I received a rather snarky comment on my “What Should a 4 Year-Old Know?” post today. While I’ve been contacted by teachers, librarians, principals, doctors and early childhood education experts who have said they wished more parents realized these things, this surly individual called me “blase” and “touchy feely” and said, “C****, we’re all screwed.”…
Category: the big stuff
A Little Holiday Art Request
Would your kids be interested in making some art for a little boy who could use some smiles? Friends of seven year-old Joey are trying to get lots of cards and pictures for his hospital room. Note: The following letter is from the family organizing this card drive. While I do not know Joey’s family,…
An Army of Goodness
I was horrified today to learn about a 7 year-old terminally ill girl who was being bullied by her grown neighbor. The news videos were heartbreaking — a woman and her husband posted photoshopped pictures of the girl’s dead mother in the arms of the Grim Reaper and the child with a skull and crossbones…
The Payoff
It’s not always easy to be a parent, and it’s really not always easy to try to be a good one… At 3 a.m. when you have finally gotten to sleep and your child comes and wakes you because she’s had a nightmare (for the fifth time this week)… When your four year-old has a…
Dealing With Icks
We’re back from our fabulous trip to Duluth. I’m still getting back in the swing of things, but I just saw someone talking online about feeling down because of a nasty mother-in-law and thought I’d dig this up from the old Magical Childhood newsletter archives. This is for all those magical mamas (and papas and…
What Should a 4 Year Old Know?
It’s back to school time and children all over are starting preschool. Many parents are frantically searching the internet to find out if their little ones are “on track” and know everything they should. I wrote this article about what a four-year-old should know many years ago but it continues to be the most popular…
It’s Hard Work, This Mothering Business
I’ve been feeling rather raw lately. My “good mama” hat has felt knocked from my head a few too many times and I’ve been filled with self doubt. Several hundred times per day, three-year-old Alex tells me “Me MAD at you, Mama!”. Seven-year-old Jack goes back and forth between being sweetly crazy about me to…
You’re a Fabulous Mother
I keep hearing from mothers this week about how stressed they are and what terrible mothers they think they are. What? Oh pah. I’m here to tell you to stop it. You rock. You’re a fabulous mother. How do I know this? Well, first off because you’re beating yourself up and only people who care…
Limited Time Only
I am running out of little girls. I am so aware lately of how little time I have left for dress-up and potions and imaginary things. Victoria is nearly twelve and my baby Annalee is ten. Ten-to-eleven can be a crazy age. Kids get moody, clumsy, sensitive, confused, irritable. They want to be big, then…
Joyfully Imperfect
I’ve gone and done it again. I’ve stumbled onto one of those blogs that has suddenly convinced me of what a total deadbeat I am. You know the ones. With perfect PhotoShopped children in perfect homes with handmade, organic, felted toys and descriptions of blissful daily joy. I should know better. I know those places…