Yesterday, my kids had Hip Hop lessons at school. This interesting tidbit came out at dinner, after my kids pushed away their bowls of Thai soup and looked around for their favourite food group: chicken nuggets. While I was slurping the coconut milk out of their rice, Vivian and William treated us to a Hip […]
kids
Kids, Kitchens, and Craziness
One of my New Year’s Resolutions for a Lazy Parent was to get my kids more involved in cooking. It’s not that I have a wish for them to go through life with four fingers each; it’s that I want them to be able to cook one meal a week by the time they’re ten. […]
When Kids Help in the Kitchen
Our kids sometimes “help” in the kitchen. While they prefer to chop carrots or dump spaghetti into a pot of boiling water, I usually insist they do tasks that are less likely to fast-track us to the surgical ward. Some chores they initiate on their own. Vivian has surprised us by unpacking the dishwasher, though […]
Advice on Table Manners from a Hypocrite
I’ve written before about kids’ eating habits, including heads on plates and chewing etiquette. No doubt I’ll write about this again, because it’s a work in progress. Until then, I’ll gripe publicly. Someday, I’d like to get through a meal without instructing my kids on table manners, but that seems as likely as baking chocolate […]
Kids and Scissors: Weapons of Mass Destruction
William, who seems to have inherited my lack of finger dexterity, has taken an interest in cutting. I’d be excited if he was cutting paper. But he’s not. He’s cutting clothes. Here’s the conversation we had a week ago. “What happened to your shirt?” I asked, holding up his favorite back-to-school top. “I cut it.” […]
Kids Using Their Heads, Literally
It’s Whiteboard Wednesday again, that time where I share something bizarre I’ve said recently. This week’s addition to the things-I’m-shocked-I’ve-said comes courtesy of watching Vivian climb the stairs. Normally, she bounds up with speed and confidence that I used to have a decade or two ago. But on this particular day, she decided to use […]
When Kids Hate Movies
Our six-year-old twins are afraid of movies. Not let’s-cuddle-with-our-blankets scared, but full-on, we’d-sooner-lie-down-in-a-pit-of-snakes scared. This is why. First, we tried Ratatouille. Now, I love the crew at Pixar, but this is not a movie for kids; well, at least not for my kids. By the time the opening credits finished rolling, Remy was lost in […]
Simon Says Laugh at Your Kids
I’ve always thought the game Simon Says was boring. There are only so many times you can hear “Simon Says touch your toes” until you yearn to do something more exciting, like wash the dishes. But then I watched my husband play it with our kids. Imagine a comedian with a drill sergeant delivery, and […]
Toothpaste, Twins, and Coercion
It’s no secret I hate brushing my kids’ teeth. On top of all the other traumas associated with this nighttime ritual, we now have issues with toothpaste. I am tired of purchasing expensive, okay-to-swallow kid toothpaste, only to watch my son suck it out of the tube like it’s a Freezie. To rectify this problem, […]
Board Games: The Fast-Track To Family Conflict
Board games are an activity steeped in nostalgia. I remember playing marathon Cribbage games with my mom at the age of 6, running to my dad every hand so he could tell me what to discard. I remember playing Rumoli with my whole family during two-day rural power outages. I remember playing Scrabble with my […]