A peek into the life of Jude and his two moms
If the last few family portrait session posts are any indication, I’m on a bit of a sunshine kick — and these photos of the adorably-named Jude and his two moms definitely fit the bill! Jude’s moms are getting ready to try to conceive baby number two, so they thought this was the perfect time to capture their lives while they’re still a family of three.
On red hair, elderly neighbors, and how kids are kind of the Fountain of Youth
When I was a kid, growing up with bright red hair wasn’t easy. It’s tough to remember just how red it was as it fades with age. I mean, it was a really deep dark oxidation red. A burnt umber that would have made Bob Ross sigh in delight and approval. Besides the typical teasing of being the odd looking kid in the neighborhood, there was an inordinate amount of hair touching that occurred back then too.
Mini day-tripping with my little dude: I let my kid skip school and we went to the art museum
While my (almost four-year-old) son was bustling around deciding what toy he wanted to bring to school with him and I was mid-bagel, I asked if he wanted to go skip school and go to the art museum. He was somewhat incredulous at first (we haven’t visited this museum yet) and I was somewhat unsure of how he’d be once we got there (he’s generally well-behaved, but a huge building filled with things to knock over/touch? HARD.), but we decided yes: we were going to do it.
Bath time + Valentine’s Day = an awesome mess-free, water-friendly craft
I set up the fun bath for my two preschool-aged children by tracing foam hearts on the walls around the tub using bath crayons. Inside the hearts, I wrote short words and phrases, very similar to the candy hearts you can buy around Valentine’s Day.
How my three-year-old niece and I bonded over Medusa
The first time Maggie saw it when she was around two and a half, she asked me, “who’s that?” “That’s Medusa, Maggie. She has snakes for hair,” I explained. She laughed, thinking it was hilarious. This became a constant back and forth nearly every time she saw me — asking about Medusa, laughing at the snake-hair. I quipped one day that it must be really hard for her to brush her hair. Maggie also thought this was hilarious and incorporated it into the routine — “So funny!” she’d say, hands over her mouth as she giggled.
I became a parent by straightening a bathroom towel
Does my stepdaughter ever even notice that the towel gets magically straightened? I have no idea, but the chances of her thanking me for it are slim, and my mother was right. It’s not the point. Is it important that the towel be straightened? Well, it certainly increases the chances that she actually gets a dry towel next time, but who knows if she even notices whether or not her towel is dry? It makes me feel better about the state of the bathroom and in the grand scheme of parenting, that is not something to be taken lightly.
2 ways your kids can use a plastic bag to fingerpaint without the mess
A lot of kids loooove fingerpainting, which I think makes sense — it is a fun sensory experience. Most kids enjoy squishing paint through their fingers and getting messy. Although I have to confess, I’m not always up for the mess fingerpainting creates. Mess-free fingerpainting is perfect for those days when you don’t have time to clean up messy kiddos!
Does anyone write kid’s books about family friends being pregnant?
All the children’s books about pregnancy I’ve seen are “Mommy’s having a baby” or “I’m going to be a big sister.”