Online access to grades – yay or nay?

The ability to check my children's grades online and the weekly emails from their teachers have made me feel like an enabler and contributed to the possibility of me being helicopter-ish. It's true. I like the "real-time" check on how my children are doing, and that I am "in the know" on what they are … Continue reading Online access to grades – yay or nay?

Update: Everyone is a winner.

After cleaning my 12-year old's room, I found this pile of medals outside the door. "What are these doing here?" I asked him. "I don't want them anymore," he replied. "You don't want any of these? Why not?" "There's too many..." This is exactly what I was talking about in this post. By awarding him … Continue reading Update: Everyone is a winner.

Hiring help is not a “tip” for getting it all done

In the past two weeks I’ve read two articles with headlines something like “Tips For Getting It All Done and Being in Bed by 9” and “Productivity Hacks for Moms.” These articles promote spending quality time with their children, while carving out time to exercise, fix healthy meals and get eight hours of sleep. Great! … Continue reading Hiring help is not a “tip” for getting it all done

Everyone is a winner

I didn’t see James Harrison's Instagram post about his kids getting trophies “just for participating.” But I guess it ignited a bit of a fire about everything from parenting practices, youth sports issues and the problem of overparenting. “Participation trophies” are trophies or medals given to children in a sport or activity. They didn’t win … Continue reading Everyone is a winner

Moms who work: no more guilt

I always feel guilty for working outside the home, but the summer guilt is especially harsh. I feel like my two boys don't get to have a "real" summer...sleeping in, pool days, doing whatever you want, whenever you want... I've written about it before, but this year seems even worse. My 12-year-old has "aged out" … Continue reading Moms who work: no more guilt