We live on a quiet street, but just around the block is the main street of our neighborhood, which has lots of traffic, parallel parking along both sides, and lots of intersections where right turns on red are allowed. Only some of the intersections have traffic lights and walk signals. There are lots of useful … Continue reading Traffic Safety for Little Kids
city life
Walking to School
Happy Walk to School Day! My son and I walked to his school this morning, and his father will walk him home this afternoon. He's in first grade. Sometime during his years at this K-8 school, he'll begin walking by himself, but for now I am enjoying the walk and the time with him. We … Continue reading Walking to School
All-Ages Game Night: A great community event!
I ran an All-Ages Game Night at my church last month as both a social event for our members and a way to connect with our community (and maybe attract some new members). It was easy to do, extremely inexpensive, and lots of fun! My family loves games and owns enough to fill a large … Continue reading All-Ages Game Night: A great community event!
A Family Vacation by Public Transit
We took our six-year-old son to visit New York City; Montclair, New Jersey; and Philadelphia, leaving our car at home in Pittsburgh and traveling by train or bus the whole way. It was great! We felt it was more relaxing than driving, more pleasant than going by airplane, and generally pretty easy to do. I'm … Continue reading A Family Vacation by Public Transit
7 Quick Takes on visiting New York City again after 21 years
I grew up in Oklahoma, visiting my grandparents in New York City every summer from age 6 to 14. Then my grandma died, and my grandpa began spending most of his time in Arizona. I had two more brief visits in New York before he sold the house when I was 17. I had thought … Continue reading 7 Quick Takes on visiting New York City again after 21 years
Our Neighborhood Public School Works for Us!
Today is my son's last day of kindergarten! This has been his first year in public school, and we are very pleased with our neighborhood public school, Pittsburgh Colfax. It's a great example of how an urban school can thrive when faculty encourage parent involvement. On "Take Your Special Person to School Day" last month, … Continue reading Our Neighborhood Public School Works for Us!
The Power of Moose
This is a strategy for crossing the street safely in situations where vehicular traffic is reluctant to yield to pedestrians. A friend of my brother's explained it to me years ago. It is based on a simple principle: Nobody will risk crashing a car into a moose. Hitting a moose obviously would damage the car … Continue reading The Power of Moose
Tips for a Tiny Kitchen
I saw this article on how to make the most of a small kitchen--with over 200 helpful comments!--and realized I have learned some things about this in my years of making do with smallish kitchens. The 3 places we've lived in the past 15 years all had kitchens under 100 square feet, but we were … Continue reading Tips for a Tiny Kitchen
A family trip to Wheeling, West Virginia
Today is the backwards edition of Works-for-Me Wednesday, when writers get to ask for help, so I'll start with a question: We are planning to visit New York City this summer. Our son is six years old. What are some things we should be sure to see, do, eat, etc.? I visited my grandparents in … Continue reading A family trip to Wheeling, West Virginia
7 Continuum Concept Experiences
For years now, I've been meaning to write something about how The Continuum Concept by Jean Liedloff relates to our parenting style and a lot of my life experiences. It's a big idea, and I have a lot of scattered notes stashed in a draft post, but so far I haven't even gotten around to … Continue reading 7 Continuum Concept Experiences
This Crowded World
Today is the entertaining tips edition of Works-for-Me Wednesday, but I don't feel very well equipped to give advice on entertaining since we don't have guests nearly as often as I'd like; I'm one of the people who needs to read the host's article "Entertaining Even When You're Reluctant" and possibly the book she mentioned, … Continue reading This Crowded World
Reflections on a Bathroom Renovation
(I really, really want to say "Restroom Renovation" just for the alliteration, but I know this article will be more relevant to people searching for "bathroom renovation," so I'm stuck with this title!) We had our house's main bathroom completely renovated last month. We are thrilled with it and learned some things in the process … Continue reading Reflections on a Bathroom Renovation
7 Quick Takes on 1 Dream
1. Pittsburgh has the topography of my dreams. By this I don't mean, "I always wanted to live in a place with steep hills and confusing street layout!" (I do enjoy it, but that was a gradual discovery after I moved here, not a reason to move here) but I mean that Pittsburgh when I'm … Continue reading 7 Quick Takes on 1 Dream
Why We Love Community-Supported Agriculture
UPDATE: It's 2015, and we're beginning our fifteenth summer with the Kretschmann Farm! We got a crate full of spinach, three kinds of lettuce, radishes, rhubarb, parsley, and multi-grain bread on Wednesday, and we're bringing a big salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing to a cookout tonight! I cleaned up and updated this post for Real … Continue reading Why We Love Community-Supported Agriculture
Local Lent diary
UPDATE: Eight years later, I'm linking this Lenten inspiration to Hearth & Soul . . . and I'm thinking about how I can reduce the plastic coming into and being discarded from our home this Lent! I'm also going to make more of an effort to read the Bible to my three-year-old daughter, who has … Continue reading Local Lent diary
It’s 2010, and I still don’t need a cell phone!
Until last month, I had been carrying a 135-minute phone card in my wallet since October 2000. I didn't take it out because I'd used up the minutes. I took it out because the plastic is so old that it crumbled when I tried to transfer it to the new wallet I got for Christmas! … Continue reading It’s 2010, and I still don’t need a cell phone!
Books That Blew My Mind
UPDATE February 1, 2012: For the past two years, this has been an article like my links page where I keep adding content as I get around to it. Now I'm going to call it finished! Of course, I expect to read additional mind-blowing books during my visit to Earth, but this list now includes … Continue reading Books That Blew My Mind
I got to be a Shabbos Goy!
We live three blocks away from an Orthodox Jewish synagogue and within a mile of several others, so there are several Orthodox families on our street. Some are more friendly than others and occasionally chat with us about children, pets, or gardening, but in general they socialize with each other and don't mix much with those … Continue reading I got to be a Shabbos Goy!
Explaining the G-20 Protests to a Preschooler
It's been one week since Pittsburgh hosted the G-20 economic summit. The demonstrations against it and the police reactions to those demonstrations were a lot milder than they have been at previous summits in other cities, but there was some violent conflict and questionable conduct on both sides--check out the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette or Pittsburgh City … Continue reading Explaining the G-20 Protests to a Preschooler
Vending Box News
This is originally a tip from Daniel, but it works for me, too! We still subscribe to our local newspaper, the actual paper kind, because I like to read it while eating and I don't like to eat at the computer at home (since my lunch at work, and in fact my whole day at … Continue reading Vending Box News
The Earthling's Handbook 