Healthy homemade nut-free lunch options for school-age kids
I have a new “back to basics” attitude when it comes to my son’s school lunches this year. I’m limiting as much prepackaged items as possible and increasing my own homemade items — with spectacular results.
Safety concerns on playground apparatus
Children have broken bones and injured themselves since time began. It used to be a sort of rite of passage for children. But, as playground equipment has become more sanitized because of so-called safety (read: liability) issues, I hear about injuries less and less. On the face of it, less injury sounds like a good thing, right? But less injury actually might mean less meaningful play and comprehensive exercise.
“Which restroom should I use?” Challenges facing transgender children in public schools
The absurdity of it never fails to strike me — my child can’t attend public school because he has no place to pee? The intent behind forcing a seven-year-old boy into the girl’s restroom can only be to shame, and this shaming carries with it a violent hatred that has broken bones, taken lives.
Create your own indoor camping snooze haven for your kidlets
In our neck of the woods, it has been hot outdoors — which means lots of swimming and sweating and indoor projects. We have been tackling our boys’ rooms this past week, moving the two big boys together in their “camping” room and the baby to his own nursery. Our boys are constantly making tents and forts and since my husband Alex built a fort for the boys, it was my turn to make the tents.
Books explaining tattoos, piercings, and other body modification
My husband and I both have tattoos, and our son is just used to them. He likes fake tattoos (he gives them to himself and us with markers, and he also likes the rub-on kind), and is amused by our body decoration, but doesn’t really seem to care either way. I’m sure at some point he’ll ask why some people have tattoos, piercings, and so on and others don’t, so it’s cool to know these books exist.
Create a stamp from your kid’s art
My sweetheart’s goddaughter Avery turned four this weekend and we were lucky enough to score an invite to her birthday party at the zoo. I’ve been trying to include some small homemade element in gifts I give to make them more personal, but I wasn’t sure what to make for Avery… then I had an idea. Stamps! Kids love stamps, I love stamps — it was perfect.
DIY your own foam battle gear for your little ninja
I have discovered that foam is an awesome replacement for what could potentially be a dangerous object. It’s malleable, flexible, strong, lightweight, and unless you take it directly to the eye (which could happen with any toy), it’s pretty darn safe. I like to use either thin pool noodles, which are readily available at most discount chains during the late spring and summer, or pipe insulation foam, which is found year round at the hardware store; it comes in a variety of thicknesses so you can choose the one that suits you best.
A Sweeney Todd photo shoot — starring kids
I’ve always wanted to do a Sweeney Todd photo shoot, but starring myself — it’s never occurred to me that KIDS would be even more awesome! Check out these photos…