Scene: our house. Adults upstairs, Captain Earthquake in the basement at the computer. Captain Earthquake: Dad??? I need to spell baking soda. Hubby: b-a-k-i-n-g… CE: what? wait!! b….a….what?? H: k… CE: k H: i…. CE: (mutters) where’s i? oh! I!!! H: n CE: n! H: g CE: g! H: space CE: space!! H: s…o… CE: [...]

I’ve been a bit of a bummer lately I think, complaining about stress and a new school year and so on. So today?? Good news! I’m seeing some cooperation! We’re stopping for lunch shortly with almost everyone done with half their schoolwork. Several things have contributed to this happy state. I made them daily checklists. [...]

Around here, it seems like September is the month for just drowning in stress. With the new school schedule, there are always changes. On top of that, the boys usually aren’t fond of transitioning from summer break back to schoolwork anyway. So we all struggle. We’re talking about it over in my post at GNMParents [...]

Last week we had a power outage here at Earnest Parenting, and Hubby bought some dry ice to help protect our freezer items. This prompted the boys to research all sorts of dry ice experiments, but when we opened the freezer to get a chunk out for play study, it was already all melted away.  [...]

(editor’s note: please enjoy this lovely post written by Laura Pulido, CEO of The Protocol Institute And see below for a special limited time FREE offer!!>) “Without good manners, human society becomes intolerable.” George Bernard Shaw As parents, we may find ourselves questioning the need to consistently teach our children manners and etiquette. After all, [...]

In typical September tradition, I’m here to tell you how we’re doing with homeschooling so far. The older boys are now in 7th grade, while the younger ones are in 3rd. We got delayed by my knee injury last winter so they didn’t finish 2nd and 6th grade work until well into August. We took [...]