A couple of months ago I put a fair bit of research into my awesome list of favorite discipline/parenting books, and in the course of putting it together came up with a few more books to check out.  A couple weren’t so great, but one has totally changed the way I relate to my middle [...]

I was excited to learn about Freedom to Read Week, an “annual event that encourages … to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom.”  Then I realized that it was just for Canadians.  Now, I love books and appreciate Canada, so I’ve decided to celebrate the opportunities I have to read, think, and [...]

AnnieBananie is our winner with entry number 344…wow, lots of entries!
“I like the way you can shop by age. It makes shopping for neices and nephews so easy!”
This giveaway is now closed…thank you all for playing!

Books are one of my favorite gifts to give–and receive. I love visiting the bookshop, browsing around with [...]

Suffice it to say, I’m thrilled that Election Day is finally upon us. For months I’ve been listening to our children debate about who they would vote for with little actual understanding of what the heck they were talking about…let alone what’s actually going on in the electoral process and presidential politics. Somehow I [...]

As a female Developmental Psychologist, I heard and read a lot about the specific socio-emotional and academic needs of girls, how we were being marginalized out of math and the hard sciences, and how our self-esteem was being diminished by a global patriarchy.  Only in the past seven or eight years does it feel like [...]

Follow the Line through the House
Written and Illustrated by Laura Ljungkvist
Ages 3-9
See the little tail on the bottom of the ‘F’ up there? The one in ‘Follow’? That’s the beginning of the line, which carries you through the house, the kitchen, the toolbox, the toy box (to mention a few places), out into [...]

So you now know that Adelaide (the youngest member of the collective) is totally into pickles. I don’t know that I would’ve let Josie love pickles as one of her first handful of foods (thanks to my maternally overprotective instinct), but daddio and I have encouraged our kids try a wide variety of strange [...]

Every year (around February, when we’re really feeling cooped up) we look forward to planning our garden, planting the seeds, and waiting for sprouts to appear. We’ve had a garden every year since we married, but having children has made it so much more worthwhile, and way more fun (if infinitely more challenging!). [...]

I really mean to have a baby book, or a journal, or something to keep track of all the milestones, ticket stubs, and cute things the kids say, but I’m awful at keeping up. I am absolutely notorious for never finishing most things that I start. I’ve tried a baby book and journal [...]

My mother-in-law was here for a few days and I mentioned to her that Jasper would need to be fully potty trained in order to start there in the fall. Well, he overheard us and was immediately excited…he loves trains, and a potty train must be fabulous. I went with it. I [...]