A-holes raising tiny humans.

How 5th Grade Homework nearly broke my soul, and How we fixed it.

Let me paint you a picture. It’s 4:15pm. The biggest of the kids just walked in the door, dropped their backpack directly in the middle of the doorway like a tiny passive-aggressive landmine, and announced they have a project due tomorrow. A big one. Full Disclosure, I probably got emails the past three Wednesdays from his teacher, that I had no intention of reading, and my kid certainly wasn’t going to tell me, but now Read more…

By Jenny, ago

Deciding to Change Schools — How We Made the Call

We spent a genuinely embarrassing amount of time agonizing over this decision. Pro and con lists were written and then rewritten, and then roughly written again on the backs of receipts and paper bags and anything else I could use for deliberations. I asked my husband so many times if it was the right decision, even though I already knew the answer. The Signs We Kept Ignoring If you read my post about working in Read more…

By Jenny, ago

How to Survive Summer without Losing your S*%t.

Summer break sounds magical in April, even May, until you realize all of your local Summer Camps were filled by the third week of March. In Mid-June, three days into Summer Vacation, when your kid has already told you they’re bored seventeen times before 10am, the rose-colored glasses fall off and shatter on the floor. I’ve done this enough times now that I have an actual system. Not a Pinterest-perfect system with color-coded activity jars Read more…

By Jenny, ago

Things I Said I’d Never Do As a Parent (And How Fast I Ate Those Words)

Pre-kid me was an absolute delight. So full of opinions, so many options. I didn’t want kids, per se, but decidedly, I was going to be an excellent mother, should I ever end up with kids. “My children will eat what I cook.” “Screen time will be limited and educational.” “I will never bribe my child.” Narrator: She bribed her child. Here is a partial, deeply humbling list of things I swore I’d never do: Read more…

By Jenny, ago

Amazon Products that actually helped with ADHD in our home (no affiliate links, yet, sorry)

Parenting a kid with ADHD means you’ve probably spent way too much money on stuff that promises to help and delivers exactly nothing. I’ve been there. The fidget spinners that became projectiles. The books that had some helpful knowledge but just not enough… The planner that lasted four days. The “focus” app that didn’t really help at all. Here’s what has actually worked in our house — or what other ADHD parents swear by — Read more…

By Jenny, ago

Not as safe as you think

Your children are loved in school. Regardless of ability, personality, someone in your child’s school cares deeply about seeing them thrive and become someone who does their best. The problem is that that person may now be with ten students that have greater needs than your child. I worked in a school district last year, and people were spread thin at the school I was at, and I substitute for the same district this year Read more…

By Jenny, ago

Working in my Kids’ School? Zero Stars

Oh, snap! What a year we just had. We began the year blissfully unaware of what was happening in our children’s school. We dropped them off, we picked them up. Largely the end of the story. That’s how it was for a while until I realized our oldest son’s outbursts had gotten bigger and more frequent. I needed work and wanted to be on my kids’ schedule, so I took up substitute teaching. My kids’ Read more…

By Jenny, ago

Turkey Pot Pie and Vegan Turkey Pot Pie

Turkey Pot Pie is one of the most comforting foods of all, and its party where all of the best ingredients are invited. I’m vegan, so there’s a vegan option that wont leave you missing the meat, and a meat option which is a perfect recipe for those Thanksgiving and any Turkey dinner leftovers. You can make this as a full pie or in crocks for individual meals (our preference), and its a single layer Read more…

By Jenny, ago

Increase SEO with WordPress

Fully learning SEO involves a lot of learning, I took an eCourse online through Coursera and it was free and awesome, and I learned a lot, but I’ve got you covered on some basics! There are four essential components in SEO. These can be broken up into further bullet points, which I will do for you here. I will touch on each of these in hopefully enough detail to get you off to an awesome Read more…

By Jenny, ago

Favorite Things… May 2023

Cute Illuminated Family Name Sign https://www.zazzle.com/retro_diner_red_diner_led_sign-256877780810548512?rf=238803752466460022 Monogram Magnolia Throw Pillow https://www.zazzle.com/aged_wood_monogram_with_pink_magnolias_throw_pillow-256875716247380152?rf=238803752466460022 Custom Photo Birthday Bunting https://www.zazzle.com/colorful_birthday_photo_template_bunting_flags-256814810861672087 Wee Lass Tartan Bib https://www.zazzle.com/wee_lass_scottish_scotland_tartan_baby_bib-256173453266605892?rf=238803752466460022 Goldfish Party Supplies https://www.zazzle.com/collections/custom_goldfish_fish_bowl_water-119270635897348455?rf=238803752466460022 Glitter Agate Tumbler https://www.zazzle.com/collections/custom_goldfish_fish_bowl_water-119270635897348455?rf=238803752466460022 Log Oversized Pouf https://www.zazzle.com/log_pouf_brown_and_tan_bark_and_rings_pouf-256933524098205550?rf=238803752466460022 Affiliate Links may be Attached

By Jenny, ago

A Different Life

Alex and I have been together for over eight years. I was telling him a story this morning, I can’t remember what about… nothing terribly memorable apparently… and it was about something random that happened right before we met… I told him it seemed like a different life, and in all his wisdom, he said it was because that was a different life. Both of us had our own, very solo lives before we formed Read more…

By Jenny, ago

Our road to ADHD Diagnosis

Our seven-year-old has had behavioral and learning issues since around 18 months of age. He hit his physical milestones early, but his speech was behind, he started to head bang around 18 months as well. My MIL was a headbanger, so we just made sure we could keep him as safe as possible until he outgrew this. Around age 4, we got an autism spectrum diagnosis from the school. This was a school diagnosis and Read more…

By Jenny, ago

Gut-Healthy Vegan Burrito Bowl

As we learn about the relationship between gut health and brain health, it becomes so important that we find foods that treat our bellies with the respect they deserve. It doesn’t work if the food isn’t delicious though, so we’re adding some amazing, and delicious recipes to our blog. A clear head is essential when caring for the tiny maniacs you love, and these should help to get you there. This Recipe: Vegan Burrito bowl, Read more…

By Jenny, ago

Talking to the Kids

I’m old. It’s true, as moms of young kiddos go, I’m on the old side and I get stuck in this place sometimes where I romanticize about providing my children with the same wholesome upbringing I had (even though I didn’t ACTUALLY have that). In my vision, they have an easy school experience, and come home and hang out and watch TV because screen time isn’t the evil spawn of satan in my fantasy that Read more…

By Jenny, ago

10 Best Dollar Store Finds for Our Home Classroom!

When Covid hit, we were ill-prepared to have both kids back home every moment of the day. Add to that, we were at a crossroads with our then two-and-a-half year old youngest son where we needed to start teaching him things that would prepare him for preschool. There was a bit of trial and error and he never ended up going to daycare or preschool, and over an extended period, we found our stride at Read more…

By Jenny, ago

Raising Kids in Chaos?

As everything unfolded in the capital yesterday, traitors to our nation bursting through the windows of the hollowed halls captured my attention and I found myself unable to break the connection between my anxious mind and my television. My children woke up from naps and the news pressed on. I wanted to change the channel, but they were by-and-large disinterested and therefor not watching the TV. Stream of conscious expletives hit my social media pages Read more…

By Jenny, ago

11 Ways to Spend Less Right NOW.

Things can get tight when you have a family and a lot of bills. I used to feel overrun. The income and bills seemed to align well enough, but there was no wiggle room, no savings and credit cards needed to be used sometimes. Then in March of this year, covid reared its ugly head and we found ourselves a single income family. I dabbled in grocery delivery apart from my job, but being asthmatic, Read more…

By Jenny, ago