My picky eaters are in love with GREEN FOOD: here’s how I did it
I’ve blogged before about how my kids are the pickiest eaters on the planet. I’ve tried sticker charts, bribes, threats, beatings (just kidding!), but so far the best tactic has been giving my kids the job of the “Taste Tester.” Initially I was skeptical my kids would participate, but they totally LOVED it.
Jackson’s mustache-themed cookies and milk third birthday party
Just when you think you’ve seen all of the cute things people can do with mustaches, something like this birthday party comes along and BOOM! You’re right back in it, in love with mustaches all over again.
Odd parent out: how it feels when your kid isn’t anything like you at all
Isn’t it interesting how we struggle with our own identities through our children? We want them to be like us. By that, I mean, our vision of who we are — you know, all the good stuff. I know that as my own daughter has grown and developed her unique sense of self, her individuality, her very strong-willed personality, I have always looked for those moments of me in her.
The Arizona book ban matters: to my kids, your kids, and kids all over the world
The ban on ethnic studies and ethnic literature in Tuscon, Arizona matters to your children. It matters even if they are not growing up in the Southwest, like my children, with names like Joaquin, Rodrigues, Donaciano, and Aragon. It matters even if they aren’t in the spectrum of browns redacted from history books. It matters even if they would never have read the authors and titles spirited off library shelves in Tucson.
How did you find a baby-sitter you can trust?
I have been working more lately and as a result we have had to call on friends and family to help with the kids. Luckily we have a very tight support group around us and usually getting help isn’t too hard. It’s usually more reasonable to send the children to their grandparents’ and let them pass the kids between the two houses.
It’s Pi Day! Let’s talk about how awesome math is for your kids
Growing up I was totally one of those kids that read early, talked early, all that jazz — but hated math. I can’t even pretend that I just strongly disliked it, as my feelings were those of straight-up loathing. If I have to place the beginning of this hate-hate relationship, I can safely say it started when I got my first B in sixth grade in algebra.
What I’ve learned in two years of bicycling with my child + front-mounted kid seats we love
Back in 2010 I wrote about picking a bicycle seat for our then-one-and-a-half-year-old. That toddler has now grown into a full-fledged kid (he’ll be three soon! You guys!), and also recently graduated from his bicycle seat (we’ve been using the Bobike Mini Seat). We’ve spent the last few weeks looking for something new, and here are my favorites of the options we saw and a few things I’ve learned about bicycling with our child on-board.
Parenting without gender expectations means accepting all outcomes
Recently, I took my two-and-a-half-year-old, Avie, to a Toddler Music and Movement class that, thanks to him, devolved into something more like Toddler Music and Mosh Pit. Most of the other kids were girls who twirled or held hands in groups of three or four and happily, almost dreamily, skipped around in circles while music played. Avie stomped, put his hands on the floor and kicked one foot up in his classic “trick” pose, ran around in his own circles wind-milling his arms, and finally, purposefully, crashed into one of the girl groups and knocked them down.