sandbox

Who taught whom what exactly? So it's been 7 months since we last spoke. Seven months, a pair of hiking boots, 1 teenage son and a standoff... My son, as I'm sure you recall, left his boots on the front step after a trip to Greece in May. I silently waited for him to clean them off and take them up to his room. Seven months later and there they are... It is now snowing and you would think that my 15 year old son might need his boots. Alas no. Allow me to explain... I planned on teaching my... Read Full Story

These are my son's boots. They have been sitting outside my front door for 8 weeks. My son was coerced into leaving them out there to "air" after the smell in the house overcame us all. Six weeks ago today, my son went off to camp. His boots were outside the door when he left for camp despite several "suggestions" to move them. He is due home the day after tomorrow. The question is: How long will it take him to move his boots from outside the front door? I am going to keep track of the boots. Read Full Story

Wikizines are interactive magazines that anyone can create or edit - and this one is called "Through The Eyes of a Child". Here you can find fresh voices and respond in real time. Some members write articles about recent news and trends related to the wikizine's topic, others recount relevant personal stories or share their favorite pictures and video clips. Got an interesting idea or story to share with other members of this wikizine? Well, then put on your journalist's cap and add your own... Read Full Story

My youngest son had clearly outgrown his bicycle. This was strikingly obvious as his knees hit his chin with each revolution of the wheel. It was time for a new bike. Times being what they are, I suggested to my son that he buy a bike with his own pocket money. He agreed and scoured the internet until he had found the bike of his 7 year old dreams. Pocket money in hand, he headed for the door. With one foot out the door, he stopped abruptly and turned to me with a thoughtful gaze... He... Read Full Story

Now this is one fun summer activity! All it took was one wet, rainy day and some imagination... Read Full Story

Today at lunch I gave my children and their friends a puzzle. I put 3 seeds from 3 different fruits on a sheet of paper and labled them 1, 2 and 3. I asked the children to identify the fruits... We had an avocado, an apple and an apricot seed. Which ones do you think they got right? P.S. All of the fuits were on our lunch table as part of our meal. Read Full Story

What summer plans do you have for your children? Summer is a great opportunity for unstructured time. I try to use it as a chance to live life from my children's perspective. We can be bored together, explore together and plan together. Summer is the time that I really get to know my little gang of 3. What's on your agenda? Right now we are home in Scotland. Life here moves at a much slower pace. We are going up to feed the horses in about an hour - that is the big plan for today! Read Full Story

My 7 year old is about to take his Terra Nova exam. He is in 1st grade and, as you probably know, this is the requisite standardized tests for first grade. We were discussing it in the car on the way home from school this afternoon. To ease his apparent anxiety, I told him not to worry about it because I would love him just the same if he got all the answers right or if he got them all wrong. He seemed surprised by this and asked me why he had to take the test at all if that was the case. I... Read Full Story

Recently, my youngest invented a game that's probably been invented at kitchen tables across the country since breakfast cereal was born way back when... We had more fun playing (and eating) this game than we've had in years, and trust me, we've had plenty of fun! The goal was to make words with "oo" in them and use the cereal in place of the "oo" but we just kept eating them!! Eventually we had a list: We did, however, encounter some problems along the way: In our house we call them "idiot... Read Full Story

So there I was at the ballpark with my 7 year old, for practice, and it wasn't even close to 6pm yet. We were uncharacteristically early but I had that uneasy feeling as no one looked so familiar... I tried to make the adults at the far end of the field look like our team coach but I couldn't squeeze any of them into my vague recollection. There was a smattering of children practicing but they were just far enough away that my 45 year old eyes couldn't quite make them out. As we trudged... Read Full Story