I don't know about your kids, but mine sometimes struggle with kindness. Here are five ways we promote kindness in our home, plus a free printable kindness journal to help kids remember that kindness is the priority!
Category: Parenting
Menu Planner
Do you ever just get sick of coming up with a menu every single week? Some weeks I just can't think of anything. It drives me crazy. So I made a menu planner to do it for me! I filled in a spreadsheet with all the things I could think of that we EVER eat,… Continue reading Menu Planner
Never Fail Fudge
I spent so long getting this recipe wrong, I actually sat around one day making batch after batch until I got it to come out right.
What can I say? Making perfect fudge is an important skill!
But no more! I have successfully mastered the Never Fail recipe at long last! So here's the recipe (which, actually, is pretty simple) with my notes on how to truly make it "Never Fail"!
Food Storage Enchiladas (And Some Thoughts on Kids and Chores)
One of the easy meals I plunked on our cooking challenge checklist was enchiladas. Husband likes red sauce and ground beef, but since I'm trying to teach kids to cook without too much dealing with stoves or raw meat, I went ahead and taught them a recipe for white sauce chicken ones instead!
Obviously, it's not a very authentic Mexican dish, but these are the enchiladas I grew up on and I still love them. My family tends to call them "Food Storage Enchiladas" because almost every ingredient is canned and you can stock up on it for your 3 months (or year) of food storage!
Lemonade Pie
As promised in my Learning to Cook Challenge, I've got an easy recipe for your up-and-coming chefs to try out! I don't know about at your house, but where we are at it is HOT. Which translates into perfect weather for popsicles, icees, ice cream... ...and LEMONADE PIE. My uncle has a July birthday, and… Continue reading Lemonade Pie
The Learning to Cook Challenge
Red was staring at the blender base I'd left on the counter the other day. "I want to make something," he told me. "What did you have in mind?" I asked. Partially, I was being a super-awesome-parent and letting him have a say, not putting ideas in his brain, etc, but the other partially was… Continue reading The Learning to Cook Challenge
Birthday Interview
Yesterday my oldest turned 5. FIVE. The big freakin' go-to-school age FIVE. I think I'm doing okay and not freaking out too much. I didn't even cry! But dude, does it just feel crazy. When Red turned 3, we started a tradition with a Birthday Interview. I had wandered around Pinterest and things trying to… Continue reading Birthday Interview
Kids and Checklists
I think I'm an okay mom. In the spirit of not being too self-critical, I really think I do okay. My kids are fed (generally healthy foods). My kids do chores (there's the occasional protest in the form of kicking and screaming, but hey, life lessons, right?). My kids have regular learning time (but I'm… Continue reading Kids and Checklists
50 Ways to Exercise with Your Younger Kids
Trying to exercise but keep your babies and toddlers away is like trying to keep flies off honey. If you are down on the floor doing things, they want to be climbing on top of you. While this is a nice compliment (nothing says "love" like "Mommy play with me", although it doesn't always feel… Continue reading 50 Ways to Exercise with Your Younger Kids
How to Stay Sane and Not Be Miserable as a Parent to Young Kids
For a long time, I devoted every minute of my day to my kids. In some ways, it was really great. We read books, we colored, we did fine motor activities, we went to parks, we sang kid songs in the car (exclusively! I don't think I listened to the radio for almost a year!),… Continue reading How to Stay Sane and Not Be Miserable as a Parent to Young Kids