A boatload of disappointments, vexations, and inconveniences has landed on adults and children alike over the past weeks. Really bitter pills have had to be swallowed, stressors have mounted, and ironically in a world of social distancing, a squish of …
Tag: parenting
five lovely things…april 5
Hello once again, dear friends. I wonder what this week has brought you, and hope it was monotony at worst, and preferably some simple pleasures and glimpses of beauty. Here are my five lovely things for this week: 1. Humor. …
reading while the libraries are closed…ideas and resources
A warm April hello to all my fellow readers out there from Minneapolis, where our libraries have been closed for a couple of weeks. Woe and alas! I’m guessing that many of you, likewise, are operating without access to a …
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peel yourself off the ceiling…encouragement after that first week of school-at-home
Hello again, all of you who have been a-sailing on the choppy seas of social isolation and school-at-home! I’m imagining a variety of responses to the first week of homeschooling for many of you, from, “that actually went way better …
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the kids will be fine…encouragement for parents with kids home from school
A calming hello to all of you, especially those with children schooling at home for the first time. I hope this finds your households well and at least moderately sane! Today I want to offer some words of encouragement as …
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encouragement for a new day and a new way
A warm hello to all of you around the world, figuring out how to make life work for you and the little ones in your sphere in this rapidly-changing landscape. Are you feeling a bit like you got caught in …
the elixir of outdoor play
My childhood was spent in a small town in northern Minnesota where our non-school hours were largely spent playing out of doors. My bare feet were gravel-road-tough in summer; my nose was twenty-below-tough in winter. Just across the road, the grassy …
batches of board books
Anyone else overwhelmed by the sheer number of board books that have sprouted up in the past ten years or so? They’re a happy lot, but such an enormous one! Board books, for me, fit the bill for a fairly …
super sisters and brilliant brothers
I know, I know. Sibling rivalry is a thing. Adjusting to a new sibling has its crying, reverting, meltdown moments. My experience though, as a mom of four, close-in-age, children is that the much-prevailing sentiment is one of acceptance, loving …
a 9-month guide for expectant siblings
9 months, written by Courtney Adamo and Esther van de Paal, illustrated by Lizzy Stewart published in 2017 by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books If you’re looking for a charming, lovely, helpful way to help young children understand just what it …
orange marmalade 