girl upside down pickle planet moncton — *That’s the original Little Pickle, just hanging around on the beach. 🙂*

What is Pickle Planet?

It’s a little corner of the web where parents come to share information. No judging. No cropping. It’s life in the trenches of a modern family in a small Canadian city.

Pickle Planet was created when I, Jenna Morton, a journalist in a former life, found myself a stay-at-home mom to three kids aged two and under.

Yup. Three kids. All under age two.

family of five pickle planet morton — I think this is the first official photo of us as a family of five! The boys were just recently home from the hospital and their great-grandparents came to visit. Clara was 21 months old, Alasdair and Rory were (technically) two months old; this photo was taken around what should have been their due date in April 2013.

Getting out with three little ones was a big challenge – especially when it was hard to quickly find out what was happening for families in the Greater Moncton Area. If I wanted to take the kids out, I first had to search through half a dozen or more websites, trying to find out what was happening in Moncton, Riverview, Dieppe, Salisbury, Sackville, Shediac, etc. Then I had to decide if I’d make the trek with three little ones!

I wanted all the information in one spot, easy to find. I didn’t have time to waste searching the internet for hours – and neither do you! That’s when I started creating Weekly Round Ups with a list of things happening in the Greater Moncton Area for families (June 2015). Now, hundreds of local families rely on these posts each week to decide how to spend their time together.

family fun moncton — *It’s hard to capture all five of us looking at the camera at the same time. Four out of five ain’t bad!*

I’ve always been an advocate for community.

I believe that strong communities build strong connections for ourselves and our children. This is especially important for small, mostly rural areas such as the Maritimes. If we can help our children be proud of where they live, then we’ll always have champions for this place. This, more than just a quick help with weekend planning, is what keeps me writing Pickle Planet.

I know that each week, more families are taking part in activities they otherwise would miss because they read about it on Pickle Planet. We are all making connections within our families, with other families, and with our community at large.

I also try to make sure Pickle Planet is a place for all parents and all those who take a parenting role – aunts, uncles, grandparents, care givers, educators, and more. Pickle Planet is an inclusive place, where I try to shine a light on so many of the fabulous families living in our community.

It’s also my key way to connect; the kids might be getting older, but it’s still a challenge to get out with all three of them! Pickle Planet is my way of building a connection with the outside world, while still often sitting at home, deep in the trenches of life with little kids. It can be a lonely place, raising young kids, especially if you’re living in a community you didn’t grown up in yourself.