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Ever wonder why we have so many allergies today?
Go read this. Still, all things in moderation, Grandma always used to say. But, maybe we should go ahead and order those vegetable seeds and plant that bean fort. Anyway, planting seeds in dirt and watching them start indoors is a great way to fight the winter blues. Kids and dirt: It’s a good thing.
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Parmesan Cheese Crisp Crackers
Parmesan contains the most calcium, ounce-for-ounce, of all the other types of cheeses. Why not incorporate this cheese into a high-protein afternoon snack for after school? I watched Alton Brown make Parmesan cheese crisps in a snap. And snappy, they are. Delicious, crunchy, easy and quick. The kids can even grate their own cheese and make their own. Parchment paper is a must: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grate Parmesan cheese into little piles on parchment paper, on top of cookie sheet. Make as many piles as you’d like. Scrape the stray strands of cheese into the piles, so that you won’t have any left-over crumbs. Be sure every piece…
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The Protest
A few days after the 7-year-old hosted his friends to a rip-roaring birthday party that included ball-pit fun, and gambling away tokens at the slot machines, I presented him with his Thank You cards. “You never told me this! You should have warned me before I invited everyone.” Clutching his colored pencil like a bear trying to scratch his way through the forest, he reluctantly scrawls out the words, “Thank you for the Bakugan.” The words sprawl out in an uneven script covering the text and photo on the front of the cards. Here’s my interpretation of the scowl of his face: “I can’t BELIEVE she has the audacity to…
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Lost Steps to the Line Dance
At first, he adamantly cried, “No way.” No way was he going to join some dorky “dance club,” show up wearing a tie in front of his peers, and EVEN worse, be forced to dance with members of the opposite sex, in front of his peers. Dance Club is a long-standing tradition at our Middle School here. Every Wednesday, for five nights, there is a dress code, strict guidelines, and a professional dance instructor to guide awkward teenagers through the basics of dance etiquette and of course, the steps. (I don’t think this will include the Rumba, but I’m not absolutely sure about that.) The session runs right through the…
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A Letter To Be Read The Day My Last Child Starts Kindergarten
I know this is a sad day for you as you are, no doubt, feeling lost without your little shadow, that endearing little Batman, at your heels. Yes, this is the inevitable beginning of continuous separation between you and that little man who charms you so effortless; like every time he breathes. However, I know this may come as little consolation right now; but I’m here to gently remind you, that while you were in the thick of things, with little ones around you all the time, your life was basically a disorganized, chaotic train wreck. Sorry to be so blunt, but it was. All day long, you constantly shoved…
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Last one up the hill is a rotten egg
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The Great Puzzle Relay Race
Before we left for the lake, I worked up a sweat playing this game. For a few blissful, steamy minutes, it slipped my mind that the temperature was hovering close to zero. I breathed some new life in our standby floor puzzles and laid down some ground rules for an indoor puzzle relay race. What you need: Two puzzles Kids (You can do two kids per team, or one, or three, or whatever you have.) A hallway, or place to do a short run. Rules Set the puzzle pieces at opposite ends of the room or hallway. Each team lines up on the opposite end from his or her own…
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