Societal Supports...and reinventing mini golf

Here's my most recent CBC opinion piece.  It's a serious one, about some of the violence we've been facing daily and where it might come from.  (and we face it both in the media and in the world...)
Avoiding the boiling point: Society must help prevent violence

That is a sharp contrast to our household August activities here, which involve a lot of unstructured play time.  Turns out we really needed time off--from camp and school.  It's a lot of hands-on parenting time for me.  I alternate between loving being outdoors and with all this creative kid energy, and feeling like I might explode from frustration and boredom...not getting to work, make dinner, do anything by myself or even get to the bathroom while managing twins.  :)  (a normal parental response, I expect!)  I am often trailing my guys while carrying my knitting or a spindle or my iPad.  It can sometimes be hard to keep up with work email while managing the finer points of play and arbitrating conflicts.

A few days ago, we were out in the yard, and the guys created their own version of mini golf.  We'd played it last December in Florida, and apparently, if my twins have a few kid gardening implements, you spill out a toy bin or two, and the front walk?  You can create a golfing course.  Who knew?

Today, my lovely professor has both guys off at a park, racing around on their new bikes with training wheels.  This is a good break and a distraction--I'm having some more interrupted sleep- 2 and 3 AM wake up sessions with little boys- and I had so hoped we were over this already!  (at about 4.5 years old, my guys finally started sleeping consistently through the night.  Except for lately.)

 I needed a bit of twin-free time.  I canned 5 pints of bread and butter pickles...and wrote this.  A fabulous chance to catch up a bit.  The refrigerator now has 4 lbs less in the way of cucumbers, and I had a moment to connect with you.  For the moment, it's all sunshine, and it's all good.