Parenting Wisdom

When I ended the blog last time, I found myself sitting in the office of a pediatric rheumatologist with my 4 year old daughter, whose knee was the size of a softball, wondering how in the world we ended up here. We had been through knee aspirations at the surgery center, specialists, testing, etc., with no answers yet. Did kids really get arthritis? Or--was it something worse?

When I was a working woman, I organized my life in a fancy Franklin Calendar System. One of those weighty, leather bound numbers. It was color coded with different inks, organized by month and by day, with to-do lists...

Yes, learning that I was the one who needed more patience was an eye-opener for me. I needed to do exactly what I want my son to do: wait nicely. Patience is not a novel concept to any of us as parents, but yet it seems we so rarely give the patience back to our children. Ultimately, I realized that I was the one who has to work on patience...

We call it “Not your Grandma’s Chicken Salad” since we’re replacing the often-used mayo with savory avocado.

While others are packing their swimsuits and sunscreen, my family is loading up the minivan for a week at our favorite resort in the Wisconsin northwoods.

It’s March.  I am two full months into my New Year’s Resolutions.  See “5 Resolutions I Might Actually Keep” for my full plan of action.  I had 5 specific ways I was going to improve.  I’m realizing now that...

While this is not my own original idea, I wanted to share it because I think you should try it too - cooking “hard boiled” eggs in the oven instead of actually boiling them.

In keeping with my resolution to have more fun in 2017 and in honor of February’s “National Library Lovers Month,” I recommend to you some other seriously silly books:

No one told me that having children was sometimes like putting a mirror up in front of your own face. No one told me that I would see myself in the dramatic way she sighs and rolls her eyes. No one told me I would hear my own words, bitter and sarcastic, coming out of her sweet little mouth. And, perhaps most importantly, no one told me that the only way to curtail these behaviors in my daughter was to cut them out of my repertoire first. That one I had to figure out by myself.

Eating at a restaurant with a child (or multiple children!) can be a challenge. Time ticks about 10x slower when you’re awaiting the food for a hungry child. I put together these Restaurant Busy Kits and keep them right in my car. They’ve been a real sanity saver and have made dinners out actually enjoyable again!