Life Long Learner

Oftentimes my husband sends me links to articles he reads that he thinks I would like. Cuddle Your Kid! I loved this article. It made me feel less guilty about laying with my son every night before he goes to sleep. Last year, when I was just coming back to work after my maternity leave, I shared with some teachers that I just couldn't let Patrick "cry it out" anymore. My teacher friend looked at me and said, "Don't you see? He misses you during the day, and this is his way of asking you to spend time with him." Hug him, snuggle until both your hearts are content. I think about this wise woman's response to me often, and now pass along the same advice to mothers heading back to work. There is nothing wrong with cuddling our children - especially when we spend so many hours out of the house. I passed along this article to my mother, who wrote a poem in response. Thanks, Mom for your beautiful words! Why can’t we do it…cuddle our kids? Why wo...

Chrysa Smith, author of The Adventures of the Poodle Posse Series recently visited my school. This was such an exciting day for the students and teachers. I love hearing how ideas can transform into stories, and this author had a wonderful message for our students - Stories lie right under our noses! Chrysa Smith combines her love of dogs with her love of writing to create doggie adventures based on her poodles. She showed pictures of her real poodle posse, and the students could instantly relate to her. The photographs helped the students to see that many fictional characters are based on real people (or pets!) Then, she shared large stick puppet versions of her poodle posse. Our students loved these, and instantly felt connected to Woody, Archie, Daisy, and Bobby! Chrysa Smith explained to students how she took real stories and TWISTED them to make an adventure. Our students understood her simplistic language, and actively participated with Ms. Smith as she told her storie...

    What would you do if your 1 year old came up to you holding this random piece of metal? Well, I'll tell you what I did. It was a Friday night. A Friday night before a weekend where we had nothing planned. A Friday night that was supposed to be a great start to a weekend full of catching up. And, just before Shannon's bedtime, she was walking around the kitchen while I finished the kid's dishes. She reached her little hand up to mine, and dropped this horrible, round, rusty piece of metal into my hand. Immediately I thought it was a battery, so I started looking for the other half. Then, I thought maybe it's a magnet, but again, where's the other half? I googled swallowing a battery. I googled swallowing a magnet. I called my husband in a panic and explained the situation hoping for a voice of reason. Shannon seemed fine. In fact, she seemed normal. But, I knew in my heart I had to continue to search for this missing part, and seek medical atten...

When I think back to my own childhood, I remember countless meals eaten at the Montgomerville Pizza Hut. If I close my eyes I can picture the red and white check tablecovers, the cafe style flimsy chairs, the buffet in the middle of the restaurant, and most of all, my family of 7 gathered around a rectangular table. I remember begging for quarters to play the arcades, and when we got older, to put in the jukebox. I remember the waitresses and how they practically knew my dad by name. I remember the pitchers of soda that inevitably got spilled all over the table and floor. But, most of all, my favorite memory of Pizza Hut was the great times we had while we were there. Remember this? Tonight I had the wonderful experience of taking my own children to Pizza Hut for the first time. Although the Montgomeryville Pizza Hut is closed, the one we went to had the same feel to it. We met my dad there. I arrived first, and knew just what to order - Thin and Crispy with Green Peppers....

In the past couple weeks I have heard 2 stories of how people's news has been "leaked" via facebook or text messaging. This is unacceptable. I have embraced technology, and use it often, but I certainly don't abuse the social media. So, I write this post to remind all of us about the importance and sensitivity of news. We all have news to share - sometimes good, sometimes bad. In the case of these two stories, both were about the death of someone. In my opinion, this should not hit the social media until all important family members and friends are notified of the sad news. Then, once everyone is on the same page, the immediate family should be the ones to decide how they want to make their news public. So, my lesson learned? Don't be the one to post someone else's news. And, don't use social networking to pass along important news. Try the old fashioned way...like making a phone call.

2 nights ago while putting Patrick to bed Shannon woke up. This NEVER happens. Shannon is a sound sleeper, and sleeps through Patrick's tantrums at bedtime. She was inconsolable. So, for about 10 minutes, 10 long minutes, 10 ear piercing excruciating long minutes both kids screamed. And, during this time I had flashbacks to last year. My kids were sick nearly every week last year, and I am terrified the pattern will continue this year. Patrick stopped screaming first, but Shannon was still crying. We finally calmed her down, put her back in her crib (because she'd rather be there than cuddle with us) and she fell asleep. 30 minutes later she was up again. At that point I knew something was wrong, and my gut said Ear infection.... So we found ourselves sitting in the muggy, hot examination room at our doctors. I like my pediatrician's office, but there is a doctor or 2 that I would rather not see, and, of course, today I had one of them. He walked in, asked me to explain w...

As Shannon continues to explore new sounds and words (it seems like she has a new word every day!) I thought it might be fun to listen to music as we ate breakfast. So, that is what we did this morning. And we LOVED it! This is such a simple solution to drown out the morning complaints, and bring some energy and excitement to the breakfast table. I have a pandora elmo's radio station that is a nice blend of Sesame Street songs, Bob Marley, and Mickey Clubhouse. Just thought I'd share a nice little morning trick that starts our day off on the right foot.