Kasie Savage: (almost) Mother of the Year

"FAKE IT 'TIL YOU MAKE IT!" I've made a successful career out of faking it - and you can too!  After all these years, I just can't hide the surprise on my face when people comment on how I manage to be so "talented at things".  Truth is, I'm mediocre.  At best.  Always have been, always will be.  I have no true talents - can't sing, can't dance, can't change a tire, can't really cook, can't waterski, can't skate, can't get organized... But I sure can make it look like I've got legit skills - thanks to some hacks and fake-outs I've learned along the way! Even this blog as you'll notice is called, " Almost Mother Of The Year" - I'm not even going to pretend that I'm a fabulous Mom - and yet I give off the impression that I've got this parenting thing nailed down - tight!  When you meet my kids in real life -  the mismatched socks, bed-head, faint trace of non-localized b.o. and ...

How staying at home to raise my kids lead to  more  work opportunities and the confidence to take them on. It's one of the biggest issues facing new Moms - the question of whether to put off a career in order to stay home raising our babies full-time, or whether to go back to work and focus on advancing our careers while we can. Historically, there's always been this perception that leaving the workforce during our prime earning years will severely hamstring our earning potential and career options later on. It's one of the most intensely difficult decisions women make - and is based on an outdated premise that one cannot start a robust, exciting, fulfilling and high-earning career at any stage in our lives. I remember feeling the intense scrutiny and judgment of working Moms when I opted to be a stay-at-home parent in those early years of my kids lives (I have three boys). There was an underlying assumption that I had chosen cookie baking, daytime television watch...

It's not easy being a skirt in a home chalk-full of rancid jocks.  But I've managed to get by.  You see, as the lone double X in a chromosomal pool of 4 XYs (5 if I include the dog), my interests in home decor, Fall fashions, beach-wave hair and pedis get buried somewhere underneath a pile of mismatched tube-socks, baseball gloves, goalie pads and Under Armour everything.  Don't get me wrong, I love being active.  I'm a daily exerciser, I enjoy 9-holes of golf and just finished up another summer season on a ladies ball-hockey team - and I literally still have no idea what the rules are (icing to me means confectioners sugar, butter and milk). I do my best at faking my way through "sporty" - just as Brittany Spears fakes her way through "talented" and "singing".  Pretending to love sports gives me a valid excuse to get out of the house for an hour each week to pursue an activity that my kids might actually care to inquire about.  "...

One of my absolute favourite Mother's Day cards can be found on the internet - it shows a woman applying to "Motherhood Inc." and she's reading through the employment contract - "One vacation day a year?!  That's all I get?!" she proclaims.  "We call it Mother's Day but technically you still have to work" says the interviewer.  So true. Every card a Mom gets on Mother's Day preaches the same utopic nonsense - advising Moms to "relax", "kick back", "pamper yourself"...  These cards are typically all written by men.  Have you ever noticed that men have no problem treating themselves to a full day with legs up, beverage in hand and mind empty of thoughts?  They don't even need it to be Father's Day!  It can just be any ol' Wednesday....sadly sometimes, the occasional deadbeat Dad will try and pull this stunt on Mother's Day - not cool.  Men are intrinsically wired to "unwind and chil...

What would I rather do than wear a bathing suit in public?   I would rather have day-long dental surgery without anesthetic. I would rather have a pap-smear from a swarthy looking male medical student on day 1 of his residency. I would rather clean up stomach-flu from an airport washroom. I think you get the point.  I would rather do anything than expose my white, pasty, thrice-pregnant, veiny, Mom-bod in public, whilst wearing what amounts to a spandex bra and undies.  Ewww.  I just threw-up in my mouth thinking about it.  There's nothing worse for many of us, than bathing suit season.  Thank god I don't live in a tropical country.  In fact, one quick search on Ancestry.com reveals that I descend from a long-line of insufferable female prudes who migrated further and further north over the centuries in search colder climes where head-to-toe apparel was required for at least 10 months of the year.  Don't even get me started on shorts! ...

38 years ago, my young hopeful parents Louise and Leslie felt confident that their soon-to-be bundle of joy (me) was  going to be a bouncing baby boy!  Oh the joy!  You see, there were already two little girl cousins in the family and the grandparents all had their fingers and toes crossed hoping for their first grandson!!!  The crib was assembled and the name was picked - Casey.  His name would be Casey. And then on August 17th, 1977 at 8:42am, the words "it's a girl!" changed everything...or at least the spelling of my name.  In the moments following the birth of a daughter and not a son, my parents decided to keep the name Casey, but change the spelling to what they thought looked girlier: K-A-S-I-E.  And the rest is just a gong-show of mispronounced misery (for me). Look at my face: "Really?  Kasie?  Nobody can pronounce that Mom!"   To this day, I actually dread handing over my I.D. to people, or seeing people read my na...

There are essentially three types of people: dog people, cat people and people who dislike pets (also known as weirdos).  I grew up with dogs, but once living on my own found cat ownership to be best suited to my life and lifestyle.  Cats are kind of like TV people so we share a lot in common: self-absorbed, vain, always grooming, kind of moody and generally seeking attention only to gain something in return...in my case a paycheck, in a cat's case some heavy petting or soft fish-flavoured treats. I never figured myself to be a dog person. Too much responsibility, mess, dirt, slobber, fur, expense, commitment...   My husband grew up in a human-only household so he's never really understood why anyone would be willing to battle -35 winter temps with a dog tethered to one arm whilst toting around a thin plastic sack brimming with mushed dog poop in the other.  Eww.  Yet hundreds of millions of people do it.  So I wondered, why would anyone want to take on ...

Let's talk Valentine's Day - "the big V". WATCH THE CLIP HERE! My husband detests what he calls the "Hallmark Holidays" - the ones on the calendar who's soul primary purpose is to sell holiday-themed merch.  I would argue that EVERY holiday is driven and propelled by consumerism first with sentimentality trailing in a far second.  Rather than be a fuddy-duddy about it, you might as well just embrace it, in your own way and join in on the fun.  Valentine's Day means something different depending on your stage of life. As a kid, Valentine's Day meant waking up to a fun plush toy and some treats awaiting my brother and I at the breakfast table.  It also meant, distributing those cheesy little perforated cards to all classmates.  Even that one kid, Jean-Pierre*, who purportedly ate a dead bird's eye at recess got to relish in the joy of feeling accepted by peers. As a teen, Valentine's Day turned from sweet to sour.  The Student Counc...

Parenting has its rewards.  That first coo, first smile, when they first say "mama", that crude crayon drawing of a stick figure Mom and a stick figure kid without torsos holding hands, their first goal, watching them become well-mannered young adults, being a good friend, the list goes on and on. Being called "mean" is also pretty high up on my list of rewards.  Seriously - it is! When I say "no" to my three boys, often times it's because there's a hard lesson to be learned, usually one about delayed gratification, earning rather than expecting something, needs versus wants, responsibility, etc...  If I had a nickel for every time I said "no" in response to "can you buy me...", I'd be rich enough to buy them whatever they wanted - except I wouldn't.  Hence the "Mean-Mom" moniker. I'm cool with being mean.  Some Moms crack under the guilt of feeling like their kids are angry or disappointed with them - ...

Christmas is less than 2 weeks away - yikes.  If you're doing a mental tally of your gift giving and it has as much "wow" factor as fish-faced selfie, you need to consider stepping it up (big-time) in the stocking-stuffing department.  After all, for many, it's the opening of the stockings that brings the most excitement anyway! You know I love supporting Canadian businesses and you know that I love great, unique finds that are not mass-market items.  Here I have curated a group of great stocking stuffer ideas that will wow and surprise even the most grizzled of family grinches.  In fact, I think most of these items would make great stand-alone gifts too!!! BEST STOCKING STUFFERS  (TO MAKE UP FOR LACK-LUSTRE GIFTS UNDER THE TREE) Click here to watch my segment on CTV's Canada AM! Canadian Companies Hillberg & Berk : From Regina, this handmade semi-precious jewellery company is owned and operated by women.  Fast becoming one of Canada's best-...

Just as soon as our clocks fall back, I like to spring forward and soak up every single merry second of the holiday season.  It's just so much easier than starring bleakly at a cold, damp, darkened, leafless streetscape at 5pm dreaming of April. In our family, once the Halloween candy is still freshly wedged into tiny molars, the kids are already addressing envelopes to the North Pole and dotting the "i"s on their wish-list of Apple products.  As parents, we know that December means answering the thrice daily question, "how many more days until Christmas????"  A Christmas calendar makes the countdown (or count-up) fun and making your own reusable calendar can be a really nice way to kick off a new tradition as well as usher in the festive season.  With budgets in mind (you won't need a credit card for these purchases!), I've come up with two easy (I promise), fast (I promise) Christmas calendars using supplies that cost less than $30 total- one is f...

315 long, cold, endless, bum-numbing hours.   From September to March, each year, it's the same routine, every day of the week and most weekends: load up the gear, get in the car, drive, drive some more, keep driving, arrive at arena early, sit, wait, watch, freeze, cheer, freeze some more, load up gear, get in car, drive, drive and drive some more.  Then repeat. Yes, this is life in Canada as a rep hockey parent, and I am not alone.  If you add up the parents of kids in house league hockey, rep hockey, figure skating, speed skating, skating lessons, curling and other ice sports, hundreds of thousands of Canadian parents are doing much of the same - essentially freezing their baguettes off for what can amount to (in my case) 315 hours, 13 entire days of one's life spent in an arena (not including playoffs and tryouts and summer camps).  And it is awesome!!! If you're spending approximately 11.25 passive hours per week in a vast, steel, fluorescent-lit meat-loc...

            As far as my three boys are concerned, there are only 2 days in a calendar year that matter: Christmas and Halloween.   And they’re not alone - according to consumer stats, Halloween ranks second in retail spending.   That’s HUGE!!!   From Halloween recipes, to drinks, to décor, to costumes, wedding-themes (huh?), licensed merchandise, how-to-videos, pyrotechnics, outdoor lighting, inflatables and more, Halloween is no longer a one-night trick-and-treat. Used to be, when I was a kid, Mom took an old worse-for-wear bed-sheet (likely one that you permanently soiled during that nasty stomach flu), cut out jagged eye holes and a mouth, tossed it over your head casually and announced, “you’re a ghost – that’s your costume”.   One pumpkin on the porch was standard décor and kids excitedly tossed their pillows loose from their cartoon-themed pillowcases with the intention of filling them until the seams ...