Now that both my kids are in high school (!), we’re starting to think about what they want to do after they graduate. They are so fortunate to attend a large regional high school, where each graduating class is about twice the size of my entire high school (!!). Because of this, they have opportunities
Teaching Kids That Not Every Career Needs a Four-Year Degree Read More »
Best Math Apps for Kids Compared: What to Look For Before You Choose How’s your child doing in math these days? Many parents I know find that their kids struggle with math in school. We were fortunate in this regard because my husband teaches math, so our kiddos have been doing math since long before
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For many of us, our pets are as important a part of the family as the humans – and in the case of the littlest humans, the four-legged family members have often been around for longer! For many families, the four-legged family member of choice is a dog. Which involves a lot of training
Pee Pads for Pets: The Best Dog Pee Pads Read More »
As a busy parent, don’t you wish sometimes that life raising kids came with an “easy” button? So many things, it seems we have to figure out the hard way, through our own trial and error (that’s actually how this blog was born in the first place!). And if you’re parenting a neurodivergent child (as
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How well can your child see? Maybe not as well as you think. And while it may not seem like a big deal if your kid’s vision is a little off, the impacts can be far more severe than you could ever imagine. Sports, school, and even hanging out with friends are all a lot harder
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a.k.a. What To Do When Someone In Your Family Has Allergies: Do you find yourself, your spouse, or your kid(s) constantly sniffling and sneezing? Have you sensed that your indoor air quality at home leaves a bit to be desired? Does it seem as if your familymembers always have colds that never go away? Do
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Your Quick-Start Guide to Helping Elderly Parents: Sometimes it creeps up on us slowly. Sometimes there’s a crisis – one parent’s death, or a serious diagnosis – that makes it clear: Our parents aren’t getting any younger. And as they age, they may need more help from their adult children in taking care of themselves.
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Aging in Place 101: A Caregiver’s Guide to Aging in Place For those of us living life in the sandwich generation, we’re constantly balancing caring for our children with caring for our aging parents. To say it isn’t easy is an understatement; I’ve watched many friends and extended family members go through this process, and I’ve
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What Makes Residential Programs for Teens With Depression Different From Outpatient Care? If your teenager is experiencing a mental health crisis, the words inpatient mental health can feel overwhelming, not to mention super-scary. You want answers, not more confusion. Unfortunately, with depression among teenagers rising sharply in the past decade-plus, residential treatment for teenage depression
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Smart Nursery Essentials That Make Life Easier for Busy Mamas: Your baby has a lot of needs. They need feeding, they need burping, they need playtime and plenty of socialization, and they need lots and lots of sleep. And that’s just for starters! But what your baby really needs in the nursery is another matter. RELATED
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Raising Backyard Chickens 101: Why Is This a Growing Global Trend? Growing up, I regularly heard stories from my mama about the chickens her family raised, both for eggs and for their Friday night dinner each week. From America to Australia, raising chickens at home has grown in popularity in recent years. But why is
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Family Game Night Made Easy: How to Host a Weekly Game Night At Home Entertainment gets expensive fast. One movie night can mean tickets, snacks, and drinks. A quick trip to the arcade or another streaming subscription adds even more to the monthly bill. Before you know it, family fun starts to feel like a
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Picture this: it’s over 100 degrees Fahrenheit out (or 38 degrees Celsius, for those of you outside the US). Your kids are lolling around like sloths because it’s way too hot to play outdoors. Meanwhile, you’re trying to keep everyone hydrated, entertained, and not melting into puddles on your living room floor. Sound familiar? Heatwaves
Parenting Through a Heatwave: How to Keep Kids Cool, Calm, and Safe Read More »
We used to think LED gloves belonged in only one kind of place. Namely, in dark rooms, with blasting, loud music, with someone yelling “three, two, one” right before the bass drops. They were never supposed to survive daylight, right? And definitely not family life. Definitely not kids, pets, or someone asking what’s for dinner.
LED Gloves: The Fun Family Hack You Didn’t Know You Needed Read More »
How to Capture Memories: Memory Keeping Hacks for Busy Parents Micro-Journaling, 2×2 Photo Prints, and Other Hacks to Help Busy Moms Preserve Family Memories: With Kimmie’s sweet sixteen upon me (!!!), I’m reminded yet again how motherhood has a way of turning time into a blur. One minute you’re bringing your newborn home, the next
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Insurance is essential. You need it to protect yourself from large repair bills, and sometimes even from legal action. Some kinds of insurance, like auto insurance for your car, are a legal requirement if you want to be on the road. Others, like home insurance, aren’t required in all cases. But, that doesn’t mean that
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Positive Parenting Principles for Stuck-At-Home Life: What the heck is positive parenting? And how can positive parenting principles make life cooped up at home easier? As parents, it can be hard to focus on praising our kids’ positive actions, rather than correcting undesirable behaviors. It’s easier to tell kids what they should NOT do, what
Positive Parenting Crash Course (The Stuck-At-Home Edition) Read More »
In my last post, I wrote about the importance of imaginative play for helping children develop problem-solving skills, creativity, and the ability to collaborate with others. Likewise, when kids learn coding, they gain so many more valuable skills than you might think. Should kids learn coding? Absolutely! Coding for kids is a basic skill that
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Encouraging Creativity Through Imaginative Play: It can be tempting for people to think that either you’re born creative, or you’re not. But that’s far from the truth. In fact, there is a lot that parents, teachers, and other caregivers can do that encourages creativity in their young charges. And one of the greatest tools grownups can use
Imaginative and Creative: How Kids’ Pretend Play Encourages Creativity Read More »
While I grew up with only one living grandparent, who was always quite elderly and frail; the other three had all passed before I was born. Today, my children are blessed to have three doting grandparents in their lives. But just during their lifetimes, they’ve watched their grandparents battle cancer, heart conditions requiring surgery, joint
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