Every year I leave town for a few days to attend a conference. In addition to my wife’s usual role “making the dough,” during these three or four days she also takes on my role: “running-the-shit-show.” While at my conference I always learn a few things, but, it never fails, I learn just as much at home once I return from my trip. For example, upon returning, my wife told me all the things my kids did for themselves without any help from her. Most of these were out of necessity as she was trying to get herself ready for work, but nonetheless my kids did them without parental assistance … [Read more...]
How to Survive Christmas Break with Your Children
If your situation is anything like mine, soon your kids will be home from school for Christmas break. That means days of being home all day with three children who are overly excited, trapped indoors because of freezing cold temperatures, constantly needing a snack, and -- even when they are having fun playing together -- they still sound like they are fighting. You might be wondering how I will survive this ordeal and, if you’re in this situation, how you will do the same. This year, I came up with a five-part plan to survive Christmas break. Feel free to use, modify, share or ignore. 1. … [Read more...]
Camping a Great Outdoor Family Activity to Make for a Fall Fun
As the heat of summer burns off, the nights creep ever so longer, and the air turns crisp and cool, my family returns to our favorite fall tradition -- a weekend camping trip. Even with small kids, camping doesn’t need to feel like an impossibly miserable weekend sleeping on the cold, hard ground. With a little preparation, camping can become a fall favorite for your family too. Camping starts with a tent First, make sure you have the right kind of gear. Of course, you’ll want a tent. If you don’t own a tent, borrow one. Just make sure you practice setting it up in your own yard (and … [Read more...]
Do Kindergartners Really Need an iPad to Learn to Read?
Over the summer we received a letter from my future kindergartner’s school saying ALL kindergartener would be using iPads as part of the regular school day. These “device days” would take place throughout the school year and kids would be encouraged to bring their own tablet from home. They even had an acronym for it: BYOD - Bring Your Own Device. My acronym for BYOD was WTF, but I calmed down a bit and settled on OMG. Why would my kindergartner need to take an iPad to school? All I see her use it for at home is watching YouTube videos of other people opening toys (the pros call it … [Read more...]
What’s an At-Home Parent to Do When the Kids Start School
I’ve been home full-time with my kids for the past five years. This week, my youngest starts kindergarten. Those of you who work full-time may not realize what a huge transition time this is for at-home parents when their kids start school. This is the time we feel judged by people who think we’re home all day doing nothing. (This could be actual judgement from people or what we’ve imagined in our heads, either way, it’s all the same to us.) This is a time when whatever self-imposed pressures and expectations come to light as well. There’s a lot of uncertainty. Maybe that’s why I … [Read more...]