The other night I was scrubbing the house. Random stuff. Cleaning the appliances. Wiping doors and molding. Scrubbing kitchen drawers. And I overheard one of my daughters wonder out loud, “What is mom doing?” My other daughter replied, “Oh she is stressed. Just leave her alone.” I wanted to laugh and I wanted to cry….
It happened for each of my homeschooled girls around the age of 12. Boredom. They began to lose interest in the activities that made their childhood full of wonder and delight. Playing at the playground. Making crafts. Hanging out with siblings. Playing pretend. Exploring science museums. At the same time, they weren’t sure what to…
A huge shift has taken place in our household over the last two years and every now and then it hits me like a ton of bricks. One of those hits occurred last summer when I bought an annual pass to our local science center. My kids have always loved it there but we hadn’t…
It’s already four o’clock and I haven’t eaten lunch. This isn’t normal for me. I pause and think about it and realize that my stomach is in knots. No wonder I haven’t eaten. There is an ache in my stomach making me feel ill, but I am fairly certain that I am not sick. It’s…
We love to play with language in our house. Words. Idioms. Jokes. Figurative language. It’s all part of the atmosphere of learning that we have created in this house and it is easier to create that you might realize. We repeat our favorite lines from movies and TV shows, share silly puns, attempt to solve riddles,…
Our family began a simple tradition many years ago with two simple family conversation starters that had an incredibly positive impact on our dinner conversation. We stopped asking our kids how their day was and began asking two simple questions: What was the highlight of your day? (or what was your favorite part of the…
{This post was originally published in May 2014 on my former blog.} Dear Children, Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. It is a designated day for you to thank me. And you will. Your eager hearts will write notes and thank-you’s while pampering me throughout the day. I will enjoy every minute of your outpouring of love….
