a.k.a. Help for Sleep-Deprived Parents As I type this, the rest of my household has been in bed for well over an hour (the girls much longer than that). And that’s after I was first one up this morning, in part so I could sneak off to yoga class before the girls went to summer
Why Mama Needs More Sleep (And What She Can Do About It!) Read More »
Children don’t need stress relief tips … or do they? You might be surprised. True, your kiddos probably don’t have to worry about paying bills, going to work, or getting dinner on the table. But that doesn’t mean that they’re completely carefree. We all like to think of our kids as happy-go-lucky bundles of joy,
10 Stress Relief Tips For Your Children Read More »
This is not the post I’d originally scheduled for today. But life happens. HOW we react when life happens is critical, especially as parents. Our little ones are always watching us, learning by example. When you encounter your next “teachable moment,” how will you react? The former classroom teacher in me is always on the
Life Happens: Making “Teachable Moment” Lemonade Read More »
How’d you sleep last night? Did you toss and turn? Did you wake up feeling lousy? Or did you fall asleep right away, and wake up feeling refreshed? If waking up well-rested sounds like a pipe dream, do something about it! Small, simple changes can help you sleep better tonight, as I know from firsthand
Sleep Better Tonight: Five Often-Overlooked Hacks Read More »
School safety is on everyone’s minds nowadays. It seems that every week, the news brings more horrific reports of another school shooting. As parents, we can sometimes feel helpless. After all, we can’t singlehandedly change gun laws or improve mental health funding in the United States. But there are plenty of simple action steps we
School Safety Tips for Parents Read More »
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating in the United States (as well as expats overseas) today! In honor of this national day of giving thanks, I’m thrilled to share a guest post written by a blogging friend of mine, Michele Tripple. If ever there were a Supermom, this amazing mama is definitely one in my eyes!
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When life throws you a curveball, how do you react? What do you do when life throws you for a loop? How do you cope? Wouldn’t it be nice if there were quick and easy answers to make it all better? But life doesn’t work that way, does it? A loved one gets a serious
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August 2017 Dear Essie, The day you’ve been waiting for since at least last fall is finally here. It’s time for you to climb onto that big yellow school bus with your sister and start kindergarten. And when you do, I won’t cry, any more than you will. Part of me is sorry that you
Why I Won’t Cry When You Start Kindergarten Read More »
If you’re one of those families who magically and effortlessly gets your kids back to a school-year routine at the end of your summer holidays, you need not read further (unless you want a good laugh at the rest of us). But if you’re in the 99% of us who struggle in this area, here’s
The “Pizza Cow” Morning Routine Contract Read More »
It’s now August. Back-to-school is coming. When you think about the rest of summer, are you a glass-half-full type, or a glass-half-empty? Rest of Summer: The Glass-Half-Empty Version A few weeks ago I was all “Oh, summer has flown by, it’s almost over,” when a blogger-friend in the U.K., Victoria at Lylia Rose, left a
Max Out The Rest Of Summer: Ten Ideas For Your Bucket List Read More »
It’s finally here: the week you’ve set aside for a family summer vacation. But the weather forecast calls for one rainy day after another. That would sum up our vacation last week. Or for whatever other reason, you find yourself confined indoors with children who are going stir-crazy for lack of adventures. Either way, you’re
Your Summertime Rainy Day Cheat Sheet Read More »
(NOTE: I first wrote “Loving the Environment for Kids: My Top Five Tips for Raising Eco-Friendly Offspring” as a guest post for The Everyday Ecologist in June 2016. Since it’s no longer available on that website, I’m republishing it here with a few updates while I’m traveling. Enjoy! – Flossie) What do your kids know
Loving the Environment for Kids: 5 Tips for Raising Eco-Friendly Offspring Read More »
Some of you may have been wondering why, for a parenting blog, photos of my children are noticeably absent. I’ve been wanting to write for awhile now about why you won’t see my kids’ faces here, but honestly, I’ve been afraid to do so. However, this absence has been weighing especially heavy on my heart since Easter.
Why You Won’t See My Kids’ Faces Here Read More »
I’m now just over two months into my bullet journaling experiment. For those of you who’ve thought about bullet journaling – either to become more efficient and organized, or to help you juggle your competing to-do’s – yes, it’s made a huge difference in those areas. But I’m also surprised to discover another upside: Bullet journaling has unquestionably made
How Bullet Journaling Has Made Me A Better Parent Read More »
When’s the right time to teach your kid to budget? I vaguely recall my parents mentioning budgeting before college, which is when I became responsible for handing over a check each month at the bursar’s office. Nothing drives home the importance of budgeting like making sure your earnings will cover next month’s tuition payment. We’ve all heard of – and
When Should You Teach Your Kid To Budget? Read More »
Happy New Year! I’m in the middle of several weeks of enjoying holiday and vacation time with my family. Hence, in lieu of a longer post, I thought I’d share seven-year-old Kimmie’s resolutions and goals for the new year. Kimmie’s New Year Resolutions Kimmie actually volunteered some personal new year resolutions to my mother a
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Do your kiddos practice bucket-filling on a daily basis? Have you even taught them about bucket-filling yet? You probably have, and just don’t realize it. But in this season of celebrating miracles and light and goodness, many of us are focusing in our families on bucket-filling anyway. Even if we don’t do so in the context
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Overheard at bedtime the other night, a half-hour after lights-off, as I’m trying to get Kimmie tucked in: Kimmie: “I’ve got to have a talk with Huckle’s teacher.” Huckle, a stuffed-animal incarnation of the Richard Scarry character, is Kimmie’s bedtime buddy. Oh, crud I think to myself – did she overhear me saying something along those
Overheard at Bedtime: The Fuzzies Economy Read More »
Have big-kid nightmares got your household missing more sleep than you’ve missed since you had a newborn around? That’s how our house has been feeling lately, since Kimmie went back to school. For example, take last night. It’s around 9pm. My husband and I had just wrapped up our nightly planning meeting and settled into
Big-Kid Nightmares? Try Big-Kid Massage Read More »
So the kiddos have been back to school for a few weeks now. How’s the back-to-school anxiety level in your household? In ours, it seems we’re still sorting through back-to-school anxiety, with mixed results. Your back-to-school anxiety checklist Have you noticed any of these back-to-school anxiety symptoms in your child(ren) since they resumed classes this
Back-To-School Anxiety: Tips on Herding the Purple Cow Read More »
