School is in full swing and the days are getting shorter and colder. When kids burst through the door after leaving the bus, homework stuffed in their backpacks ready to finish, they’re eager to have some screen time. As a parent of 4 kids I totally understand their desire to unwind. We all need time to relax, and screen time is the perfect activity on a cold fall evening to do just that–tune out and plug in. Read More
The Most Important Thing You’re Teaching Your Child
Most parents take their job as teachers very seriously. We teach our kids colors. ABCs. Taking turns. Right from wrong… Read More
Humans are Lucky
Today like every day, I wake up and think, “I’m lucky. I’m happy. I’m not going to get mad at my husband, my four kids or our two dogs Buster Brown and Chewbacca (“Chewie”). But usually I’m fighting the urge to yell before breakfast is over. Read More
12 Easy-to-Remember Halloween Safety Tips
Trick or Treat! You can hear the chorus of voices even before the doorbell rings! Keeping Halloween fun means keeping kid safe. Check out how award-winning author Fritzi Gros-Daillon has used the words “Trick or Treat” to create this easy to use (and easy to remember!) set of 12 safety tips! Read More
Halloween Safety for Kids of All Ages
My soon-to-be teenager has always loved Halloween … almost more than she loves Christmas. For years she started planning her costume for the coming October in early spring. [Apparently she’s not alone in this habit!]
While she worried about the theme du jour, we worried about safety! We wanted her to have fun, but also be safe. When she was a preschooler, Halloween safety meant we traveled door-to-door with her. Now, she reminds us that she is “too old” for us to go with her. So Halloween safety means making sure she knows – and follows – the rules. Read More
Last Minute Halloween Costumes
Well, here we are with days to go and no costumes chosen yet. Here are some awesome last-minute Halloween costume ideas for all different ages! Read More
5 Steps to a Cooler Halloween Costume That Saves You Money, Too!
Books, TV, and pop culture are great places to get inspiration for Halloween costumes. But something strange happens every Halloween: Costume manufacturers promote “sexy” versions of pop culture characters for girls (not only sexy princesses but sexy snowmen and turtles!). Boys don’t get treated much better with gory costumes from TV shows that are in no way age-appropriate (Walter from Breaking Bad for kids?). This kind of off-target marketing to kids seems to work, though, since folks are expected to spend more than $8 billion on costumes and decorations for the holiday. Read More
5 Things I Wish Someone Had Said to Me as a Child
Most nights, the four kids and I arrive home, exhausted from another busy day. October seems like a long month. Sports, activities, and homework have kicked in and there are no major holiday breaks. I want to use everyone’s time wisely. I really don’t want to yell or berate any of my kids although I could easily come up with a thousand reasons to do so. Food left in the car, forgotten homework, late for a pick-up that made all the other pick-ups late, bickering, and a hundred more. So many things do not go as planned every day that it’s unproductive to dwell on them and instead push through. Read More
Kiss and Go
At my son’s Kindergarten orientation, the principal put a name to the thing I’ve reluctantly been doing for the past three years: in order for my kid to be successful in independent endeavors, I’ve had no choice but to kiss and go. I don’t like the quick embrace and the quicker release; I would love to be the mom who lingers for photos, who chats it up with the other parents, but I can’t be that lady. As much as it kills me to admit, my son does better without me. Read More