While there are a lot of ways to raise children, there are a few parental qualities that I see repeatedly held up as ‘ideal’. Mainly, in an ideal situation, a parent will have high expectations of their children, while also showing them ample warmth and love. A parent will set and maintain appropriate limits. A…
My husband and I are coming up to our twelfth anniversary. In terms of marriage length, it still feels like we are babies. My parents have been married for nearly 40 and my grandparents for decades more than that. I hope, though, that babies-in-marriage though we are, we are babies who aim to building something:…
Sometimes you leave someone else’s house and you know that they have something special. They’ve created a home where a visitor is never an inconvenience, where the mess your kids make is never any trouble, where you feel welcome, comfortable, and able to let down your guard. You sense the hospitality and friendship. It is…
Some times I read something that is so significant I text a picture of it to my husband, so that he can read it, too. This summer, I am reading through Charlotte Mason’s third and fourth volumes, starting with School Education. The first two chapters are on docility and authority, and Miss Mason sets up Queen Elizabeth…
How many ways can you manage sibling conflict? My kids are very young – nearly 3 and 1.5 years old. Both of them occasionally bite the other (for no apparent reason). The older quite likes to push the younger down (for no apparent reason). I see them both snatch toys, pull hair, and do everything…
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…
Even with an incredible four weeks visiting my home state of Indiana, I still find it tough to see all the people I want to see in that amount of time. Weekends go too quickly and Carl has limited time to take off work. Plus, I’m reluctant to have the boys in the car too often….
[sc name=”Disclosure” ] I don’t know about you, but I have spent a fair amount of time envisioning what my boys will be like when they are older. Who they will look like, how tall they will be, their interests and hobbies, and, in particular, their relationship with one another. They are sixteen months apart…
[sc name=”Disclosure”] Being a mom to two little boys has definitely brought out the worst in me. One moment everything is fine, and the next I am harried, overwhelmed, covered in food and taking my frustration out on my kids. I’m just not being the parent that I want to be: calm, in control of the…