• Family

    Teaching Kids Life Skills Takes ALL The Patience

    Here’s the thing about parenting. You have to teach your kids stuff. WHAT?!?!  And not just the basics like walking, talking and avoiding yellow snow. Practical, fend-for-yourself things too. If you don’t, they’ll never have the life skills to live on their own. Let THAT sink in. But here’s the thing people don’t want to say – especially online where we all have a tendency to put our best foot forward. My life is super-duper perfect, by the way. Patiently waiting three lifetimes EVERY SINGLE MORNING while your kid ties his or her shoes (or insert any other thing here) is excruciatingly painful. Especially since you know that shoelace is…

  • Family

    Cooking with Kids. Did I Survive?

    There is a noticeable difference between 2nd and 3rd grade. I don’t remember this from my own experiences in elementary school (maybe I blocked it out?), but I have noticed it with my oldest now in 3rd grade. Yes, the work is harder, but the biggest difference is the expectation of the student. It’s all about personal responsibility and building independence. Ding, ding, ding! Those are some parenting buzzwords you can take to the bank. Except that independence thing…my babies can stay home forever. Kidding! So, so kidding. They are going to need that independent trait so they can get rich and buy me that home in the south of France.…