It is 2:00 a.m. and I am trying to quiet down a group of nine and ten-year-old boys who are "sleeping over". They seem to be ignoring my presence and keep on with their riveting discussion:

"Who has a girlfriend?" asks one.

"I'm single and mingling," answers the tiniest of the group. 

"Girls are too expensive," says another.

At this point I have two choices: sink into the wall and keep listening, or speak up and end the conversation before I burst out laughing (or crying). I chose to speak up. After all, it is 2:30 in the morning; my son, the birthday boy, is already asleep, and I have learned from experience that the things I hear at sleepovers can never be unheard. Most importantly, I am afraid of the judgement of some of the boys' mothers. After all, one is a flight attendant for Air Canada and we know how strict they can be.

March Break fantasy: The kids will wake up to a lovely (healthy)  breakfast. After which they will help me tidy up, then shower, get dressed, and brush their teeth. They will be excited to attend whatever educational and yet fun activity I have planned for the day. They will have friends and sleepovers and we will bake brownies and make kale smoothies. We will play cards and do puzzles. We will even do the homework that one teacher sent home. I will not get aggravated with them. There will be no fighting about screentime because we will be too busy with all the fun stuff we have planned.

I am surrounded by love. So are my kids. You know what they don't need? Hundreds of pieces of paper from friends, frenemies and classmates with chocolates attached to make them happy.

You know what I don't need? An overpriced dinner, overpriced flowers and the further propagation of the card industry.

Valentine's Day isn't big around here.

Now that the gifts have been doled out, the Christmas movies have been watched and the fatigue has set in: It's time for the fighting!

Let's be honest; the few days after the holidays can be tough and loud. Kids start to gaze over at their siblings toys and start to wander who got the better deal. And then the yelling begins. Which begets more yelling from you, as you start to hate yourself for raising such ungrateful children. So how do you handle the hotbed of sibling rivalry?

Teen McKenna Pope walked into her 4-year-old brother's room to find him cooking tortillas on top of a light bulb. She knew then and there that she would get him an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas.

That is, until she went shopping and realized that the pink oven was overly girly and her brother wouldn't like it. She wanted to show him that it's "it's not 'wrong' for him to want to be a chef." So she did what an enterprising teen does these days.

She started a petition and Change.org and then she went viral.

My 12-year-old son told me years ago that Santa is a big joke that parents play on children. He thinks all adults are laughing at kids for believing that someone flies around the world in one night delivering gifts. He is not someone for whom the Big Lie works at all.

We teach our kids to tell the truth, we teach them about gravity, and then we expect them to believe in the magic of Santa? I had absolutely no problem being honest with my oldest as soon as he asked the question at the age of three. (And I'm not alone.)

I am not a fan of lying to my kids. I even feel guilty about the Tooth Fairy.

There are a lot of bad toys out there. Some toys are obviously bad; like the McJob cash register for instance. Others sneak up on you in their badness just because they fall apart too much, or are too noisy. Some toys aren't bad per se, but turn your kids into little monsters.

Usually every parent learns to hate a specific toy for no reason other than that it is annoying to them personally. The Campaign for A Commercial Free Childhood (CCFC) takes on the larger task of appointing the worst toy of the year to one toy that steals the fun out of childhood by making play something that is screen-based, sedentary, or just plain icky.

Of the five nominees for the TOADY (Toys Oppressive and Destructive to Young Children), this year's winner is:

It's present buying time which means many, many hours spent wandering around stores with your credit card burning a hole in your pocket - especially if there is a new baby on your list.

Sometimes the fatigue can lead to you to some bad choices, but don't worry, the online world has you covered!

There is the usual lists of best toys for babies. All good ideas.

But then there is this: