A guide series - how to help when you don't know howYouth sports comes on quick and strong; it's easy to get swept up into the blur that becomes sports seasons and dirty jerseys and lucky socks that need found before game day. As a mom to athletes, I know how busy the schedule can fill up; between practices and games and figuring out transportation to and from, and when are we even going to fit dinner and homework into the evenings. Then take that times how many ever kid athletes you have - you ...
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An open letter from a teacher to the kind kid
Dear kind and decent student, I am grateful for all my kids. The shy ones, the quiet ones, the weird ones, the smart ones, the too-smart-for-their-own-good ones, the silly ones, the class clowns, the teacher's pets, the athletes, the bookworms, the I'm-just-here-because-I-have-to-be-ones, the sad ones, the puppy-love-eyed ones, the ones with awesome&meaningful questions, the ones that are still my head with pride as I'm falling asleep, and the ones that are still in my heart with worry as ...
Your child is greater than the sum of their talents
trigger warning: suicide, depression, anxiety, mental healthMy elementary school daughters brought home a flyer this week about making time for self-care. Not hygiene and organizing your school work, but actually mental health self-care. In the school newsletter they included a "mental health" checklist for parents that might help identify if our kids are struggling with anxiety. And I am grateful for these tools, but it is also alarming to me that it is needed at all. Why is anxiety and ...
Big Family Grocery Bill Hacks: Lesson 1
"How do you feed them all?" This is one of the questions that we get asked most often as a family of eight. And it is a legitimate question for two reasons, first the literal amount of food that gets prepared and consumed in our house is wild. Six hungry, growing kids can put away some food and at a rate of truly astonishing proportions. Kids are eating in our house almost around the clock - and that's on top of the dinners we eat together at the table almost every night. There's not much I can ...
Tween Communication Tool: Shared notebook
Our oldest daughter and I are very similar in most ways; appearance, personality traits, mannerisms, and especially emotionally. In meaningful and difficult conversations, we both shrivel up into a blubbering mess of tears and half sobs trying to get our feelings out (anyone else like this? no? oh, okay - hahha). So we have used a different method of communication to help us maintain those open lines of conversation even though we both struggle with saying the things we mean when we have a lot ...
Kids Colorable Thank You Cards
I am a believer that a guaranteed path to a beautiful and full life is through gratitude. When I feel stuck in a bad or distracted mood, or like the rat race of life and having all the shiniest, newest things is too much, or if I'm trapped in my own self-centered pity party - I have always found that switching my focus to gratitude is the fastest way to turn my self around. Gratitude turns what we have into enough.Melody BeattieWe want to raise our kids to be grateful, to be able to look around ...
25 Rules for Moms of Sons
11 years ago, I was inspired by a pin I had seen about "rules for dads with daughters," so I went searching for a similar list for moms with sons. This search was mostly fruitless, so I was inspired to write my own Rules for Moms of Sons. I posted this list to my hobby blog back in 2011 and by early 2012, it had taken on a life of its own on the internet. To date, it's been viewed on my personal blog over 2million times and re-posted and shared on sites like The Good Men Project, and PopSugar ...
Go home Winter, you’re drunk
Hey Winter, I need to talk to you for a sec. Can you step away from the karaoke playlist for a minute so we can chat?Here's the thing, I really don't want to be the one to do this, but Cold Front is in the bathroom puking her guts out and no one here really wants to hear another one of your My Heart Will Go On renditions, so I'm just going to go for it.It's time to go home, man.I mean, I love you. Seriously, I do. I think you have this charm and magical quality about ...
10 Reasons our car is a screen free zone
We are low tech parents trying to raise kids in a high tech world because I believe it provides kids the space to grow and imagine and learn and be curious. Now this is not to say my kids don't ever have contact with screens - they do! But their screen time mirrors more the way that we 80-90's kids experienced screens; in a controlled, finite way. Children's brains crave that immediate gratification of distraction just like our adult brains do - except they don't have the ability to look around ...
Cake Mix Cookies – so easy your kid can do it!
Our go to chocolate chip cookie recipe is actually a little bit of a cheater-code method but they are so quick, easy, and downright delicious that I don't mind cutting the corners for these yummy treats! You see, we have an unofficial policy in our house that we don't ever buy cookies from the store - if we are craving cookies, we need to make them. Of all my Pinterest boards, probably my Sweets for my Sweeties board is accessed the most because we are always craving cookies over here! And after ...
Fun Parent Friday: Alt Persona
On Fridays, I will try to share a quick tip on how to incorporate an easy trick to to be more intentionally fun and playful as a parent, if you are in need of a little encouragement and help. Being playful with your kids on just a normal day keeps you both in the moment and is what really boosts all those core childhood bliss moments.the activity: Alt PersonaWho: children 4+ (the child should understand 'pretend' play)Length of activity: on-goingHow many participants: at least 2 peopleEquipment ...
A love letter to moms of middle school boys
To the moms of middle school boys, I see you negotiating showers and screen time, and coats in the winter, and homework, and chores.I see you repeating yourself a hundred times, biting your tongue, and trying to take calming breaths before shouting through the house for that boy. I see you eyes closed, deep breaths, praying for patience; just enough to get through this day with this boy.I see you baffled at how he grows over night; inching closer to pass you up in height each day. I ...
How to talk to your child when it feels like the world is coming apart.
The urge to shield our kids from the bad stuff happening in the world can be overwhelming. If we can just block it out, switch the station, avoid the hard conversations, and remove the worry, then maybe our kids will be okay?But, here's the truth: they know something is going on whether you talk to them about it or not. They overhear adults talking, they sense your level of worry and stress. If we aren't talking about it with our kids, then they are talking about it with someone else or they are ...
Level Up: Diapering
When you're an expectant mom, you know diapers are going to be a big deal, but I don't think it's possible to get a grasp of just how big of a deal diapers will be part of your life, conversations, thoughts, and struggles in the first two years of raising your baby. I have spent the better part of the last twelve years changing diapers; I am so good now I can do it half asleep in the complete dark if I need to. My husband jokes that what takes him 8 wipes to clean up, I can do in 2 and a mess ...
Kid’s Signature memory sheet: FREE printable
We have six kids, so it is physically impossible for me to keep everything they bring home from school. In most cases, things go from the backpack folder into the trash (or into our drawer for using the blank side as scratch paper!) Sometimes if the artwork is really creative, or if it's a really good grade on a project- it will hang on the fridge for a week....before going into the trash. And then a very (very) small selection makes it into the kids' individual memory boxes in the attic saved ...
Parenting an Athlete: A Game with Bad Calls
I am a wife of an athlete, a parent of athletes, and a former collegiate athlete myself. I have seen my share of heated games, bad calls, and tough losses. But if there is one belief that I hold above all else in sports, it is respect of the refs/umps. You know that saying, "A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter is not a nice person." I believe it is applicable to sports too: "A person that is nice to you but rude to the ref or ump is probably not a nice person."And that goes for ...
This Is Not My Story
When our oldest was on our only child, I really struggled with accepting help. We had this little baby that I loved so overwhelmingly, and brought me so much joy to see every single new thing he learned and experienced. I was his mom, so I felt like I should and wanted(!) be there for all.the.things. I distinctly remember my parents asking if they could take our then 18 month old son to a local amusement park one summer afternoon. They suggested that I could stay home and rest or do whatever ...
7 ways to be a caretaker of good in the world
Our kids are watching us all the time. They are noticing how we speak, how we react, how we make comments, and the vibes we put out into the world. More than all the things we might try to teach them and say to them - the way we actually behave counts for more than all of it. Which is why it is critically important to be the kind of person everyday that you hope your kid will be as they grow up. If you want a kind kid, YOU need to be kind. It's not enough to tell your kid not to be a bully, YOU ...
Mom Pep Talk: For When You Are Tired
Hi momma, I know you're tired. Like deep in your bones tired. Like can't remember if that was a dream or real life tired. Like you just found your car keys in the fridge tired. It's the I'm so tired I don't know how I'm making dinner tired and yet....you're making dinner. I think my brain needs scanned, but like for scientific purposes. Yo, scientists - come scan my brain; a mother's brain.I need to know if there is a certain piece in there that is unique to a mom brain. Like where in my brain ...
My first #Boymom valentine
I grew up in a house of sisters. We were like most girls; sharing clothes, twirling to dance parties, playing Barbie dolls, school, and make believe restaurant. We were thoughtful and kind to each other. Occasionally we were hurtful to each other but in the sneaky kind of ways that girls are; the mind games and snide comments instead of the fists and wrestling kind of hurtful. We had mostly girl cousins too, so we really were sort of cushioned in a way from the reality of living in a house with ...
Fun Parent Friday: Hide & Sneak Treasure
On Fridays, I will try to share a quick tip on how to incorporate an easy trick to to be more intentionally fun and playful as a parent, if you are in need of a little encouragement and help. Being playful with your kids on just a normal day keeps you both in the moment and is what really boosts all those core childhood bliss moments.the activity: Hide & Sneak TreasureWho: any person in your home 13 years old + Length of activity: on-goingHow many participants: at least 2 peopleEquipment ...
First 5 baby signs to teach your 8-10 month old & FREE Printable!
Why teach your baby sign language? I love the newborn and infant stages so much but it would be dishonest if I didn't tell the truth in how much anxiety and worry comes with those first few months. For obvious reasons first of which it's a new, tiny, helpless baby - but also it is such a guessing game about what they need and want. Your baby's only method of communication is to cry, so as the parent, you have to learn to try to decipher those cries - is he hungry? does she need a diaper change? ...
homemade pizza dough – so easy your kid can do it!
We are a pizza loving family. If there is a food that 8 out of 8 family members can all get behind with no complaints - it is pizza. I always thought that pizza was something I either ordered in or I bought frozen and stashed in the freezer for nights I felt too tired to cook. But then I found this no rise recipe from Shelly at Frugal Family Home and my life changed! Well, not that dramatically, but I did finally figure out that I could stop wasting money on frozen pizzas from the grocery store ...
5 songs for your toddler that are NOT Baby Shark
Don't get me wrong, I love Baby Shark just as much as the next mother of toddlers, but just like anything on repeat - it can get to be a little much. Listening: a whole-brain, whole-body experienceAs children grow and develop, it is important for them to have experiences that enhance all of their senses, including their auditory sense which as Angela Hanscom (a occupational therapist) writes in her book Balanced and Barefoot, "is the pre-cursor to interaction, speaking, reading, and writing." ...