Having babies hits the budget hard, but you can lessen the impact through your choices. Did you know that it can cost more than $10,000 to raise your child for the first year and nearly that much each year after that? You might know this already as you see your bank account dwindling. You can…Read the full article.

Recently, a friend of mine said to me, “I seem to have misplaced my support system.” It’s easy to do. While you are still thinking about what you genuinely need in your life during the new year, ask if you have the support you need. For new parents, the new reality can sometimes mean you…Read the full article.

Happy Anniversary to me! A short lifetime ago, I was married in the village where I am now spending the holidays with my in-laws. My husband and I have blocked out the day to spend together, turning down all other offers of activities. Our children are spending the day with cousins, and we are off…Read the full article.

Homemade holiday gifts not only save money, but they help our children think of the personal act of giving rather than an abstract payment of money for stuff. If you are still looking for gifts your children can make, these are a few ideas my children have tried over the years. Holiday soap. Grate a…Read the full article.

I woke up to 3″ of snow on the ground, and I’m thinking about how to make sure my children continue to play outside. Usually, my children entertain themselves outside. They build forts and pile up snow to create high vantage points—and giant snowmen. Sometimes, though, they thrive on a little bit of structure. When…Read the full article.

When you are going on vacation or travelling for the holidays, you need a strategy to bring along enough toys for a small child without having to pack a whole suitcase for every toy your child has touched within the past year. We have travelled overseas a lot with our children, and we had to…Read the full article.

In the spirit of taking every opportunity for learning, I gave my children a game over the holidays that I knew I intended to use for homeschool lessons: Wildcraft, an Herbal Adventure Game. It’s a cooperative board game that works even for non-readers. Grandma needs huckleberries for a pie, and the players’ job is to…Read the full article.

By the time your child is a teenager, the cute themes are over. (So, take advantage and enjoy it while they are little!) If you have used your own child’s interests to give shape to parties every year, that will make it even easier to do the same for teens. According to my teenage daughter,…Read the full article.

As children get older, between 9 and 12 years old, I have found they want birthday parties about their interests, whether those interests are friends or activities. You may not need to think through a focused birthday party theme or a predictable structure like you did when your children were younger. “Every year, you want…Read the full article.

Holidays and birthdays are opportunities to celebrate the familiar—the family-ar, as in, those ideas and those people who are so close to us that they are part of our intimate circle. For a lot of us who are focused on attachment parenting, those intimate family relationships are the core of our motivation for all of…Read the full article.