A rite of passage for American children is a sleepover. A sleepover is where a guest or guests are invited to stay overnight at the home of a friend. My six-year-old daughter will have her first sleepover this month.
Few words strike more fear into the heart of a parent than these: “Can I have a sleepover?” Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, wrote about her strict rules which included denying her children the experience of attending a sleepover. Her viewpoint was that nothing good could come from attending a sleepover.
So what’s the big deal about sleepovers, anyhow? Sleepovers are big events for children – a time to feel grown up, to delight in special alone time with a friend, to joke around and share laughs with friends until they cry! Read more…
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J Patrick Lewis once said, “Great poetry is a circus for the brain. It’s ten pounds of excitement in a nine-pound bag.”
When my mother came for a visit this past August she put my older daughter to bed by reading her poetry. I climbed into bed with them, closed my eyes and listened to my mother’s voice as she read some of her favorite poetry to my daughter. The cadence of her voice was so soothing, it brought my daughter and me such pleasure. I will cherish the memory of the three of us all snuggled up on my bed reading classic poetry.
Since that night in August part of my older daughter’s bedtime routine is for her to read a few poems to my husband or me before we read her a chapter from whatever chapter book we are reading at the time. Hearing her read quality literature is one of my proudest moments of being a parent.
Poetry is for everyone, for every mood — for parents to read to children, for children to read aloud. Reading to your children may be the single, most important contribution that we, as parents, can make toward our children’s success in school.
Poetry is a means of self-expression. Poetry appeals and matters to children because they can find or write a poem about any subject that appeals and matters to them. Read more…
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In America, we have the expression “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” The definition of the idiom is that people cannot be hurt by unpleasant things that are said to them. Is that true? A physical attack may injure a person but a verbal attack cannot? I don’t believe that at all.
Language skills are an important part of your child’s development. As babies, they listen to the way we speak and the tones of our voices. Our children’s language exploration grows at a rapid pace. They are not only learning words and sentence structure, they are learning the power of language on those around them. Read more…
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Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I live on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. I am from Oxford, Pennsylvania (USA).
What language(s) do you speak?
I speak English and am currently learning Spanish as a second language. In college I minored in Japanese but I can barely speak a lick of it anymore.
When did you first become a mother?
I had my first child in June of 2005. I had my second child in September of 2008.
Are you a stay-at-home mom or do you work? Read more…
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When I was younger I always envisioned myself with a large family. I thought for sure I’d be a mother of four. When my husband and I talked about starting a family, he seemed to dream about a large family, too. I am currently a mother of two little girls, ages 6 and 2.
A friend of mine asked me when my youngest daughter was only six months old if we’d be adding a third to our little family. I brushed the question off with, how could I possibly think of another baby when I was just pregnant 6 months ago?!
You know what it’s like, if you are dating someone everyone always asks you “when are you going to get married?” Then, when you get married they ask “when are you going to have a baby?” After you have a few kids, “when are you going to have another baby?” What’s the next round of questions after that?
Which brings me to my next question… when do you know you are done having children? Read more…
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My parents threw me one birthday party when I was around 4 years old. I don’t remember much from the party except that it was an exceptionally sunny and cheery day. I remember running around outside with my friends, and that is about it. I am certain there was a cake and gifts.
I don’t think we played any games, and there certainly weren’t any party favors. Were there balloons? Maybe… Streamers? Doubt it. I am the youngest of three children, born in the mid 70′s, so I am betting my mom kept things fairly simple.
I just survived planning and executing my oldest daughter’s 6th birthday party. It took me one full month to put the whole bash together. I had big plans for her this year, big plans. You see, last year for her 5th party I really tried to knock it out of the park. Read more…
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A rite of passage for American children is a sleepover. A sleepover is where a guest or guests are invited to stay overnight at the home of a friend. My six-year-old daughter will have her first sleepover this month.
