Giving New Meaning to Parenting

I got up early this morning, my alarm dragging me out of a dream that I was doing laundry. Dreams like that just shouldn’t be allowed! I spent a happy hour or so answering emails in ‘work’ mode, writing out invoices and putting them into envelopes, writing to people and saying “Pleeeease get back to [...]

The Summer Holidays will begin here next weekend! I’ve got a house full of excited boys, who all have plans of their own and want to get out and DO stuff. Some of them have reached the age where they can head off to the beach or the park, or ride to the store for [...]

Last weekend, a five month-old baby in the seaside town where I live was rushed to hospital in an ambulance with burns over 40% of his body. He was dehydrated, and according to doctors, may be at a higher risk of kidney failure. He will be in pain for some time. Like me, you will [...]

I wrote recently of my desire to kick back and relax for the rest of the summer. I wanted to make sure that my boys see friends and family, that we all get a chance to relax some and have a good time.
This? Not an easy task.
We have made progress….the kids [...]

I don’t know about you, but my summer has been positively flying past. Has your summer been going so fast that you can’t keep up? What ever happened to the long lazy days of yesteryear? Is this just my perception, or has life really sped up recently?
Even though we home school, [...]

Summer. Slothful Summer. Season of gentle breezes and daydreams and the lull of the creeping heat. My children finish their classes and claim what is rightfully earned: a few weeks of nothing, pure, unadulterated, un-adult-altered nothing. As Walt Whitman wrote, “I lean and loafe at my ease.”
But that time has passed and I must start [...]

I have an indoor child and an outdoor child.
One boy wants to spend his summer swimming, riding his bike, and hiking.  The other would be happy, it seems, never to feel the sun warm his face and arms.  He’d like to watch movies, use the computer, read, and play video games.
Managing these competing preferences has [...]

There is a hymn I’ve loved since I was a child. I first remember the folk choir singing it from the balcony of our small church in small town Connecticut. Over the years I have heard many people sing many versions of this song, but the lyrics remain the same:
Let peace begin with [...]

This summer, I’ve decided I’m going to try to “underdo” rather than overdo and schedule.
In summers past, I had kids in different camps almost every week all summer long. This summer, there’s a week long skateboard camp in the morning for one and swim team, and a two week day camp for the other, [...]