Here’s the Homeschool plan for 2016/17. We start our school year on September 1. I know it’s July, but as soon as summer begins, I feel the itch to nail down a plan for the next year. I can’t relax and enjoy my summer until I get some things down on paper. Anyone else like this? [Side […]
This crunchy, frugal mama: why I don’t make homemade laundry detergent
I’m about to make a radical statement. Are you sitting down? This frugal, crunchy mama is about to spill it: Why I don’t make homemade laundry detergent. Gasp! I wrote on this topic a few years ago after several good, solid trials into homemade laundry detergent making adventures. Why don’t I make homemade laundry detergent? […]
The right size for a home may be smaller
I read this post recently from Becoming Minimalist’s Joshua Becker and found myself agreeing with every word: 12 Reasons Why You’ll Be Happier in a Smaller Home Since we’ve decided to buy a home, I’ve been thinking a lot about our real needs. Our current home, while lovely, is simply too big for us. A […]
The one in which the kids plan the menu and cook
Remember my complaint about the kids being lazy unproductive slothful bored this summer and getting on my last nerve? I have been working on that. The first plan of attack was to have the kids plan a menu and cook four nights a week. I placed them into two teams: Team A is the 18-year-old […]
The same thing happens every summer…
For several years now, I’ve been taking a summer break from homeschooling. So, you’d think I would learn. The first couple of weeks, I let the kids enjoy some lazy downtime. They sleep late. They lay around on the couch reading, building with LEGO, watching movies. We go to the pool. They Kik and WhatsApp […]
Parenting Lessons: 18 Things I’ve Learned In 18 Years of Parenting
Parenting is not something you “figure out”. I’m learning as I go. As my kids grow and change, I change with them – out of necessity for their needs, but also because I’m changing. Still, I’ve learned some things over the past 18 years with these seven children. Here are 18 parenting lessons. My oldest […]
Use it or lose it: homeschool math and summer learning
Our neighborhood pool opened today, meaning that summer has officially begun in our home school. Our plan in recent years has been to do a very relaxed, modified schedule during summer. In particular, math is a subject that I insist continues throughout summer, for two reasons. 1: math is a part of life, adults do […]
Kids don’t need toys, reason #578
At least once a week, my husband and I will look at one another after watching a child play with a cardboard box, and say: “Kids don’t need toys.” There are many, many other occasions that elicit this observation. Recently, I bagged up all of the toys of one of my children after a particularly […]
Why I got rid of so many books
A lot of spring cleaning and decluttering is going on around here lately. One of the toughest things for me to get rid of has always been books. When I read Marie Kondo’s books, I became convinced that I needed to ruthlessly cull my bookshelves. Why? Because they were frankly getting on my nerves! I […]
In which I am mean and force my kids to be bored
This post on Modern Mrs. Darcy (In praise of being bored) reminded me of a topic I’m passionate about: boredom and “kids these days“. Our children need never be bored because of handheld devices that can easily take up every moment of their spare time. (The same is true, of course, of adults. Long ago […]