SLIME! If you’re a parent, you’re probably cringing at this craze that has lasted over a year now. Making slime, playing with slime, experimenting with new slime recipes, watching videos about slime, teaching others to make slime, putting new things in slime, figuring out where slime sticks and where it doesn’t. We are undoubtedly in THE SLIME ERA. I know lots of parents who hate all things slime — it’s messy, it’s sticky, it’s constant, it’s annoying. But I’ve looked…
Summer break! It’s time when kids everywhere enjoy vacation homes, family time, lazy days of sleeping late, breakfast on the back patio, and then splashing in sprinklers all day. Or, in the case of many working moms like me . . . kids are at summer camp. Don’t get me wrong – my boys love the day camp they go to, and I know they’d be bored out of their minds at home all day . . . I just…
It’s officially summer, when my kids seem to excel at the game “How many water bottles and pair of goggles can you lose?” and “Where did that tube of sunscreen go?” I’m a working mom who works through the summer, which means fun summer camps (with a hefty side of working mom guilt) for my family. This past school year, I got quite used to the big boys buying hot lunch every day at school. But now that summer…
“We seasoned our dinner with herbs from our garden, and topped off our salad with our homegrown tomatoes,” the neighbors said. Not us! Steak on the grill and frozen french fries over here! I tend to think I don’t have the skill — or the time — for a fancy, productive garden, though I do think gardening with kids is a great experience, and one I try every year. I used to think about it a lot, envisioning us creating…
You know when you buy Dad a tie as a Father’s Day gift, but he rarely dresses up? Or you get your husband a coupon book for various golf courses, and he never uses it because it turns out there are limitations on days and times, and none are convenient? Yeah, let’s avoid that, right? It was a thoughtful gift, targeting one of his interests, and reasonably priced . . . but in the end, not really practical. Time to…
Memorial Day: Aside from the ever-important honoring those who have given their lives for our country, it typically also marks the unofficial start to summertime . . . nearing the end of the school year . . . and the approximate time when the kids — after just hours out of school — start to say, “I’M BORED.” Don’t lose your temper! Don’t lose your sanity! Just ward off the boredom with this helpful list of my top summer BOREDOM BUSTERS…
My key for parenting in a scary world: Open the door. Say “I love you.” Go. It was one of those weeks that make me realize what supermen and superwomen we truly are parenting in the scary world we live in today, and it inspired me to update this post from 2016 in hopes that it can be a good reminder for you — and me, too. How are you getting by parenting in a scary world these days? My…
Sometimes you just need the comfort of hearing some tips for moms from moms who have been through all this before, because, as they say, “Mother knows best.” Right? It was one of those days. One of those weeks, really. The kind where everything is crazy at work, and at home, there are dirty socks on the kitchen floor, pee splatters on the toilet seat and wall, smelly feet on the couch, and lack of patience as my three sons…
IMAGINE if I had never started this blog. Would it have mattered? I suppose not, in the grand scheme of things. Did the world really need another mommy blog? In the little part of the universe where I wanted a creative outlet, wanted to connect with other moms, other M.O.B.s, other bloggers, and wanted to learn some new skills, YES, it would have mattered. I haven’t made it big as a mommy blogger in these past two years (though that…
Mother’s Day is fast-approaching. I wonder if my silly boys will make me breakfast in bed like they often do, only to eat it before I even get a bite! We hear so much about how boys are all snakes and snails and puppy-dog tails, but they really do have a sweet side, too. I also often hear that “boys love their mamas,” and of course it’s true, right? I surveyed boys, guys, men of various ages with one simple…