The families with K,1&2 kids that seem to be doing the best are just homeschooling. Most have pods, at least for hikes. Of course, these are families with a stay at home parent. But yeah, little kids on Zoom all day is no fun. 

We had one of these when my kids were littles and they loved it -- even my kid that didn’t like loud noises. The model we had had three handle sections and we took one out so it was kid-sized. 

My favorite has been by far the boomer who told me she knows all about pandemic parenting because she was stuck with kids at home when for a few days at a time back when she was raising her kids and there was a big snowfall. Can I say as we enter month 7 of lockdown, HA HA HA HAHA HAHA HAHA HAHA HAHA HAHA HAHA HAHA…

Yeah, I think we have to be realistic that parents of lower grade students are going to feel awfully like teachers much of the time. I’m actually less worried about my 3rd grader who’s generally good at school and has a great teaching team (my older child had his homeroom teacher when he was in 3rd grade) and more…

Did they ever give you the antibiotic that make you pee bright orange? Our kid’s pediatrician claimed that that stuff made tonsillectomy a thing of the past, but I still count my tonsillectomy as one of the better things to have happened to me. 

I am primary 9 to 5 breadwinner and my husband mostly stayed home with the kids (he is a choir director and continued to do some evening/weekend work). He got a part time teaching job when they went back to school. He did most of the spring COVID schooling. Though our area is doing remote only for the first 9 weeks,…

This should be a reminder that just Googling something doesn't count as research. 

My problem with a lot of these no equipment videos is that they depend a lot on an endless amount of planks, down dogs, pushups and other things that are really hard on my wrists. I’ve learned some modifications, but then it’s hard for me to keep up with the video. I tend to gravitate to things that keep me more on my…

Total agree with the opportunity cost. If you want to feel like you are doing something to help, find someone to help. Zoom with a bored kid so a parent can get through a conference call without interruption, do someone’s shopping or help them figure out how to do curbside pickup, call someone who’s sheltering in…

We have disposable masks as backup and I use a paperclip for the kids because otherwise the loops are too long, but I’m moving to yarn scraps. That monkey is supercute, and we have some, but they would get lost immediately. 

Unscientific study of stuff my fellow parents are posting on Facebook? Those with one SAHP are mostly switching to homeschooling. They are often forming pods with other SAHP families. A few SAHP are going with an all-online learning option, either provided by their district or charter schools.

Loved our balance bike. Our boys used one from 2-4-1/2 and then transitioned to a 2-wheeler. Second child in particular could go quite fast on the balance bike and we used to do family bike rides of up to 4 miles with him. 

Our buys included:

Some of the teachers unions in PA are being ridiculous about remote learning. Like I know one where the teachers unions said the teachers couldn't actually ... Teach. All they could do was send material to parents to teach. These tactics are counter productive.

My eldest rejected high chairs at 18 months. We simply made a rule that if he left the table for any reason other than going to the bathroom, the food went away and there was none until the next meal. There were some whiney days, but over the long haul, my kids learned to sit at a table when they eat. At our…

As a parent, I often listen to audiobooks with one ear bud so the other ear can listen for the kids. 

But when I look at you (your picture on my screen), it looks like I’m not looking at you (because I am then looking my screen instead of my camera).

I’m cursed with a work-issued Dell that has the world’s worst camera placement. It’s in the lower left corner of my screen. When I turn up my volume, all you can see are…

Not sure I'd go this far, but I will say that my kids are doing great with masks. They don't even complain when I charge them $.75 for a disposable mask when they can't find theirs.

I keep a sharpie in the car the write my phone number on the wristbands you get for museums, amusement parks and other attractions. The only person I know that has sprung for a GPS device is someone with a special needs kid that was especially prone to getting lost in everyday circumstances.

“Since babies don’t tend to have very strong personalities, I think it’s important for them to wait a good long time”