With Thanksgiving just around the corner, here’s a question for all you U.S.-based parents. Have your kids learned yet why we celebrate this holiday, and what the story behind it is? Need help? This Thanksgiving Bead Bracelet is a sweet craft to do with your preschoolers or elementary-school students, while teaching them about the first …
Thanksgiving Bead Bracelet Craft & Poem (Free Printable!) Read More »
When I was growing up, each day began with a good breakfast. And breakfast always began with a serving of fruit. On chilly mornings, my favorite breakfast fruit was my mother’s delicious homemade baked apples. Originally published Oct. 5, 2017; last updated October 2020. My mama baked apples the old-fashioned way, in the oven. Usually …
Healthy Microwave Baked Apples Recipe (Ready in 10 Minutes!) Read More »
Weighted Blanket Pros and Cons: One Neurodiverse Family’s Unbiased Weighted Blanket Review As long-time readers know, I am obsessed with getting a good night’s sleep. I am obsessed with my kids sleeping well. I am especially obsessed with overcoming all the hurdles mamas face to a good night’s sleep. So with all the hype in …
Are Weighted Blankets Worth It? (Comprehensive Review) Read More »
When does your family start thinking about Halloween? Me, I start hounding my kids for costume ideas over the summer. I love DIY costumes; having them take forever to make, not so much. Hence I was thrilled this past August when Essie announced she’d be a ghost for Halloween. How hard can it be to make a …
How To Make A Ghost Costume (It’s Harder Than You’d Think!) Read More »
You’re dreaming about girl names, shopping for girl clothes – congratulations! You’re the proud parents-to-be of a girl! As a #girlmom for over a decade now, I’ve learned a lot about how to raise strong daughters who are ready for anything life has to throw at them. Here are some of the techniques we’ve used …
17 Tips (That Truly Work!) To Raise Strong Girls Read More »
Planning a Family Road Trip During the Pandemic? Here’s How to Travel Safely: So many families love to travel in the summer, but this has been a year unlike any other. The girls and I were supposed to be on a Girl Scout trip to London and Paris right now. That’s been cancelled, along with …
Essential Family Road Trip Hacks to Travel Safely Read More »
Homeschooling On The Fly: Learning At Home When Schools Are Closed Indefinitely I never wanted to be a homeschool teacher. My kiddos have unique needs that I thought might better be served by pros with actual background in how best to teach them. But thanks to our current global health crisis, we – like so …
Our Sample Homeschool Schedule (3rd Grade/5th Grade) Read More »
Beaded Snakes: The Best DIY Fidget Toys We’ve Found Do your kids like having something to fidget with as much as mine do? If so, making your own homemade DIY fidget toys is a fun family activity for a rainy afternoon or a day of summer camp at home. And if you already have kids’ …
How To Steam Veggies In The Microwave: Steaming vegetables in the microwave is about as easy as cooking gets. If you haven’t done this before – or if you wish your kids would eat more veggies – then microwave-steamed vegetables is a technique worth trying. Originally published May 10, 2016; last updated July 2020. Microwave-steamed …
How To Make Steamed Vegetables In The Microwave (Fast & Easy Side Dish!) Read More »
My Seven Favorite Ways to Save Money on Groceries: I love a morning of leisurely shopping as much as anyone. But ever since I became a parent, running errands has become more like a tactical strike operation. While single me would spend an hour of Sunday afternoon browsing store ads for the best deals, parent …
7 Grocery Shopping Tips to Save Time (And Money!) Read More »
To Exhausted Parents: Give Yourself Some Grace! I am exhausted. The fatigue I’ve been feeling lately has only been getting worse, not better, as parts of the country slowly start to lift their stay-at-home restrictions. And I know a lot of my friends are also feeling like exhausted parents right now: Supervising virtual school has …
Your Positive Parenting Crash Course for Stuck-At-Home Life: What the heck is positive parenting? And how can a positive parenting crash course 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 …
Positive Parenting Crash Course (The Stuck-At-Home Edition) Read More »
How To Avoid Tick Bites This Summer: Your Best Bet for Preventing Tick Bites (Originally published May 20, 2017; last updated May 2020) Summer is just around the corner in the Northern Hemisphere. Are you ready to protect your kids from tick bites? Since at least 2017, it seems that each spring brings fresh warnings …
How to Protect Your Kids From Tick Bites: What Works Best? Read More »
Help for Managing Your Virtual Family Schedule: Keeping track of a packed family schedule was hard enough for a busy parent before the world shut down. Things seem ten times harder since we all switched our face-to-face interactions to virtual living: You’re now your kids’ virtual tech support, as you troubleshoot online class meetings, assignments, …
(Virtual) Family Schedule Organization Tips & Hacks Read More »
Homemade Comfort Food, Fast: Shortcut Cassoulet Recipe If your family is like ours, I’m guessing you’re cooking from scratch even more than usual, though your ingredients are often limited to what you have on hand. Yet paradoxically, between homeschooling and trying to get your own work done, you’ve got less time to spend in the …
Fun and Easy Earth Day Recycled Crafts and Activities: These are strange times we’re living in. I never thought we’d be stuck at home for literally months on end, homeschooling while trying to get our own work done. But here we are. There’s no just popping out to the store for last-minute craft supplies, and …
Recycled Earth Day Projects With Toilet Paper Rolls Read More »
Growing Vegetables From Seed For Beginners: So you’re thinking about starting your first vegetable garden from seed this year. Congratulations! There’s only one problem: you have no clue where to start. That was me a month ago. When I was growing up, my father used to cultivate about one and a half acres of vegetable …
How To Cook Dried Beans In A Slow Cooker: Even if you didn’t cook at home much before, I’m betting that recent global events have you spending more time than ever in your kitchen: Restaurants are closed except for takeout and/or delivery. Store shelves are often out of half of what you want. And if …
The EASIEST Way To Cook Dried Beans (Foolproof and No-Fuss!) Read More »
Rice Krispie Easter Eggs that are pretty AND easy: Looking for a fun, easy dessert for your Easter table that your kids can help make? A few weeks ago, the girls and I tried a variation on the original Rice Krispie treats recipe: we made them into Easter eggs that were as yummy as they …
Easy Easter Desserts Recipe: Rice Krispie Treat Easter Eggs Read More »
From Home Office Setup to Working From Home Productivity: Parents everywhere are in a brave new world: working from home while trying to homeschool our kiddos. Sometimes with guidance from their teachers, other times, not so much. For those of us fortunate enough to still have jobs we can do remotely, working from home can …
Working From Home: Tips For Success (Even With Kids Around!) Read More »
