As some of you already know, my kids have the ability to earn a set amount of allowance each week, but come “pay day”,
it may not all get paid to them, depending on infractions during the week. For example, $1 off if you leave your plate on the table, $1 off if you leave shoes in the living room, $1 off if
you don’t do your chore-of the-day—we keep a white board on the side of the refrigerator to keep track. My …
Month: December 2010
Mare E Kriz Muss
Several years ago for a newspaper story, I interviewed a Dallas mom named Sue about the great lengths she and her family
go to every year to come up with a crazy family photo for their Christmas card—often complete with costumes, props, and backdrops. In one memorable photo, her family is seen atop a fake
“snowcovered roof” dressed as Santa and other holiday characters. The youngest child, a baby, is wailing mightily, one of the dogs is sliding off the roof, and Sue …
Celebrating the First Year– Excess is Okay
There’s a long-standing debate about birthday parties for kids who are turning 1—one side says keep it low key or don’t
even have one, don’t waste your money because the child won’t remember it; the other says, have a big blow out. And as I watch my niece and her family prepare to have the latter for her son
(yep, yet another family birthday falls during the holidays!), I must admit I’m in the latter camp. Because, as I saw it when …
Putting Cheer (and Maybe Even Love) Back Into Kids’ Holiday Parties and Gift Exchanges
If the holidays and holiday parties are meant to be infused with joy and cheer, it’s ironic that sometimes,
thanks to gift exchanges, people can leave those parties feeling kind of…well…mad, or at least a bit sour. Kind of like Jim Carrey’s Grinch when he receives a used electric shaver at Whoville’s
Present Pass-it-On…I’ve seen these emotions a few times at adult parties and a LOT at kids’ parties.
First of all, most gift exchanges I’ve seen or participated …
A Couple of Updates
Not just a dash— now it’s a mad dash
Remember my September post about the passing period between high school classes, about how at our kids’ school it’s so quick, kids don’t have time to use the restroom or go to their lockers any
more? Well, I did bring up the subject to the Director of Health for our school district, who chairs a committee of which I am a member. He told me he would bring it …