Just Like Mom

On Sunday evening, my daughter, husband and I finished watching some anime (the third last episode of "Assassination Classroom", if you are wondering which one). After the "watch party", I was playing with my shaggy hair and tugging it into goofy ponytails and tufts. My husband commented:

"Sometimes, there are things that you do or say that remind me very much of your mother. However, what you are saying or what you are doing isn't at all the type of thing your mother would do. It's so strange because you're at once so like your mother and so unlike her."

I wasn't sure how I was going to compile this week's blog post, but I thought that was a useful way to tie things all together.

Up until dementia robbed her of her abilities, my mother was a tornado of activity. She wasn't much into housekeeping, although she did teach me how to wash the floor on my hands and knees. What she enjoyed doing the most was volunteering for different organizations. She loved donating her time and talents to help others. At church, she was the Catholic Women's League president, helped with the Legion of Mary, taught Sunday School, ushered and read at Masses. In addition to this, she was a passionate volunteer in school libraries. She began by volunteering when I was in kindergarten at my public school, Birch Cliff Heights PS, and kept helping there long after I graduated. She also helped out in the first school where I was employed as a teacher-librarian as well as the school I'm still at. In fact, the reason why I ran my Scholastic Book Fair during Curriculum Night was because she was already committed to running the BCH Book Fair during Parent-Teacher Interview Night! She helped out in the extra-curricular activities that my siblings and I were involved in, from making scarves for the 6th Toronto Scout Group to working (for free) as the book keeper at our baton and dance studio. I'm sure I'm probably forgetting something else that she offered to do out of the goodness of her heart.

This is a photo of my mother and me during my second year of teaching (1998-99) at the Scholastic Book Fair at Warden Avenue Jr. P.S.

Maybe the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, because this week has been a blizzard of activity for me. By the way, this is an excellent metaphor considering that Monday, January 26, the day this blog post goes live, is a snow day, the second of 2026 - but I digress. 

• The first of my guest speakers for my York University Teacher-Librarianship Additional Qualification courses for the Winter 2026 session spoke on Tuesday
• Also on Tuesday, I was the notetaker for our school staff meeting
• ALSO on Tuesday, I participated in an interview with the CBC about how I use Generative AI critically in my professional practice
• The day before, Canadian School Libraries had a meeting to consolidate plans for the next Treasure Mountain Canada School Library Research Symposium
• On Friday, I attended an all-day meeting as a newly minted member of the Ontario Teachers' Federation Curriculum Forum Steering Committee, to help plan for our upcoming Winter gathering
• I also had an AML executive meeting, but I had to skip it

This list excludes the other, in-school events that have been happening, such as the second meeting of our K Pop Demon Hunter Club at school, the start of the Primary Division Minecraft Club, and the third meeting of the Forest of Reading Club. (As I like to remind the students, "I sometimes teach as well.")

If you are interested in reading or listening to the CBC article, called "Are librarians the key for teaching AI literacy?" by Jessica Wong, follow this link - https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/librarians-teach-ai-9.7055661 

If you are interested in hearing a CBC Radio One piece (which I contributed to briefly) called "A.I. companions pose a risk to kids" by Manjula Selvarajah, follow this link - https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/9.7049426 

What made this week extra busy was that on that very busy Tuesday, my mother was taken by ambulance to hospital. She is stable now but she is in the palliative care unit. I want to thank everyone who was aware of the situation for their kind words and patience as I juggled and coordinated visits to the hospital and to my parents' house to help keep an eye on my father (who has dementia like my mother, just not as advanced). Thanks to my siblings for all the work they have been doing to manage everything with both mom and dad. It's not easy but we are relieved that she is in a place where she can be monitored and cared for properly.

(Thanks to my sister for snapping this photo of me attempting to play my ukulele for my mom.)

My husband pointed out that I didn't really have a proper conclusion to this blog post. (I live in a household filled with professional writers, so it's par for the course here.) I couldn't exactly come up with a wise or insightful way to end this post. As with life, it's hard to bring things to an end in a way that does justice to the subject.