From the monthly archives:

September 2009

Cycling article up on Babble

September 30, 2009

I have an article out on Babble about one of my favorite topics: biking with kids. Check it out!

My good friend Colleen Campbell has written a musical. It’s a lesbian fairy tale with dragons and princesses and stuff, and it’s being performed in concert tonight and tomorrow at the Somerville Theater. I’ll be there for both shows, and I hope all of you local readers will be as well. You can buy tickets [...]

Tagged as: play

Read the full article →

Love those kids unconditionally

September 25, 2009

Alfie Kohn has a great article in the NYT about unconditional love for one’s children. He covers a lot of current scientific research that backs up his main point: kids need to be loved. Withholding love and affection from a child to compel obedience is, he feels, a cruel but sadly not unusual punishment. This [...]

Tagged as: attachment parenting, parenting

Read the full article →

Rio’s take on the marshmallow test

September 24, 2009

All this talk about the Marshmallow Test made me curious how my own kid would react. I’m too lazy to actually turn my kid into a lab rat, so I just put the question to her hypothetically after dinner one day. Me: What would you do if I took you into a room with only [...]

Tagged as: candy, confectionery, food and drink, funny, kids, marshmallow, marshmallows, rio, s'more, snack foods, sweet treats, tables, testing

Read the full article →

The Secret Life of Kindergarten

September 23, 2009

In my recent Babble article, I described Rio’s kindergarten world as a secret from me, just as my writing time is in some ways secret from her. Since she doesn’t read yet, I’m fairly sure she did not read that article, and yet on her third day of school we had this conversation: “How was [...]

Tagged as: education, funny, rio

Read the full article →

Kids vs. marshmallows: there can be only one

September 21, 2009

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo. A friend sent me this. I’d read about the marshmallow test before. The basic premise is that kids are left alone in a room with a marshmallow. The researcher tells them that if they wait until she returns to eat it, they can have two. If they [...]

Tagged as: funny, news, parenting

Read the full article →

Happy Equinox, closing out the Gratitude Project

September 20, 2009

Today’s the Equinox, and the last official day of the Gratitude Project. As always after six weeks of honoring my blessings, I’m infused with gratitude for all the small wonders in my daily life. I don’t want to stop paying attention to them, or writing about them. But I’ll drop the daily practice of it, [...]

Tagged as: food, gratitude project

Read the full article →

MomsRising releases searchable database of safe products

September 20, 2009

MomsRising has released a searchable database of products you can check out to learn what contaminants or toxic chemicals are in your stuff – and your kids’ stuff. From carseats to designer handbags, they’ve got you covered. And they made this nifty widget to make it Super Easy to scare yourself with the knowledge. Get [...]

Tagged as: green, kids, politics

Read the full article →

Carnival of Debt Reduction

September 19, 2009

ChildWild is featured on this month’s Carnival of Debt Reduction, alongside a number of inspiring articles about reclaiming your life from debt. Definitely worth checking out!

Tagged as: money, writing

Read the full article →

The life of a work at home mama

September 17, 2009

Rio: Mommy, why aren’t you playing with me? Me: Sorry, sweetie, I’m working. Rio: Can’t you just say to the people you’re working for, “Sorry, I have two kids and one of them needs me for an hour, I can’t do my work.” Can’t you say that, or would that be mean? Me, kind of [...]