Parenting

Last updated: July 24th, 2021Sunday is my day of laundry. I know it is supposed to be a day of rest but after church, I grocery shop and then begin baking and cooking and packing lunches for the week ahead. In between the cooking, I am doing laundry. You know the drill. Sorting, washing, drying, […]

Last updated: July 24th, 2021Pre-teen and teen boys can be hard to buy for. This year our rule is no electronics or gaming systems under the Christmas tree. We have enough, there’s no need for multiple gaming systems and how many hand-held devices does one kid need? With that being said, I’ve been on a

Last updated: July 24th, 2021 Most children resist bedtime. They fight it with everything they have making excuses for needing a glass of water, seeing a shadow, hearing a noise, having a tummy ache, needing to use the bathroom and the millions of other countless excuses to NOT sleep. I commonly hear: “Mom, I’m not

Last updated: July 24th, 2021Parenting is tough. It’s joyful, rewarding, amazing and all sorts of other wonderful things but it’s also really, really hard.  Childbirth was easy in comparison to actually being a parent and living the day-to-day challenges. There are far more good days than bad days and more rewards then not but some

Last updated: July 24th, 2021Teaching 3rd grade is an adventure. Each day I learn something new. I haven’t had one day where something funny doesn’t happen that makes me giggle out loud or brings on a full fledged belly laugh. My team of 3rd grade Michigan Virtual Charter Academy K12 teachers often have me in

Last updated: July 24th, 2021 I’ve been teaching subject-verb agreement, nouns and possessives, expanded notation and place values. Had you asked me last year if I thought I’d be doing this my answer would have been NO. Except here I am now and I’m learning day-by-day how to best teach my 3rd graders online. Doing

Last updated: July 24th, 2021Alright I’m frustrated. My little girl is frustrated and saying she is F-A-T. Yup, she screamed it. Rage of scream and tears – the whole 9 yards! I felt my heart break in half and crumble to floor into a million little pieces. Why would she say something like this you

Last updated: July 24th, 2021Summer day camp is here and that means each day I pack lunches, sunscreen, bug spray, towels, bathing suits and lunches. Oh wait and snacks, extra clothing, water and um…I’m sure a million other things. A back pack does not work! Everything ends up lost or at the bottom of the

Last updated: July 24th, 2021 Summertime is here! This means later nights, dirty feet, marshmallow covered faces, bug bites and endless rock collections. For my home it will now include summertime chores because last summer I learned that my kids still need structure and routine. Otherwise my summer is no fun because I’m cleaning up

Last updated: November 11th, 2021 We’re a busy family on the go and the vehicle is always carting children, groceries and children from activity to activity. As a business vehicle too, I try very hard to make my Tesla Model 3 functional, organized and as clean as possible. This doesn’t mean I need a dozen

Last updated: July 24th, 2021 My little girl loves to cuddle and sleep with mommy. She’s five now and is known for sneaking into my bed at all hours of the night. Truthfully, I love to cuddle her but her elbows are sharp and oh the knees hit my back to the point where I’ve

Last updated: July 21st, 2021 It’s almost February, do you know what that means? Yup, Valentine’s Day. So what does Valentine’s mean to you? According to Wikipedia, Valentine’s is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. In our family Valentine’s Day isn’t just a tribute to our intimate

Last updated: July 21st, 2021 I love everything about my little girl but when she was a baby my favorite part was her chubby hands and cheeks. I don’t know if my sister knew that or not but she captured that moment in time for me perfectly. My sister took a close up picture of

Last updated: July 24th, 2021 Do you ever look back on your parenting and the choices you made and wish you could change them? I do. While I believe I’m a good parent there are choices I made when my daughter was younger that I wish I would have done differently; one of those choices

Last updated: July 24th, 2021Trying to keep your kids busy but you want to make sure they learn important lessons about going green?  If so, there is a variety of natural and green craft ideas out there to keep your kids busy.  You don’t have to go out and purchase all kinds of craft items

Last updated: July 24th, 2021The summer is half over and my kids are starting to get bored. All throughout the school year they look forward to summer vacation but after only a couple of days they begin to fuss about being bored. It is easy to spend money taking them to the movies, water parks

Last updated: July 21st, 2021You cannot take a walk down the block anymore without seeing some signboard or placard that says “Save Our Planet”.  It’s true; our planet’s resources are drying up and the sheer misuse of resources over centuries, not to speak of chemical pollution, has lead to a progressively unclean planet. Is this

Last updated: July 24th, 2021My son loves to build, use his hands and create things. He has a knack for figuring out puzzles and solving problems (I wish he got this from me). We have blocks in all shapes, colors and styles because hello, I have Master’s in early childhood and encourage building and creative