Our Inexpensive Home Made Water Table

1) Put a towel underneath to catch any drips

2) Put on smocks

3) Get a shallow plastic bin

4) Fill with a few inches of water

5) Put it on a chair or low table that is easy to reach

6) Add measuring cups, spoons, funnels etc.

7) Remind children to keep the water inside the water table

8) Enjoy!

My Top 12 Resources for New Parents

I just found out that a good friend of mine is pregnant. Well, technically his wife is pregnant. But as soon as I found out I immediately wanted to create a list of resources for them so that they wouldn’t have to go through the heaps of conflicting and confusing information out there (unless they really want to).

I know my friend and I are aligned on many topics, but within about five minutes of talking with him it was clear that he was about to embark on a whole new world (parenting) that he has never really researched before. read more

Happy International Babywearing Week!

OK, I’ll admit it, I use a stroller sometimes. I’m not very hardcore about baby wearing, I mean I already carried my daughter around inside for nine months, right?! Don’t get me wrong I love wearing my baby SOME of the time. When Julia was littler (she’s two now!) I used slings and the Ergo carrier and it was so nice to be snuggled, heart to heart with my little one and have my hands free. So when I realized it’s International Babywearing Week, I couldn’t help posting something with a few resource links about babywearing. I LOVE Attachment Parenting! 🙂 read more

Don’t Say That Do Say This: 20 Things Not To Say To Your Child (And What To Say Instead)

A few weeks ago a friend on my Facebook page asked for a list of things not to say to children so I decided to create one for all of us. This list is not exhaustive and I would love to add to it with your suggestions so please leave a comment if you’d like me to add something!

I would also like to know if you need or want explanations for any of these. Many of them are self explanatory, but if you’d like me to elaborate, I’m happy to add more information about why column B is preferable to column A. And here’s another post I wrote on the topic. read more

Talking with Children About Death

Photo by Kat Caldera

My aunt died yesterday. I haven’t seen her in years but it still feels like a sock in the gut to realize that I’ll never hug her or talk to her again. She was such a fun and vibrant woman. Her death was unexpected and quite shocking to the whole family. My heart goes out to my uncle, cousins, and especially to her only granddaughter.

Death is such a strange part of life. The antithesis of life really, and also a great reason to savor every moment of life. We never know how many or how few moments we might have with our loved ones, so we’ve got to make every one count. In the case of a death within our inner circle of family or friends, we are forced to figure out a way to talk with children about this challenging topic. read more