Happy Mother's Day!

Let's start with a brief trip down memory lane -- Mother's Day 2009 when I got SQUAT.  NADA. ZILCH.  Not even a homemade card from my then almost 3 year old.  Excuse me?!  I don't even feel bad about making Troy feel bad - STILL - about it.

But, he is very teachable and MD 2010 was much better.  I got 3 cards - one from each of my "boys" and my iPad is on order.  Plus, Lib and I had a blissfully silent ride home from Bismarck since the kiddos were with the dads. 

I hope all the mom's reading this had their perfect day too! 

Activities for Kids

I just got a book for Grant (and Will) called "The Siblings Busy Book" by Lisa Hanson and Heather Kempskie. It has all sorts of activities for kids of all ages. Its nice because it breaks down each activity with infant, toddler, pre-schooler, and school-age appropriate projects.

Happy playing!

The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting

Another interesting article in Time... or at least I thought so.

• It made me feel better that Grant is not (yet) in any extracurricular activities or pre-school.
• It reminded me that we all survived in a much un-safer world when we were growing up.
• It made me appreciate that he does get such a kick out of running, playing baseball with us, helping with chores, etc.
• It made me resolve to try to keep our lives sane and not to over-do it as the boys do get older.
• Overall, it made me sigh in relief that we're doing pretty darn good.

The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting

My favorite perspective from the article is on page 2. "... the odds of being kidnapped and killed by a stranger are about 1 in 1.5 million. When parents confront you with "how can you let him go to the store alone?," she suggests countering with "how can you let him visit your relatives?" (some 80% of kids who are molested are victims of friends or relatives.) Or ride in the car with you? (More than 420,000 kids were injured in motor vehiclaes last year.) ... "