Grasshopper New Media Presents...

As my two kids get older, I find myself with reduced stress. The kids are growing into fine adults. They are helpful, they are considerate, they are, best of all, more able to meet their own needs! They no longer ask for a glass of water or for me to carry them or any of […]

Confession: when I ask my boys to clean their bedroom it usually ends in a huge weeping pile of me. After hours without progress and constantly breaking down tasks and repeat repeat repeating myself I am left wanting never to face this challenge again. So I wait and wait and then rinse and […]

Last week we talked about things to do with the berries you’ve picked, like making jam, freezing or canning, or making fruit smoothies. This week I’d like to talk about some fresh fruit recipes. Working more fruits (and vegetables) into the kids’ diet is something I’ve been focusing on, so I try to […]

My son is sixteen, and, as such, he’s not exactly emotionally dedicated to carrying his share of the load, at least not when it comes to the work load that a home requires.
Sorry, what I mean to say is that he has one chore, taking care of the household garbage, and he constantly has to […]

Once again, it is the close of another school year, and those last gasp projects are rearing their ugly heads. One child had a book report, but the "project" part of it was to design/redesign a board game so that it reflects your book in some way. Child #2 read a fun book […]

My stomach turns at the smell of most baby food. Not so much the first stages; bananas and apples are pretty non-offensive. Once they move on to the pureed version of turkey and noodles, though, I can’t quite conceive the yellowish gelled glop as food. Combine the smell of this epicurean treat […]

In August it will be two years that we’ve lived in East Central Illinois.
We left behind the water and the trees and everything familiar to begin our beginning in the middle - four years into our marriage, with one child in tow, my husband went back to graduate school as a full-time doctoral candidate and […]

So. You’ve gone out with the kids are picked some berries. Now what do you do with them?
For starters, there’s always the “wash and eat” option. My boys love fresh berries. I do sprinkle a little sugar over anything tart.
The next thing I usually do with berries is make […]

It’s been August in June here in New England, and the air conditioners are blasting. I am not complaining. I vowed all winter long not to complain about extreme heat this summer. I can not wait to hit the beach, both Sebego Lake and Maine’s spectacular coast.
But alas, I must […]

Recently, Ben spent his first night away from home. No, that’s not right. He spent his first half-night away from home. Around 11:30pm, my husband and I were watching the tail end of a movie when the phone rang. We looked at each other meaningfully before getting up to answer it. […]