I’ll be honest – I know that part of my parenting duty is to teach my children how to do the housework required to not live in filth. And, I admit, that having help around the house makes my life a lot easier. But my problem is the process of moving from no help toward … [Read more…]
It’s a snow day. My house is unusally tidy. Everyone is fed, clean, and busy. So I opened up WordPress and took a look at what drafts I have in the pipeline. And I couldn’t believe what I saw. I didn’t post once in 2018. Not one single time. Man, time just slips by sometimes. … [Read more…]
When I left my full-time teaching job to be a full-time at home mom, I did my research. I started on mommy message boards, which added very little to my life beyond paranoia, feelings of inadequacy, and PTSD-style flashbacks to high school mean girls. Then I discovered mommy blogs, which made my head spin with … [Read more…]
(This post was originally written in July 2017. We still don’t have curtains so it’s still relevant.) Tomorrow afternoon our old home – the one where we started our marriage and brought three babies home from the hospital and stayed up all night with them and rocked them and fed them and watched them roll … [Read more…]
I like pumpkin lattes but I am not ready for them in August. And obviously this makes total logical sense to everyone and no further explanation is necessary. Here are other things that are not happening this August that seem less acceptable: Vacuuming Cooking well-balanced dinners Working on this blog Running All good things. Things … [Read more…]
This last week before school starts has been a bit of a wash out. And I had such big plans! We were going to swim every day, and go to the local amusement park, ride bikes with friends, wait for the ice cream truck. Well, the ice cream truck didn’t come because it’s cold and … [Read more…]
Doing the dishes. You are playing in a tub of soapy water. ‘Nuff said. If you lower your standards enough, this is a great area where kids will happily help out. Bonus: Water splashed out of the sink helps give the floor a slapdash mopping! Folding laundry. Another great area where kids can help out. … [Read more…]
Once upon a time, I was a slob. It’s true, being neat is not my strong suit, but I comfort myself by knowing that I am creative, and loving, and fun. Except then after a while I wasn’t fun, and I wasn’t all that neat either. I was just going through the motions of being … [Read more…]
Hi. My name is Nicole and I forgot how to play. I’d suspected as much for a few years, but the case was decided and closed last spring on two separate interactions with my daughters. On a Thursday afternoon, instead of heading inside to do homework after school, I told the kids to jump out of the car … [Read more…]