Today, my little girl turns ten. I’ve only had five years with her and feel like I have been cheated in many ways. When she came to us she was scared, violent and very sad to have left the foster home she had believed would be her forever home. We have come a long way [...]
Giving kids instructions and having them actual followed can be a huge challenge. It’s an even bigger challenge when you have leftover attachment issues and defiance-against-mom issues coming from a 10 year old boy. We have always searched for ways to give instructions without actually talking. Lists, cards with pictures of chores–we’ve tried many things [...]
I’ve been to nine home school conferences in the last 8 years. One of the speakers I have enjoyed very much is Carol Barnier. Her energy and humor are catching and she has a handle on moms like me and kids like my kids. In a word–imperfect. In a recent article in The Old School [...]
My children like to read a magazine called Muse. Honestly, I love this magazine too–although I don’t always agree with their perspective. There are fascinating stories of scientific discoveries and interesting tidbits about history. It is the type of publication you sit down to read and an hour later you look up with a start, [...]
Today I was playing a duet with my ten year old son at his piano lesson. My part was unusually high but not loud. Both he and his sister covered their ears at one point because the pitch of the sound was shrill enough to bother their ears! My ears were not bothered at all! [...]