I am usually a pretty easy going person without a lot of ill will toward others, but that changed last week. I was ready to strangle the person who decided automatic flushing toilets were a great idea for an elementary school. What child doesn’t love very loud toilets that go off seemingly on a whim? (If this is a new topic to you, you should know that the sensors for automatic toilets in public places are usually set too high to notice children, so the toilet often flushes while a kid sits on it- terrifying!) My first grade daughter, a normally happy, well adjusted kid, was reduced to tears a few times over her absolute refusal to use the bathroom at school. That wasn’t much of a problem when she was a half-day kindergartner, but now she’s at school for 7 hours which is asking a lot of her bladder.  Read the rest of this post...

A few weeks ago, I was making dinner in the kitchen when my daughter came and asked me for a small bowl. Figuring she couldn’t do much damage with a little one, I gave it over to her. She quickly ran to the bathroom, ran the water briefly, then came out- no bowl in sight. I wondered what she was up to. Then she ran out in the backyard, went into a flower bed, then went back to the bathroom. After a few more trips to the backyard, I was pretty curious so I followed her into the bathroom. On the counter was a small bowl of water filled with honeysuckle, phlox and geranium petals. When I asked what she was doing, she proudly stated “I’m making perfume!”  Read the rest of this post...

We live just a few blocks away from my daughter’s elementary school, so (despite her sometimes very loud objections) we walk to class every day. I feel fortunate that we can do that, and realize not every one can. But nearly every day, I witness things that make me cringe: drivers speeding through the neighborhood, talking on cell phones, ignoring pedestrians. And what really gets me is, most of these careless drivers are parents with children in the back seat.

I have always been in awe of people with creatively carved Halloween pumpkins. At our house, we are lucky to get two eye triangles of approximately the same size. But this is my year! World Wildlife Fund has posted cute, simple wildlife pumpkin stencils on the web. There are several designs: a monarch butterfly, dolphins, gorillas, coral, polar bears, rhinos, tigers, turtles, the African plain, and of course the WWF panda. For all stencils, the pattern must be printed, taped to the pumpkin, then holes are poked around the pattern. The pumpkin is cut using the pattern, leaving you with a beautiful, creative pumpkin! Easy, impressive, and FREE. And what kid doesn’t love animals?  Read the rest of this post...