Parenting is not rocket science, but this is one not-technical mama's experiment in raising curious, adventuresome explorers.
The other day, while playing in the backyard, Eddie got ahold of the hand-held skimmer net and was having a blast with it, filling it up with leaves and sticks, swishing it through the air with dramatic sound effects, etc. When I explained it was actually a tool, served a purpose, and therefore he could …
Am I the only one who gets tired of playing? Just writing the sentence, seeing it in black and white, it sounds completely ridiculous! Play is fun; it's the definition of having a good time, engaging in pleasant, entertaining activities. It's play! Obviously, what I'm talking about is playing on my kid's terms, joining in …
From IKEA purchases to a brand new recipe to business protocol, there are times when following the directions is a must, right? But where is the art in coloring inside the lines all the time? In the interest of STEM turned STEAM (that's Science Technology Engineering Art/Design Mathematics), let's talk about learning to follow directions …
"Where math, science, and creativity meet." So says the website. When we were first gifted a starter set of Magna-Tiles, I was a little miffed. We had a few good systems of toys going and small house, so we didn't need any extraneous toys. I found building with them challenging. My creations tend to fall …
Here's how we partied it up New Year's Eve: Home Depot run. (Relax, we went to McDonald's afterword. Wait, that's not a New Year's Eve hotspot either?!) I have a love-hate relationship with big-box, do-it-yourself stores. Really, it's more hate than love, but for the sake of an interesting read, let's put on our rose-colored, …
I've spent the last few days at a extravagantly lovely resort in Central Florida. Not because I found myself in need of warmer weather, but accompanying my rocket-scientist husband to a large technology conference: SciTech. This isn't my first rodeo. We married when my husband was in grad school, and literally came back from our …
We happen to live very close to the location of a national treasure New Year tradition: the Pasadena Rose Parade. I know, lucky ducks! The parade began years ago, 1890 in fact, in celebration of Southern California's beautiful weather. While much of the country is often buried under a blanket of snow (and we're all …
Family holiday traditions are the best. Anytime you hear yourself or others saying "we always..." you know you've got a tradition. Because really, we always eat shrimp or we always woke Mom and Dad up at 5 am or we always went to some location, actually means you did it, not every day of every year, or even every year at a …
It makes sense to give kids lots of free time and space to let their creativity blossom. Right on. There is altogether too much structure in kids' lives these days: music classes, sports teams, play dates, school. We love academics and extra-curricular activities and somehow our success-driven, measurable-achievement-craving society tells us our kids will be …
Launching Rocket Babies 