What is the first treacherous obstacle of parenting? Choosing a baby name of course. Every couple has a strategy or at least someone who feels they made a compromise. And If you ever hit a lull in the schoolyard  conversation, a good topic to bring up? Baby names. Everyone loves to talk about why they named their children what they did and even better is commenting on the weird names chosen by celebrities as well as your neighbours.

Holidays are great, but they are also hard. It feels sometimes like everyone's behaviour is under a microscope. And once that behaviour is being studied -- watch out that's when the labels get applied and when parenting anxieties can grow.

At a low point on our holiday at a relative's cottage last summer I grabbed a slightly browned copy of Liberated Parents, Liberated Children: Your Guide to a Happier Family by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish off the shelves. I knew the authors from their other, better known books, How to Talk so Kids Will Listen & LIsten So Kids Will Talk and also Siblings Without Rivalry. Their parenting style is rooted in a deep respect for the kids and for themselves. And while the language (and the title) is outdated the following excerpt struck a chord with me.

Check it out, it is worth a read.

You know those two women at the school holiday concert. The ones who are chatting and laughing? That's me and my friend. I'm sorry if we are disturbing you, it's just that school concerts -- well, they are bad, and hot and uncomfortable and I always have a squirmy toddler/preschooler on my knee who needs to pee.

I know its sacrilege to diss the school holiday concert. But come on, except for those four shining moments when your child is on stage and the world around you stops, the whole experience is quite painful. And I don't want to downplay those moments when you see your child singing/acting/playing instrument or in my case just mouthing the words on stage. Because seeing your kids on stage, no matter how goofy the song, will always bring tears to your eyes. It's just the rest of the time in the crowded, badly lit gym, listening to other people's children that is so bad. Most parents spend a few minutes during every concert doing the math and come to a similar painful conclusion -- I have at least 12 more in my future.

The thing is the holiday concert is a huge deal around my house because my son Aaron hates being on stage. And I don't mean hate like he doesn't like it, I mean HATE like he can barely cope with the idea of it. He has an irrational fear of performing. And I have told his new school this year, as I told his school last year -- I don't care if he is in it or not, if need be find him another job so he can contribute to the show in another way. Because for a few days leading up to the show his fear starts to interfere with his life.

  I have been lucky enough to be in Jamie Oliver’s hotel room. And I doubt there is a woman (or man) alive who wouldn’t feel a little heat rising when the Naked Chef call you "cheeky" in close proximity to his  bed (even if you don't have a thing for chefs). That was eight years ago and even then, his passion for food was evident but who knew that underneath the rumpled fauxhawk there was a crusader waiting to come out?

Fast forward to the present day and Jamie Oliver is still the same sexy, charismatic, man-child chef. But now the father of three is on a mission to change the way people cook, eat and subsequently live.  And in doing so he may just may change the world. Hyperbolic? Perhaps, but spending time with Jamie Oliver is like that, his passion is contagious even when you are sharing the room with 2300 other fans.

I am a reading snob. If you tell me what you are reading, I will judge you accordingly. I have been in a book club since before Oprah even had magical bookselling powers. And I think life is too short to waste on chick lit, mysteries or Maeve Binchy-style beach reads.

And usually my friends agree with me, but many of them have fallen under the Twilight spell. I have held out against the Twilight forces for months now. But my friends are pressuring me and to be honest, its becoming a bone of contention.

As H1N1 has stolen most of my energy and my voice, I am going to post a quiz today that was sent by a friend of mine. She is a financial planner and was very concerned when I had no idea what my renegotiated mortgage rate is. In fact, when it comes to the state of my finances I have absolutely no idea about anything. I know, I know that is a bad thing. My husband (a former accountant) is concerned about my lack of knowledge of all things financial, though it does work in his favour because I don’t go down there and mess up all his neat little piles. But we are both conscious of the “What if..” factor, could I figure out all this stuff on my own?

According to a recent TD Waterhouse poll of female investors I am very much in the minority, 92% of women polled were active in the managing of the household finances, though only half of them had a financial plan.  Now, I'm just plain embarrassed...

Take the quiz:

When my brother and sister-in-law had their baby, they made it pretty clear that they wanted to buy everything themselves. And since they don’t live near us, I was just fine with that. So what do you give to the family that already has everything? In fact, what do you give every new mother?