2020 Holiday Activities in Ottawa

It may come as no surprise that the Christmas and holiday season will look a little different this year. There are no traditional Santa Claus parades or as many in-person holiday events, but there are still many ways to celebrate the holidays in Ottawa this year. From writing a letter to Santa to enjoying the magic of twinkling holiday lights, we hope this holiday activities list sparks a little joy this holiday season!

Drive-through Holiday Activities

Christmas Lights Across Canada (CLAC)

Downtown Ottawa
CLAC runs from November 30, 2020, to January 7, 2021.
https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/christmas-lights

Thousands of dazzling holiday lights showcase Parliament Hill, national museums, embassies and other significant sites across Ottawa. More details available soon.

The Enchanted Holiday Drive

Karter’s Korners
6336 Fallowfield Rd.
Admission per car: $40
https://www.enchantedottawa.ca/

Enchanted, presented by Richcraft, is a holiday drive-through experience like no other. While making their way through the nostalgic Karters’ Korner’s track, attendees will experience eight holly, jolly, festive scenes for the whole family to enjoy. Enchanted will have no shortage of spectacular special effects, innovative lighting, and fantastical production, but, unlike most other experiences, it will also largely focus on scenery and interaction. With live actors (including Santa), fully built scenes, a mailbox for letters to Santa, and a sense of wonder like no other, Enchanted is set to bring a new level of magic to Ottawa this holiday season.

Magic of Lights Ottawa

Wesley Clover Parks (West Ottawa)
November 13, 2020, to January 9, 2021
https://wesleycloverparks.com/events/magic-of-lights-ottawa

Now in its fifth year, this event has quickly become a holiday tradition for many Ottawa residents and visitors, is comprised of LED displays celebrating the joy of the holidays. A “drive-through” experience from the comfort of your own car, at every turn and in every direction the route is overflowing with spectacular light displays and animations. Online (contactless!): $22 +HST & fees. At the gate: Monday - Thursday: $30; Friday - Sunday: $35.

Saunders Farm Holiday Light and Sound Drive-through show

Munster, ON
https://saundersfarm.digitickets.co.uk/event-tickets/31306?catID=30787&

November 28th to January 1st
Sunday-Thursday 5 pm-9 pm
Fridays-Saturdays 5 pm-10 pm
Admission per car is $22.15 plus HST

All tickets must be booked in advance. Arrival times are booked every 20 minutes from 6:00pm-10:00pm. A limited number of tickets available per time slot.

Vintage Village of Lights... drive-through

The Cumberland Heritage Village Museum
2940 Old Montreal Road

Relax and enjoy the festive scenery from your vehicle as you pass through a 1920s and 30s village illuminated by over 30,000 lights. Colourful vignettes will highlight Christmas traditions from the interwar years while an old-fashioned radio program will bring the sounds of the season to you. You may even spot Santa hard at work preparing for the big night along the way! As an added festive treat, each household will receive a goody bag to continue the celebration at home.

Wednesday – Sunday between 5 pm and 9 pm
November 25 to December 23
Cost: $25 per vehicle. Registration is required.

Tickets will not be available for purchase at the entrance. Registration is completed using Service Ottawa’s online system : https://apps102.ottawa.ca

For more information: https://www.facebook.com/events/374992923845131

11th Annual Carp Santa Claus Parade - Drive Thru Style

Carp Fairgrounds, Carp
December 12th at 7 pm
For more information: https://www.facebook.com/events/1303378300003469

Entry is Food Donations to the West Carleton Food Access Centre.
Cash, Gift Cards, Food Donations collected along route.

Taffy Lane, Orleans

Orleans
There's no website for the holiday lights on Taffy Lane in Orleans, but you can find out where Taffy Lane is on Google Maps. This is a street in Orleans that goes light-crazy every year, and people drive from all over to catch a glimpse. It's bright and fun, and the kids love it! Cost: FREE!

In-person holiday events

Alight at Night

Upper Canada Village
Friday, November 27th until January 2, 2021
http://www.uppercanadavillage.com/events/alight-at-night

Bundle up for a magical family tradition with over one million lights! The historic Upper Canada Village is transformed into a one-of-a-kind winter wonderland! Date and time-specific ticketing in place, so that guests can enjoy what feels like a more private experience while maintaining physical distancing protocols. A limited number of tickets will be available each night!

Ian’s Christmas Adventure Park

Carleton Place, ON
https://www.ianschristmaspark.ca
Enjoy a movie night on the big scree, a hay ride to the fields to cut your own Christma tree (or choose from their large selection of precut Christmas trees), visit Santa in his workshop, tour their mazes, warm up around a firepit, or visit their petting farm! Ian’s Christmas Park has many holiday-themed activities for the entire family, is following COVID-19 safety protocols and is open every weekend from 9 am to 5 pm. For the lates updates, including pricing and more information, visit their website.

Saunders Farm - Christmas Market

Munster, ON
https://saundersfarm.com
November 28th to December 19th
Open Weekends 10 am-4 pm

Featuring 20 local vendors. Christmas trees are available for purchase, as well as holiday decor and seasonal foods.Enjoy the outdoors by exploring their snow-covered Mazes, bundling up for a hayride, and enjoying the Christmas displays set up throughout the farm. Admission is $15 plus HST. COVID-19 safety protocols in place.

Stanley’s Farm Christmas Village

Edwards, ON
Starts mid-November
https://stanleysfarm.com/family-fun/christmas-village

Explore the village, sing songs, play games with your own Christmas Elf and warm up by the bonfire. This fully outdoors experience is one hour long (tractor draw sleigh ride). Buy tickets in advance. Tickets are valid only for the date & time purchased. Group/Family pricing of $120.00+HST for groups of max of six. Babies (Under 18 months) are not included in your group of 6  – Babies must sit on parent/guardian lap for the Tractor Drawn ride. COVID-19 safety protocols in place.

Mall Santa re-imagined

Santa’s in Town - Bayshore Shopping Centre

November 26th to December 20, 2020
Bayshore Shopping Centre - P1 of North Deck along Woodridge Crescent (Section K to H)
https://www.icbookingtool.com/en/BAY/794

A magical outdoor, socially distanced, holiday encounter with Santa Claus. Book your experience with a $10 donation to Ottawa Food Bank and receive a high-resolution photo as well as a 360° digital photo with Santa Claus posing alongside his charming Christmas cabin.

Virtual Santa Pierre - Orleans Mall

Virtual Message from Santa Pierre
Santa Pierre has seen your loved ones grow up at the Orleans Mall for the past 20+ years, and the thought of not seeing them and putting smiles on their faces saddens him. That is why he has gone virtual!  

Custom message for your loved one(s) from Santa Pierre!
https://santapierre.com/products/virtual-santa-message
Cost: $25

Virtual Picture with Santa Pierre
Email a digital photo you would like to see with Santa Pierre!
https://santapierre.com/products/virtual-picture-with-santa-pierre
Cost: $15

COVID Santa and Spooky Santa-friendly Experience - Carlingwood Mall

Starts November 21st to December 24th
Meet with Santa or Spooky Santa by appointment only
https://carlingwood.com/events/carlingwood-santa-s-arrival-saturday-november-21st-11am

Santa will be on his Green Chair and families will be able to get a socially-distant photo with Santa while sitting on a bench in front of Santa or Spooky Santa.  Guests will also be directed to wear a mask through the entire experience, except for the photo. Carlingwood has also enhanced sanitization protocols between each visit. 

COVID-19 Safe Visit with Santa - Hazeldean Mall

Kanata, ON
November 12th to December 20th
https://www.hazeldeanmall.com/events/hazeldean-yes-there-will-be-a-santa-claus

Enjoy a 6-minute visit with Santa (studio area will be sanitized prior to your visit) and portraits made by a photographer. First 4 minutes: Visit Santa, he will be seated beside the Santa Sofa with a plexiglass sneeze guard between you and Santa. Santa will be wearing a mask during the visit. The final 2 minutes are the time for photographs: you will turn to face the photographer and can (if permitted) remove your mask(s) for photographs - Santa can be behind or beside visitors at this point and, if permitted, take his mask off as well. Visit their website for more information.

Billings Bridge Mall

For more information and to book a time, please visit: https://www.idea3.xyz/billings-santa

Visit Santa Claus: Up to four appointments per hour for enhanced and safe visits with Santa Claus - located beside the bottom of the escalators that lead to the food court.

Visit Mean Green: Up to four appointments per hour for enhanced and safe visits with Mean Green Santa - located beside the bottom of the escalators that lead to the food court

Virtual Santa Visits - Rideau Centre

Virtual visits with Santa will be available. Families can have a video chat with Santa and parents can arrange to receive a special video call with Santa while he's busy at the North Pole preparing for the holiday season. For more information and to make reservations visit https://www.cfshops.com/rideau-centre.html

Virtual Santa with PhotoBooth

Santa and his elves have gone virtual! No more waiting in line in a crowded mall waiting to meet the big guy. Book your own personal zoom meeting with Santa from the comfort of your home. Visit the website to book: https://www.mdrnphotoboothcompany.com/virtual-santa-visit

Other Holiday Activities

Write a letter to Santa

Santa and the postal elves are ready and waiting for letters. Click here to learn how to send your mail to the North Pole in time to hear back from Santa.

Journal-Style Middle School Book Recommendations from the Ottawa Public Library

The Ottawa Public Library is back to share a list books perfect for middle schoolers. This month’s post is by Sarah Godding, CPPSA at the Alta Vista Branch of the Ottawa Public Library. The selection is inspired by the joys of journaling!

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It’s November and after ongoing COVID-19 constraints in Ottawa, many of us are reaching a point of fatigue. SIGH. Yet, with these limits placed on our proximity to others comes an opportunity to increase our proximity to ourselves!

Getting to know oneself is a beautiful pursuit at any age. Keeping a diary, daily log or journal is a wonderful way to grow our understanding, appreciation and acceptance of ourselves. Encouraging the kids in our lives to let it all out onto a page can prove to be a great release. We cannot fix what we do not acknowledge no matter how big or small.

Here are middle school reads which incorporate the diary/journal style of writing and, in doing so, allow the reader to feel closer to the characters.

Just Jaime by Terry Libenson
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1168825026

Just Jaime follows two childhood best friends as they begin to cross the threshold from child to teen. The conflict is delicate as Jamie feels her best friend Maya is pulling away - but why? The chapters alternate narration of the last day of grade 7, with Jamie’s chapters taking a more intimate, handwritten diary approach, and Maya’s chapters laid out in a classic comic book style. This book allows the reader to navigate, along with the two friends, the turbulent dance of growing in and out of friendship and the importance and challenge of expressing hurt feelings. Through Jaime’s handwritten entries we are provided a wonderfully honest snapshot of the middle grade drama.

The Year I Didn’t Eat by Samuel Pollen
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1149054026

We meet 14-year-old Max just before a Christmas dinner feast with his family. Tensions are high for the young bird enthusiast with anorexia. Lately Max feels no one understands him, no one but Ana. Max has been keeping a journal, upon his therapist’s request, and addresses his entries to “Ana”- his eating disorder. Ana is not a kind influence, to say the least. The story alternates between narration and diary entries to Ana. It’s through these entries to Ana that the audience gains insight into tough emotions Max has no other way to express. Max’s battle with anorexia affects his relationships big time! When his brother moves out and his parents get quiet, a new classmate named Evie might just be the gust of fresh air needed to help Max turn his ship around.

Can You See Me? by Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1205782026

The next middle school diary style read stars Tally as she begins the sixth grade at a new school. She is really hoping to find her place, to be accepted, and to belong. Unfortunately, she believes that the only way she can make this happen is to hide parts of herself - like the fact that she has autism. We follow Tally through a combination of present-tense, third person writing and short diary entries. It’s through the diary entries, that the audience gains an honest understanding of Tally’s experience as a person with autism. In her entries she explains her exceptionality frankly and even provides the reader with definitions and eye-opening descriptions. This book was coauthored by a young girl with autism and the audience is better for it.

The Length of a String by Elissa Brent Weissman
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1215230026

Imani is another middle schooler whose feelings of being separate and other are weighing her down. She is the only person of colour in her white Baltimore neighbourhood and she’s adopted. Then her great-grandmother dies, and leaves Imani the diary she kept as a 12-year-old fleeing the Nazis in Luxembourg. It’s through reading her journal entries and her own curiosity fuelled research that Imani gets to know her Grandma Anna. Though they may not be connected by blood, they share something some special similarities. A beautiful story of the power of connection!

Isaiah Dunn is my Hero by Kelly J. Baptist
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1225423026

Our next character with a pension for reflection is the young Isaiah Dunn. He is 10 years old and loves writing poetry. Unfortunately, after his father passes the words stop flowing. The lose leaves Isaiah and his family feeling lost and uprooted. As many humans do when experiencing big feelings, he starts acting out and lands himself in an after-school meditation class with the class bully. Things get worse before they get better as Isaiah's mom’s depression takes a nosedive. The story lifts as the young boy finds journals full of stories about "Isaiah Dunn, superhero" that his dad left. The words on the page are so much more than that for young Isaiah and this connection to his father takes the story to the next level.

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1085600026

Finally, we meet Nisha, a quiet, sensitive half Hindu, half Muslim girl trying to find her place in the world. Finding her place and her voice is complicated by her geography and the time. Nisha is part of the forced migration of the Hindu people from Pakistan to India due to the countries separation in 1947. 12-year-old Nisha turns to her diary every night to help her process her feelings of loss and alienation. In her diary she writes to her mother who passed away when she was a baby. Nisha builds a relationship with the mother she never knew through these entries and uses her words as a tool to bring her complicated thoughts and feelings into focus. It’s a beautiful tale of the challenging experience of forced migration from Pakistan to India, of being caught between two worlds and belief systems and of accepting these hurdles with grace.

Remembrance Day 2020 – Virtual Ceremonies and How to Show Your Support

Remembrance Day may look a little different this year, but there are still many ways we can show our support and appreciation for Canada’s veterans.

The Poppy Store

Why not show your support all year long with the many commemorative items, clothing, jewellry and more at https://www.poppystore.ca.

Virtual Poppy Drop

This visual display of Remembrance features over 100,000 poppies, one for each of Canada’s Fallen, as they cascade down Centre Block on Parliament Hill; on now, each evening from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. until November 11th at midnight.

The National Ceremony

For the first time, the Royal Canadian Legion is asking the public to pay their respects virtually instead of in person for The National Remembrance Day Ceremony that takes place every year in downtown Ottawa. The ceremony will start at 10:45 am and you can watch Live on Facebook.

You should also keep your eyes on the sky! In partnership with Veterans Affairs Canada, The Royal Canadian Legion has arranged a fly-past of three heritage planes that were essential aircraft for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during the Second World War.

For more information on the complete National Ceremony, please visit https://www.legion.ca/remembrance/remembrance-day/the-national-ceremony.

Virtual Wall of Honour

Canadians have been “building” this virtual wall of photographs of Veterans who have now passed. It is a way for all Canadians to pay tribute to their service. For more information, visit https://www.legion.ca/remembrance/promoting-remembrance/virtual-wall-of-honour.

Beechwood Cemetery

The 2020 Beechwood’s Remembrance Day Ceremony will be conducted live at the National Military Cemetery on the 11th November 2020. Beechwood will be broadcasting the ceremony live on facebook.com/NMCBeechwood starting at 10:45 AM. For more information, please visit http://www.beechwoodottawa.ca/en/foundation/events/virtual-annual-remembrance-day-service.

Kanata

A short ceremony will be held at the Cenotaph, Village Green Memorial Park, Colchester Square to honour the Veterans and their sacrifices. It is requested there be no spectators and that they watch the National Ceremony from home. To pre-purchase a wreath please contact George at 613-836-2530 or treasurer.rclbr638@gmail.com and it will be prepositioned before the ceremony. For more information, please visit https://www.facebook.com/Kanata-Legion-748442661918774.

Navan

In lieu of a ceremony, you can view a virtual Remembrance Day Service from Navan, Ontarioa at https://youtu.be/0rMTGkfNlGI.

Orleans

Royal Canadian Legion, Orleans 632 will be holding a ceremony this year to be covered by Rogers. For more information, please visit https://www.rcl632.ca/remembrance-activities.

Stittsville

There will be no ceremony in Stittsville this year. You can make a donation to help them continue to serve veterans you can do so by looking for the Poppy Campaign boxes. You may also donate directly via Poppyfund618@rogers.com.

Richmond Legion

With Remembrance Day approaching, you may have noticed that there are white crosses at certain graves within the cemeteries of Richmond, Munster Hamlet and Dwyer Hill. These crosses are placed by members of the Richmond and District Royal Canadian Legion Branch #625 to mark veterans graves. These veterans served in the War of 1812, the Fenian Raids, the First and Second World Wars, Peacekeeping operations, the Cold War, or served with the Canadian Armed Forces. To learn more, please visit http://www.richmondlegion.ca.

A theory on how to help colicky babies

Photo of a crying baby with the words “A theory on colic”

Marie Shinmoto from MAP Physiotherapy is my go to person for pain for myself and for my family. She and I were recently chatting about babies and colic and how much I would have loved to stop the hours of crying every night that all three of my babies went through in their youngest months. I asked her if she could share some of her story of working with babies with colic in the hope it would help some of your babies (and you too!) ~ Lara

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If you’ve ever had, or know someone who has had a baby with colic you know the look. Everyone in the household is exhausted, stressed, and pretty much always on the verge of tears. There is no suffering quite like watching a child in pain and feeling helpless to do something about it. Colic is a unique kind of torture for everyone involved.

Despite it being around forever, how is it that there is still little out there for treatment other than gripe water, which parents of colicky children know doesn’t work. In order to develop effective treatment of any condition, you first have to have an understanding or at least a theory about what causes it. Right then, what causes colic? We don’t know.

That is what you’ll find is out there – a whole lot of shoulder shrugging and “poor you” looks.

Personally, I don’t accept “we don’t know” as an answer to any condition in the human body. I don’t believe things just happen out of the blue for no particular reason. If there is something going on that we can’t explain then it is our responsibility as health care practitioners to keep digging, keep asking questions, and keep testing theories until something pans out.  

The colicky baby that came to stay with us

My journey into treating colic came about rather by accident. We had a friend whose extremely colicky baby landed in our care overnight once. His mother had warned us that we weren’t going to get any sleep, but we had no children of our own at the time so the possibility of being zombies the next day was no big deal.

When I changed his diaper in the afternoon I noticed something odd about how he was moving. I couldn’t help it - physiotherapists can never turn off their observation skills. When he kicked his right leg everything looked fine, but when he kicked his left leg the left side of his lower abdomen twisted up. My jaw dropped. The difference from one side to the other couldn’t have been more obvious. A theory about the cause of colic seemed to be looking right at me.

Pretty much all very young babies do when they’re awake is lie there and move their little limbs. If every time a baby kicks a leg his abdomen twists up, then surely that could affect digestion. After clearing it with mom, I decided to treat this little person. When I got my hands on him it became glaringly obvious that he had tightness through the whole left side of his body, but particularly through the front of the left hip and into the abdomen. Using very gentle techniques to release this area first and then the entire left side, I worked on him for about 20 minutes. At one point his little face screwed up and I was sure he was going to scream, but instead he took this great shuddering breath and let it out in a huge sigh. At that point I figured I had better quit before I woke the monster.  

We carried on with our day, and as the afternoon went by I realized that we had passed the hour when mom said he always started to scream. Dumb luck I thought. The true litmus test would be overnight. 

We gave him a last bottle at around 11:00 that night and went to bed with little expectation of sleeping. I woke with a start at 6:00 feeling guilty that I had in fact slept and afraid I had missed something. There he was sleeping peacefully.

It couldn’t be that easy. It just couldn’t. When mom picked him up later that morning she was already apologizing for him having kept us up all night before I even got the door fully open. When I told her he had slept for seven hours she was incredulous. He went home and never suffered from colic again.

More colicky babies

Needless to say I had to further test my theory. After that first experience I treated other babies with colic and always found the same thing – tightness in the front of the left hip and into the abdomen. Releasing the left side consistently resulted in the end of the horrific colic experience for the family, often with just one treatment.

So why don’t I have babies lined up out my door? I believe it is because this just sounds too good to be true. When everyone is saying that we don’t know what causes colic and there is no treatment for it, why would anyone believe me? I can’t say I blame people for the skepticism, but I know at the same time people really want to believe this can be fixed.

What to look for

So if that’s the case, then try this. Next time you are changing the diaper of your colicky baby, look very carefully at what is happening when they kick their legs. Look especially for twisting of the left side of the abdomen when they kick the left leg. If that is happening then what have you got to lose in coming in to get that addressed? Even if you don’t believe it will improve the colic, you surely would want to address something that isn’t moving as it should in your baby’s body anyway.  

Help me test my theory further and come and see me if you find something. I am always curious to learn more.

You can find Marie and book an appointment from her web site, or check out her Facebook page.

Surviving a pandemic winter as a parent

The anxiety is building. Winter is coming, and with it, the snow, ice, wind and darkness. But what makes this winter even harder is the fact that we’re living through a pandemic, which doesn’t show signs of disappearing anytime soon.

No group is approaching this winter with more dread than us parents. We’ve already lived through a hellish number of months working from home while supporting our kids’ distance learning, and while some of us made the decision to send our kids back to in-person school, the threat of outbreaks and school closures looms.

Within this diverse group of parents are many different realities. Some may be living in cramped apartments, while others have access to large yards and lots of space. Some have faced financial hardships, while others have found their savings accounts growing due to the lack of spending. Some are battling mental health issues, physical disabilities or health challenges. Whatever your situation, the winter may take its toll.

So what’s a parent to do? Check out some of the suggestions below:

Adopt a winter mindset

One strategy may be to adopt a positive mindset towards winter, which research tells us can improve emotional and physical health during the long, cold months. This involves getting outside in all kinds of weather, making sure you have appropriate clothing to keep yourself warm and comfortable, and maybe even challenging yourself by taking on a new winter sport (hiking, snowshoeing, skiing or skating are all popular options.)

Of course, this type of positive psychology only works if your current situation is manageable. For those facing severe mental illness or physical health challenges, it’s not going to do much good to suggest you just “buck up” and put on a happy face. In these situations, support from professionals and help outside the home is essential - Ottawa Public Health has some good resources to check out.

Or maybe you just hate winter…and that’s A-OK. Even if you have no interest in happily playing in the snow, you can still work on developing an appreciation of all winter has to offer - including the opportunity to sit in front of a window while sipping on coffee and Bailey’s and watching the beautiful snow fall outside your window.

Break it up

Remember that winter is not one loooong period of sameness. There’s the winter lead-up (November and December) when the days are shortest and many individuals struggle with low mood. Then holidays arrive and people perk up a bit (or maybe it’s all the sugar and booze). Finally, days start to get longer and longer, and a taste of spring is upon us.

If you can’t face the next 6 months, take it one week or one month at a time. Focus on what you can do in that shorter timeframe that will help you make it through!

Plan, plan, plan

This is probably not the time to “wing it.” As we’ve seen throughout this entire pandemic, everyone is thinking up ways to cope. People are taking on new hobbies and purchasing equipment for their homes. So two months from now, when you realize you should have bought that set of skis you saw on sale last month, they’re sold out. If you have the financial means to purchase warm clothing and winter sports equipment, the time to start shopping is now.

Planning also means purposefully carving out time for activities that will boost your mood this winter. Maybe this is a weekly Zoom potluck/brunch with friends, or outdoor activities that are safe to do at a distance. It doesn’t even have to be an activity that takes any effort - maybe you decide to “Zoom in” with a loved one once per week while you both just read or eat a meal. This way there’s no pressure to stare at the screen and talk, but you get the sense that someone is in the room with you - cutting through that loneliness you may be experiencing.

Meaningful social connection

If you’re tiring of Zoom wine nights or online seminars, it’s time to start building more meaningful social connection. The reality is that we ARE stuck in this pandemic a while longer, and many options for socializing are unavailable to us right now. Meaningful connection nourishes your soul. For individuls who are really struggling, this may involve meeting with someone in person (safely, wearing masks or at a distance).

This could also mean using your own stregnths to reach out to vulnerable people. Writing letters or having your kids draw pictures for local nursing homes; baking cookies for an elderly neighbour; or offering to take someone out for a walk who may need help navigating the snow/ice. Not only are these activities boosting THEIR mood, but they’re also boosting yours. When we feel like we’re part of a community, we feel a sense of belonging - this is essential to well-being.

Embracing the suckiness

Sometimes life is just hard, and no amount of strategizing will ease the burden. We tend think that embracing negative emotions, like depression, anxiety and anger, will make them worse - but research tells us otherwise. The power these emotions have over us will ease when we learn to live with them.

If it’s a bad day, admit that it’s a bad day - if you can, call in sick, crawl under the covers and take a mental health break. This is a really important lesson for our kids as well, as they learn to navigate difficult emotions and survive in a world that upholds happiness as the pinnacle.

What are some of the ways you’re planning to cope with winter?