My 7-year-old daughter truly believes there is a Santa Claus, and I would like to keep it that way for, oh, the next… 30 years. If you have other ideas on how Barbie’s Three-Story Dream Townhouse magically appears (fully assembled) at the foot of a lopsided Fraser Fir on Christmas morning, keep them to yourself. I’m talking to you Robin Robinson. Recently, the FOX Chicago news anchor took it upon her to dash the dreams of Santa-loving kids by declaring that the jolly ol’ gift bearer was no more real than a herd of pastel-colored unicorns. Robinson’s self-absorbed remarks came … Continue reading →

Have you seen the Wal-Mart Christmas commercial where the guy insists on playing “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” while an elderly woman wearing a leg cast looks on in disgust? I walk out of the room whenever it’s on. Conversely, my 7-year-old loves the TV ad almost as much as her beloved “Peggy” commercial. Tis the season for crazy Christmas carols. Only this year my kid finally gets the joke and is obsessed with committing the holiday parodies to memory. Grandma, help me! Along with the granny versus caribou carol, my daughter delights in Bob Rivers’ twisted holiday … Continue reading →

I don’t homeschool my daughter, but if I did I would definitely make cooking an integral part of the curriculum. The holiday season has given us the chance to not only make merry in the kitchen, but it has also afforded us a bevy of educational opportunities. Cooking with kids is the gateway to a litany of hands-on lessons, including: *Nutrition *Communication *Reading *Math *Learning about other cultures *Patience *Sharing *Personal hygiene Kids also get to fine tune their motor skills helping out with various recipes. What’s more, since the kitchen is the heart of the home, kids get to … Continue reading →

I was born and raised in Hawaii where retailers live and die by the tourist dollar. As such, on Christmas and New Year’s it’s business as usual across the island chain. All of the local McDonald’s are open and ready to super-size your Big Mac meal on Jesus’ birthday, and if Santa forgot to include batteries with your son’s new remote control snake, don’t fret, you can run over to Wal-Mart to get your AA fix. Such is not the case in the relatively small Northern Wisconsin town which I currently reside. In fact, during the first Thanksgiving I spent … Continue reading →

The clichés are true; kids really do enjoy playing with boxes more than their contents and wrapping paper really can fly if folded just right. Prior to becoming a mother I never gave much thought to boxes, paper and tape in regards to keeping kids busy. How quickly things change. This year I seriously contemplated purchasing my 6-year-old a case of Scotch tape and calling it a Christmas. The kid burns through tape like she’s possessed by Martha Stewart. Still, I don’t expect her to sit in a room designing Scotch tape chotskis for the remainder of her Christmas break … Continue reading →

My daughter is just six years old, but she’s already got eye-rolling down to a science. I know this because I am typically the one she practices on. Only in her mind she’s not practicing, she’s dying–a little bit inside–each time I embarrass her by, well, being her mom. I do things like remind her to put on her hat when I drop her off at school in the dead of winter (eye roll), tell her that she is not allowed to play unless she cleans up her room (double eye roll), and sing songs from the radio during carpool … Continue reading →