My feet sink into the garden muck. The rain has been coming and coming this summer. The humid Minnesota afternoon sun beats down on me, true to the eighty degrees the thermometer red line shows. I look over the short white garden fence and Matt and Ben are playing over at the play set in the other corner of the yard while I conquer the weeds in my swampy garden. I can only wrench them out if using all my back muscles, their roots clenched into the dirt like strong green and brown wire hands. I ... Continue Reading...
Guinea Pigs Make Great Pets
Great Pets Guinea pigs are great pets for kids. Before we got our sweet little guys Butterscotch and Twix, I had no idea how much personality guinea pigs really possess. They give kisses and snuggle, and even recognize us. They love to interact with us and be held. They respond happily with squeaks when held. Our guinea pigs are very social because we held them a lot from a very young age so they are very tame. My boys have constantly taken them out of their cages to ... Continue Reading...
My Almost Fail as a Multi-tasking Mom
My article on Sammiches and Psych Meds about my backyard obstacle course race to save my kids' runaway guinea pig Butterscotch. Sometimes as a busy mom, I take on too much at once and I almost failed in my multi-tasking. Click below to read it. It will give you a chuckle! http://www.sammichespsychmeds.com/my-almost-fail-as-a-multi-tasking-mom/ Save ... Continue Reading...
I’m Living the Boys’ Life Disgusting Stories by Mom
In my house of dysfunctional bathroom use including poorly placed farts I get little boys’ hilarious burps, foam darts whizzing past my computer screen to the tune of heckling laughter, and all sorts of other things I dare not mention, but just wait and I will. I barely flinch. It’s no doubt I’m living the boys’ life with four males in the house: my husband and three sons aged 12 and under. I like to think of us as 4 Alans and an Ann as these are our middle names. Sorry boys, I ... Continue Reading...
My Worst Fear as a Mother
My kids always ask me what I’m scared of the most and I’m never really sure how to answer them because I don’t want to scare them by my real fear. I usually say I’m scared of something bad happening to them. I can’t tell them the real truth that what I’m really scared of is dying and leaving them to navigate growing up without me. It’s not that I don’t think my husband would do a good job, I know he would, but I saw how hard it was for my dad to be a widowed, grieving single parent and I know ... Continue Reading...
100 Things to do with Kids this Summer in the Twin Cities and at home
100 things to do this with kids this summer in and near the Twin Cities & at home: Happy Summer! I've made a list of fun family things to do with kids in the summer. Some activites in this list you will need pay for to do but some are free, because we all need some free options! I hope you find my list useful. Kids need some boredom buster ideas at times in the summer and sometimes the whole family is looking for something fun to do together for family time. This list includes activities ... Continue Reading...
Kid Brains versus the Parent Brains
Parents: Kids' Brains are Wired Differently than Ours Kid brains versus parent brains show vast differences. Anyone who has spent time around kids can recognize this difference. Kids have their own agendas not always rooted in reality, but their viewpoint is beautiful in many ways.That viewpoint is what helps them live in the moment more than we do as adults. Adults are often forced into living in reality, but we can learn a lot from kids to live in the moment more. But with busy schedules, ... Continue Reading...
Crafts are for Boys too
This was originally published on Her View From Home . “Watch out Mom!” I hear my son say as a cut up foam bullet whizzes into the kitchen and lands near my cutting board. It’s my middle son and he’s created another invention. He smiles and shows me his new shooter. Crafts are for boys too. Yes, Gun Crafts Yes, my boys make gun crafts as much as I tried to keep guns out of the picture, the boys have their own ideas about that. The inventiveness of it is what allows me to accept it as they ... Continue Reading...
My Most Brutal Wonderful Mother’s Day
My kids signed three Mother’s Day cards to mail to their Grandma’s, and one of them said, “But we have four Grandma’s” and bless his heart, I knew I was keeping my Mother’s memory alive for him even though she passed away years before he was born. My Mom is not forgotten even by him who never met her; this brought tears to my eyes. My worst Mother’s Day was the first one without my Mom. Watching others buy Mother’s Day cards and seeing ads selling silver heart necklaces and perfume cuts you ... Continue Reading...
Broken Wrist and Surgery Fear
It’s the beginning scene, just picture it: tall bar stool, mini trampoline, air mattress, and a six-year old boy. Enter action sequence: boy crawls to top of tall bar stool, stands on bar stool ready to jump, and leans just a little bit too far to one side and loses his balance. Ending scene: first ominous silence, six-year-old boy on floor, a shattering cry rips through the air, and his crooked arm on the carpet. That was the movie we saw. We were supposed to be finishing “The Empire ... Continue Reading...
