Last Friday was Anna’s last day of preschool. She went to school with her trademark “cute” smile, her hair swept into a ponytail, and her siblings sent her off with a chorus of complaints, “WHAT!?! Her school is over? And we have two more weeks? NOT FAIR!!!” These kids! There’s nothing like your 10-year-old comparing
This week the kids had a day off school in the middle of the week, and I decided to throw them all in the van and haul them to a playground like I used to when they were little. There’s a nearby private school that just revamped their equipment, and I wanted to let the
MOD Pizza, Starbucks, Richmond Lager, Surge Adventure Park. Know what they all have in common? They all have Anna’s letter — the letter A. I know this because Anna shouts enthusiastically whenever she sees her letter. “MOM! GUESS WHAT I SEE!” she shouts from the back seat, straining against her straps to make her point.
We celebrated Holy Week and Easter weekend by being very, very busy. That always happens, though, doesn’t it? If normal weeks are busy then holiday weeks will feel extra busy. I feel a temptation to chastise myself, “I’m doing this wrong. We need to slow down, simplify, take in the season.” But I also know
We just finished up a spectacularly glorious week of spring break in which we did absolutely nothing. When the kids went back to school on Monday I realized, to my horror, that I must have even skipped a day or two of laundry. Laundry math is like kid sleep math; it doesn’t make any sense
For a few weeks Mary has been getting Anna amped for the annual Father-Daughter Dance. I could see a sort of glazed-over look in Anna’s eyes whenever Mary talked about it. Fancy dresses? Cupcakes? And dad will be there? Dancing? What? The problem was that, in her excitement, Mary would start her explanation in the
At the beginning of the month the Krieger family skipped town for an incredible trip to Universal Studios in Orlando. This trip was the perfect late-winter getaway — a mix of sunshine, butter beer, and cousins. We saw dinosaurs, ate hot pretzels, and walked an average of 10 miles a day. By bedtime the kids
Are there things your family routinely does that sometimes make you wonder, “How did we get here?” Maybe it’s a sleeping situation, a treat when you go through the drive-thru, going through the drive-thru — things that, once upon a time, you couldn’t even fathom doing. But now they are part of your daily life. There was
Last night Mary and I had a mommy-daughter dinner date. I often hear about the value of one-on-one time with kids, especially for kids in large families, but our family almost never does that sort of thing. Honestly? Between me and you? WHO HAS TIME? (Especially in large families!) But, as expected, dinner was really
Around this time of year, it seems from my end of things, kindergarten really picks up. The phonetic spelling kicks into high gear, and these little learn to read books show up in their book bags. The books are simple, repetitive, and short. It’s straightforward enough — sight words are repetition. They’ve got all the