Does your child help around the house? No matter what their age, if a kid can walk, they can help. (And even infants can “practice” things as a game.) Unless you have a maid or a cleaning service, getting help around the house from family members is essential. However, it’s also easier said than done, …
How To Get Kids to Help Around the House: 21 Hacks Read More »
Do your school-age kids help with cleaning at home? Or is this a constant battle in your house, as it was in ours until recently? I don’t like all the regular upkeep that goes with maintaining a house with a family. And my husband does his fair share, including lots of jobs he knows I …
Are your kids starting to get squirrely for the end of the school year and the start of summer break? Do you find their school-year routines and ability to self-regulate breaking down? Those skills have long since flown the coop around here, so we tried something new this morning: a brand-new set of clothespin chore …
Clothespin Chore Chart: How-To’s, Inspiration, and Tips for Success 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! …
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 …
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 …
Do you always feel overburdened? As if you’ve got too much on your plate, because responsibility for the entire world somehow landed on your shoulders? Would you like to free up a few brain cells for something else? If so, then it’s high time you turn over some of that responsibility to your kiddos. Experts …
(And How To Make Your Own Chore Charts!) I used to think having a chore chart was silly. My mother never used them, so why should I? Now, we’re a family of converts. What happened? Summer. And with it, a complete breakdown of most of our normal routines. Does this sound familiar? Despite my periodic …
Kimmie starts kindergarten this week. She can’t wait. She is soooo ready. Her first day of preschool, she marched right into the building without a backward glance. Kindergarten will be the same way. That is, as long as she survives the bus ride. Don’t get me wrong; she can’t wait to ride the school bus, …
This weekend marks our first family camping trip. My husband and I used to camp (or at least hike) every summer, back in our pre-parenthood existence. The further away from home our car-camping and occasional backpacking trips took us, the better. We’ve been kept awake all night by the foghorns near the Bay of Fundy …
Oh, the ironies of parenting. Not twenty-four hours after publishing my last blog post, on finding your kids’ reset buttons, I found myself mentally running through my own checklist, searching in vain for one of my own tricks that would work on a five-year-old who stubbornly resisted each and every attempt I made to help …
It’s one of those days (hours, minutes), and you’re at the end of the rope. You just wish your kid had come with an on/off switch, circuit breaker, or some other way to turn her off. Then you could power her down, reboot her, and start all over with a clean slate. Or maybe it’s …
Finding Your Kids’ Reset Button: My Top Ten Hacks Read More »
Both of our children have been way ahead of the curve in some areas (mostly academic), but have taken a more leisurely approach in others. Kimmie was nearly eighteen months old before she mastered the art of independent walking, and for Essie that skill didn’t come until the age of sixteen months. And then there’s …
How’d you do on your New Year’s resolutions last year? My New Year’s goal for last year is still an ongoing effort, but remembering to use the Calm Mommy voice when I want my kids to cooperate is becoming more second-nature. My goals for this year center around being more mindful each day, saving myself …
Mindful Decluttering: 5 Tips on Decluttering Your Home Read More »
Even though the first week of December was rainy and dreary in our neck of the woods, the girls and I have had a super start to our month. Part of the credit goes to the fact that I’ve made some very conscious decisions to simplify our lives, both for the holiday season and beyond. …
Less Is More: Three Ways We’re Cutting Back and Living Better This Holiday Season Read More »
My husband is a math teacher. He lives, breathes, and eats numbers. Thus it’s not too surprising that numbers are floating through the atmosphere in our house on a pretty regular basis, or that Kimmie and Essie have been a bit ahead of the curve in learning to count. But early in our parenting journey, …
Awhile back, before I published my post about letting Kimmie watch movies, I sent a draft of it to my friend Liz, who blogs over at Everyday Ecologist. In a subsequent phone conference, as we chatted about the slippery slope of kids and screen time, Liz said something to the effect of, “I can’t wait …
When Your Preschooler Won’t Cooperate: Big Kid + Big Privileges = Big Responsibilities Read More »
I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. Instead, I set New Year’s goals. IMHO, resolutions are made to be broken. “I resolve to go to the gym more.” “I resolve to lose weight.” “I resolve to go on a diet.” I mean, come on – who even talks like that? And besides, what happens when the …
