Positive Parenting

My Favorite Thing… in my Dining Room

I am making my second stop in my Friday series (Favorite Thing In My Home…) in my dining room. I went in there to take a look around, stand in appreciation of what I have, and pick the one thing I treasure most about this room of my house. But first, I had to do a little straightening. Because truly, folks, there are a million and one blogs out there showing perfectly amazing women doing amazing crafts and everything always turns out perfectly. And looks beautiful. And if there is one thing I know, it’s that my blog ain’t that

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Breathe.

I just came across a collection of poems I had written several years ago, when my kids were babies. This poem is about those intense moments, especially in the earlier years, when you feel that you are spending everything you have, and digging very deeply to find enough energy and time, to care for your kids. I remember those times much more fondly now that they are few and far between. Actually, I miss them. But I still can have moments where I am overwhelmed at everything I need to do, and how important a job it is, being a

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Kids on the edge of a cliff

On our recent visit up *north* (meaning, Virginia) my parents took us on an awesome hike along the Potomac River, a trail called the Billy Goat Trail. I had psyched myself up for days before this trip, knowing it would be the first time my kids would be hiking on big rocks, at relatively dangerous elevations, and I knew it would be a big lesson in trust for me. Of course the kids were amazing. They just loved it, and they were strong hikers, climbing and exploring and using common sense, hydrating often, sensing which rocks they were comfortable climbing

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A can of paint for the kids

A new, huge, wall filled with chalkboard paint. I’m saying it is for the kids, but it is totally for me. I used to have about 15 different family pictures on the wall cluttering up our main hallway, and as much as I love them, they needed to find a bigger space then a narrow hallway. Time to simplify. I just finished reading Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne… and it really had me thinking. I don’t align with all of it, because I deeply feel that kids are a lot more able to self-regulate then he gives them credit

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My daughter, the artist

I’ve known for quite a long time that my daughter is extremely skilled at drawing. She could draw animals and people with details like facial features and horns and beaks and tails when she was just one and a half years old. I had an acquaintance tell me right to my face that this was impossible at age one, the brain couldn’t handle it. My daughter’s brain can. Simple as that. She is really amazing at art. At 8 years old, she is by several decades the youngest person in a clay class we take together. Her stuff is always

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Photo blocks… crafting something I wish I had crafted for my own kids when they were babies!

In a few weeks, I’ll be traveling up north to visit two of the cutest babies alive, my niece and nephew. What to make them, what to make. I have been thinking lately about photo blocks… wishing I had made those for my kids back when they would have played with blocks… Well, I finally realized that that is what nieces and nephews are for! The next best thing to crafting for your own child! So, in a sudden brainstorm, I decided to combine making photo blocks with this awesome tutorial by MADE for a hobo sack to give them

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