Big Kid
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Teaching older kids about the ins and outs of respect has to be about reminding them that they control themselves and no one else, but it’s tricky territory.
Big Kid
Friendship Rules for the Big Kids
Much as all the Commandments follow from the first one, I feel like all friendship rules flow from “be nice,” but it gets more complicated as the kids grow up.
Big Kid
Simplifying Laundry for our Busy Family
I’m raising responsible household managers who will stand on their own two feet one day; fully capable of the daily skills. independent adults need to know.
Big Kid
Should I Become a Tiger Mom?
If Tiger Moms are known for their overparenting, then I am an underparenter. Am I doing it wrong?
Parenting
It Takes A Village (And Some Cheesecake)
Parenting, much like clutter, will suck up all of the available space in your life if you let it. Don’t just find your Village, participate in it (without the kids).
Holidays
My Kind Of New Year Celebration
How to embrace a new year when you’re not a resolution-making type? Maybe with some scissors and glue. Seriously!
Big Kid
Please Get Off My Back! (The Perils of Overprotective Parenting)
I vowed never to become an overprotective parent like my mother. Then I had a child.
Big Kid
A Handy Fundraising FAQ, From A Band Parent
You may dread the appearance of a kid with a glossy brochure of wares on your doorstep, but school/activity fundraising is here to stay. Here’s why it matters.
Young Child
How to Raise a Spoiled Brat to Adulthood in 18 Easy Steps
I have done some of these things. Some I have done more often than others. Haven’t we all? Because we are human and flawed and sometimes want to take the easy way out of a situation. Or because we really don’t want to make our children upset. Or because we are just weary.
Baby
Is It Really Different When It’s Your Own Child?
After spending time with my friends’ needy, clingy children, I am having second thoughts about parenthood. Will I really feel that differently about my own baby?
Young Child
Be The Helpers
I believe that most of our children’s character is not something that is taught but that they learn how to react and interact in the world by watching us.
Big Kid
On The Eve of My Oldest Son Turning 18
The years will fly by. I know right now you can’t believe that. But I am telling you as I sit on the other side of parenting, eighteen years in, they will.
Toddler
23 Exceedingly Helpful Tips For Maintaining Your Sanity While Living With Children
“Do not paint any walls in your house with flat paint” is just one of our many helpful tips for staying sane while raising children.
Parenting
Ain’t No Cure for the Start of School Blues
When back-to-school feels bittersweet. Time goes so quickly and this mom isn’t sure she’s ready for the kids to be gone from home all day just yet.
Young Child
The Last Time
The lasts are hard for me to deal with because when they are happening we don’t know that they are the last. It’s in looking back the event has any importance.
Young Child
Redshirting, from the Other Side
What about redshirting from the other side of the equation, when these boys are getting ready to graduate and move on to college. Six, eight, ten years later are the parents still happy with their decision?
Big Kid
Teenagers Make You Crazy
The reason some parents laughed about the dad who shot his daughter’s laptop is because we all know that parenting teens makes the most sane of us act nuts.
Food & Home
Why Your Kids Should Help Prepare Meals
Kids like to feel involved and important. I love the conversations that we have in the kitchen while we cook. The kitchen really is the heart of the home.
Toddler
Toddlers and Teens, More Alike Than Different
Turns out parenting teens is a lot like parenting toddlers, and you’ve already done that. Let us show you the similarities.
Parenting
Ten (+ one) Commandments of Motherhood
We all struggle with different areas of motherhood. There is no such thing as a perfect mother. We all have different strengths. We all have our weaknesses.