What do we do with our children? Obviously we have to meet their basic needs. Food, water, clean diapers, sleep, shelter. I’d throw ‘secure relationships’ into that list, too. But what about when they aren’t eating, sleeping, or being cleaned? What do we do then? There is a lot of emphasis lately on doing enriching things with…
I like to think that I have an arsenal of songs to sing with my kids. I pull them out when they are tired of being in the car, when we are waiting in line, any time where their patience is running thin and I want to keep the mood light. Of course, they are…
I turned 30 last week. As I approached the end of my twenties, I decided I should have some sort of a bucket list of things to do before the big day arrived. Unfortunately, by the time I made this decision, I only had about six weeks left until my birthday. I had time for…
There have been a few times recently when I have not heard my toddler, N, when he is speaking to me. N is incredibly verbal lately, and like most 2.5 year olds, he babbles and repeats himself a lot, so on some level, I’m simply not expecting him to address me in conversation. My husband has called…
I saw it again: another blog post with an at-home preschool schedule that consisted of a morning of indoor activities. I doubt this mom is forcing her kids to stay inside. I even bet that they spend plenty of time outside. But the outdoors deserves an intentional place in our home preschool planning. Last week, the…
When N was on the way, I started researching home education. (Can you say ‘planner’?) Blogs of home educating parents mesmerized me. I saw home education as an opportunity to have a flexible schedule, to live in any number of countries, and to protect my kids from the ‘carrot and stick’ education that I had growing up…
I mentioned briefly last week that Carl and I took the boys camping for two nights in the Lake District. Before our trip, I spent some time online, looking for a place to take the kids for a day out. When I came across the WildPlay trail at Whinlatter Forest, I thought it looked perfect. As…
After the fiasco of last week’s un-camping trip, our family didn’t have much excitement left for our actual camping trip. Partly, we had had a pretty busy week, but also there wasn’t much to actually prepare. I had done it all the week before! Still, Friday rolled around, I packed the car and the cooler, and we…
Last spring I went for a hike in the Lake District. Towards the end of the hike I stopped to take a few photos and watch some ducks on a river that ran near the trail. As I lingered, I heard a mother call out to her son, ‘Be careful!’. I turned to look and saw…
This is my eighth week of blogging at Around the Thicket. I have just begun to explore some of the topics that fascinate me the most: learning in the early years, sibling relationships, and especially outdoor play. While I have shared a few tricks that make my life easier, I don’t have it all figured out. I want…