I am surprised by the popularity of a post I wrote a few weeks ago: “Why You Can’t Read Twilight: A Letter to My Daughter,” and I’m simply fascinated by some of comments it’s received. Some folks love it, but boy does it rub some people the wrong way! Many commenters think the idea that I would tell my daughter at say, age 11, that she can’t read Twilight is downright loony and they refer to … [Read more...]
Today’s Attitude Shift
I'll spare you all the details, but it's been over 6 weeks since all four members of our family were well at the same time. We've passed around a terrible cough, Benjamin's asthma has been bad, and now Lucy has the cough/fever. And here's the thing, having sick children completely exhausts me. Sure, the bajillion night wakings due to illness wear me out (I think last night's count was 4 wakings … [Read more...]
Kids in the Kitchen: Introducing Your Children to Cooking
From the time our firstborn could sit up in a high chair and watch us cook, we would hand him some measuring cups and spoons to play with so he could "participate." Our kitchen is definitely the center of our home and we like to have our kids in the kitchen with us. And kids LOVE to be kitchen helpers; however, sometimes cooking with children can be more frustrating than fun. Here’s some tips for … [Read more...]
A Day in the Life
So, I decided to write down the events of one day to open a little window into our life. I picked Monday of last week and it ended up not being our best day. But it wasn't our worst, either. So here it is from 6:30am Monday to 6:30am Tuesday: 6:30am: Lucy wakes up for a feeding but goes back to sleep afterward (5th waking of the night! Whew). Daniel gets up and so does Benjamin. They work … [Read more...]
Preschooling at Home: Our Vision
I promised to follow-up our “why” we’re homeschooling post with a “how we plan to do it” post. And I thought I’d start out by addressing a great question from a reader who asked, “Why bother “pre school homeschool” anyways?...I might have a stricter idea of preschool homeschooling in my mind though, I really see formal preschool as something that could get in the way of natural play and … [Read more...]
This Messy Life
Everything has been at sixes and sevens over here while we’re trying to get packed to go on vacation for a week. I’ve been letting Benjamin eat parfaits for lunch and didn’t even notice that he had moved his entire mattress to the floor for a little bedroom makeover. On top of the upcoming trip, some friends of ours who had to move out of their place due to mold are going to stay at our … [Read more...]
10 Ways to Prepare Your Toddler for a New Baby
When we became pregnant with our second child, we were nervous about how our two-year-old son would react to having a new sibling. Our firstborn is a bit of a handful and is very intent on having everyone’s attention at all times. We were worried that having to share our attention with a new baby would cause him to resent his little sister. We were so wrong! He has been a spectacular big brother … [Read more...]
3.5 Months
I can't believe Lucy is already nearing the 4 month mark. Because I see her every day I don't notice how much she's grown, but check this out. First Bath: This week: Well, she's certainly getting cuter. And as my brother tells me, girl isn't missin' any meals. Her smile is absolutely heartmelting. Baby cute attack. This morning Daniel ran a half marathon while … [Read more...]
