This article is linked to the greatest tips edition of Works-for-Me Wednesday, where the hostess explains how to get a human on the phone when you call customer service, and more than 178 people have linked to their own helpful tips on how to do all sorts of things. Here are my own greatest tips: … Continue reading How to Do Everything!
preschooler
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
Christian Children’s Television
I am a liberal Episcopalian now, and I was raised Unitarian in small-town Oklahoma, so I've never felt like part of the mainstream of what's called Christian in America. I've seen a lot of "Christian" media productions that were painfully hokey, heavy-handedly moralistic, hateful, and/or boring. I never in a million years expected that I … Continue reading Christian Children’s Television
Parental Profanity Policy
Disclaimer: We only have one child. He is unusually observant and tends to pick up social rules fairly easily and accurately. What works with him may not work with every child. We are only two parents, and the two of us share extremely similar values. What is comfortable for us may not be comfortable for … Continue reading Parental Profanity Policy
Quick Trick for Reading Readiness
I learned to read at age three and have been frustrated that my child hasn't followed in my footsteps, in that regard--he's five-and-a-half, and although he's been acting like he's about to catch on to reading for a couple of years, he still only recognizes a few short words. Any day now, I expect him … Continue reading Quick Trick for Reading Readiness
Pizza Box Stained Glass
My five-year-old son loves to play games , but there's another reason he looks forward to attending the same game convention every year: the individual pizzas in the convention center food court! I think they're not that great, but I'm willing to let him eat one each year. Like many fast-food pizzas, it's served in … Continue reading Pizza Box Stained Glass
7 Lessons from Lent
It's 7 Quick Takes Friday at my favorite religious blog, and while my takes might not be quick, I'd like to share 7 things I recently learned: 1. I really, really hate flossing my teeth, and I do not get used to it. The reason I decided that my Lenten discipline would be flossing my … Continue reading 7 Lessons from Lent
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!
The Value of Eleven Cents
Find a penny, pick it up; All the day you'll have good luck. I've enjoyed this superstition since I was a child and taught it to my child, but I never seriously believed it was true. The real reason I pick up coins I find on the ground is that they're money, and I figure … Continue reading The Value of Eleven Cents
Two Easy Indoor Games
Here are two games that are easy to set up, use minimal materials, and are fun for kids about 2-10 years old at a party or holiday gathering. (See also these knee-bouncing games for entertaining younger kids!) Pass the Parcel You will need a bunch of small toys, costume jewelry and similar trinkets, coins, and/or pieces of wrapped … Continue reading Two Easy Indoor Games
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
Battle of the Bagel Ballads!
Nicholas is almost five years old now and getting even better at making up rhymes. As the Hanukkah decorations appear around our neighborhood, we've been inspired to make up more bagel songs to the tune of "Dreidel, Dreidel". Walking to and from the grocery store last Saturday, we took turns singing them and trying to … Continue reading Battle of the Bagel Ballads!
Knee-bouncing Games
These two games have been enjoyed by little children in my family for at least three generations. They worked for me when I was little, they've been favorites of my four-year-old son since he was about nine months old, and I look forward to trying them on his younger cousins this Thanksgiving! These are the … Continue reading Knee-bouncing Games
Early Encounters with Variables
I'm a research data manager: I spend my days working on various levels of the process of converting people's responses to questions into numbers in the computer. It's not the career I expected, and it's not a career most people immediately understand (the scene at my high school reunion: "So Jason is a police officer, … Continue reading Early Encounters with Variables
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
A Four-year-old’s Treasures
Nicholas loves stuff. He's constantly collecting things that he wants to keep. I get frustrated with how little he uses most of this stuff and how much it's underfoot or visually cluttering our house. But last night I noticed a little box of his treasures that he'd left on the dining table before going to … Continue reading A Four-year-old’s Treasures
Great Chapter Books for Kids!
It's Works-for-Me Wednesday! We started reading chapter books to our son when he was 2 years 9 months old. Two years later, they're an important part of his daily life. I read to him every day on the bus going to and from preschool, almost always from chapter books because they're more convenient: more story for … Continue reading Great Chapter Books for Kids!
Making Pants into Shorts
This week's Works-for-Me Wednesday is a special edition for organizing tips, so I'm linking to my old articles about the rule of One Thing and Three Things and how to organize your Girl Scout troop records, as well as posting this new article that isn't an organizing tip but works for me! This past spring, my … Continue reading Making Pants into Shorts
Hammer Festival
Here's a funny story that I just found in my archives. One day when Nicholas was three years old, we passed an art center with a banner outside depicting silhouettes of movie cameras on tripods. Nicholas saw them as hammers. "Look, Mama, they're going to have a Hammer Festival! I want to go!" "Oh? What do … Continue reading Hammer Festival
Tie-dyed Socks!
My son, who is officially four-and-a-half years old today, loves colors and enjoys wearing a variety of colors. He was quite annoyed last fall when we went shopping for new socks and found that the choices offered were white, white with gray toes, black (but only thin dress socks), brown (same), and a variety pack of … Continue reading Tie-dyed Socks!
The Earthling's Handbook 