On Thursday, I was in Half Price Books picking up a hold (the Hunger Games prequel because I am trying to use books for kids and teens to break up the doomscrolling),. I had an exchange with some young shoppers about a viral video they had playing on their phone (they for sure don’t call…
Throughout 2013 we added little pieces of paper into an old spaghetti sauce jar with fun or special events or accomplishments written on them with the plan to open the jar on New Year’s Eve. This might have been the only year we were able to fill the Memory Jar, an exercise in gratitude mixed…
When my mother-in-law mentioned suspected shipping delays when asking for present ideas for the kids sometime around Thanksgiving, I hadn’t heard anything about it. With 99% of our family out of state, we still have a couple of shipping nail-biters — though, thankfully, Santa was able to get the most important requests curbside or shipped…
After safely celebrating a social distant Halloween, we replaced door knocking with some candy drop off/exchanges, I felt more hopeful that we could find some ways to replace or amend or holiday traditions while staying safe and trying to keep fun for the kids who are already missing out on so much. This year there…
Either more people are decorating for the holidays earlier than normal this year or they’re more comfortable posting it on social media. I have seen a few houses lit up already, which seems earlier than expected, and I saw post after post on social media of people putting up Christmas decorations last weekend. I also…
Our Halloween routine has looked the same for so long, it’s safe to call it our Halloween tradition. We took pictures with the neighbors across the street, met a group of friends on Sunset Avenue in Edmonds, took a group picture, and knocked on doors while taking in the view, heading back on 2nd Avenue…
Earlier this month, Edmonds School District Food and Nutrition services, which provide seven days a week of free breakfast and lunch to kids ages 1 through 18 at local schools and community locations, said that many parents are asking if they “‘choose school meals’ will they be “taking away from someone else who needs it?”…
Before quarantine, our management of screen time looked much different. Computers and phones were almost exclusively used and charged outside of bedrooms. It wasn’t far into our time at home that we realized we had to do something differently for all of our sakes. We ended up getting a different router and pairing it with…
Sno-Isle Libraries is providing access to live online tutoring and homework help for free. I usually ease into the information, but in the land of a million terrifying headlines, it feels right to lead with great news. If you go to sno-isle.org/kids/homework you can access many homework-related resources including Brainfuse HelpNow, which offers “online tutors…
In years past, I have always waited anxiously for the Edmonds School District Family and Community Calendar to come out. Since it has all of the important dates — days off, early releases, holidays – I was anxious to get those in my calendar even though I’d often end up surprised by the schedule change,…
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As kids around the country head back to school — many of my friends and family in other states have started their school years already– the typical “first day” photos look much different. Those attending school in person are wearing masks and those learning virtually are in their workspaces or posing with their devices instead…
This week, the Edmonds School District held two community forums, one to address special education and one to address child care options. Both sessions were recorded and can be watched at YouTube.com/EdmondsSD. The district announced that it partnered with four child care providers to support families during the 2020-21 school year. The YMCA will be…
“School shoes” were always something I was excited about as a kid and that excitement has continued to buying shoes with my kids ahead of their first day of school. It occurred to me as I breezed past the school supplies section of Target, I still don’t exactly know what we’ll need for this school…
We first talked about Pokémon Go, the mobile Augmented Reality game involving Pokémon characters popularized on cards of the same name, in 2016 — just after the app was released. Throngs of users crowded Pokéstops, where you gather supplies and catch the characters, at the Edmonds Waterfront playing the game. About two weeks ago, the…
Over the last couple of weeks, we (OK, I) have been hyper focused on taking the kids’ makeshift workspaces and preparing them for more long-term use — the Edmonds School District announced this week that the 20-21 school year would start with a remote learning schedule. It has been all kinds of cleaning out closets…
Earlier this month when writing about Southwest County Park, I found out that along with being the “largest single parcel of open space within the Edmonds city limits,” it is a Snohomish County Park. When I went through the list of Parks and Facilities listed on their site, SnoCoParks.org, I recognized more names than I…
After emerging from Southwest County Park recently, the kids and I ran into a parent from one of their schools, and within seconds it was dueling verbal firehouses from myself and my youngest, who has never met her before. I’ve noticed that when given the opportunity, even on phone calls to family members otherwise marked…
A popular subject amongst the group text we have going for our hockey friends is where to hike/walk with the kids. (We also talk a bit about how the kids talk to each other mid-video game as it seems to be its own language.) At our house, we’re looking for a mix of trying to…
After picking up my second set of books from the Edmonds library since they opened for socially distanced hold pickups and returns (still a thrill), I saw campers and staff at the Edmonds Boys are Girls Club in their camp t-shirts hanging out on the basketball court next to the building. The club has been…
This week, I got a phone call from a librarian from the Edmonds Sno-Isle branch. It was, frankly, thrilling. A hold I made back in March was ready for me to come and pick up and I could drop off any library books I had at home during the library’s amended hours — Monday and…
As we approach the last week of school (the last day was moved up to June 19), one kid in my house still has a few Zoom meetings left even though he turned in his “last homework of the year,” and the other has to use this final week to wrap up his missing work….
Sno-Isle librarians were in the middle of planning for their summer reading program when libraries closed on March 13th due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, our three local libraries offer wi-fi access from their parking lots and Sno-Isle has offered library cards online, moved Storytimes and Trivia online, laid out how to access books,…
On Saturday morning, Mountlake Terrace High School’s Facebook page shared a letter from Principal Greg Schellenberg to Mountlake Terrace High School students and community members. Schellenberg formally denounced the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, adding “There is no room in the Mountlake Terrace community for racism, misogyny, bigotry and hatred.” Schellenberg…
“Jelly Cam” is now something I blurt out at random times during the week. This is to alert everyone that the Monterey Bay Aquarium Facebook has a live feed of jellyfish running. They also have Kelp Forest Cam, Shark Cam, Penguin Cam, Sea Otter Cam, Moon Jelly Cam, and videos of things like a huge…
My soon-to-be 11-year-old just informed me that he would be “zooming” with a friend if I needed him. People say “new normal” a lot, and we are certainly operating on a different set of rules, routines, and resources, but the new way we do things seems to get amended each week whether good or bad….
