Parenting

DIY Confidence Cards for Kids {Tutorial}

We have a few very important jobs as parents. One of the best things we can do is raise kids to have self-confidence. When kids believe in themselves, they are more likely to succeed in friendships, at school and in life. While I was growing up, my mom included a note in our lunch box every day. On Friday’s we even got a little gift. We would open our lunch bag to find a note with a poem and a sticker or a pencil or a cool eraser. We never Read More...

Questioning the Food We Eat

Does pop culture change your perception of food? Does Hollywood change our perceptions of farming and ranching? Do you have questions and concerns about the food you eat and feed to your family? For instance, what do you think when you hear about biotech seeds? What about antibiotics residue…are you worried about the presence of these in your family’s food? There are so many questions around what is good for us, good for the animals and vegetables we eat and good for the planet. There are so many media articles Read More...

Winning Isn’t Everything

He wanted to win the coloring contest so badly. He spent hours coloring the jaguar mask that matched his favorite jaguar shirt. Watching his tiny 4 year old hand move at an excruciatingly slow pace, careful not to go out of the lines, his face getting closer and closer to the page, I wanted him to win. When he explained his color choices to me and how the red, orange and green all had meaning, I knew he had an artist inside him. I wanted him to win. When he Read More...

Don’t Ever Let it Go

Every child is an artist. I have not ever watched a child create something without my heart swelling. Within a creation there is love and passion and it is ALL good. I believe in letting children explore their creativity. I do not worry about the mess. In fact, I believe in making a mess. Art is not clean. Art is real. Art is fun. Art is messy. Art is full of possibilities. I believe that art is like life. Life is real. Life is fun. Life is messy. Life is Read More...

Teach Your Kids to be a Planet Protector

Most kids are born with a love for nature. My kids are no exception. (This me in the picture above, my kids won’t ever pose in a tree) There is nothing they would rather do than play outside. They water plants, they pick flowers, they spend hours making birdbaths filled with every color leaf or flower they can find, they play with friends…they are just happy and entertained. Because they are so young, they love to show me how beautiful things are. They are right. The tall trees that shade Read More...

Today Show, How I Miss Thee

I know what I am missing. That lovely combination of news and heart warming stories and weather and celebrities that is the Today Show. I hop on twitter to say good morning while I pop the bagels in the toaster and every day it is the same. I see Stephanie @MinkyMoo, Marinka @MarinkaNYC and Wendi @WendiAarons tweeting away about the joys and horrors and clothes and all of the awesomesauce of watching the Today Show and I cry a little inside. Why can’t that be me? Why can’t I watch big Read More...

Reaching the Summit

Our children are confident and strong. They tackle challenges with glee and without the fear that can come with age and experience. I am often afraid as I watch them approach physical challenges, imagining the pain of failure or worse, of a fall. Yet I let them try. We learn by attempting to reach summits throughout our lives. Letting them climb is our way of telling our kids to take life by the horns, experience it, try it, live it. And so they begin to go up. We help when Read More...

5 Tips for Getting Kids to Eat Right

I am not a great dinner maker. I can rock baking, but you know it isn’t healthy to serve up cake for dinner. As a mom with 3 small children, healthy eating is important to me. I wish it went over better when I announce the nightly vegetable but Miles becomes hysterical when the word dinner is spoken and Sophia asks how many bites she has to have. Violet is 2 so thank goodness she still eats everything in sight. I have a couple of tricks that help but I Read More...

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