Preschool

“Mommy, read.” As annoying as these words are to hear at bedtime some nights when we’ve already read four books, I still love them deep down. I love that I’m raising a reader. I’ve been reading to my daughter since she was a newborn. Don’t get ahead here and think I’m one of “those moms” that had reading all planned out, doesn’t let her get do screen time, etc. I’d bet money my daughter gets more screen time than your kid. No, I didn’t intend to be a reading mom. One of my great friends teaches elementary school. She told me a few weeks after having my daughter to start reading to her, even if it was just news articles. So, I started...

Kids really are amazing. They are so observant of the world around them and, of course, are excellent mimics. We’ve all heard tales of little ones repeating stories or words that they shouldn’t be saying. They are also great at mimicking our behavior. I’ve read the best way to teach a child to eat with utensils is to have her sit with you at the table and observe you. The same thing goes for chores, cleaning and other household tasks. Our kids really are watching what we do and are mirroring our behavior back to us. Organic Chores The first task my son ever did was to pick up the dog bowls. He watched us pick up the dog bowls every...

Cue the Christmas music and hang up your stockings, it is finally Christmas time y’all! With only weeks away from Santa’s arrival, we wanted to do something to inspire you to keep the little ones occupied. So, we bring you “12 Days of Christmas Crafts.” Much like the popular Christmas song, we will give to you a new Christmas craft idea for 12 consecutive days. The posts will include everything you need to know from ingredients to instructions to little tips. Let’s get right into it! On the first day of Christmas, Red Stick Mom gave to me … Contact Paper Christmas Tree. This activity is perfect for repeated pretend play and for color recognition for those younger ones at home....

I never imagined I’d be the mom with the “bad” kid. I remember those kids in my classes growing up. I could still tell you their names. They were usually boys that loved being the class clown, always acting out and vying for attention in some way. As a kid, I never gave much thought about their reasons for acting the way they did. Surely their parents just didn’t care or weren’t giving them the necessary attention at home. Now I can say with full confidence that I was entirely wrong because (GULP) that parent is me. It’s an extremely hard pill to swallow being a bit of a perfectionist myself. I remember being pretty good about following the rules...

As we prepared our now three year old for her first days in pre-K3, I would play Daniel Tiger’s song “Grown-Ups Come Back” on repeat. We hadn’t spent enough time in church nurseries or MDO programs for her to really grasp the concept of getting dropped off anywhere without us.  It goes like this: Even when we go away Grown-ups come back Will you pick me up when I go to school? Yep, at the end of day because that's the rule Grown-ups come back Grown-ups come back to you Grown-ups come back they do Grown-ups come back I’ll never forget her first day and how incredibly bizarre it felt to join a carpool line for my own child. We played the song over and over as I made...