For the better part of 20 years, I have been working with kids and therefore been working with parents. From camps to classrooms all over the map, I’ve had the opportunity to interact with all sorts of parents. I would never say that I’ve seen it all, but I have seen a lot. From the extraordinarily high maintenance to the extremely low maintenance and many, many shades in between, working with parents has taught me a lot about the kind of parent I want to be – especially when it comes to advocating for my child. Continue reading
Tag Archives: children
My five-year old was recently invited to her first girls only birthday party. It was a fairy themed party on a beautiful, warm Sunday, and everyone had a really nice time. The kids all got wings when they arrived and ran around outside in-between cake and craft projects. It was a sweet and wholesome party - but, half the class was excluded.
He’s not my boyfriend, he’s my buddy.
12 JunThere was a struggle at bedtime at my house the other night, but it didn’t involve the usual “one more story,” stalling or “can I have a glass of water?” Nope. The struggle went a little like this:
“Mommy, Lucy’s boyfriend Noah is going to Kindergarten with me. He doesn’t even know me, but I know who he is because she showed me a picture of him.”
“You know, there are no boyfriends in Kindergarten, right? Everyone gets to be buddies.” Continue reading
WHAT did you say???!!!
22 May
“Smile!”
At the ENT – and in an especially photogenic mood – my kids kept asking me to take their pictures. Happy to oblige, I snapped away on my phone as we waited for our turn.
“Smile!” instructed my 5 year-old. “Now make a sassy face.”
“What did you say?!” Continue reading
It’Sugar
8 May
As I gear up for my 8th summer here in Phoenix, I’m reminded of a couple of lessons I’ve learned over the years that have helped me cope with the heat: 1) a shady parking spot is worth the extra walking and 2) you can enjoy the outdoors as long as there’s water. With the latter lesson in mind, I recently took my kids to play in the splash pad at a nearby outdoor mall. If you are unfamiliar with “splash pads,” they’re basically play areas where kids can run through water fountains without feeling embarrassed that your kids are running through a water fountain. They’re designed for kids, and in Arizona, one would think that having a business located right in front of a splash pad would be prime real estate. Especially if your target market includes kids, like for instance if you’re selling candy….
Daddy-Daughters Weekend
21 FebThis past weekend I went on my first solo trip to Chicago since having kids. Traveling alone for the first time in six years made coach feel like First Class! A little People magazine, a good book, a nap…It was glorious! And as it turns out, Dad and the daughters had a pretty glorious weekend too! Continue reading
The Birthday Dilemma
2 FebMy five-year old was recently invited to her first girls only birthday party. It was a fairy themed party on a beautiful, warm Sunday, and everyone had a really nice time. The kids all got wings when they arrived and ran around outside in-between cake and craft projects. It was a sweet and wholesome party - but, half the class was excluded.
“Be Impeccable With Your Words”
26 JanNo Name-Calling Week: January 23-27, 2012
It’s No Name-Calling Week, a week dedicated to bringing national attention to the problem of name-calling in our schools. Inspired by James Howe’s young adult novel, The Misfits, GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) and Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing created the No Name-Calling Week Coalition in hopes of starting an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate bullying.
Since hearing about this initiative at the beginning of the month, name-calling has been on my mind. That was just code for; No Name-Calling Week has triggered my obsessive thoughts. Continue reading
10 Reasons Girls & Boys Should Play Together
18 JanThe following statement is neither profound nor surprising, but here it is anyway: Boys and girls don’t spend a whole lot of time with each other.
There’s no doubt that same-gender peer groups are great, but here are ten reasons why boys and girls would also benefit from playing TOGETHER. Continue reading
Thanksgiving
22 NovThanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love the fall weather, I love the food, I love the non-denominational aspect of the holiday, and I love the classroom writing assignments on gratitude that it elicits. The following is from my daughter’s Pre-K classroom:
And That’s What It’s All About
17 NovHuge THANK YOU to Ashley Bustamante for contributing the following (fabulous) guest post! Ashley is a Program Coordinator on the Sanford Harmony Program, co-author of the Z-Book Series for the SHP preschool curriculum as well as a soon-to-be published Children’s Author. Her book, A Lamb and A Llama is available for pre-orders on the publisher’s website – Mapletree Publishing. Continue reading
Super Sites
Incredible Reads
Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture
by Peggy Orenstein
Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow into Troublesome Gaps
by Lise Eliot, Ph.D.
