Search Results for: blog back to school bedtime routine mommy vs the sun

Trusting Your Child’s Teacher

My daughter’s teacher spends more time with her than I do. That’s life. At least that’s what I tell myself. My 6-year-old gets up at 7 a.m. Monday-Friday. We’re out the door no later than 8 a.m. in order to get to school on time. I pick her up from school by 3:30 p.m. and we’re together until she goes to bed at 7:30 p.m. That gives us a grand total of five waking hours together. Compare that to the 7.5 hours she spends in school with her teacher and classmates. Thank goodness I love my daughter’s first grade teacher. … Continue reading →

Best Bedtime Books for Toddlers

My children and I enjoy reading books. Even though a couple of them are too young to read yet, they like to listen. My youngest especially likes to look at the pictures and pick out animals from the pages. She sometimes takes over story time by labeling everything she sees on the page. I let her because the others seem to like her little narratives too. Soon she will be retelling her version of the story in her own words as I turn the pages. There are several bedtime books we’ve enjoyed reading and exploring this month: *Ten, Nine, Eight … Continue reading →

Seeing Red

Yesterday I saw red… in more ways than one. In honor of Read Across America Day, March 2, the birthday of the beloved children’s book author Dr. Seuss, my kindergartner’s school encouraged all students to dress in red and white. My daughter attends a Catholic school that requires students dress in uniform, so having a “free day” to wear red and white garb is a big deal for the kids. The night before the big Dr. Seuss birthday celebration (which included cooking green eggs and ham in the classroom) my daughter and I went through her closet to find a … Continue reading →

Parents Outraged After School Imposes Late Fee

The monetary penalty is not being imposed on students who don’t return their library books on time or on those caught chewing gum in class. Rather, an elementary school in Portland, Oregon, is slapping parents with a fee if they are late picking up their kids from school. Running late because of a meeting at the office… Cha-ching! Lose track of time while chatting in the grocery store check-out line… Cha-cha-ching! Space out while tweeting about how your life consists of a series of endless errands, including picking up the kids from school… OMG! The kids! Cha-cha-cha-ching! According to news … Continue reading →

Blame the Mother

My 5-year-old daughter loves to play games. And by play I mean win. And by win I mean beat the pants off other kids and do a butt-shaking, arm-waving, head-tossing, happy dance after her victory. Somehow her overzealous (yet in my opinion, age-appropriate) reaction to creaming the competition is my fault. Blame the mommy for the child’s lack of humility and sportsmanship. Whatever. I agree her gloating is a bit excessive, and yes, I’ve addressed it on more than one occasion. Still, the happy dance is riot. My child is a work in progress and I’m learning on the job, … Continue reading →

Mommy Blog Bashers

Have you ever considered that you could be helping a struggling single mom of four young children make ends meet each time you click on a link that leads to her blog? Earlier this year Oprah Winfrey devoted an entire show to the “Secret Lives of Moms.” It featured an audience full of women drooling at the chance to discuss the joys and pitfalls associated with raising the next generation. A portion of the episode spoke to a “new” kind of motherhood, in which women no longer suffer in silence about negative parenting experiences, mistakes and lack of maternal instincts. … Continue reading →

What Annoys You the Most About Back-to-School?

Forget about the Dyson, I should have asked Santa for a label maker for Christmas. Not that the big guy delivered on my uber vacuum Christmas wish (cue Barbie Dream House flashback). Still, I might have had a better chance of scoring the less expensive “mom tool.” It sure would have come in handy a few days ago when I was forced to label nearly 100 individual school supplies. Did I mention I only have one kid… and she’s in kindergarten. HALF-DAY KINDEGARTEN! I’m not here to kvetch about the inordinate amount of items (in my opinion) needed to educate … Continue reading →

Back-to-School Bedtime Routine: Mommy vs. the Sun

Bittersweet sun, how I loved you. And by loved I mean worshipped. And by worshipped I mean in the unhealthiest ways possible. My love affair with the sun began as a young girl. Growing up in Hawaii, that scorching ball of fire in the sky was a constant companion. Not only did its rays provide me with a luminous glow that made my dingiest white shirts look radiant, but the sun also had a way of warming my inner being. Our adoration for each other deepened after I moved to the Upper Midwest. (Nine-month long Wisconsin winters will do that.) … Continue reading →