Minnow’s Five Things

June 5, 2013

It was another busy week. We announced our top 75 Most Influential Canadian Mom Blogs, parents were fighting on the sidelines and everyone’s talking about the ‘Jolie gene.’ See what else caught my attention.
1. In case you weren’t on Twitter this past Tuesday, let me update you. The editorial team at SavvyMom released a list of the 75 Most Influential Canadian Mom Blogs for 2013 which was met with great excitement and applause. The selection process was tough, based on criteria that included quality of content, look and feel of the blog, audience size and follower engagement (such as commenting). Skip Pinterest and go straight to the source—these are the blogs you should be reading.

2. One topic you can be sure parents are interested in discussing is that of parental behaviour at competitive sporting events. I read in The Globe recently that a fight broke out among parents last week at a youth soccer match in Barrie, Ontario. It escalated to the point where the police were called in to settle the 30 parents involved. There are few details of the event in the article (it’s only five sentences long) but it sounds like there were racial slurs made. This is not a racial issue though—it’s a parenting issue. It’s so sad to see parents who think they are being supportive actually ruining the experience for their kids, and the opportunity for them to experience the positive influence that sports can have. Don’t get me started…

3. In the world of celebrity obsessed citizens, the BRCA1 gene has apparently been dubbed ‘the Jolie gene,’ after Angelina announced that she was a carrier and opted for a double mastectomy. Despite the fact that I am annoyed that in our society it takes Angelina to raise awareness about such an important medical reality, the fact is that it worked. More people are talking about it and sharing their experiences, like Amy Verner did in The Globe and Mail‘s Monday edition. It’s a very honest and personal account of her own story. Read it if you haven’t yet.

4. In the world of digital media, there is one video that’s still making the rounds this week. It’s the Prancercise video and there isn’t a lot to say about it at all except that it will make you laugh. Every producer and video developer who is trying to make a ‘viral video’ needs to watch this. This is what really busy people (like you) are watching!

5. Speaking of really busy people (I’m talking to you again) I heard on Metro Morning the other day about the ‘Busy Trap’—a term I had not heard of before. I looked it up and found this piece that appeared in The New York Times, written last year. It’s a brilliant account of our society and all of us BUSY people who declare their ‘busyness’ as a badge of honour. Not to be confused with people who are actually dead tired and exhausted from working double shifts at the ICU instead of being busy with a full plate (work, kids, activities, family, social engagements). Be clear about what your busy is. And don’t forget: never be too busy for the special people in your life.