By: Suzi West / “How was your day?” A common question that we ask many of our children after school yet we typically get a shrug of the shoulders response or a “good” and that’s it. So why do we keep asking this question of our children after they have completed an almost 8 hour…
By Suzi West / Last May I wrote a blog about my son, the ‘baby’ of the family, who was going to start Kindergarten this fall. I wasn’t so sure that I was ready for him to move on to this big milestone, and I was a little nervous about how he would do. Well,…
On December 14th at 9:30 a.m., I was helping in Rita’s first grade classroom. I was making copies, wrapping presents from the teacher, listening to 6- & 7-year-old chatter, blissfully unaware of what was going on 660 miles east of Tecumseh. Having lived in Connecticut for 10 years, the words Sandy Hook Elementary conjured up…
I don’t know how it works around the world but in the Midwest we have our own style. Field trip fun days are no exception. On October 15th of this year my son enjoyed his first ever field trip at our local Carpenter Farms. Usually open the 2nd weekend of September until October 31, Carpenter…
Before children, the only reason I ever had any inclination that school had started was that I’d get stuck behind a bus at some point in the first week of September. I’d curse it all the way to work, for which I was inevitably late. The only way my routine would change is that I…
My Ruby is good at a lot of things. Things come easily to her, especially spelling. She knows how words go together. She did not get this skill from her father. Even at 41, he keeps a list of hard-to-spell words. Spell check was made for people like him. When Ruby was about 3, she…
I finally made it! My youngest son is starting pre-k. After raising four boys and and putting them through school, the last li’l chick is leaving the nest. So why do I feel like I’ve never done this before? The same fears and doubts creep in my mind like they did 20 years ago. I suppose you…
I call to my son, M, to come quickly. He runs into the room and I jump under the covers. “Quick, M, the boat is sailing away to Dragon Island. You must get on and help capture the dragons!”
Now that the kids are back in school, what are you going to do with all your free time? (Ha, ha)
Step back and let them pick a day or two to choose whatever it is they want to do, without calling it a “good” idea or a “bad” idea, just let it be “their” idea of something they would like to do.