From the editor

Photo Courtesy Tracey Tong

A few years ago, I developed a mysterious rash.

What started off as a few hot spots on the insides of my wrists and the sides of my neck spread up both arms and behind my ears and down my chest with alarming speed. I told hubby to watch the sleeping kids and managed to drive myself to the emergency room (of course, this had to happen on a Friday night when no walk-in clinics were open) before my eyes swelled completely shut. After a nine-hour wait, doctors ruled out any kind of communicable or life-threatening disease, but could not give a cause.

A couple of itchy days later, our family doctor told me the rash was likely the culmination of a bunch of things — going to bed too late, not drinking enough water, and the worst culprit, stress. “Maybe you could try taking it easy for a few days?” she said. The suggestion did not go over well for this busy mom and journalist.

Wellness is a tricky thing for many parents, and while we may be the first to pounce on our kids’ health habits and scary symptoms, we’re woefully sloppy at caring for ourselves until it’s too late. Now that spring is here, there is no better time to renew our commitment to keeping ourselves in top form.

To inspire you (and ourselves, sigh) to do better, Parenting Times Magazine is proud to present the theme of our spring 2024 edition, the Wellness Issue.

Veteran writer Sheryl Bennett-Wilson interviews the experts about why social connections are so important for our well-being and for our Focus on Education section, what schools are teaching in terms of mental health and what’s being covered in Ontario’s physical education curriculum.

We all know that we need to eat balanced diets and get enough exercise. As wellness takes many forms, we wanted to cover some areas of the subject that may not normally be top of mind. Check out a story on sensory play in Just for Parents, a profile on a Montessori-inspired bed company Purveyor 15 in Just for Kids and in Just for Teens, a feature about workplace safety. Dad columnists Chris Hunt and Jon Willing share how they stay well, and Kita Szpak advises parents and caregivers in her latest Happiness Formula.

We hope you find this issue informative and enlightening. Carve out some time to check it out, get some rest, put on your own oxygen mask first — and forgive yourself for doing so.

Best wishes,

Tracey