In a week or two, tens of thousands of school children all across the Greater Baton Rouge area will hop on yellow school buses while carrying new backpacks filled with freshly sharpened pencils and unused notebooks. I have two school-aged children, but they will not be among those fresh faces waiting to meet their new teachers. No, my children are not going back to school in the traditional sense. We homeschool.
Some homeschoolers strictly follow the public school’s calendar and live by a curriculum. Others completely do their own thing, schooling on evenings and weekends and ignoring the official start and end of the school year with little to no formal curriculum. We tend to fall somewhere in the middle...
It's no secret that the Baton Rouge school system is...well....complicated. Parents of "typical" kids often struggle with the decision about whether to send their kids to public, private, magnet, charter, or home school. When your kid has special needs, there is a whole other layer of complexity added to this already complex space. And if you are anything like me, you sometimes doubt whether or not you know what the actual "right" decision is. This year since the kiddo is turning 4, our big "are we making the best decision?" dilemma has been preschool.
I have a saying about our lives raising a special needs kid and maybe all parents feel this way: I feel like our lives are like an...
Dear sweet child, as I rock you to sleep I pray for you. As I watch you run and play, I pray for you. As I wipe your tears, I pray for you. When you are with me and away from me, I pray for you. I pray for you everyday. All day. Constantly I am praying for you. I pray for you more than you will ever know. When I pray for you, my words are the same...
I pray you know my love. Always know I love you. I pray that when I wrap my arms around you, you feel safe and secure. I pray that you will never fear when I am around. I pray that you know I...
Computer screens, Netflix, iPads and iPhones. It’s all too much! It’s too much for an adult, much less a small child.
One day, I suggested the kids go outside to play and I was met with whining. “I’m working on my Minecraft World!” “I’m watching Little Mermaid!” “I don’t waaaaant to!”
It’s happened. I tried my best for this day not to come. We haven’t had cable/satellite in our home for 6 years. I thought I was doing the right thing. I didn’t want my children to be screen zombies. We don’t have endless channels on our TV, I boasted. But I allowed them each to have their own computer. (In the family room, with strict filters; of course.) I allowed...
A few years ago, we bought some bell pepper plants. “It’ll be fun for the kids,” we said. We created a circular garden in the side yard for these plants, and we fell. Hard. For suburban homesteading.
Five years later as you look down the row of backyards through the chain link fences on our street, it’s like playing the old Sesame Street segment called, “One of These Things is Not Like the Others.” Those innocent little bell peppers that we planted for fun led to raised cinder-block beds, several fruit trees, a compost, a bee feeder, and a portable chicken tractor complete with four lovely laying ladies. Our yard sticks out amongst the beautifully manicured lawns complete with yappy...
Around Baton Rouge
BellyFire Pottery :: A Hands-on Bachelorette Party
BellyFire Pottery :: A Hands-on Bachelorette Party
When we were looking for somewhere to host a small intimate bachelorette party, we stumbled upon BellyFire Pottery...
