I am issuing an assignment for you and your kids, nieces and nephews, grandchildren, or play date friends. This mission, if you choose to accept it, will lead you to information online that is critical to the deployment of forthcoming spy tasks. You and your agents will follow directives with time outdoors regardless of circumstances […]
How does that idiom go? “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” or so said Robert Burns, but in my opinion that’s no excuse to at least have a few ideas in your back pocket for that stretch of two-and-a-half months once school gets out. Yes, it is June and there […]
The signs are everywhere at this time of year in the Pacific Northwest. The weather grows a little milder, the days’ lengthening is gradual but reliable, hardware stores and plant nurseries roll out their carts full of vegetable and flower starts, and buds and leaves emerge on winter–worn bare branches. It is spring and we […]
Have any of you thought that “Take Your Child to Work Day” ought to be “Take Your Child to Work for a Few Hours Day” instead? Especially for the younger ones? More than a few hours and the kid appears to be a bit bored and the parent feels distracted. But what you both get […]
It’s March and the 17th will be Saint Patrick’s Day. This is a day most kids associate with wearing green, so that they do not get pinched by relentless siblings or scheming peers, cutting out shamrocks and four-leaf clovers, and drawing leprechauns with rainbows and pots of gold. Like many once-religious holidays, it is often […]
As parents, and specifically as moms, our relationships change when children become a permanent part of our lives. Some things suddenly do not seem nearly as important as they used to be and others seem critical to the development of our children and our lives as growing families. We may find ourselves disconnected from friends […]
Ah, splurge. The word itself is an indulgence to the tongue. Say it with gusto. But this is your conscience speaking: I am here to tell you to strive not to acquire more junk and in the process not spend beyond your means this holiday season. As parents we have an urge to give our […]
When I was a little girl, I often wondered why days were set aside for mothers and fathers as special days. “Why isn’t there a children’s day?” I would ask my parents. My mother would respond with something her mother used to tell her: “Every day is children’s day.” (Puh-lease, I’d be thinking…) But if […]
March gave us a glimpse of spring and during those few days when the sun shone and the blustery winds subsided. I happily peered out the kitchen window trying to identify what species of sparrow was flitting among the greenery. There were so many spots on the window, though, I had to temporarily quash the […]
In a fall issue of MomSense magazine there was a great idea of a craft to do inside with kids of any age during nasty weather outside. The short written piece described a “Blessings Tree.” It suggests picking up a dead tree branch from the yard and placing it securely in a pot. You could […]