. Fertility Law expert Sara Cohen calls it a step in the wrong direction. Sara is on twitter and you can also find out more through her website.  

It takes a village to raise a baby, but for Calgary’s Nathan Chan it took a village to have a baby. He gets candid on his eight year, $250,000 journey to become a dad.  Nathan is the managing director of Proud Fertility. You can find out more by connecting with him on Instagram and through the Proud Fertility website.

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Despite the saying that 'it takes a village', many parents feel like they're doing it alone. So why are parents so reluctant to ask for help? Trent Wilkie, of TheUnDad podcast, is stay-at-home dad of two kids, who struggled when his wife was out of town for a week. He says his reluctance to ask for help stems from guilt and pride. Toronto clinical psychologist Dr. Alex Russell says our inability to ask for help is about much more than pride. He says helicopter parents feel responsible for how kids turn out in the world. Dr. Russell co-authored the book Drop the Worry Ball: How to Parent in the Age of Entitlement.  He's also a popular educational speaker, who has addressed many parent and counselor groups. To hear more from Dr. Russell click here.

Following thousands of live shows over the span of 40 years, Sharon Hampson and Bram Morrison,  (of Sharon, Lois and Bram fame) have had a front row seat to changing family dynamics. Sharon and Bram are travelling the country on their farewell tour. We have an extended interview with them from Fort Nelson, B.C. to ask their advice and biggest message for families. Sharon and Bram are on twitter, connect with them here.

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Canadian parents have had the option of taking up to 18 months of parental leave, instead of only 12 months. And while the program has been popular, we crunch the numbers to find out if families can actually afford to take it. Amy Dietz-Graham is an investment advisor with Bank of Montreal and shares her insight on the long-term financial impacts. We introduce you to one family that has got creative with the time to overlap the first four months after baby’s arrival.  And Daddy blogger Casey Palmer joins us to weigh in on whether his family could make the extended leave work. You can find out more about Palmer by checking out his website CaseyPalmer.com.

For parents with teenagers this will come as no surprise, teens are abandoning Facebook in favour of other social media platforms. But researcher University of Alberta researcher David Brake argues life without Facebook may mean our youth is not getting the full picture.

Follow Kim Smith @Kim_SmithTV on Twitter and our guest Casey Palmer @CaseP 

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A Massachusetts kindergartener was recently teased by his classmates for wearing red nail polish to school. Sam was told it was for girls. But do five and six year olds really have a problem with a boy wearing bright red paint on his nails or are they passing on the opinions from home? We talk to child psychologist Dr. Jillian Roberts about the importance of changing the conversation on gender norms. Roberts is behind the parenting website Family Sparks. We also check in with Aaron Gouveia, Sam’s father, to see if he’s still sporting nail polish to school. Gouveia is an executive at a public relations firm and is also the dad behind the website Daddy Files. You can also follow him on twitter by clicking here. And we get the Undad’s perspective. Trent Wilkie is a stay-at-home dad and weighs in on the nail polish teasing and why parents struggle to say yes to help. You can connect with Trent Wilkie on his website the Undad.

We all know young kids are prone to bumps and bruises but what about concussions? We quiz Dr. Bruce Wright at the Stollery Children's Hospital about head injuries and when they require a trip to the emergency room.

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Alyssa Garrison aka @randomactsofpastel is about to become a mother all on her own. At 27, she decided she was done waiting for Mr. Right and decided to self-inseminate with the help of an anonymous donor. She will be the only name on the birth certificate but she won’t be the only one in the delivery room.  Garrison has recruited Rhiannon Langford,  a Toronto doula and the founder of Birth Boss Maternity Care. Both join us to offer up their insight into having a baby in this day and age. You can find out more about Rhiannon Langford by checking out her website thebirthboss.com. And for more on Alyssa Garrison’s journey into motherhood checkout her website and Instagram pages.

Any parent will tell you, kids grow like weeds. But you might be surprised to learn that because of those quick growth spurts an overwhelming majority of children are wearing shoes too small for their feet. A recent survey pegged it at 65%! We headed to Edmonton’s first shoe family the Kunitz to find out how to size kids right. And to our surprise they recommend buying kids winter boots 2 sizes bigger. Good news for any parent’s wallet. To find out more about the Kunitz family click here.

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Would you sell your house, quit your job and pull your kids out of school to take a yearlong adventure around the world? Better question, could you financially? We explore the family gap year and how more and more Canadian families are making it happen. The Eliuk family chats with us about their 6 month adventure starting in Bali. You can follow their trip by clicking here. And Jennifer Sutherland from the gap year association shares her dos and don’ts for an extended family vacation.

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Canadian youth already have one of the highest rates of cannabis use in the world. So what changes now that pot is legal? Calgary researcher Rebecca Haines-Saah predicts not much except the conversation, especially now that parents can’t use the threat of a criminal record as a determent. To find out more about Rebecca Haines-Saah’s check out her website. Fun fact, Haines-Saah is a former actress who played ‘Kathleen Mead’ on Degrassi Junior High for the first 5 seasons of the show. We also deliver some good news for expecting moms. Exercising during pregnancy cuts odds of major complications by 40 per cent, according to Canada's latest guideline for pregnant women. The biggest change in the new guidelines? All expectant mothers are encouraged to exercise, despite previous fitness levels. For advice on how to get started, we speak with Kellie Willie. She's the owner of a prenatal fitness studio in Edmonton and a registered nurse in labour and delivery. You can find out more about her by clicking here.

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