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In this month's column for The Life Change Network, I write about the emotional journey that mothers take during pregnancy and early motherhood and offer some suggestions on how to make the most of this truly transformative time. Here's a brief excerpt:

The months before birth represent an opportunity for tremendous personal growth and development—an opportunity for you to become more in-tune with your body, to prepare for the challenges of labor and birth, and to start thinking about the type...

Teen Brain Benefits from Mindfulness Training by Ann DouglasOne of the things I love most about my job is the thrill I experience when I stumble across a piece of research that really speaks to me in a powerful way. That's what happened for me a couple of weeks ago, when I came across this study about teenagers and mindfulness. I knew, as soon as I read it, that I wanted to write about it -- and I did in my most recent column for The Toronto Star (published in yesterday's paper).

I asked child...

If you've checked out the social media website Pinterest, you've no doubt discovered that there is a massive (and growing) community of parents and parents-to-be eagerly swapping advice on everything from pregnancy tobreastfeeding to baby play ideas to mindful parenting topositive parentingto (misc)familytogardening for kids -- and so much more. (If you can think of a kid-related topic, someone is pinning on that topic.)

Having a Baby Pinterest Board by Ann Douglas (annmdouglas)Early childhood...

I spent some time updating this website today -- which meant that I also spent a fair bit of time hopping over to the website of one of my book publishers, looking for information on one of my forthcoming books (the totally -- and I mean totally -- revised and updated second US edition of The Mother of All Pregnancy Books, due out in June from Wiley).

While I was on the Wiley website, I noticed that there were book excerpts available for a number of my backlist titles.

Hmmm, I thought to myself...

Bathers: Pregnant women show off their bellies. This image, along with more than 100 others, are included in MAMA: Motherhood Around the Globe's online Art Gallery. Credit: Christine Paravicini / IMOW The International Museum of Women (IMOW), with support from local communities, will hold Making Mothers Visible events all over the world during the month of May, drawing attention to the global statistic that a woman dies every 90 seconds of a complication of pregnancy or childbirth. Events wil...

The Toronto Star has launched a new Parent page, both online and in its print edition.

My column (formerly "The Mother of All Baby Columns," but now renamed "The Mother of All Parenting Columns") will be running every other week in this space).

Today's column focused on what sex education should be addressing in order to be relevant and helpful to today's generation of teens.

I interviewed Toronto sex educator Cory Silverberg and Mississauga parent Natalie Rea.

You can read my column here.

Related...

If the name Patricia Hung sounds familiar to you, it's because her name was in the headlines not that long ago, along with that of her daughter, Stefanie Rengel.

Stefanie, as you may recall, was brutally murdered by a young man who was being pressured by his girlfriend to kill Stefanie. In the May issue ofCanadian Family magazine, Hung writes about life after the unthinkable -- her daughter's murder. The story's title is inspired by her blog of the same name.

Hung writes about her other childre...

Here is a copy of the handout I'll be distributing at my presentation in Peterborough tonight. I thought I'd share it with you now so that you'll have a clear sense of I'll be speaking about. You can download a full-sized copy (as a .pdf) right here, if you would prefer. Enjoy!

I will be giving a parenting presentation in Peterborough, Ontario, at Monsignor O'Donoghue Catholic Elementary School on Tuesday, April 17 at 6:30 pm. The school is inviting all parents, grandparents, and caregivers in the community to attend. I will be speaking on the topic of Fearless Parenting: How to Confront Your Deepest Fears About Parenting and Emerge A Calmer and More Confident Parent. 

If you would like to attend, please let the school know so that they will have a rough idea of how ...

Calling all top teachers!

Nominations are now open for the 6th annual teacher awards 

Canadian Family magazine is now accepting nominations for its annual Teacher Awards at www.canadianfamily.ca/teacherawards.

This national program, now in its sixth year, recognizes outstanding educators across the country as nominated by their communities.

Nominations close on April 11, 2012.

A panel of education experts will shortlist twelve semi-finalists, announced on May 16, 2012, which the public will vote o...