Family Matters

More and more new parents are hiring a doula not just for pregnancy and delivery, but to help out after the baby arrives.  They provide support with feeding, diaper changing, bathing, meal prep, and light housekeeping. Shannon Sproule is a postpartum doula with Full Circle Birth Collective in Edmonton and shares with us her experience in helping families adjust to parenthood.

Plus, years after she left the dance floor, Kim Smith returned to her ballerina roots and is now preparing for a recital. She signed up for an adult dance class where many other participants are over 25 and trying ballet for the first time. We hear what inspired her and talk with registered psychologist Kimberly Knull from Momentum Walk in Counselling about the benefits of putting yourself out there to try a new skill.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s world, a little kindness goes a long way. Proof can be found inside Davidson Creek Elementary in Sherwood Park, Alberta. That’s where a lunch supervisor has turned her crocheting hobby into a school initiative to help the homeless. You’ll hear about the project, as well as child psychologist Dr. Jillian Roberts discussing whether kindness can be taught. To learn more about Dr. Roberts and her new book,  ‘On the Playground’, click here.

And most parents will admit to having some struggle convincing their kids to dress for the winter. Even in a deep freeze, teenagers are wearing hoodies instead of parkas. We search for advice on when it’s worth the fight to get them to bundle up. Plus, registered psychologist Kimberly Knull from Momentum Walk in Counselling shares some insight into what may be really behind your teen’s fashion choices. And, Global Edmonton Meteorologist Jesse Beyer pops in to talk about the likelihood of frostbite and make some confessions about what he wore as a teen in the winter. You can follow Jesse on twitter.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Canadian couples are divorcing differently in 2019. Instead of heading to court, more are trying to solve financial and custodial issues on their own. Karen Stewart from Fairway Divorce joins us to talk about the trend and offers up some advice for people considering representing themselves. You can find out more about Karen by clicking here.

We introduce you to an app that's taking custody disputes out of the courtroom and onto the smartphone. coParenter helps parents manage, organize and document co-parenting decisions around the kids. Jonathan Verk helped launch the app after he went through what he calls “a horrible litigated divorce.” He gives us some examples of how the app will resolve issues.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More and more Canadian women are freezing their eggs for the future. The Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine, with a clinic in Vancouver and Edmonton, reported a 180 per cent increase from 2017 to 2018. What are the costs of egg freezing and what can you expect? We throw our questions at the centre's co-director Dr. Caitlin Dunne.

And we chat with Meagan Beaton about her decision to freeze her eggs. She documented her journey on a blog perfectly titled MegsEggs.org.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Getting back into a career after staying home to raise kids can be daunting, especially competing against people who haven’t left the workforce. According to data from the Harvard Business Review, stay-at-home moms are half as likely to land a job interview compared to moms who get laid off. We speak to a mom who sent out a 100 applications before returning to work after 11 years at home raising three kids. We also get expert advice from Tara Dragon, founder of Work Evolution, and Avra Davidoff, a registered psychologist at Calgary Career Counselling for people trying to land a job following a parenting gap.

Plus, Canada’s new food guide is a major departure from the previous one consumers followed for years. One notable change is that it doesn’t feature cow’s milk as prominently as before. The new guide also eliminates serving sizes. We speak to Emily Mardell, registered dietician and founder of GetJoyfull, for her advice on how to ensure we’re consuming enough protein and calcium.

We’re also joined by Global Edmonton news anchor Carole Anne Devaney. She’s on her third maternity leave and joins us to talk about a difficult decision to give up the family pet.  You can follow Carole Anne on Instagram and Twitter.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Calgary mother is frustrated over a ticket policy that prevented her from bringing her breastfeeding baby to a show. She was told if she wanted her son to attend, she would have to pay full-price for a ticket. We hear from her plus we take a look at ticket policies for babies at venues across the country. We ask a human rights lawyer if the rule is discriminatory. Margot Young is a professor with the Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. You find out more about her by clicking here.

Child car seats today are all about safety, but when the first model hit the market nearly a century ago, it was more about giving mom and dad somewhere to put their child. From the first car seat in 1933 to the ones on store shelves today, we take a look at the evolution of car seats.  Trudy Slaght from the Child Passenger Safety Association shares with us the biggest changes and makes some predictions for the next generation for car seats. You can find out more by visiting the Child Passenger Safety Association facebook page.

And, University of Alberta family physician Stephanie Liu launched her blog, Life of Dr. Mom, to offer an evidence-based alternative to the misinformation she found on many mom blogs. She joins us to talk about her blog and some of the biggest questions and misconceptions she hears from patients.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many parents are careful about what they say around their kids, but research suggests casual swearing is totally alright. Cognitive scientist and author of What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves, Benjamin Bergen joins us to talk about his research. We also hear from popular Canadian comedian, Derek Seguin. Swearing on stage is part of his routine. He opens up about his own profanity around his three kids.

Kyla Cornish is known for her down-to-earth and humorous style on the popular parenting blog Mommy’s Weird. You might have seen her bra breaking appearance with Jillian Michaels and Tyra Banks on the defunct show FABLife. She joins us to talk about whether she swears at home and why she’s not happy about her friends getting jobs. You can connect with Kyla through her Instagram, click here.

Plus, if you grew up in the 1980s in Canada, you probably remember the original Mini Pop Kids, a group of performers singing family-friendly versions of chart-topping hits. K-tel relaunched the brand in 2004 and this year, the kids have embarked on their biggest cross-country tour. We hear from the kids and the music producer on why the brand remains popular decades later. You can follow along with the Mini Pop Kids on Instagram, click here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It sounds like Eric O'Keeffe has found his calling. The L.A. based actor is better known as Mr. Eric, the star of the ‘What if World’ podcast where kids ask a question and he answers with an elaborate story. The show is now in its third season and in November alone, brought in 250,000 downloads.  Eric joins us to talk about what sparked ‘What if World’ and how the landscape for podcasts targetted at kids is growing. You can connect with Eric or checkout past episodes by clicking here.

It will never bring her baby back, but it has the potential to help other pre-term babies. And that’s what led Stephanie Murphy to donate her breastmilk in the months after the loss of her daughter. She shares with us why she decided to become a donor and how it helped her with the healing process.  The NorthernStar Mothers Milk Bank, a Calgary-based organization that provides human milk to premature and ill babies in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Maritimes estimates 3.5 percent of its donors are bereaved mothers.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Larry Gifford is a 40-something husband and father with a career. He’s also living with Parkinson’s and is learning how to navigate his life with his family post diagnosis. He opens up about his struggles and some of the biggest questions he’s received from his nine-year-old son. Larry is a senior program director for Corus Vancouver. He has his own podcast called When Life Gives You Parkinson's.

Sugar sometimes gets a bad reputation, especially when it comes to kids. When children start bouncing off the walls, sugar often gets the blame. However, research suggests there’s no such thing as a sugar high in kids. The myth was debunked by a group of American researchers in the 1990s, but parents continue to insist sugar impacts their kids’ behaviour. We take a look at why that is. Plus, registered dietician Lesley Langille from the Centre For Family Nutrition in Calgary weighs in to explain how much sugar is OK for kids and how to manage it over the holidays.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's a setback but not the end of the fight for parents advocating for change to infant loss support in Canada. New parents who lose a baby while on parental leave also lose parental leave financial benefits. Alberta mother Sarah Cormier lost her benefits just three days after her daughter Quinn's death. She joins us to talk about the latest vote that failed to get the Federal Liberal's support and tell us what's next. You can find out more about the Cormier family by visiting their Facebook page.

And a new study out of Harvard Medical School shows dad's exercise before conception may impact the child's lifelong health. We speak to the researcher as well as fertility specialist Dr. Caitlin Dunne at Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine about the importance of men’s health when it comes to conception. Jason Lee of  Black Tusk Athletics weighs in on his motivation for staying in shape while trying to start a family.  We also check in with the founder of Family Matters, Laurel Gregory, to find out how life has been since welcoming her second son in September. You can follow Laurel on twitter by clicking here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.