This post comes from my long-time dear friend, Lainie. Her ideas about practical ways to help a household run smoothly even with small children underfoot (as well as so many other things) have encouraged me over the years. I hope you find the idea she writes about here helpful as well. I certainly plan to give Lines a try with my boys.… Continue reading
Most diaper rash creams contain a variety of chemicals that you probably don’t want to put on your baby’s delicate skin. Whether you’re looking to rid your home of toxic chemicals as a whole or are simply concerned about what you are putting on your baby’s bum, this simple recipe is the one for you.
This recipe uses shea butter, coconut oil, beeswax, and essential oils to make a cream that is soothing and healing for baby’s delicate skin.… Continue reading
It’s no secret that I’ve been slowly working to simplify my life. Whether it’s decluttering my home, my schedule, or my mind, I’ve been seeking out ways to get rid of the superfluous so that I can focus on what’s truly meaningful and important to me.
While I’ve had a lot of discussions with my 6-year-old about our simplification efforts, and included him in a lot of our decluttering – especially when his possessions (see HERE), art (see HERE), or other items he’s concerned about are involved, I haven’t overtly directly discussed most of this with my 2-year-old.… Continue reading
Celebrating holidays from around the world is a fun and exciting way to learn about the various cultures, traditions, and special foods of the wide array people with whom we share our earth. It’s a painless way to introduce geography, and it makes multiculturalism pleasurable. Who doesn’t enjoy having another reason to celebrate? And if it involves delicious foods – and most celebrations do – that makes it even better.… Continue reading
Last year I wrote a post about the things a child can learn by building a gingerbread house (see HERE). This year, I’m writing a post about the practical things I’ve learned along the way as the parent supporting the project.
First, if your kids have a ton of food allergies, it’s best to treat the gingerbread house as an art project.… Continue reading
About two weeks ago my 6-year-old asked if we could bring in our holiday lights from the garage and hang them up around the house.
I responded, “Sweetie, Christmas isn’t for a long time yet. Why don’t we wait until the day after Thanksgiving to put them up. Let’s enjoy one holiday at a time.”
He quickly turned to me with astonishment flashing in his eyes and answered, “Mama, I don’t want to put lights up for Christmas right now.… Continue reading
I know that tree climbing can be a controversial practice. I know this mostly because of the dirty looks I receive when I’m sitting at the park and I allow my boys to climb the trees (well, my 6-year-old actually climbs high into trees; the 2-year-old generally hugs the trunk from the ground and yells, “Climb tree! Climb tree!”).
When I receive these looks, sometimes I smile and wave – pretending the other mothers are not giving me the evil eye, most of the time I ignore them, and every once in a rare while, I rehearse what I might say if they asked me about why I let my boys climb trees.… Continue reading
We’ve known that the first snowfall of the season could hit at any time for a while now. We’ve had it snow as early as September here at our Rocky Mountain home, so making it until early November without snow actually feels a bit luxurious.
Last month my 6-year-old excitedly asked if we could celebrate the first snowfall with sledding and making maple candy (recipe HERE).… Continue reading
On Halloween we joined some dear family friends and went trick or treating. We first headed downtown to the Munchkin Masquerade and then walked around a block of houses in their neighborhood. At the end of the evening, after lots of fun and laughs, my boys each brought home a pumpkin pail filled with candy.
By the time we returned for our costume-decked adventures, it was late and time to get ready for bed.… Continue reading
NOTE: I wrote this piece almost a year ago, but haven’t yet shared it (in part because I didn’t have a suitable picture — is that silly? I finally decided to use a photo taken by someone else). The other day as we were walking through this same market, and another person’s child was crying and crying. My heart went out to the mother and the little girl, and as we walked by I quietly said, “I’ve been in your shoes, in this very market. … Continue reading