I’ve always thought it would be nice to really celebrate Sunday like a “sabbath”— not just with Church or a break from school or work, but like a true holiday. After the birth of our first child, I realized that this was not simply an intriguing idea; it was something we actually needed. A sabbath […]
Why We Don’t (Always) Do Family Dinners
We don’t usually eat dinner together as a family. This is not a decision we formally came to, but more of a gradual shift that we first resisted and then finally accepted. The dining room is still the center of our house, surrounded by our prettiest artwork and covered with candles. We have one of […]
My Favorite Children’s Picture Books
“Read to your kids,” parents are told over and over again. Choosing books in favor of T.V. or other sorts of entertainment is surely a no-brainer. But does it matter what you read to them? With all the reading campaigning that goes on, it would seem like any combination of words and pictures bound together […]
Homeschooling Preschool
Our oldest child is only 4.5 so we certainly don’t have a lot of homeschooling experience. But since I’m about to have a “homeschooled preschool” graduate, I thought I would share our general plan for these early years: When in doubt, do less (in terms of academics.) Every year since my oldest was a baby I’ve had […]
The Third Child
I’ve only been a mother to a third child for six weeks (well, technically about eleven months,) but I’ve long known about the stereotype of the third child. Really, it’s the stereotype of any subsequent child— that parents kind of care about each one less and less. Or at least, that each one receives less […]
Why My Kids Aren’t Going To School Today
I haven’t written on homeschooling before—mainly because my kids are so young that I don’t have a lot of formal homeschooling experience, but also because the choice on how to school children can be such a divisive, delicate issue. Nevertheless, as our oldest approaches four years old, we have rightfully been getting asked more and […]
