Jo’s Blog

When three closely-related things happen one right after another, I start looking for meaning. #1: My friend Anne Bruce told me I should read this book. The Dictionary of Lost Words, a combination of fact and historical fiction, tells the story [...]

Emily Ladau’s excellent book on disability is both a treat to read and a primer on all things disability. Ladau manages to be entertaining, informative and funny about a topic she naturally feels strongly about (she’s disabled) while [...]

Amongst families with a disabled child, siblings are hidden wonder workers. They can soothe their brother or sister as no one else can. They “keep an eye on them” while Mom cooks dinner or Dad runs out for groceries. They avert [...]

Spotted this house on my way to work this morning. I’ve been watching it come up with interest because we once rented the place that used to be here. That one was torn down so the owners could start fresh. You’d think that starting [...]

Last summer, we hired an accounts officer whom we had to let go even before his probation was up – no need to go into the reasons. Today, the HR person of another organization in the city came to meet us.  It turns out our enterprising [...]

A paediatrician named Alastair McAlpine tweeted about a little project he had undertaken. He asked a bunch of his terminally ill patients what had made their lives thus far meaningful. His patients are children; they were dying and they had a [...]

Why It’s Important for Children to Do Household Chores When I was a child, I had regular chores. Thursday was cleaning day and all of us (we were seven kids) had rotating assignments. One week I would scrub the two bathrooms (tub, sink, [...]