Currently, there is a video chat happening in two different rooms of my house. The dogs seem hell bent on being involved in both of those conversations, taking quick breaks to make sure whoever is outside of our house is informed of their presence as well. One video chat is work related and the other…
Social media is full of families adjusting to their new set of circumstances and a large part of that is figuring out what to do with the kids. We’re looking for places for the kids to go, how to get them online/connected, and then once they’re connected what will they do?!? Both of my kids’…
School is out for six weeks, currently the plan is to return Monday, April 27, in response to the Covid-19 virus as we try to“flatten the curve.” School being out creates many different challenges for families, today we are going to talk about some of the free resources for information on talking to the children…
If you are caring for children, you are likely getting emails from the different groups, sports, schools, and organizations you frequent regarding Covid-19 and the coronavirus. Here in Edmonds, starting March 7, recreation programs are canceled for a minimum of two weeks as the Frances Anderson Center closes to the public; this includes Meadowdale Preschool…
The Tooth Fairy came to our house this week to deliver $2 for a molar. It is worth noting that the $2 was paid out in two separate one dollar bills, not a premeditated $2 bill or fancy coins, and the amount was pre-determined by the recipient in this case either based on what the…
Last week, we focused on fun options for teenagers and this brand new “selfie-ready” destination would have fit right in — or at least I think it would. As I enter this phase of parenting, all I really know is that the bar of what is fun/cool/acceptable moves frequently and without notice. Earlier this month,…
This week, I took my oldest son — now a teenager — to a show on Capitol Hill. He and his jazz band friends wanted to see Lucky Chops and their “high-energy brassy funk” so he got tickets for Christmas. The songs are mainly instrumental, except for some audience participation ‘la las.’ The band members…
There are consistently fun options for kid entertainment locally and as my kids get older, there are also consistently new events not offered when we were in the age range that I wish had been! I usually put the events together in a theme, whether it be free events, indoor/outdoor events, sports options, camp options,…
The Edmonds School District Recreation and Resource Info Fair will be this Saturday, Feb. 1 from 9 a.m. to noon at Meadowdale Middle School. This event, for families and caregivers of children with disabilities, is an opportunity for you to learn about local community resources that will help you navigate services and supports available to…
When the snow showed up in the forecast, I became glued to the weather app on my phone. Not only was I not ready for snow days at home that close to the break we just had, but we had a hockey tournament that required traveling over one of the passes. When the forecast doesn’t…
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The gear shift between the pre-holiday rush, the post-holiday haze, and the 0-to-60 pace of a full week back to school has left our house feeling road-worn with a mix of waking up to an alarm you didn’t expect. While I think we appreciate the routine and getting back to the friends and our extracurriculars,…
It is hard to talk about “Betwixtmas,” what Urban Dictionary defines as “the week in-between Christmas and New Years Day,” without sounding like I-need-a-vacation-from-my-vacation guy. But, when Googled, there are survival guides, articles, hashtags and, of course, there is a full week of winter break left in the Edmonds School District. If you’re looking for…
Last week, on social media I saw an article about how “Holiday Magic” takes its toll on women. It immediately made me think of the Lifetime Christmas Movie I saw this month called On Strike For Christmas with Daphne Zuniga, who you likely either remember as Jo Reynolds, resident of Melrose Place or Princess Vespa, resident…
It took more than one try to get our first picture with Santa, now 13 years ago. I used the trick where you hand the kiddo to Santa while keeping eye contact and smiling while the photographer jingles the bell for further distraction. Santa is picture perfect and my son is mostly smiling. Over the…
When all my parenting was hypothetical, my biggest perceived school-age deficit was math. With the invention of apps like Photomath (it’s free, shows you not only the answer, but the steps, and I already depend on it for 5th grade math), it hasn’t been as tough as I expected. (Though to be fair, I co-parent…
When my kids were small and the costumes were still toddling spiders or mini firefighters, my main goal was to get as much use out of costumes as possible with the most amount of pictures. Once the kids started school, their yearly school event added an indoor option, which has a photo booth, so I…
About a year ago, the Rotary Club of Edmonds announced it would suspend the Edmonds Waterfront Festival. The event had run for 31 years at the Port of Edmonds Marina. Then-president David Kaufer explained the group decided to take that step “after carefully evaluating and analyzing the return on investment, both in capital and volunteer…
Thanks to a new zero period and lack of previously expected transportation, we’re adjusting to a new back-to-school routine. With more moving parts, there are more days of the week where we repeatedly call out things like “homework,” “PE clothes,” and “turn that off now” as if we’re auctioneers or playing some sort of parents…
With each report of a luring attempt, we’re reminded of that heart-sinking feeling and the anxiety involved in approaching and teaching our children how to stay safe. Social media, multiplayer video games and the internet in general have expanded the conversation about the appropriate way to interact with people we don’t know. But in the…
In an email I got from the Foundation for Edmonds School District, I found out that over the last year, the Celebrate Schools 5k grants funded projects benefiting thousands of students, across all grade levels. For example, it went to “afterschool reading and math tutoring, a Festival of Cultures, 5th Grade Law Day, Family Math…
I don’t want to break the seal on “Back to School” topics and not because I’m an eternal summer kind of person, but because that means it’ll be Christmas at Joann’s and Michael’s any minute. Plus, I am still recovering from seemingly endless 4th grade book reports and jockeying Skyward/Canvas/Google Classroom as the parent of…
I recently went to my first school board meeting. As someone who has carefully avoided manning the games at our school’s Harvest (read: Halloween) festival since 2011, that is certainly not something I could have forecasted, but there I was taking my three minutes during a public comment portion. The road from occasional, reluctant classroom…
Last summer, we piled into the van and headed to the Granite Falls Library for Hogwarts Summer School. We ate snacks, watched a magician, and the kids made Harry Potter-themed crafts. Since it was about a 45-minute drive, we turned it into a bit of a day trip, stopping on the way home at Funko…
After my middle schooler suffered a concussion in his main sport this winter, we found out just how important exercise and, additionally, a team sport/group activity was for him. He went from hour-long practices twice a week and a game on the weekend with locker room time before and after, to not only no sports,…
This week, I am writing my column about summer reading inside the library. I’d like to say that it is because I am going to cover all of the local summer reading options and the fun Sno-Isle Explore Summer events and I wanted to immerse myself in the environment that I was writing about, but…
