My children's ethnicity is five-eighths Yiddish, but our religion is Episcopal. Here's how the Jewish holiday of Passover connects us to both our family and our faith.
Continuum Concept
How to Get Kids to Behave in Church
Welcome to the February 2015 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Do It Yourself This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants are teaching us how to make something useful or try something new. *** By the time my first … Continue reading How to Get Kids to Behave in Church
Why I’m Sleeping in the Dining Room
Welcome to the September 2014 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Home Tour This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have opened up their doors and given us a photo-rich glimpse into how they arrange their living spaces. *** … Continue reading Why I’m Sleeping in the Dining Room
Should Your Family Be Child-centered?
This is a controversial and confusing question. Some people go on and on about how parenthood melted their selfish hearts and made them realize the importance of devoting themselves fully to making their children's lives perfectly wonderful and completely safe. Other people go on and on about how children are hedonistic little leeches whose spirits … Continue reading Should Your Family Be Child-centered?
How to Get a Kid to Like Mushrooms
We strive to be the kind of family that shares meals--not the kind that "has to" fix nuggets and fries for the kid every night! The reality is somewhere in between. Many of my multi-week menus indicate adaptations for Nicholas: We prepared meal components separately and served his in separate dishes not touching, while we … Continue reading How to Get a Kid to Like Mushrooms
Adventure in the Forest Across the Street
A few weeks ago, I explained how we appreciate the little forests within our city. During our Thanksgiving trip, Nicholas (almost seven years old) and I found a much larger forest to explore--in a place where we never knew there was a forest. Cousin Mike hosts Thanksgiving in his home near Albany, New York. I've … Continue reading Adventure in the Forest Across the Street
Traffic Safety for Little Kids
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
Sleep Strategies for Babies, Children, and Parents
Our son is six-and-a-half years old now, and while we've sometimes had trouble with his sleeping habits, in general we feel that the plans we made before he was born, influenced in part by the amazing books The Continuum Concept and The Family Bed, have worked out pretty well. Disclaimer: We have only one child. … Continue reading Sleep Strategies for Babies, Children, and Parents
Important Word to Teach a Toddler
When our son Nicholas was just beginning to talk and simultaneously expanding his interests in climbing on things and stacking things in tall piles, his father Daniel taught him an important word. This word summed up a major reason to be cautious about climbing that thing or stacking that way, in one word instead of … Continue reading Important Word to Teach a Toddler
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
Thinking Out Loud
I talk to my kid a lot. He's five-and-a-half years old now and has some interesting things to say, but long before he was capable of conversation I talked to him quite a bit. It wasn't really a conscious strategy, just that I like having a companion sharing my experiences. In my own childhood, I … Continue reading Thinking Out Loud
Tuesday Potlucks
On the first and third Tuesdays of the month, our church offers a short service followed by potluck dinner. Attendance usually is small, between 5 and 20 people. In order to get there on time, I have to rush from work to pick up my five-year-old son Nicholas from his preschool and trust that the … Continue reading Tuesday Potlucks
Excellent Educational Toy!
One evening last week, my five-year-old was in one of those moods where he makes unreasonable demands. "I have to have my own computer!" he said in an unpleasant tone. "You already have your own computer," I reminded him. He has one of those toy laptops designed for preschoolers; my uncle gave it to him … Continue reading Excellent Educational Toy!
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
7 Neat Things My Kid Has Done
...in his last month as a four-year-old. 1. He packed his own bag. He did this for our Thanksgiving trip with some coaching, but even more impressive was in October when we were packing to go visit his grandparents. While I was choosing my own clothes for the trip, Nicholas was hanging around saying, "Where … Continue reading 7 Neat Things My Kid Has Done
Learning from Old Clothes
Learning about the history of clothing fashions is an activity I've done with Girl Scouts several times. It's part of the Art to Wear Try-It and badge, Listening to the Past Try-It, and probably a few others. It's always been fascinating. Clothing is so intimately a part of our daily lives that thinking about what people like ourselves wore … Continue reading Learning from Old Clothes
Family Bed in the Kid’s Room
It's Works-for-Me Wednesday! Before our child was born, we decided to have the family bed in his room and keep the master bedroom as our couple space. We'd read a lot about co-sleeping and thought it sounded like a great way to minimize the disruptions of night nursing and give our baby a loving, secure … Continue reading Family Bed in the Kid’s Room
Stroller Madness
Long before we became parents, Daniel and I decided we would not be transporting our child in a stroller on any regular basis. We live in Pittsburgh, a city of steep hills, stairs, and sidewalks cracked by frost heave and tree roots. Our neighborhood has heavy pedestrian traffic on sidewalks that are narrow in places. We often … Continue reading Stroller Madness
New Realms of Reading
One day in August, Nicholas and I were walking past a pile of trash set at the curb in front of an apartment building when I noticed a huge anthology of "Peanuts" comics, clean and hardly used, on top of the pile. I immediately grabbed it to take home. Nicholas (age two-and-a-half) was very interested in … Continue reading New Realms of Reading
The Earthling's Handbook 