I am a former public school teacher. I'm also a homeschooling parent. During this school year, I taught as a long term substitute in a local public high school, homeschooled a middle schooler, and substitute taught in a variety of classrooms, including elementary-aged special needs students. My point here is that I do a lot … Continue reading So You’ve Been Forced to Homeschool: 5 Ways to Survive COVID-19 School Closings
This is a continuation of my last post where I presented the concept that our teenagers are overwhelmed with information inputs and don’t really know that to do with that feeling. Teenagers are almost paralyzed with their fear of failure. As a preview, here are a few words my sociology class of juniors and seniors … Continue reading I Spent Two Months Teaching High School and All Our Teenagers are Broken: Part 2
A long time ago, in a different version of myself, I was a high school history teacher. I taught a host of social studies subjects, including every iteration of World History possible. I quit teaching when the combination of children/pay/allowable sick leave failed to provide me with a sustainable job. Recently, however, I had the … Continue reading I Spent Two Months Teaching High School and All Our Teenagers are Broken: Part 1
I like my kids, most of the time. Sure, they can create challenges; like the time one of them lay down on the ground in the security line at LAX because the TSA agents DIDN'T ask him to take off his shoes. Or the kid who licked a bathroom wall in a public outdoor restroom … Continue reading I Think My Kids Might Suck
Mother's Day was this past Sunday and I had an absolutely lovely day. My daughter helped my husband make turkey bacon for breakfast. We went to church. I got to sit alone and watch TV while my family picked up lunch AND dessert from Whole Foods. They had gifts and cards and flowers and we … Continue reading The Invisible Mom: Mother’s Day Aftermath
This week I said the phrase "If you kick that guitar one more time I'm going to take away your shoes AND your monkey!!" I said this because my minivan broke down and the Honda dealership very kindly gave me an Accord to drive in the meantime. It was a bit smaller than my Odyssey … Continue reading The Language of Motherhood
Dear Char-Gri-Ha-DANGIT! I guess I should start with saying that I'm sorry that I never call you by your actual name. I usually just shout out random syllables until I give up and yell at you to stop whatever it is that you're doing. To be fair, I call your siblings a bunch of random … Continue reading Dear Char-Gri-Ha-YOU!: An apology letter to my 4th kid
“Mommy, why do all those kids have brown skin?” I got this question from my 10-year-old when we were pulling up to a field trip at the Georgia Aquarium recently and my first reaction was just confusion. What in the world was she talking about? Then I realized that she was looking at a class … Continue reading Why do All Those Kids Have Brown Skin?: Hard Questions from My Kids
Write Your Own House RulesI love back-to-school preparations. I love the anticipation and the nervousness. I even love the smell of a school building and the heat from the laminating machine. I just love school. As the daughter of teachers, a former student, a teacher in my own right, and now the parent of school-aged … Continue reading Best Mom Tip #193: Set House Rules
This tip is about 15 years too late for me. I have a Bachelor's of Business Administration in Economics and a Master's of Education in Social Studies. It seemed at the time as though these degrees would provide me with a stable income as a teacher and the ability to manage what money I actually … Continue reading Best Mom Tip #169: Major in something useful