*Please note, I am not currently updating the blog or accepting guest posts. Nevertheless, I hope you will find the past resource posts interesting and helpful.
Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post about immigrant family separation and what we can do to protest this human rights issue. Today's post is an update since President Trump’s executive order halting the policy of family separation (but not zero tolerance) and focuses on the work still to be done.
Read MoreAs a mother, human being, and as an American, I am heartbroken and sickened by the current U.S. policy of family separation, under which ICE, Border Patrol, and Homeland Security is separating immigrant parents and their children who have been caught attempting to cross into the United States "illegally" or without documents. Children are being separated from their parents and sent to shelters, with the explicit intention of using these families as examples to deter immigrants from attempting to cross the border.
Regardless of your politics or stance on immigration policy, we should all be able to agree that separating children from their parents is NOT the way to fix our immigration system. The Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy of "deterrence" is cruel, morally reprehensible, and un-American.
So, what can we do today about this disgraceful policy?
Read MoreWhile I love the idea of a lazy summer, with lots of swimming and reading, playdates, and some camp fun thrown in, I also find that my kids go a little crazy after too many unstructured days. And let's be honest, as a work-from-home small business owner and parent, I too go a little crazy trying to juggle work and kids over the summer. So, for the inevitable days when my kids are bored and I am trying to work on a deadline, I like to have some strategies in my back pocket to keep the girls mentally and creatively engaged. For this week's blog post, I am sharing some of these ideas with you.
Read MoreI have been looking through my recipes and combing the internet for some new cooking inspiration as we will be hosting several get-togethers at our place over the summer, and I am generally wanting to expand my recipe repertoire these days. There is something about the change in weather that makes me want to mix up what I am cooking and eating. Given that I haven't done a recipe roundup in a while, I thought I would share some ideas with you in this week's post.
Below is a list of tried-and-true recipes compiled over the years that we will definitely be making at our house this summer. Following that are a variety of recipes that I hope to try out soon. Enjoy!
Read MoreEach May, organizations and individuals across the United States, like the National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI, work to promote awareness about mental health issues. NAMI's theme this year is "CureStigma" …
Read MoreHi all! Summer and extra hot weather will soon be upon us. This blog post focuses on a compilation of fun Austin area activities to keep you and your family busy (and hopefully sometimes cool) all summer long. Think swimming spots, splash pads, free museum days, kids eat free days, movie days, library days, family service activities, and so on.
Read MoreAs the end of school nears, many of us are thinking about summer camps, summer plans, and road trips. To help you on your road warrior journeys with kids, I have updated a blog post I did in January on podcasts for kids (aka road trip survival tools). I have added some new favorites to the list, dropped some podcasts that are good in a pinch, but are no longer at the top of our frequently played list, and kept those that continue to be top picks.
Read MoreCheck it out this weekend! Nurture My Child Summer Camp Fair 2018
When: Sunday, February 25th, 2018, 1-4pm
Details: The Nurture My Child Camp Fair is a friendly, community focused camp fair to help parents select the right summer camp for their child. Free admission and free parking. Fun, free, hands-on activities. Learn about spring break, summer, and overnight camps for ages 4-18. There will be over $10,000 worth of free camps and giveaways to win at the fair.
Where: Norris Conference Center (2525 W Anderson Lane), Austin, TX
Read MoreDay 5: Always Schedule the Next Dentist, Haircut, Doctor, Fill-in-the-Blank Appointment While you are There
Today's post is about scheduling your family's regular care appointments for the year. This seems comically straightforward, but how many of us take our kids to the dentist and forget or put off scheduling their next appointment? No more. Make it a priority to always schedule your next appointment for any service or medical visit while you are in the office. This will save time in the long run and ensure that you and your family are up-to-date on wellness and self-care appointments....
Read MoreDay 4: Create an In/Out Paperwork System
Paperwork clutter getting you down? We are all inundated on a daily basis with mail, bills, important documents, and kids' school forms, assignments, and completed work. I have a simple, inexpensive suggestion to control this paperwork clutter...
Read MoreDay 2: Scheduled weekly grocery shopping and a little help from some friends...?
Today's post focuses on scheduled weekly grocery shopping. This and regular meal planning have made such a difference in our family life. This is a very simple, practical idea, but it took our family some time to fully commit to it. The key is to choose a day to make your grocery store list weekly (based on your weekly meal planning) and to grocery shop for the week and stick to it consistently.
I also highly recommend considering the use of an online grocery shopping service like Instacart. This changed our lives and that is only slight hyperbole (no ads or sponsorships here; I just genuinely love this service). Imagine, no more spending 1-2 hours on the weekend driving to different stores and grocery shopping with kids in tow, or running to the grocery store last minute to buy "something" to make for dinner that night when you and the kids are already tired and hungry. This is a recipe for disaster and a whole lot of impulse buying. You know what I'm talking about...
Read MoreIt’s the New Year. Many of us are thinking about, or are already making progress on, better organizing our lives. And some of us have already given up (been there). In an effort to keep us motivated (myself included), I am going to post one practical, time-saving idea a day over the next five days. These five ideas may save you time, and, in some cases, money, as well as sanity. You will have to put in some time at the outset, but these suggestions will likely leave you less frazzled in the long run. Many are tried- and-true approaches that have made a big difference in the life of my family (others I am still working on).
Some of the ideas may not work for you and your family or may not be a priority; that’s fine. Pick the one idea (two if you are feeling particularly ambitious) that you think would make the biggest difference in your and your family's life and adapt it as needed. Then, once you have incorporated it smoothly into your weekly routine, you can try out some of the other ideas.
Day 1: Meal Planning...
Read MoreI want to share a free resource that may be helpful to your family, a friend's family, or families you work with – the Resilient Child Summit presented by GoZen! will occur online next week, January 22-26, 2018. By registering for this free online summit, each day you will receive access to 3-4 expert interviews (from 20 of the world's top resilience experts) packed with practical tools to help kids cultivate resilience and manage stress better.
Read MoreOur family recently took a road trip from Austin to Marfa, TX. Having two daughters so close in age (8 and 6 years old) is wonderful in so many ways, but there are also times that the girls get on each others' (and our) last nerves, especially in the car. There’s just something about the close proximity of being in a car, not to mention the loss of autonomy that comes from literally being strapped in, that can lead to not-the-best behavior from the kids, and us adults.
Enter my abiding love for podcasts. I use them in the car all. the. time. The girls love them and I love their rapt silence as they listen to their favorites. On a long road trip, podcasts are our family's sanity-saving survival tools. As we have tried out quite a few podcasts for kids, I thought I would share our favorites.
Read MoreAs I mentioned in a previous post, we are all about Thanksgiving in my house. Hands-down, it is my favorite holiday. We cook for a week in anticipation of that meal. In the past, we did a repeat variation of Thanksgiving for Christmas Dinner, but years ago, roughly coinciding with having a toddler and a young baby underfoot, we threw that idea out and decided to go for something far simpler and non-traditional that would stop stealing Thanksgiving's thunder and create its own. These days, we take an Italian-inspired approach. Christmas Eve is focused on pasta and seafood + artichokes, my favorite. The recipes we will be having this year are...
Read MoreThanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. I love the idea of coming together with family and friends to share a meal and focus on our many reasons to be grateful. While I am a vegetarian, my husband and children are not. Without the centerpiece of turkey on my plate (I substitute with "nurkey") my focus has always been on the side dishes. While the decadence of the carb-bomb of Thanksgivings past is certainly something I have enjoyed, these days I try to make a more healthy-ish meal. Without completely tossing the carbs, my compromise is to up the vegetable quotient of the dishes I serve.
Below is the tried-and-true menu of recipes compiled over the years that we will be having at our house...
Read MoreOn November 1st, the girls and I created our annual Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead altar.
Día de los Muertos is typically celebrated between Halloween and November 2nd in Mexico (where the holiday originated) and in many other Latin American countries, as well as among Latino communities in the United States. There are many similar traditions in other cultures as well. The general idea is that the separation between the living and the dead is lifted on All Hallows Eve (Halloween), All Saints Day, and All Souls Day (November 1st and 2nd) and the spirits of the dead return to visit the living.
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