A new day, a new approach. 3:30 pm Tuesday Me: Ok, better get started on your homework. I don’t want a repeat of last night. L.: I’m starving. Can I have a snack first? And maybe watch some tv while I eat it? Me: Snack, yes. TV, no. And if your homework’s not done by [...]
Filed under: kids, Life, parenting | Tagged: homework, kids, parenting, preteens, school | 27 Comments »
The Scene: Monday night, 9:30 pm, after nearly 4 hours of reminding, suggesting, encouraging, pleading, yelling, and demanding that my 7th grader finish her homework. Me (yelling up the stairs): L., are you finished with your homework yet? L.: WHAT???? Me: Your homework.. is it done? L.: (garbled) (something something something) done. Me: What? L.: [...]
Filed under: kids, Life, parenting | Tagged: Family, homework, kids, parenting, preteens, school | 21 Comments »
Two Years, No Rain by Shawn Klomparens is a fitting book for me to review right now, as the first rainstorm of the year blew through today. After digging out the umbrellas and dusting off the boots it occurred to me that the kids probably wouldn’t fit into any of their rain gear. Yes, it [...]
Filed under: Book Reviews, books, California, reading | Tagged: book review, chick lit, dude lit, fiction, new fiction, rain, shawn klomparens, southern california, summer reading series, two years no rain, weather | 14 Comments »
I read The Hunger Games in August. LOVED it. I was totally engrossed and could not put it down. My 11 year old read it after me. Also loved it. So we were thrilled to see that they had the sequel at the Scholastic Book Fair that I chaired at the junior high a couple [...]
Filed under: Book Reviews, books, Family, kids, Life, parenting, reading | Tagged: catching fire, kids, middle grade fiction, parenting, reading, suzanne collins, the hunger games, YA fiction | 20 Comments »
Happy Sunday! We are having a lovely fall weekend in Southern California that actually feels like fall- cool and crisp with a light wind. The weather put me in such a fall mood that I made a big batch of pumpkin bread yesterday and curled up with my book all afternoon. The kids were busy [...]
Filed under: book clubs, books, Current Events, Reading Groups, sunday salon, weekends | Tagged: book club, books, flu shots, homer and langley, in a perfect world, julie and julia, olive kitteridge, precious, reading, sunday salon, swine flu, the elegance of the hedgehog, the middle place, who by fire | 35 Comments »
Goldengrove by Francine Prose is a tender examination of a young girl’s grief over the loss of her beloved older sister, Margaret. Margaret is a dreamer, a lover of old movies, a poet and singer. Nico and Margaret are sisters and co-conspirators, finding ways for Margaret and her boyfriend Aaron to be together behind their [...]
Filed under: Book Reviews, books, reading, Uncategorized | Tagged: blog tours, Book Reviews, books, coming of age, fiction, francine prose, goldengrove, grief, reading, tlc book tours, virtual book tours | 23 Comments »
I do not want to raise spoiled brats. I want my kids to understand the value of a buck. But in the area in which we live, this is tricky. Rampant consumerism is the norm. My daughter’s best friend has a flat screen tv in his bedroom, a laptop, and is on his 3rd cell [...]
Filed under: Family, kids, Life, parenting | Tagged: allowance, budgeting, children, Family, finances, kids, Life, money, parenting, preteens | 35 Comments »
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