Parent Blogs

I react to the mail the way the citizens do in the Music Man when the Wells Fargo wagon comes to town. I've even been known to sing when a package arrives.

The House in the Night was a gift for my 4 yo, The Wizard of Why. He liked the story and the pictures and I think it's absolutely wonderful. The whole book is printed in yellow and black.

I know it is still January but I am beginning to hear that famous song in my head - you know the one about BASEBALL (which I sing loudly and WAY off key)!  I am a Mom to two ENERGETIC boys who both have a love for the game - so in our house, January means it is time to begin thinking about baseball.  Now I know many of you will roll your eyes and say "Ugh, baseball is so boring" but I disagree.  To me there is nothing more exciting than to see the look on my son's face when he makes a catch or makes contact with the ball for a hit.  WE LOVE BASEBALL!

Both of my boys play for the Grassland Baseball League here in Franklin.  I am so thankful to have found an organization that believes in teaching children that playing sports is about more than just competition.  It is about learning the game, being a contributing member of a team, and most of all - HAVING FUN!

SO what are you waiting for?  Registrations are open now.  In the Grassland Baseball League, boys and girls from age 5 - 17 (as of April 30th) are eligible to register but each league has their own age restrictions.  Nashville is fortunate to have many wonderful baseball organizations throughout the city - so find one near you and sign those kids up.  LET'S PLAY BALL!

AREA BASEBALL LEAGUES:

Grassland Baseball League - Franklin, Tn

Crieve Hall Baseball - Nashville, Tn

Donelson Baseball - Hermitage, Tn

Goodlettsville Baseball - Goodlettsville, Tn

and many more...

Spring Consignment Season is right around the corner and now is the time to start preparing.  Here are some tips to help get you ready!

1. Register for sales early! Each sale states when they open registration on their sale website. Make a note of registration dates and plan to register early. Many sales will fill up in the first day due to limited space and then go to a waiting list.
2. Sign Up for a New Sale! If you have only done one sale before, why not sign up for a second sale later in the season?  This is a great way to sell more of your items and an opportunity to see how different sales are run.  Ask your friends what sales they participate in or see if there is a new sale being held in your area.  You can see a list of sales organized by area of town on Consigning Time (www.consigningtime.com) - THE Place To Find Consignment Sales in Middle Tennessee.
3. Sign Up to Volunteer! The best way to find the best items is to be a volunteer.  Each sale offers perks for consignors who volunteer to help with the sale.  The shifts range from 4 to 8 hours depending on the sale.  In exchange for your time, you will get to shop before the sale opens to the public in addition to other perks that vary with each sale.  Shopping early is particularly helpful if you are looking for a specific in demand item - like outdoor play items etc.
4. Begin Gathering Your Sale Items! Grab a rubbermaid bin and start to gather items to sell.  It really helps to get your children involved and have them "buy in" to the process.  I ask my children what toys they would like to sell.  If they do not produce enough toys, I then hold up two items and tell them they have to choose which one to keep.  The trick with this is that I rig the choices so one item is one I know they will never want to sell so they have to choose the item that I want to go.  It hasn't backfired on me yet!
5. Create a Consignment Box! I like to keep all of my supplies together in a plastic school box.  Inside I keep - White Index Cards, Sharpies (Black and Red), Scissors, Safety Pins, Rubber Bands, Hole Puncher, Plastic Ties, Ribbon and clear packing tape.
6. Gather Your Supplies!  I always think it is funny that before consignment season I become obsessed with wire hangers.  "Where are my wire hangers?  I need more wire hangers?  Does anyone have any wire hangers?"  The first thing I do is scour the closets and exchange wire hangers for plastic ones.  (You can buy the plastic ones at Dollar Tree to replace any wire ones you have.)  If I don't find enough I begin to beg.  I beg my friends and local dry cleaners.  This usually brings forth a bounty of wire hangers and all is right with the world.  After the hangers are taken care of - I move on to safety pins.  Dollar Tree is a great source for these but many people know that so they sell out right before sales begin so you need to pick them up early or you will end up paying $4 at Walgreens - Ugh!
7. Invite Your Friends To Participate! Part of the fun of consignment is sharing your great finds with a friend.  I rely on my friends to give me the appropriate "oohs and aahs" about items like the Little Tykes playset in mint condition that I found for $30.  My hubby just does not seem to provide me the level of excitement I require at such an accomplishment so I rely on my girlfriends.  It is also wise to have another set of eyes with you when you shop so they will tell you the truth "No, your sweet girl will not look good in the orange and purple polka dotted, ruffled shirt with bows all over it".  That's what friends are for so ask a friend to sign up for a sale with you so you can enjoy the experience together.
8. Get on the Mailing List! Sign up for the each sale’s mailing list so you will be notified of all of their registration dates for future sales.  Many sales add an extra sale during the year to raise money for charity.  Don’t be left out because you did not see the e-mail.
9. Make a Plan! Don’t wait until the last minute to get everything together and begin tagging.  If you are unsure what to price something, check online pricing resources like ebay.  If in doubt, just think what you would be willing to pay for the item at a sale and go with your instinct.
10. Prepare Your Shopping Lists! Walking into a consignment sale can be quite overwhelming.  There is so much stuff that all of the sudden you forget what you need and end up searching through all of the great books for hours.  Trust me -been there and done that.  The best way to fight against this is to prepare a list.  Keep it short and simple.  I usually do it on an index card so I can keep it in my pocket.  (I do not carry a purse when I shop at consignment sales).  Write down the items AND SIZES for each of your children.  Organize your list by sex because that is how sales are organized.  On one side write the "Needs" and the other side write your "Wants".  If you start your list now you should have a really comprehensive list by the time the sales begin.

I remember the first time I heard the name "Potter." I was living in Lesotho, a small country in the middle of South Africa that most of my friends had always thought was a lake. (It's not.) I was reading a comic in some American news magazine about the then-upcoming presidential elections and one character was saying to another. "How about this Potter fellow?" Potter, I remember thinking. I don't think I know him. I took from the tone of the cartoon (and the field of candidates at the time) that the author was simply saying he didn't like the current candidates, but I had no idea he was proposing a boy wizard...as popular as Harry Potter got and as quickly as he got there, he hadn't made it to the middle of my plateaued country at that time.

Fast-forward to today, long after I've read each and every brilliant Potter story, long after I've sat entranced through every minute of all the movies, to my recent Christmas present from my parents I received with no less excitement than my first bike, a shiny red one that waited for me at the bottom of the stairs one glorious Christmas morning. I now own (and have already shipped across the country, lugged up a flight of stairs, and stuffed into an already too-small condo) the complete Harry Potter. I've already opened the first book (and read it and closed it again). The second one will come soon...my husband was a little worried he wouldn't see me until all seven had been thoroughly devoured. It's an obsession I feel good about: it's one my kids can mimic to their hearts content.

I know the future is here and that it doesn't involve hardcover books, at least not in the mainstream. And I know that the people in the beach chairs next to me can fit thousands of books on their slim electronic devices. And I have nothing against that. But on my latest vacation, my oversized suitcase had two giant hardcover books (Ann Patchett's State of Wonder and Chad Harbach's Art of Fielding). Both of them were absolutely gorgeous, exquisite, fantastic novels. I lugged them around in my beach bag and I enjoyed every pound of paper I leafed through. I gained arm muscles holding the epic stories in the air over my lounge chair, changing the angle of my arms to match the sun.

And now I hold my new Potter books. I love the brilliant covers. I love the weight in my hands. I imagine the world will move one. I imagine hardcover books will be a collectible item one day. But that's okay. I'm already collecting them.

What about you? Are you for books or e-readers or both? And what about for your kids? Will you be getting them kindles or i-pads? Or sticking to the trees?

Pardon me while I step upon my soap box...  MANNERS STILL MATTER!  I am thinking of putting that on a t-shirt (if someone hasn't already).  It seems that good manners are becoming as obsolete and hard to find as 8-track players.  I will admit that I am a bit old-fashioned when it comes to this but I think the world would still be a little bit better off if people would remember to say please and thank you.

As a parent, I am trying to teach my boys that using good manners should be a part of who they are.  I don't mind reminding them now because I hope that when they are grown it will be as natural as breathing for them to hold open a door or ask someone if they need help when carrying something.  I can't tell you how many times I have walked behind someone and had the door slam in my face.  Really?  Is it that hard to hold the door for someone?  What about just smiling and saying thank you when someone provides a service for you? I was recently at the drive-thru of McDonald's and I smiled and asked the person taking my money if they were having a good day.  They looked at me like I was completely crazy.  Apparently, people just don't do that very often anymore but they should.  MANNERS STILL MATTER!

So, I will admit that I am going to be THAT mother.  I am going to correct my sons when they forget to say please.  I am going to remind them to hold open a door and i am going to request that they always ask me if I need any help before they walk out of the house before we get in the car.  They may not appreciate it now but I bet their future wives will!

I associate holidays with food. Thanksgiving means my dad's stuffing, my sister's rolls, my grandma's scalloped corn. Christmas means my dad's mom's brown sugar cookies, my mom's coconut macaroons (which are also recycled for use during Passover) and fudge. Hannukah (yes, I celebrate both and thus get to eat twice as much!) means crispy latkes which I like best with rosemary, smothered in applesauce. And small donut holes, made with a nice sour-tasting yoghurt.

One thing I love about being in the kitchen in the holidays is that every dish reminds me of a person, a time, and a reason to celebrate. I remember making fudge with my mom to pass out to the teachers at school. I remember sitting down at big family Thanksgiving tables, which we did again recently with a whole new generation eating (okay, mostly spitting out) pureed chicken along with the rest of us (the rest of us, to be clear, were spitting nothing out). And dishes get added over the years: my brother-in-law comes up with the creamiest mashed potatoes you've ever had the pleasure of putting in your mouth, my aunt makes the classic mince meat pie, which some of us have never even heard of, and I borrow a recipe from the Neely's for some chocolate pecan pie.

I'm excited now to add my own toddler's additions to our table as he cooks alongside me, sometimes in his own play kitchen and sometimes in my more functional, if less cute, one. Whether he's stirring wooden vegetables or a real pot of simmering sauce (yes we are careful not to get too close), it's my favorite place to be with him. My son's favorite thing of all time to make is Gingerbread men. This is partly because they are a fairy tale character and he loves all things fairy tale. It's party because he got a humongous cookie cutter on Christmas last year so he can make really big ones. And it's partly because they are absolutely delicious! I know that time in the kitchen is good for him. It teaches him where food comes from, how to provide for himself, and encourages him to be a little more experimental with his eating. So even if we are making sugary treats, I feel pretty good about it.

What are your favorite holiday dishes? Any food that you like you make with your own kids? Please share! And if you want to give a great gift to a budding chef this holiday season, check out this kids' cookbook that I blogged about over at The Family That Reads Together.

I just returned from my very first visit to Parnassus Books in Green Hills, Nashville's newest bookstore.

I'll definitely be going back soon, too.

Located at 3900 Hillsboro Pike, Parnassus is the bookstore famously launched by one of Nashville's own Ann Patchett, one of my favorite novelists, and her business partner Karen Hayes, who was a Random House sales rep. Patchett and Hayes decided to open their own independent bookstore in part as a response to the dwindling number of places for people to buy books--and to revel in books.

The store opened on Saturday, and from what I hear, it attracted quite a crowd. I didn't make it, so I planned to swing by this morning.

First of all, yes, fellow parents, there is a children's area, and yes, there is a train table. We all miss the glorious train table and children's area at Davis-Kidd, and let's admit it: that's the main reason that most of us used to frequent that particular bookstore. I say that as someone who's a reader, too. The children's area is located at the rear of the store, and the train table (Chuggington, if you must know) is right smack dab in the middle of it. My toddler strained at his stroller straps, trying to launch himself toward the trains.

Secondly, the bookstore is beautiful. It is not large, but it is lovely and warm. The floors and shelves are polished wood, and the people who work there smile at you. I like both qualities in a bookstore. It feels friendly, and I believe that bookstores should feel inviting and welcoming. Also, they have a magazine section, and I'm a magazine junkie.

And finally, the staff are willing to order books for you. They'll talk about books with you, and they'll help you procure the books that you want. This is a key point that I want to get across. They want to sell you books there, and y'all, if you want to keep this glorious little gem of a bookstore in Nashville, we all need to go buy some books there.

In case you don't remember, we just lost all of our Borders stores and Davis-Kidd because bricks-and-mortar stores are losing ground to the Internet and discount stores when it comes to book sales. I'm guilty of it myself. I've picked up a discounted paperback at a warehouse store or ordered $25 worth of books from Amazon (to get the free Super Saver shipping, natch).

I can't promise that I'll never do those things again because the reality is, I probably will. But I can purchase some of my books and book-related gear in person from a real live bookseller. And I plan to do more of that. So I bought a book at Parnassus this morning.

I hope you will, too. This is a great little store, and I hope that it will be around so I can take my children there as they grow up. I want to take them to a place where they can actually look at the books and thumb through the pages, where they can spread several book out before them and decide which one (or ones) they want, where they can discover new authors and new stories.

So if you haven't been by Parnassus yet, think about going on over soon.

Unbelievable!  My son's pants that I bought in August are already two inches too short.  Seriously.  I think he must be putting Miracle Grow in his chocolate milk.  The only good thing about this growth spurt is that there are still two wonderful consignment sales this week where I will be able to pick up some more pants.  Of course, I will not just be shopping for pants.  I will also be looking for TOYS!  My little boy does not care if I pay $5 or $50 for a toy on Christmas as long as he loves it so I am going to grab some bargains and hide them away until the fat man in the red suit pays us a visit.

In Hendersonville, you can shop Wednesday through Saturday at THAT CONSIGNMENT SALE at the Latham's Lighthouse Event Center on Sanders Ferry Road in Hendersonville.  They will have toys, home decor, Christmas decorations, maternity, formal wear, as well as ladies AND childrens clothing.  They accept cash and debit/credit cards.

In Nashville, you can shop Wednesday through Friday at ONCE AROUND THE BLOCK KIDS at the West End Community Church on White Bridge Road.  All proceeds from the November OABK sale benefit Rejoice Ministries.  You will find TONS of childrens clothing and toys as well maternity wear.  They accept cash and check only.  Credit/Debit cards are NOT accepted.

So, make your list and check it twice.  It shopping time!

Nutritionists hear this: I am no longer listening! I've read many times that we shouldn't use the old-fashioned dessert bribe to get our kids to eat their dinner. They tell us not to tell a kid how many bites to take. Basically, they want to make sure that sweets don't end up as the prize and savory foods the pain you have to endure to get to the prize. And they don't want us to dictate a number of bites because they don't want food to be an emotional/power issue.

Well, I've followed this advice for three years now. But I'm giving up. Officially. As of this week. Because here's the thing. Dinner is already the thing you have to endure and dessert is, in the words of my son, "special." His taste buds figured that out all by themselves without me holding out dessert as the prize. And second news flash: dinner is also already an emotional/power issue. Just watch my son purposely dump an entire cup of milk on the floor and try to tell me otherwise.

So I'm changing things up. Today, for example, you don't get the homemade pumpkin doughnuts if you don't eat the polenta. And at least 10 bites of the lentll-squash soup. And the entire potato-spinach ball.

I've been doing this for a week and so far, I like the results. He ate the spinach ball, and he didn't choke to death. He ate some of the soup, even if he did complain the whole time that it wasn't "plain tomato soup" like he prefers. He ate a great deal of the polenta. And I think this is a good thing. Because something else the nutritionists tell us is that the more you eat something, the more you like it. Which makes sense, right? Otherwise, why do toddlers in other countries loves spices my kid would never touch?

The one advice I do like and will try to continue to follow is that I don't make a second dinner for my son; if he doesn't want the fried rice or the chicken soup or the quinoa, he doesn't eat. He hasn't starved to death and I haven't been acting the part of short-order cook, so those are the positives. There's a lot he does eat and a lot he doesn't and these seem to change week to week and month to month. One thing I am glad I do is keep putting those foods on the table--you never know when (last week) he's going to gobble down a whole plate of asparagus after letting it sit silently for all these years.

So, for the record, that's what we are doing. No second dinners. No dessert if you don't eat dinner. Five more bites of mashed potato. And for this week, he's eating more of his dinner now, which I consider a good thing. But readers, I want to know what you think, too. Am I making a big mistake?

And we all got to eat fresh hot doughnuts tonight after dinner, which I also consider a good thing. In fact, now that the kids are in bed and I don't have to worry about being a good role model, I might have another one. Or two.

And let me know your ideas...what works in your table to get the veggies eaten and the taste buds trained?

The dreaded "C" word - CANCER.  This is not a topic many of us like to talk about but it is right there and closer to us than we want to admit.  Yesterday, I found out that ANOTHER friend of mine's child has cancer.  Yes, I said ANOTHER.  In the past three years I have known three friends who have had their children diagnosed with cancer (leukemia, neuroblastoma, and lymphoma).

As I was laying in bed last night, I was thinking about this and the fear that cancer strikes in my heart when I think of my children.  It is almost like there are these big cancer bombs dropping from the sky hitting the families I know and I am terrified that one of these bombs will strike my house too.  THAT is what none of us speak about.  Yes, I am terrified for the children of my friends.  I pray for them daily, offer their parents support, walk in fundraising walks, and do whatever I can to help but what I don't do is admit how terrified I am this could happen to my children.

Part of me tries to rationalize my fear away with "surely this won't happen to me!".  I lost my Mom to cancer when I was 32 with an 18 month old baby.  My oldest son was born 15 weeks prematurely.  I have already been through the life and death scariness.  Surely this won't happen to me!  This is how I try to rationalize but it doesn't work.  It can happen to me and my kids.  It is scary and it is real.

So today I will pray even harder for Tanner, Aleks and now Cody and their amazing parents.  I will hug my children tighter and do everything I can to help them stay safe.  Most of all I will continue to pray that the cancer wolf stays far away from the door of all those I know and love .

Please help raise awareness for Childhood Cancer.  We have got to find a way to stop this monster from hurting our babies.  For more information and ways you can help, go to http://www.candlelighters.org/

Julie King is mom to two boys and lives in Franklin, Tennessee.  She is the owner of www.consigningtime.com (Consigning Time - THE Place To Find Consignment Sales in Middle Tennessee) as well as a preschool teacher at Bethlehem United Methodist Church in the Grassland area of Franklin.

Raise your hand if you've ever done something like this.

It's time to leave for soccer practice. Your child has disappeared into the recesses of your house. You sigh. And then you loudly call his name to tell him to get a move on already.

Except that you don't actually call his name. You call his brother's name. But he's not even home. So you call his name again. Except that again, you don't actually call his name.  You call your own brother's name. Clearly he's not here. You try again. You call your husband's name.

Finally, finally, you get your own son's name right. He slouches into the room and rolls his eyes at you.

"Gosh, Mom, I'm only your SON, and you can't even remember MY NAME," he huffs.

Guilty. If I weren't typing, I'd have my own hand in the air.

I swore I would never do this to my own kids. You see, as a child, I was the one rolling my eyes while my dad ran through a roster of names before he got to my mine.

"Judi!"

(That's my mom.)

"I mean, John!"

(That's my brother.)

"Beverly?"

(My cousin.)

"Jessie!"

(The dog.)

But just so you don't misunderstand, this wasn't a peculiar habit of my dad. My mom was guilty of it, too. She'd sometimes say, "John, I mean, Johnny, I mean, Jennifer" when trying to talk to me. My grandparents occasionally ran through my dad's name, my uncle's name, and my name before they'd get to my brother's name when they were originally speaking to my brother all along.

Yes, this is one of those things that I swore I'd never do when I became a parent...and yet, I find myself doing it more often than I'd like to admit. I never thought I'd drive a minivan either. Or say "Because I said so." Or eat so much macaroni and cheese.

So, yeah, every so often, usually when I have a bunch of other things on my mind, I call my younger son by my older son's name. I occasionally call my older son by my brother's name. My husband does it, too, only, of course, he substitutes his brother's name for my brother's name.

However, at least we have never called either of our children by the dog's name.

Only because we don't have a dog.

I remember my Grandma's kitchen. I remember the batter dripping off the spoon. I remember when I was first allowed to lick it off and thinking I was the luckiest person in the whole world. I don't remember what it was--brownies? chocolate cake? cookies? Does it even matter? It was delicious!

Today, I cook with my son. He has been counting down the days until Halloween since about July. He might be the only kid in the country who was cheering for the end of summer. "When does fall start?" he would ask me every morning in August. His three-year-old mind doesn't quite have a grasp on the difference between days, weeks, months, and seasons, but he does know this: fall comes after summer and Halloween is in the fall. And he gets to dress up on Halloween. So he kept asking the question.

Personally, I loved the question. Fall is my favorite season; it always has been and always will be. I get to put on warm boots, wear sweats, drink hot chocolate, and light a fire. I have so many memories of the fall and am so excited to be passing them along to another generation.

And now, as we get ready for my son's Halloween party, he asks with a smile if he can try the gooey chocolate batter even before we bake the cookies. I can tell he expects me to say no. When I say yes, his eyes light up with the happiness of having won the lottery. When I hand him the beater to lick, he almost can't believe his luck. And for the next ten minutes, he enjoys the sugary gooeyness while I line the cookie sheet with drops of our homemade batter.

I look outside at the wind rustling the almost-orange leave of the trees. I look back at my son's chocolate-covered face. In a moment, I can see the leaves at my Grandmother's house and the bowl of chocolate in her kitchen. The breeze picks up outside and I can almost see the leaves again, at another time, and is that my son, my 3-year-old, with his own son or maybe a granddaughter? But then he asks for more and the moment is gone.

But I know just as sure as the next generation of trees will drop their leaves that the next generation of kids will drop some batter on the floor as they lick the spoons. And if I can pass along nothing else, I think that will be perfect.

My five-year-old son is learning to read.

So as you might guess, our lives have been very calm, joyful and serene right now, with absolutely no drama whatsoever.

Bwahahahahahahahaha! It's a good thing that lightning didn't strike me just now.

Okay, so the whole learning-to-read business is fraught with drama. The screaming. The crying. The moaning. The flinging down of books.

My son's not having much fun, either.

I never thought I'd actually have to teach my child to read. I know how ridiculous that sounds, but I was an early reader. In fact, I don't even remember not knowing how to read. I was all over "Little House in the Big Woods" and "B is for Betsy" before I even started the first grade.

I just assumed my son would be an early reader, too. I guess I just naively assumed he'd just...pick it up somehow. My belief was bolstered by the fact that he started picking out random words on signs and remembering them. Zoo. Stop. McDonalds. Sweet CeCes.

But here we are. He's five, he's a month into kindergarten, and I'm getting notes home in his school folder letting me know that they're going to start testing (!) the kids on basic words now. So we're working on sight words. I gamely picked up a stack of Stage 1 readers at Target and Books-a-Million, and I even broke down and bought flashcards.

A week ago, I would have probably started to cry if you'd ask me how the reading was going. But through the magic of persistence and a Sesame Street-themed Stage 1 reader called "I Can Do It," I'm seeing some major progress.

After a few frustrating days, my son is now powering through that Sesame Street book, and he's even doing really well with the flashcards. We also suspect that he can actually read more words than he's letting on. He's had this attitude that if he can't read something really ambitious, he's not really reading. In other words, his mindset has been: any of the Harry Potter books=reading, but parts of "Splat the Cat"=not really reading.

Okay, and I admit to some bribery. I give him a dollar every Thursday if he works on his reading for 15 minutes each day. He has to pay for those Hero Factory toys somehow, right? But it works. It is working.

But today, my son came home and announced that he successfully passed the test for the first set of five sight words. It's a small start, but it's definitely progress.

On to the second set of sight words! And hopefully, a little less drama.

If your kids are like mine, they can fight about pretty much anything. This intense desire to own the rights to everything in the universe is one of the special gifts of childhood; it goes right along with skipping or jumping on trampolines without fear of wetting your pants.

In our family, there's a coveted seat in the van. Two of our kids used to fight over the aforementioned seat every single day of their tiny little lives, so I developed a system for keeping up with turns: the first-born gets the seat on odd-numbered dates, the second-born gets the seat on even-numbered dates. Do you see how I've eliminated the whole issue of remembering who sat where yesterday? It's beautiful.

On the months with 31 days, whatever you do, don't let the second-born trick you into believing it's unfair that the other kid gets the seat for two days in a row. Just say something like, "It's good for you to sit in the back twice in a row. It makes you stronger." You know, something authoritative like that.

If your kids fight over something else, a seat at the dinner table, first rights to screen time, you name it, give this system a go. If you've got more than two kids fighting over it, good luck with that. I've got nothing but love for you.

Do you have a system that works for you? We'd all love to know!

If I have a parenting philosophy, it would be the following: never do anything for your kids they can do for themselves. Like all good rules, this one is made to be broken at appropriate times. But it is definitely the rule I try to live by.

Of course, it has some considerable downsides. A few things come to mind: the time my son came upstairs the first time we let him downstairs by himself and said "PARENTS, there is HOT SAUCE all over the house." (I'm not sure where he got it, but he calls us "Parents" usually when he's done something wrong or really needs some attention. This was an example of both, I suppose.)  Going downstairs to investigate, we found that, indeed, he had poured hot sauce all over the kitchen floor. Another example: letting him pour the ingredients for the cookie dough all by himself. That was messy. I can count a lot of other things: broken cups, marker on the table, the expression on my in-laws face when they see that, at 2, he was allowed to use his own butter knife to spread his favorite ingredient (jam) on his second favorite ingredient (Loveless Cafe biscuits). Certainly this philsophy has made for a messy few years.

Letting kids do things for themselves also takes 10 times as long. Waiting for him to put on his shoes, for example, usually means I could have read an entire book in the time it takes us to leave the house. I also wait for him to open his car door, climb in, and put his five-point harness on. It seems to take forever, and sometimes, I have to bite my lip, reminding myself not to tell him to hurry up, that if he could go faster, it would mean he was growing up, and really, I don't want THAT part to hurry up.

But there are a few highlights, and yesterday was one of my favorites. I was in the kitchen making dinner.  My boys were in the family room, the baby on his mat, the 3-year-old playing nearby. My 3yo came into the kitchen and said, with urgency, "Mom! I need a spit-up rag!" I gave him a rag, and he went back in to the family room and starting wiping the carpet. "BABY," he said in a fairly exasperated voice, "this is why I need you to NOT spit up on the carpet!" He finished cleaning it up and gave me back the rag.

And so I am about to raise another one, just as messy, starting with the spit up and moving on in a few years to the hot sauce. But at least I know that I'm not only teaching them to make messes (which, hey, is an important part of the creative process anyway right?), I'm also teaching them to clean up.

If you have five minutes and three dollars, I've got the game for you: Multiplication War.

This game really does make practicing multiplication more fun. Even younger children can play. Let the little ones be on mommy's team; whisper the answer in their ear and let them shout it out. Most kids like to shout.

Maybe your older kids are like mine and see right through your strategy. That's when I pull out my trusty hidden cylinder of Mini M&M's and offer one M&M for each correct answer. That usually gets everyone on board. If not, I just say something like, "I think you're misunderstanding me. I'm not asking you to play; I'm telling you we're going to play. Have a seat. I know you're thankful to have a mother who cares about you so much that she makes you practice math. You're welcome."

I can tell they secretly appreciate my humor.

How do you make summer math practice fun?

It's mid-July, and I've already started shopping for school.

There are two major reasons for this. First, my son is starting kindergarten in about three weeks, and I'm working out my residual anxiety about this Major Milestone by preparing all the physical accoutrements that will be necessary. His school publishes a list of very specific supplies needed for each grade, and I, of course, have started fretting about making sure we are able to find all of those very specific items. I tend to find myself worrying about whether I have actually purchased the correct type of gluestick, since I have to buy two dozen of them.

The second reason is...well, okay, I'll admit it. I adore new school supplies. I love a box of perfect new crayons, their tips unsullied from scribbling. I love fresh new notebooks full of smooth white paper. I love shiny new scissors and bottles of glue that aren't all tacky from leftover glue leaking down the sides. I love new lunchboxes that don't bear any stains from old peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and I love new ballpoint pens with no teethmarks on the caps.

I love it all. I loved buying new school supplies as a kid, and I'm enjoying it just as much now that I'm a parent.

While I was cruising the back-to-school aisle at Target recently, I discovered something really interesting: they're selling Trapper Keepers again. Remember those? Those big clunky binders with a cover that velcroed shut and took up all the room in your already overstuffed backpack? My favorite one featured a photograph of a hot air balloon. I think I was in the fourth or fifth grade when I had that one. I adored it. It really wasn't very useful, as we were supposed to use different colored paper folders with the brads in the center for most subjects. But oh, it was cool. Everyone had one--or at least wanted one.

The Trapper Keeper at Target now isn't nearly as cool. For one thing, I'm thirtymumblesomething now. Also, it's made out of a weird fabric that seems to be a hybrid of canvas and vinyl. And there are no pictures on the cover; the modern-day TKs only seem to come in solid colors like aqua, magenta and green. But worst of all, there is no velcro closure. How else is a student going to call attention to the fact that she's getting out her Trapper Keeper to show off if there's no ripppppping noise from opening the velcro?

Ah well. My son will never know the appeal of the Trapper Keeper, but I'm sure something else will come along to take its place in the hearts and minds of students in his generation.

Halloween Costume? Check.  Winter Coat? Check.  Snow Boats? Check.  Yes, as odd as it seems these will be just a few of the items on my list this July...

This school year was so busy, we didn't have time to emphasize handwriting. The boys did complete their Handwriting Without Tears workbooks, but requiring them to start writing in cursive full-time was too much. Their little brains were already working overtime.

Now that it's summer, we finally have time to make this move. Handwriting practice is a perfect table activity for summer. It's simple and easy. All you need is a pencil and paper. You can use workbooks or simply have the children copy passages from their favorite books. (This also helps them learn spelling, grammar, and sentence structure.)

To help our oldest son transition to full-time cursive, we're using this delightful book, Handwriting by George: Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior. The text is in print, and Sam translates it into cursive. There's also a page to the left where your child can draw a picture to go with the rule.

We think it's fun to learn 18th century etiquette, while we're at it. Here's an example of what George Washington's mother would've taught him:

"Put not off your clothes in the presence of others, nor go out of your chambers half dressed."

Of course, to illustrate this rule, my child drew a picture of a man screaming at another man, "You just got mooned!"

His handwriting is improving. His civility and decent behavior? All in due time. We hope.