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 »
How To Make Your Own S’Mores Solar Oven: Looking for some summertime fun activities for your kids? S’mores always ranks at the top of my kids’ favorite summer activities list. And making solar oven s’mores is where easy kids’ crafts meets summer fun activities for kids. With supplies you already have on hand around the
Summer Science Fun: S’Mores Solar Oven (Easy DIY!) 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 »
This week’s post is a follow-up to my previous post, on having a workable kids’ art table set up. If your kids have an art corner set up that’s truly functional, chances are there’s a storage caddy involved. Every kids’ art corner needs an art caddy: a place to contain markers, crayons, etc. when they’re not
Easy DIY Wall Mount Art Caddy Read More »
Do your offspring have a designated place to draw, color, do Play-Doh, paint watercolors, and work their way through activity books? If not, they need a kids’ art table. No, you don’t need a huge space to do this. Our kids’ art table fills a small corner about 2 feet x 3 feet. It’s a
Five Must-Haves For a Kids’ Art Table That *Works* 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 »
I never thought I’d need to know how to get melted crayon out of laundry. I remember leaving crayons in the car when I was a kid, where they melted into a congealed mess in their box. But I never remember leaving any in pockets to go through the wash. (Why would you put crayons
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I’ll admit it. The name Yummy Summer Breakfast Parfait is a blatant attempt to follow my long-standing rule of giving foods appealing names. A recent scientific study at Stanford confirmed my practice: People are more likely to try strange foods with appealing names. But like other recipe names I’ve bestowed, it’s also based in reality.
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I have to admit, I was pretty proud when I dropped Kimmie off at her first sleep-away camp adventure yesterday. She’s there for all of two nights, and her luggage reflected this fact. Thanks to the family camping splurges we invested in last summer, she was one of the best-outfitted kids there. And also one
My Top 10 Family Camping Splurges, Part 2 Read More »
As longtime readers know, I’m not a fan of having stuff one doesn’t need. But if you camp often enough, these family camping splurges are worth considering. And many of them have uses beyond family camping trips. I added these things to our family camping checklist after three back-to-back camping trips last summer. While we
Family Camping Splurges: My Top Ten Picks, Part 1 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 »
Tick season is going to be especially bad this year. More ticks = more tick bites = greater risk of contracting Lyme Disease or another tick-borne illness. And as I noted in my last post, permethrin clothing treatment is your best bet to keep ticks away. Of course, you can buy clothing commercially treated with
Permethrin Clothing Treatment: A DIY Guide (Save Money!) Read More »
Does your family have a Tasting Garden yet? If not, and you have a little chunk of ground (or even a large pot and a sunny spot), you need one. Our Tasting Garden is the girls’ favorite spot in the front yard, and Essie especially loves to sample its goodies and share them with our
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Do your summer plans already have you reeling from sticker shock? Mine do. However, there ARE ways to save on summer camp. I’ve already put several of these hacks to use, and saved hundreds of dollars. So I decided these tips were too good to keep to myself! 10 Tricks to Save on Summer Camp
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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.
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Have you fallen in love with melamine sponges yet? Those things also known as Magic Erasers truly do work magic, if you’ve never tried them. They’re also a great way to get your kids into the cleaning act. If this cleaning powerhouse is new to you, here are my Top 10 Cleaning Hacks with Melamine Sponges 1.
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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 »
Perhaps you’ve read my previous post on things you could toss from your garage (or other favorite personal dumping-ground) NOW. And you’re ready to make the most of your newfound space, so it stays neat for more than two seconds. So it’s time for a post on my favorite hacks to organize your garage. While these hacks
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Spring is nearly here, as my children keep reminding me. Time for some spring cleaning. Or making good on those New Year’s resolutions to clear out the clutter. Either way, here are ten things to purge from your garage NOW. If you don’t have a “garage,” substitute “attic” or “basement” or “junk closet” – wherever you stuff things
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It’s a fact of life. As the crowded image above suggests, baby gear takes up a LOT of space. So how do you manage a baby in a SMALL space? We were facing this prospect when I was pregnant with Kimmie, and my husband and I were still living in his bachelor pad. We finally
Baby in a Small Space: Five Hacks to Save Room (and Money!) Read More »
