Family
Books My Kids Are Reading Part 6
Books, books and more books! Welcome back to what has become an on-going series sharing the children’s books my kids and I are reading. Before I get to the list of books we’ve enjoyed recently, I want to show you a neat booklet our local Irish library system publishes. It is a reading guide for different age groups from toddlers up to young adults. It includes both fiction and non-fiction recommendations. The library must have a fairly robust budget to produce this booklet and I have no complaints about that! The reading guide is compiled by a group of ‘book doctors’ who are all children’s book specialists. They have backgrounds…
Kid Wisdom: Everyday Superpowers
Here’s some kid wisdom on everyday superpowers. Picture it. The kids and I are on a packed commuter train at 8:27 a.m. We’re standing, of course, because it’s a Monday morning and everyone has to get to work on time on a Monday. By Friday they won’t care as much and the train will be less crowded. I’m wearing my son’s backpack because 2nd grade homework is HEAVY and holding my own backpack with my left hand. With my right hand I’m holding onto one of the vertical bars to keep my balance as the train stops and starts. The kids are clustered next to me attempting whatever movement they…
We’re Not Catholic, but I Sent My Kids to Mass
My kids went to Catholic Mass today. We’re not Catholic. We’re American expats living in Ireland where the public school system is run by the Catholic Church with public tax dollars. Even many private schools are Catholic-influenced. Our kids (now 7 and 10) attend a private school that is not Catholic run. As a percentage, there aren’t a lot of these schools in Ireland, but they are growing in number and popularity. Twice a year our school offers the children an opportunity to attend a community-wide Mass during school hours. All the various primary schools in the parish attend. Of course, as parents, we have the right to opt our…
Books My Kids Are Reading Part 5
First week of September and I am up to my eyeballs in lunch boxes and homework! Before I completely forget everything that happened this summer, I want to give you the rundown of some books we enjoyed while school was out. It’s not the entirety of what we or they read, but the ones worth sharing. These are the books my (kids age 7 and 10) enjoyed and said, “just one more chapter! Please!” AniMalcolm by David Baddiel We stumbled into the world of David Baddiel when I picked up this book at the airport back in June. AniMalcom is a book about a kid who doesn’t like animals and then…
How I Accidentally Got My Kids Excited for College
It’s the first day of school (WOOHOO!!!), so it seems like an appropriate time to share this story of how I accidentally got my kids excited for college. Come to find out, August is probably the busiest month for tourism in Ireland. It’s quite possible there are more tourists on the island than there are residents. At least it sure feels that way. Dang tourists. (Oh, wait. I’m practically a tourist myself. Never mind. Tourists are the BEST! Except when you don’t walk fast and I have places to be.) Anyway. Let’s just pretend I didn’t tell you how I really feel. My dad and The Junk Whisperer made plans…
Visiting Ireland: The Cliffs of Moher and Aran Islands (with kids)
I can’t believe we waited over a year to see Ireland’s #2 tourist spot, the Cliffs of Moher. The #1 tourist spot in Ireland, by the numbers, is the Guinness Storehouse. Tourists have their priorities! As much as we enjoyed the Guinness Storehouse, the Cliffs of Moher just might be my favorite spot in all of Ireland. So far. When visiting the Cliffs of Moher, most people will home base out of the city of Galway. I wrote about visiting Galway here. It’s not a big city, so you can hit all of the high points in a day, maybe a day and a half. That leaves plenty of time…
Oh, The Stories We Will Tell
We have family visiting us in Ireland. Visiting us! In Ireland! How cool is that? Actually, it is literally cool here…62 Fahrenheit in August with a little rain every day just to keep the country’s emerald isle reputation SOLID. This week I watched my kids play on a 400-year-old tree with an 800-year-old castle in the background. This tree’s bottom branches had grown down low and were touching the ground, as if inviting each and every child in its vicinity to come play. (Apparently, this is a sign that the tree was in an area that had never been grazed by livestock.) I stood there and watched the kids for…
Living in Ireland: Back After a Month in the U.S.
It’s flat out STRANGE to visit the United States after living in Ireland for a year. I tried to put my finger on why exactly. In part, I think it’s because I’ve changed. Evolved, shall we say? How could you not after moving to a foreign country? But when I went ‘home’ I realized how much HADN’T changed. There is something comforting in that though. I also realized that I’d gotten used to being slightly uncomfortable ALL. THE. TIME. while in Ireland. You can try to look and act local in the face of constant new experiences, but as soon as you open your mouth you see a flicker of…
You Know You’re a Farmer’s Kid When…
You know you’re a farmer’s kid when… Your dad pulls out his wallet to pay for dinner… just a simple, well-worn wallet… and bits of HAY (yes, hay that cows eat) fly out of his wallet and land all over the restaurant table. All. Over. Then, without missing a beat, he says… “It’s just a little seed money.” Get it…hay seed? What dad can resist telling a good dad joke? Truly, I laughed. It was a pretty funny moment. My dad spends pretty much the entire summer on a tractor making hay. And, yes, that hay seems to get everywhere. And, yes, I’m glossing over how hard this season is for…
The Gift of Handmade
I recently said to Handy Husband, “Why did you have to go and make such cool beds for the kids? WHY??” Despite the fact that it was MY idea (and I probably begged) for him to make the beds. “It would be a lot simpler to move or change up the look of our house if I wasn’t sentimentally attached to these huge things!” “STOP BEING AWESOME!” Just kidding about that last part. I love him, but I don’t want him to get a big head. I also have some other things I want him to make, so I kind of do need him to keep being awesome. Then I’ll…
