Danielle Bean has set up an account to help Amy and her family during this difficult time. If you feel so inclined, please visit Danielle’s website and make a donation. In addition, an update from Amy’s website as to how you can help: Many thanks for all of the prayers and notes. It is overwhelming. Many have asked what they can do of a material or concrete nature. All I can say is to simply buy his books. Not from... Read more

I am sick to my stomach after visiting Amy’s blog and reading about the very sudden death of her husband. Please pray for their family during this very difficult time. Read more

Here is something to read if you can wrestle your kid away from Starlight, thanks AWOL, we have been using it all morning. Does anyone have a website recommendation for free math drills? I’m a big nerd, but I used to love Math Shop when I was a kid, and PT could use some multiplication practice. Read more

Mondays are Mondays. It is your first day back in the trenches with Daddy back at work – you expect this, you get through it. For me, Tuesday is often more of a slump. So, to you, I pass on this website. It is, dare I say it?… better than PBS Kids. You will love it, it is reading-prep, reading, all of it. Great for a 3-5 year old while you struggle to cut veggies for dinner at 1630. Be... Read more

So, I have a 4 and a 1 year old, and a small dilemma regarding the big sister’s “need” for privacy. I am sure this is an issue we will revisit on this blog with greater seriousness in ten years, however, I am currently wondering about the validity of a child requesting privacy.You know what I mean, she is hard at 4-yr.-0ld-work in her room — creating a My Little Pony corral or something — and in saunters her, newly... Read more

Last night I was preparing dinner and juggling the “crazies” of the evening hour–whiny children, a play doh extravaganza on the dinner table, food prep in full effect, a famished dog needing to be fed and watered. It was shaping up to be like many of the 5pm’s of days past. But then in the middle of it all, amidst the chaos and confusion, we all heard the same thing and stopped. It was a baby giggle coming from the... Read more

This is Dh’s last week of paternity leave, and I have decided to ease the transition by pretending, during the day, that he is not actually here. This has meant two days of “real” school work while he does errands or other work around the house in the mornings. I am doing this trial run because Tex wrote that she needs to be aware of her “ups and downs.” and set herself up for success. I followed her advice and... Read more

Could someone please explain to me why books have dust jackets? Are they, as the name implies, to keep dust off of the books? Or to make books look pretty? I just don’t know what to do with the dust jackets. If I leave them on, they get torn and I feel badly, but now I have a stash of dust jackets and I have no idea what to do with them. Should I keep them? I am very clutter-phobic,... Read more