Because natural isn't always possible — or easy.
Posted in Education, School and education on Sep 8th, 2010
Because of my mini nervous breakdown this week (please, please people who don’t know me very well — understand that I am not usually this nuts!), I have been thinking about everything and decided to focus on the good. There are plenty of good things that came out of Big Girl’s first week of school. [...]
Posted in parenting, School and education on Sep 7th, 2010
My husband, who read my last blog post, asked me to take it down. His words: “She hasn’t been in school a day and you have passed judgment on it, her classmates, and the families and values of every person who sends their children to public school. The only person who sounds like a stuck [...]
Posted in Education, Emotional development, parenting, School and education on Sep 7th, 2010
Today at 9:18 a.m. I got into my car and cried. I had just dropped Big Girl off at the big, scary public school. Today I picked her up at 3:15. I want to cry again. Our conversation: Me: How was school? Big Girl (BG): It was good. Some things were the same, some were [...]
Posted in Consumer Packaged Goods, Favorite Things Friday, Food, Health on Jul 30th, 2010
I’ve been complaining about the quality of kids’ snacks for a while now. Many traditional manufacturers seem to put little if any thought into the ingredients. High fructose corn syrup. Preservatives. Artificial colors. Artificial flavors. Hydrogenated oils. The more unpronounceable the ingredient, the better. Case in point: traditional General Mills Fruit Roll-Ups. Check out the [...]
Posted in Eating Healthy, Food, Health on Jul 28th, 2010
Dear Self, Hey, I know you work at night. Working full-time at home WITH kids means you have to do a little creative scheduling. However, your lack of planning shouldn’t mean your kids suffer. For example, when you don’t get out of bed until 8:30 and you’ve got to get Big Girl to camp by [...]
I am a freelancer but I have several regular clients — companies I work for on an ongoing basis. One of those clients scheduled an important meeting for today. Usually, this wouldn’t be a big deal except today it was — a big deal, that is. Today’s meeting overlapped with my big girl’s spelling bee. [...]
Posted in Education, Emotional development, School and education on May 18th, 2010
This morning I came across two new studies that should matter to every parent. The first, out of the Society for Research in Child Development, looks at how early childcare affects someone as a teen, linking childcare settings with academic achievement and behavioral issues. The second — out of the National Institute of Mental Health [...]
Posted in Consumer Packaged Goods, Eating Healthy, Food, Friendship, parenting, School and education on Apr 27th, 2010
Last Wednesday night my daughter’s school held a gala. I bid for and won several gift certificates in the silent auction. I went to the school yesterday to settle up and bring home my gifts. (Free pizzas, a baby class certificate, a free adult dance class.) I got there during lunch, so the woman who [...]
Posted in Emotional development, parenting, School and education on Apr 15th, 2010
Which Breakfast Club character were you in high school? (Yes, I know I am borrowing from a Facebook application.) I was Allison. The loner. The weirdo. The quiet, scared one. Now I’m more of an Andrew — love my Spin classes — but back then, yes, I was an Allison. I got treated like one, [...]
Posted in Emotional development, parenting on Apr 6th, 2010
Yesterday my friend Jen Singer (who, despite the fact that I didn’t know her all that well at the time, was the first person other than my husband who knew I was pregnant) posted a great blog about working from home with kids. I read it and couldn’t stop myself from talking out loud. Darn [...]