All parents of preschoolers want their kids to have a good day at school. Every day we worry a little (or a lot) about how our child's day is going. Is she playing? Is he happy? Does he miss me? Is she following the rules? As parents, we hope for the best and would do just about anything to help our little ones have fun, learn, and feel self-assured. With so much of … [Read more...]
Hygge with Kids: Our First Attempt
So Friday arrived, and it was time for my family's Hygge Day experiment. (See Looplilly's earlier post for more about the concept of hygge.) We'd been planning to try hygge for the first time (in a formal sense, at least) for a week or so, and my five-year-old had been surprisingly excited about it since I'd first mentioned it. I think it was the bacon and cake that sold … [Read more...]
White Carpet
"All of us have moments in our lives that test our courage. Taking children into a house with a white carpet is one of them." - Erma Bombeck … [Read more...]
Love It or Hate It? Girls Rule / Boys Rule
There's another trend in children's room décor (and clothing) that I find irritating: language and artwork that pits the genders against each other or assumes one is superior. You know the phrases because you've probably heard them your whole life: Girls Not Allowed! Boys Will Be Boys! Girls Rule! Somehow I thought this kind of talk would have been in decline by … [Read more...]
Reading and Writing with a Reluctant Kindergartener
My kindergartener can't read, and he's not very interested in learning how. He'd rather be climbing trees, riding his bike, or taping together random items from the recycling bin. (Yes, that's a thing.) I don't want to force my kindergartener to read before he's ready. I know research shows that doing so can cause problems (anxiety, stress, negative associations … [Read more...]