parenting Archives - Page 2 of 22

migraines and kids: managing the ups and downs

06 | 01 | 2016

When Owen first started suffering from migraines, we had no idea what was going on.

He had no idea what was going on.

Out of the blue, he would be out for the count. One minute, he’d be playing out front with the neighbors; the next minute, he’d be throwing up in the bathroom, complaining that his head hurt so bad and asking, “Mom, what can I do?”

It was a scary and uncertain time.
And though we are still not out of the woods (though migraines can hit at any time) we have begun to manage the ups and downs of his migraines.
We are learning as we go.

I should mention that migraines need to be diagnosed and you should always consult with your doctor. Particularly with children under the age of 18 – ask a doctor. This story is my personal experience with Owen’s suffering.

Migraines and Kids – Managing the Ups and Downs:

Owen’s first migraine hit late spring, when allergies were acting up for many and when windows were open for the first time. It was a cool afternoon, breezy, but comfortable.

Owen came in from playing out front with his neighbor buddies. It was getting late. Dusk maybe.

“Mom, my head hurts,” he said.

I’m sure I was busy putting away the dishes or preparing for the next day. “Okay,” I told him. “Um, let me get you something for it.”

He got panicky. “No Mom. My head really hurts. I think I have to go upstairs.”

The tone in his voice worried me. He never walked himself upstairs without prompting. Heck, he never stopped playing with the neighbors without a nudge or two.

“Okay,” I said. “I’m coming up.”

That night, we tried everything, but we could not find Owen relief from the pain of his headache.

I called our doctor frantically but got only instructions that ‘may’ help him. With headaches, she said, we never really know what will work. We just have to try different things until we figure out what works for each person.

That night, Owen took a hot shower. We tried warm compresses. We tried pain relief medicine. But nothing worked.

Finally, the pain became more than he could bear and he was sick to his stomach. Only then was he able to finally sleep for a bit. When he woke, his pain was more manageable.

After this first experience, several others followed.

Sometimes his pain would come mid-day. Sometimes it would come in the evening or early morning.

We never knew. We never knew.

We never knew when Owen would be hit with a headache so bad that he would be sick to his stomach and then forced to rest for the remainder of the day.

The uncertainty put us all on edge.

Would practice be missed? Would homework be skipped? Would Mom or Dad be busy comforting Owen and not be able to help Maddy or Cora with work or activities?

We tracked and recorded when Owen’s headaches occurred and what we did to help him. As is the case with many migraine sufferers, patterns were hard to distinguish.

He’d have a migraine every other week for two months and then not have one for six weeks. Then two weeks later he’d have another at different times of the day with no clear triggers.

What we did know was that we needed to be open and communicative with friends and with Owen.

Friends shared stories of their own children suffering from similar pain and what worked to keep the pain at bay.

Owen was quick to tell us when he felt a migraine coming on so we could get him pain medicine and water and put him in a comfortable place until it hit.

Studies show that 88% of young migraine sufferers feel misunderstood and anxious when asked about their migraines, even by those who love them most. So we wanted our boy to know that we were listening with open ears and open minds.

Sometimes the migraine came on like a bulldozer. Other times, it passed over him mercifully.

We never ended up finding out what caused our Owen’s migraines, but what we did find was a way to manage the ups and downs that migraines bring to a family. And we’re still learning–every day.

Migraines are an extremely disruptive and debilitating condition that impacts an estimated 36 million sufferers in the US. For families like ours, one of the biggest hurdles is simply trying to understand what our loved ones are going through when they mutter those awful four words: I have a migraine.

Excedrin® has created The Migraine Experience, the world’s first migraine simulator to drive empathy and understanding of the condition, by giving non-sufferers the chance to safely experience the symptoms of a migraine using augmented reality.

You guys. This site is amazing. It’s incredible. It’s something that both sufferers and non-sufferers should visit to learn more about what loved ones experience each time they are hit with a migraine. Visit here: The Migraine Experience.

Learn more about how Excedrin® is harnessing the power of augmented reality to bring true empathy to migraine sufferers and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

For a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, leave a comment below telling us: Have you or someone you love ever suffered from a migraine?

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Highlights Every Day app: THE must-have app for every 5-9 year old

05 | 31 | 2016

Friends, it’s no secret that I have long been a fan of the great folks at Highlights for Children and the wonderful work they do.

But now? They’ve taken their awesome to an app, and it makes me want to dance.

It seriously is one of THE must-have apps for every 5-9 years old. For every elementary schooler.

Every child would benefit from having this app because literally every, single day, there’s something new.

It’s cool. Very cool.

It’s the Highlights Every Day app, and it’s available in both iTunes and Google Play.

I’m thrilled to have been asked to share a bit o’ info about this, and I’m totally psyched to have a super-fun Highlights reading and puzzle giftpack and a $25 Visa giftcard to give away so one lucky reader can read and do puzzles and rock it out with the app a bit.

Here’s the skinny. . .

Highlights Every Day App — THE Must-Have App for Every 5-9 Year Old:

When I say I’m a longtime fan of Highlights, I’m not lying.

I’ve mentioned for years now that Highlights for Children or High Five Magazine are awesome gifts for kids.

I created Magazine Hunts to help emerging readers get to know the contents of a magazine.

We have attended the State of the Kid events here in DC several times.

My kids have played with Hidden Pictures® during lunchtime with their Hidden Pictures® Lunchbox Notes.

I even spent a bunch of time in real life, hanging with the Highlights crew back in 2012 when I spoke on a panel for the Highlights State of the Kid Press Conference.

So when I heard about the Highlights Every Day app, I think I screamed with joy.

The Highlights Every Day app rocks.

Essentially, the Highlights Every Day app is the Highlights for Children Magazine re-created into a digital app. It’s really well done.

Picture this: hundreds of fun facts, puzzles, jokes, quizzes, videos, stories and more are all wrapped up into an app.

And though there’s a bunch of content that kids can grab any day, each day there’s a little ‘gift’ that kids unwrap that contains even more facts, puzzles, quizzes, videos, stories, and more.

Even though it sounds like a lot–and it is–the platform and interface are very child-friendly. It never looks like it’s too much, too crowded, or too overwhelming.

Cora and Owen (and even Maddy!) have loved giving this app a go.

Cora is 9, Owen is 10, and Maddy is 12 years old. So though the iTunes store says the app is for kids ages 6-8, really this will work for kids slightly younger or older.

And know this: this app is a bit of an investment–but it’s worth it.

This is not a free app, friends; it’s a subscription app. You pay $7.99 monthly. However, there is a free version that works perfectly well. Or you can try the whole app for free for 30 days.

The thing is, though, if your kids try the free version, they’ll definitely want the full version because the content is that good, and they’ll want to be able to ‘unlock’ everything.

The subscription is $7.99/ month, so it’s definitely something you’ll notice on your iTunes or Google Play bill. Think about it this way, though: when it comes down to it, it’s only like $.23/ day for an app that keeps your child’s mind moving and growing.

There is a whole a lot of junk out there online for our kids to consume, friends, but is an app that I truly think every parent should feel good about putting on his or her device. It’s an app that yields screen time well-spent for our kids.

Here’s the Highlights Every Day skinny.

My kids loved. . .

the new daily content. It was a great app to have open during breakfast or during weekend down-time. And it was always fresh and new.
the interactive quizzes;
the kid-answered questions;
the jokes;
the puzzles and hidden pictures;
the interesting (short!) reads;
that they had choice within the app–they could decide what they wanted to do and when.

I loved. . .

that there was a mix of fiction and non-fiction reading selections;
that each word was highlighted as it was read aloud;
that you could turn off or on sound;
that the kids’ answers were summarized and put on screen at the end of the Q & A segments;
that there was so much variety on this platform;
that there were no ads or clickbait images to distract kids;
that it’s 110% safe. (Phew. Not much is these days, you know?)

We wish. . .

there was a way that kids could submit their own questions via the app;
you could buy a 3-month or 6-month subscription or year-long subscriptions at a discounted price (but YAY! They’re working on this!);
somehow it prompted me to renew so it didn’t automatically renew each month (maybe there’s a way but I just don’t know how?);
every, single child could have access to this fabulous digital content. It’s that good, friends.

Stay connected with the Highlights familia:

Really! Reach out. Tell them what you love. Give them a virtual high-five.

————————————————————-

GIVEAWAY:

WIN a Highlights gift pack of reading and puzzle fun along with a $25 Visa gift card so you can try Highlights Every Day app for your kids!

Do you want to win a Highlights gift pack of reading and puzzle fun along with a $25 Visa gift card so you can try Highlights Every Day app for your kids?? !? ??! Yes, yes you do.

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Please use the Rafflecopter widget below to throw your name in the hat:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

By entering this giveaway, you are demonstrating your understanding of and compliance with the Official Sweepstakes Rules.

This giveaway ends Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at midnight ET and is open to folks here in the US only. Winner will be chosen by ‘Rafflecopter’ and will be notified on or around 06/15/16. Winner must respond within three (3) days of notification or forfeit the prize, in which case an alternate winner will be selected. All Official Sweepstakes Rules apply.

fyi: This post was written as part of a sponsored partnership with Highlights, but as always, my opinions are my own, influenced only by my experience as a parent and educator and by my three awesome kids.

fyi: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Forever and always I recommend only products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” For more information, please see teachmama media, llc. disclosure policy.

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chat and learn: NEW on teachmama.com — Office Hours!

04 | 22 | 2016

Every day, all day.

Each week. Each month, all year long, I am asked all kinds of reading questions.

So I’m officially opening up teachmama office hours!

That way, we can chat–even for a quick five minutes!–and I can help you support your children.

The awesome thing is that there’s a free, new platform called SpareMin that allows us to chat when we can find time. During our ‘spare’ minutes of the day.

I love it.

I’m just planning ahead a bit and telling you when I’ll make time to chat; my office hours will mean I’ll free up my schedule so we can talk.

Office Hours are in effect, friends! Sign on up and let’s connect!

I will be doing two sessions each month from April through August. Here are the dates:

~~Saturday, April, 23 from 10-10:30 am ET and Sunday, April 24 from 8-8:30 pm ET.~~ Check out recordings on summer reading for reluctant readers and more. All recordings are public and are on my SpareMin profile!
~~Monday, May 9, from 10-10:30 am ET and 8-8:30pm ET~~
~~Monday, June 13, from 10-10:30 am ET and 8-8:30pm ET~~
~~Monday, July 11, from 10-10:30 am ET and 8-8:30pm ET~~
Monday, August 8, from 10-10:30 am ET and 8-8:30pm ET

If you want to participate, all you have to do is:

1. Put in a Talk Request to @amymascott on SpareMin. Note: you will need to download (free!) the Android or iOS app to do this.

iOS: iTunes Store — SpareMin

Android: Google Play Store — SpareMin

2. After you put in a Talk Request, I will choose some callers, and you will get a notification when I go online. Then we connect for a call at either of my Office Hour time slots.

Note: All calls are limited to 5 minutes each, and all calls are recorded and shared via social media so other people can learn as well!

Looking forward to connecting!

Some questions I commonly receive (ideas to get you started!)

What should my child know before going to Kindergarten?
When should I teach my child how to write his/ her name?
How do you teach your child his/her name?
What do I do with my reluctant reader?
How should I get my child to talk to me about books?
What books would you recommend for fun summer reading?
How do you organize a Book Swap?
Where would you recommend I get books for our at-home library?
How can I help my child better understand what he/she reads?
What should I do with my child this summer so that he/she doesn’t experience the ‘summer slide’?
Which books would you recommend for a child who loves animals?
My child does not like to read aloud. What should I do?
My child wants to read ‘The Hunger Games’. Should I let him?
When reading, my child makes a ton of mistakes but never stops to correct herself. What should I do?
What’s a fun way for teaching my child the alphabet?

fyi: I’m thrilled to be partnering with the great folks at SpareMin for this post and for teachmama Office Hours for the next few months. Try it! It’s a really cool concept, friends!

what is musical.ly and should I let my kid have an account?

04 | 07 | 2016

You guys.

My kids have become obsessed — O.B.S.E.S.S.E.D — with musical.ly.

And up until recently, only Maddy had an account.

Owen and Cora, though, asked for an account just about every day, and finally I relented.

I must be getting tired in my old age, after how long I made Maddy wait for an Instagram account for about forever, look at me with my second and third children just letting them dive into the wilds of social media without care.

But if you know me, you will know that’s not the case.

I’ve thought long and hard about allowing Owen and Cora to have a musical.ly account, and I’ll explain why I think it’s okay.

Here’s the skinny. . .

What is musical.ly and Should I Let My Kid Have An Account?

I’ll start from the beginning.

What is musical.ly, and why should you even care?

From the musical.ly website:

musical.ly is a social media platform for creating, sharing and discovering short music videos.

Every day, millions of people use musical.ly as an outlet to express themselves through singing, dancing, comedy, and lip-syncing. The app celebrates creativity with videos recorded in 15 seconds or less and shared across the musical.ly community.

Picture this: you have the ability to make cool, short videos–songs or short dialogues–that you can share with the world, and people can see them. Think MTV meets SNL meets karaoke meets Dubsmash meets American Idol meets Instagram. Kind of.

People can watch another person’s musical.ly and either:

like (click a heart)
comment (click a dialogue bubble)
ask a question, start a duet!, share on facebook, share on instagram, share on FB messenger, share via twitter or email or text message or vine or link (by clicking the three dots)
shoot a video using the same song or clip (by clicking the spinning circle)

By clicking the + bottom of the screen–no matter where the user may be on the platform–he or she can create a 15-second video.

Users can pick music, shoot first, or use something from their own library. But it seems that that a popular way of finding songs or clips is to borrow from friends’ or followers’ music. You can do this easily.

When picking music from the musical.ly library, you can search for a song or choose according to a million different topics:

popular
lip-sync classic
comedy
muser voice
dance
rap
instruments
j-pop
moody
rock
peaceful
metal
spanish
and the list goes on and on and on and on.

Or, you can choose from your own music library on your device.

Friends, I am not going to pretend that I know everything there is to know about musical.ly. I do not.

But I do know this:

musical.ly terms of service require that users be at least 13 years old to use this platform;
musical.ly community guidelines are very clear in the way they want the platform used:
- Post musicals you love
- Like, follow and comment
- Flag inappropriate content
- Be nice
- Have fun!
musical.ly community guidelines state how the platform should not be used. Users should not:
- Post explicit content or nudity
- Spam Comments
- Bully, harass or disrespect other musers
- Post personal information

And I know this, and you should know this, too:

If you don’t already have a Family Media Agreement, you should do that now.

Some of the songs and clips and audio pieces have curse words or inappropriate content. Make a rule that your child may not choose these types of songs. (Think: They may see and hear this kind of thing on tv or in school, but they are not permitted to use it themselves, lip-synched or not.)

If your child has a musical.ly account, you should check it now. You should always know the user name and password, and the minute you check and it’s been changed, the account should be closed and the device confiscated. (Think: You’re in charge. You pay the bills.)

Make sure that the account is private. (Think: Do you really want anyone to have access to your child’s videos? And it’s not just viewing the videos; anyone can comment on public videos. Sometimes the comments can get pretty rough.)

Make sure that the location service is off for the account. (Think: No one needs to know where you child is–ever.)

Make sure that your child knows the majority of–if not all–of his or her followers. (Think: Followers have access to your child’s videos. Followers can see and comment on your child’s videos.)

Make sure that your child follows only accounts that you deem appropriate. (Think: This may be difficult to determine, but I bet you can get a sense of each person by watching a handful of videos.)

Make sure that your child knows that you, as the parent, may at any time, check his or her account. That should go for texts and emails and any other social media platform that your child uses, video games included. (Think: You pay the bills. Privacy schmivacy. When we were our kids’ ages, we had to have all phone conversations in the middle of the house on a phone attached to the wall. At least I did. . . )

Make sure that your child understands that his or her worth is not and cannot be dictated by the number of likes or followers he or she has.

Make sure that your child is following a few decent accounts so that he or she sees what awesome, cool, creative videos look like.

And now maybe you’re wondering why on earth I let my kids have accounts? Here’s why:

I like that the musical.ly videos are creative and interactive.
I like that the videos are short.
I like that the musical.ly videos involve thinking outside the box.
I like that there’s a mix of acting and singing.
I like that kids take risks by putting themselves out there to create videos.
I like that the videos encourage users to be silly and fun and to not take themselves too seriously.
I like that musical.ly provides a ton of examples of cool videos which kids tend to try to mimic.
I like that if the account is private, and you only approve people you know, that you can kind of keep things under control.
I like that in the comment box, there’s a reminder to be nice.
I like that they often have community challenges–engaging users to make specific types of videos or videos to certain songs.
I like that often these videos provide a starting point for conversation with kids–because as they get older, that can be tough.

What do you think? Are you for musical.ly or not? Do your kids use it?

I’d love to know.

Because really, we’re learning as we go here.

If you want or need a bit more on digital literacy, start here:

This post is part of our Digital Kids series:

healthy, quick meal prep service for busy families: Terra’s Kitchen

03 | 30 | 2016

I am always thrilled when asked to try new products or services that may make my family’s life better, easier, or healthier.

So when I learned that a healthy, quick meal prep service for busy families had arrived in the DC Metro area this month, I was thrilled when I was asked to give it a go.

It’s called Terra’s Kitchen, and the premise is simple: they want to bring back the experience of cooking and eating together. And they know that we’re all busy. Like really, really busy.

And they also know that most of us really, really want to give our families the best and healthiest meals that we can. We’re just all really, really busy and can’t always do that.

So Terra’s Kitchen focuses on the idea of farm to front-door delivery. Fresh, seasonal ingredients that can be made into super-healthy meals in 30-minutes or less.

It’s a cool product, you guys.

It really made us happy.

Here’s the skinny. . .

Healthy, Quick Meal Prep Service for Busy Families — Terra’s Kitchen:

If your family is anything like mine, you’re busy.

You’re running from one activity to the next on weeknights, grabbing snacks and hoping that whatever you have in the fridge will somehow translate to a halfway decent meal for your family after you stumble into the door at 7:30 pm.

Sometimes, cereal counts as a balanced meal. Because it says so on the box, right?

I really think this is where Terra’s Kitchen comes into play.

Here’s what you need to know about Terra’s Kitchen:

You choose the meals you want; Terra’s Kitchen preps them and delivers them to your door, and you cook the meal;
All ingredients arrive in a crazy-cool ‘vessel’ that is literally like a traveling fridge and completely reusable;
The whole cooler is delivered to your door and then picked up–you don’t need to do anything!
Every recipe can be created from start to finish in 30 minutes or less;
The recipes are all ‘plant strong’ and healthy, made from fresh ingredients and designed by cookbook author, Chef Libbie Summers;
Recipe options are available for gluten-free, paleo and vegetarian preferences;
The meals are really tasty and make you feel good. Not even kidding.

Check out our Terra’s Kitchen Unboxing video:

And check out our family meal prep experience.

I have three awesome kids who were each eager to help in different ways.

Maddy was my right-hand woman for the majority of the cooking. She loves to get her hands in there and work with new-t0-her foods, ingredients that we don’t use often or that we try for the first time. This time, the steak was new; though we do eat quite a bit of meat over here, it’s not often that the kids jump in for it.

She had a blast, and she cooked the meat perfectly!

Owen jumped in to help with cutting the avocados, which is not an easy job at all. He did wonderfully.

And Cora was in the mix the whole time, filming and photographing and helping with behind-the-scenes. I think her video recording is totally top quality.

We gave our recipe a bit of a Mascott spin.

Though the recipe we created was indeed a Southwestern Steak + Sweet Potato Bowl, we kind of gave it our own little spin.

My kids aren’t big into ‘bowl’-type dishes, so we separated our ingredients a bit.

Though our finished dishes didn’t look quite like the picture on our recipe card, our dishes were still beautiful. And I think that’s really the point of Terra’s Kitchen–to provide families with good, healthy ingredients and a starting point.

And however the family makes it work for them, it’s a win.

Another meal we tried and really enjoyed was the Grilled Chicken Tacos with Avocado Goat Cheese Sauce.

This one came in handy not on a weeknight but on a busy, busy Saturday.

Between basketball games and cheer competitions, we managed to find 30 minutes to make this amazing lunch–and it kept us going all day long.

Do you want to learn more?

Sure you do.

Check out Terra’s Kitchen. And get a little discount.

And know that if you enter the code TEACHMAMA at checkout, you’ll get $50 off of your first order.

Please, please–if you give it a shot–let us know what you think!

And find out what other people are saying.

Follow:

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Terra’s Kitchen. The opinions and text are all mine.

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reading tip 6: laugh! #raiseareader

03 | 18 | 2016

I’m all about daily reading tips this month–tips for parents and caregivers about how they can raise kids who love reading!

They’re short and sweet.

Believe me.

I know, friends–we’re all busy.

And we barely have enough bandwidth for one. more. thing.

But the response has been great so far, so I’m running with it.

This tip is one that may surprise you–I know it surprised me.

Check it out:

Like this video? Check out the whole #RaiseAReader playlist and definitely subscribe to our channel!Need — or want more?

Here you go: (click on the image to find the post!)

What burning questions do you have about reading or literacy? I’d love to hear them so that I can (hopefully!) address the topic during one of the videos.

Just leave it below, and I’ll do what I can to cover it. Looking forward to this!

Follow along wherever works best for you, my friends, with the hashtag #RaiseAReader —

follow daily on YouTube;
follow daily on Snapchat;
follow daily on Facebook;
follow daily on Twitter;
follow daily on Instagram.

Cheers, and happy reading during this incredibly exciting journey!

Want a few more early literacy or alphabet activities? Check out:

backyard alphabet hunt
homemade alphabet book
leafy letter learning
ABC hunt
on the road ABC hunt
lowercase ABC hunt
build your own bingo: uppercase and lowercase match
ABC cards and clothespin match
alphabet letter splash
alphabingo (play with lowercase letters)
alphabet letter lids
leafy outdoor alphabet hunt
build your own board game
clothespin letter match
10 fun ways to learn the alphabet

Follow us on pinterest, and check out our literacy pins:

Follow amy mascott @teachmama’s board literacy on Pinterest.

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reading aloud with older kids: what parents need to know

02 | 29 | 2016

Over the years, I’ve talked a lot about reading, but recently, as I looked back, I realized I haven’t shared too much about reading with older kids.

There are definitely some things parents need to know when it comes to reading aloud with bigger kids.

And since my kids are now 12, 10, and almost 9 years old (gasp!), I thought I’d share.

Did you know that the Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report shared that 40% of kids ages 6-11 years old said that their parents no longer read aloud to them –but that they wished their parents still did?

I found that figure interesting.

Even though our kids are getting older, it doesn’t mean they don’t want their parents to read to them. I love it.

So friends, let’s do it.

I know it’s hard, though, right? We’re so busy now that our kids are older. We’re schlepping them from activity to activity, doing homework and projects, trying to manage a household and a job ourselves. When can we possibly fit in reading aloud to our older kids?

We can do it. I know we can. We can find time.

Here’s the skinny. . .

Reading Aloud to Bigger Kids — What Parents Need to Know:

We can find time because it’s that important—and our kids—and we—will benefit from it.

But before you get all excited and find your kid and grab any ole book, I thought I’d share a few things you should know.

1. Kids like funny books.

They really do. And why wouldn’t they?

They’re kids—and they’re silly.

The Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report found that more than 91% of kids ages 6-17 say that their favorite books are the one they pick out themselves and the number one thing kids say want when reading for fun is a “book that makes me laugh.” Above all, kids want funny books; this was the top response of all kids at 70%.

So laugh together we will, right?

Here are a few of our favorite funny books that would work great for read alouds with bigger kids:

Mr. Popper’s Penguins, by Richard Atwater and Florence Atwater
Flora & Ulysses, by Kate DiCamillo
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, by Tom Angleberger
Big Nate, by Lincoln Peirce
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling

2. Kids want to know what you think.

They really do. So share what you think while you’re reading by doing just that—thinking aloud.

Thinking aloud sounds fancy, but it’s really not. You simply read a bit, pause, and then share what you’re thinking.

You could comment about characters, settings, or actions. You could make connections, ask yourself questions, or make predictions. You could be serious, snarky, or silly.

Do whatever you’d normally do. Just share what you’re thinking.

You may find that your child comments back. You may find that your child just gives you the side eye. You may find that your child ignores you.

But the important thing is that your child will hear you interacting with the text. Your child will begin to understand and recognize (if he or she doesn’t know this already) that reading is an active process where the reader, text, and context all work together to make meaning.

And eventually if your child starts commenting back—agreeing or disagreeing with you—or adding his or her own thoughts, awesome!

3. Kids like consistency.

Whether you sneak in a few minutes of reading time before school or after school, after dinner or before bed, it doesn’t matter. Just find a time that works for you.

And stick with it.

I’ll be honest: this is where I am a huge failure. I start something and then life gets in the way, and I drop the ball. We’ll read for four days and then an activity will come up, the weekend will follow, and then we totally fall off-track.

But I do know that we’re working on it.

And I also know that it’s okay.

And I also know that even if we drop the ball for a few days, getting back into the book and talking through where we left off is okay. It’s a helpful life skill, too, to think back, look at the text, and reacquaint ourselves with story. Right? Right.

Have something else to add? I’d love to hear it!

Please follow along with our daily reading tips:

Seriously, we’re that excited about having everyone #RaiseAReader, we’re shouting it from a mountaintop. If we can do it, you can do it, too!

That’s it, friends.

fyi: About The Kids & Family Reading Report — it’s a biannual report from Scholastic and managed by YouGov. Results are from a nationally representative survey with a total sample size of 2,558 parents and children including 506 parents of children age 0–5, 1,026 parents of children age 6–17, plus one child age 6–17 from the same household. The survey was conducted during August and September, 2014. For the full methodology, see www.scholastic.com/readingreport.

Cheers, and happy reading during this incredibly exciting journey!

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raise a reader: daily reading tips

02 | 27 | 2016

Friends–

Read Across America Day is March 2nd, and this year I’m doing a little something different to ring in this exciting event.

I’m sharing a quickie video each day.

And each quickie video will have one quickie reading tip.

Something you can use with your child that very day (or tomorrow at the very latest).

Bam.

I’ll be doing this every weekday through the end of March.

And I’m excited.

Here are just two of ’em:

What burning questions do you have about reading or literacy? I’d love to hear them so that I can (hopefully!) address the topic during one of the videos.

Just leave it below, and I’ll do what I can to cover it. Looking forward to this!

Follow along wherever works best for you, my friends, with the hashtag #RaiseAReader —

follow daily on YouTube;
follow daily on Snapchat;
follow daily on Facebook;
follow daily on Twitter;
follow daily on Instagram;
follow each Monday at noon ET on Periscope.

Cheers, and happy reading during this incredibly exciting journey!

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the easiest way to save for your kids’ college education

02 | 16 | 2016

Thank you Upromise for sponsoring this post. While this was a sponsored opportunity from Upromise, all content and opinions expressed here are my own.

I think I’ve literally found the absolute easiest way to save for your kids’ college education.

I know, I know. It’s super hard and crazy scary to think about your babies heading off to the wilds of college, right? You’re still strapping kids into booster seats or tying shoes? Still cutting food and arranging playdates?

Me too.

But the crazy thing is that you can actually save for college without even thinking about it.

You can actually save while you’re shopping.

You can save while you’re eating.

You can save while you’re vacationing.

If you’re anything like we are, you’re a bit behind the savings game. Maybe you have a bit in savings–or maybe you have less than a bit. It doesn’t matter.

Friends, you must start now.

And if you set aside a few minutes this weekend to get yourself registered, you can start saving for college–and you can have your friends and family members start saving for your kids’ college–without batting an eye.

It’s so easy.

And busy parents need easy. Believe me. I get it.

Here’s the skinny. . .

The Easiest Way to Start Saving for Your Kids’ College Education:

The program I’m talking about is one that allows you to use the money you spend today to save for college in the future.

Or to pay for college now.

Or to repay student loans.

It’s Upromise by Sallie Mae.

And it was created to help busy families like mine save for college in the easiest way possible.

First, you need to sign up for Upromise:

Join for free.
For a limited time, earn $50 when you apply for the Upromise MasterCard through this link. (Using this card can double cash back–up to 10%–when you shop through Upromise.)
Then you can instantly connect your current bank cards for further savings.
Start shopping.
Invite friends.

Take a quick look:

Here’s how much I could save just by doing the things I’d normally do:

I’m going to show you how I can get cash back for tax preparation, buying workout clothes, re-doing a tween’s bedroom, grocery shopping, eating dinner out, and traveling.

Tax preparation:

I could shop via Upromise and use H&R Block for my tax preparation.
I could earn 10% cash back just by paying via my Upromise, and I could earn an additional 5% back if I used my Upromise MasterCard. That’s 15% back.
AND I could earn an additional cash back if I put some of my Federal refund towards gift cards for retailers like Kohl’s and many other participating stores.
That means: I would pay $74.48 for H&R Block Premium Federal and State Online Filing, and I would earn $11.17 cash back for using my Upromise MasterCard. If I chose to put $200 of my refund towards a giftcard from GiftCertificates.com, H&R Block would give me 10% on top of that, making my gift card total $220. Awesome.

*******************

Buying workout clothes:

I could shop via Upromise and check out Under Armour for some great deals on workout clothes.
I could earn cash back just by paying via Upromise, and I could earn an additional 5% back if I used my Upromise MasterCard. That’s 15% that goes toward saving for college.
That means: If I bought two Under Armour sweatshirts and a t-shirt from the outlet sale, totaling $145.19, I could earn $14.51 (10% cash back) or $21.77 (15% cash back for using the Upromise MasterCard) for college savings. Easy.

*******************

Tween room re-do:

Re-doing bedrooms is a natural next step for all families to move from little kid to bigger kid bedrooms. If we shopped at Walmart via Upromise, we could save big for college–doing something that we’d normally do anyway.
I could earn 5% cash back by paying via Upromise, and I could earn an additional 5% if I used my Upromise MasterCard. Woah. Up to 10% back sounds good to me.
That means: If we bought a full/twin bunk bed; a full mattress; a twin mattress; full and twin sheet sets; four pillows and then four decorative pillows; and a small area rug from Walmart, the total would be $815.42 (with free shipping — yay!). I would earn $40.77 (5% cash back) or $81.54 (10% cash back with my Upromise MasterCard) for college savings just by taking this super-simple extra step of purchasing through Upromise.

*******************

Grocery shopping:

We all need to grocery shop. So why not make it count double–feed your family and save for the future?
Go to the Grocery Coupons on the main page of Upromise site. Simply enter your zip code and then ‘see stores’, and all of your participating stores will appear.
I could earn up to $76 in college savings for activating these coupons directly to my shopper card and scanning it at the store.
That means: If I connected all of my local grocery shopper cards to my Upromise account (which takes only a few minutes), I could earn big for college. $76 toward college savings while buying groceries I’d normally buy anyway? Incredible!

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Dinner out:

My family loves, loves, loves dining out. It’s always been a real treat for us to celebrate an accomplishment, milestone, or event with a dinner out on the town. Now that we’re big into Upromise, we can do these things and still earn money for college.
Upromise has over 10,000 partner restaurants (wow!) where dining out means two things: time with friends and family and thinking ahead for the future.
That means: If we utilized one of Upromise’s dining out deals and spent $150.00 for dinner and drinks for five people, and we used a registered card to pay for the meal, we would earn $7.50 towards college savings. I love this.

*******************

Travel and Vacation:

You guys. You can go on vacation and still earn money for college.
Simply click on ‘travel‘ on the left sidebar of Upromise site.
The cash back potential ranges from 4% – 10%, and really depends on the merchant.
That means: If a person booked a Disney cruise on the Disney Dream for the family and the total was $3734.08 for four, with a cash back rate of 4%, that family could not only go on a vacation, but they’d earn $149.36 for college. Crazy.

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Really, the savings amaze me, and I’m only scratching the surface here.

To get more information and the full list of retailers, you definitely want to check the Upromise site.

I’m so excited about this, and I’m betting that after you get rolling–and check your Upromise account to see what you’ve earned in so little time–you will be, too.

And right now, when you invite friends and family to join Upromise, you can both earn $20!

For real.

Click this link and you can invite friends and family to join Upromise. They’ll be glad you did, and you’ll be glad you did!

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Have any questions or experience with Upromise? I’d love to hear what you think!

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busy mom? 100 reasons to plan a girls’ getaway weekend now

02 | 07 | 2016

Last weekend, I spent time away with some of my girlfriends in beautiful Destin, Florida.

Ten busy moms all left their families for a girls’ getaway weekend.

Believe it.

Don’t roll your eyes or sigh deeply thinking that you can’t do the same thing.

You can. And you should.

And I have 100 reasons for you–yes, 100 reasons–to plan your own girls’ getaway weekend now.

Here’s the skinny. . .

Busy Mom? 100 Reasons to Plan a Girls’ Getaway Weekend Now:

Never heard of Destin? Don’t worry–neither did I until a few months ago.

Maybe you’ve already been to awesome Destin? Lucky.

Or maybe you just heard Destin was voted One of the Ten Most Beautiful Places in America? Smartypants.

Destin is located on Florida’s Emerald Coast and is known for its white beaches and emerald green waters.

It’s seriously beautiful.

The sand felt like powder, and the water–well, the water was calling my name even though it was the middle of winter. I didn’t go in. I’m not that crazy. But man, I wanted to.

Anyway, Destin, for us, was a perfect meeting place since my friends and I are scattered across the country.

We wanted a beautiful place that was easy to get to and that would work for all of us. We wanted to maximize our time together, so we stayed in a home. A beautiful home, thanks to the great folks at Newman-Dailey.

Getting away was something we had been talking about for years now, and we finally did it.

Ten of us. Some of the smartest women I know.

It was our idea to have an ‘un-conference’ of sorts, a mastermind. A women’s work weekend. A girls’ getaway where we could learn from each other, teach each other, and lift each other.

It was awesome.

This house is gorgeous, right? You can rent it, too: Blue Heaven

Hands down, one of the best getaways I have ever had, even surpassing many of the conferences I’ve attended. And I’ve attended quite a few.

But what I realized is that often we as busy moms need more of a reason to get together.

Even if our spouses give us the ‘go’, often we feel like we need to be able to justify our time away from our family.

We shouldn’t have to justify our time with friends. But we so often do.

I get it.

So what I decided to do was to put together a list of 100 reasons that busy moms should plan a girls’ weekend away now.

And I mean now.

Print it. Share it with your pals. Tape it to your mirror. Be reminded every day that you need a getaway.

**100 Reasons To Plan a Girls’ Getaway Now:**

1. You deserve it.
2. Your children need to see how much you value your friendships.
3. You can give your spouse a chance to be the ‘hero’ parent, solo and in charge all weekend long.
4. You can spend quality time with great people.
5. You can give your family a teeny, tiny break from you. (Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?)
6. You can rest assured you will be a better mother because of your time away.
7. You can catch up on sleep.
8. You can finally take those online classes you wanted.
9. You can cut coupons.
10. You can move your address book from the old, ripped up one you’ve used for years to a digital one.

11. You can finish your children’s baby books.
12. You can use the time to catch up on scrapbooking.
13. You can write thank-you notes for the past year.
14. You can write all of the event cards you need to for the year—so you can be ahead!
15. You can read a magazine while sipping an umbrella drink.
16. You can listen to Serial, Season One—and Two!
17. You can read Me Before You before the movie comes out.
18. You can watch the entire Hunger Games movie series and then see Mockingjay Part 2 In. The. Theater.
19. You can plan some freezer meals.
20. You can paint.

21. You can knit.
22. You can crochet.
23. You can cross stitch.
24. You can quilt.
25. You can sew.
26. You can hem.
27. You can scherenschnitte.
28. You can build a ship in a bottle.
29. You can do a puzzle with more than 35 pieces.
30. You can clean out your email inbox. (FINALLY!)

My amazing friends: Maria, Danielle, Amy, me!, Jessica, Jo-Lynne, Sara, Tammilee, Jodi and Corinne

31. You can eat a meal in peace.
32. You can take a nap.
33. You can get a tattoo.
34. You can go shopping for you.
35. You can walk through a fancy gift shop.
36. You can go to a museum.
37. You can have a drink (or two!) at breakfast.
38. You can have a drink (or two!) at lunch.
39. You can go to happy hour.
40. You can have a drink (or two!) at dinner.

Our meal at Brotula’s Seafood House and Steamer was incredible. INcredible.

41. You can go on a photo walk.
42. You can take pictures with your fancy camera with time to focus manually.
43. You can read The Life-Changing Art of Tidying Up and then go home and change your life.
44. You can catch up on Facebook stalking.
45. You can take a yoga class.
46. You can explore a new city.
47. You can sit on a bench and people watch.
48. You can journal.
49. You can write a short story.
50. You can write a book.

51. You can go for a run.
52. You can go for a walk.
53. You can go for a hike.
54. You can watch a play.
55. You can volunteer at a hospital.
56. You can go to mass.
57. You can go to temple.
58. You can walk through a bookstore.
59. You can get your nails done.
60. You can get a massage.

We made time to stop into a Barnes & Nobel for Jessica to sign a few copies of her book, The Fringe Hours and My Fringe Hours.

61. You can get a facial.
62. You can get a haircut.
63. You can try a new-for-you hair color.
64. You can get lasik.
65. You can try a body wrap.
66. You can try cool-sculpting.
67. You can go thrift shopping.
68. You can go yard-sale hopping.
69. You can search for a new house.
70. You can go on a house tour.

71. You can learn a new language.
72. You can plan a vacation.
73. You can plan a family reunion.
74. You can watch a sporting event.
75. You can go to a fashion show.
76. You can hire a personal shopper.
77. You can sign up for Stitch Fix or Trunk Club.
78. You can plan a party.
79. You can plan a banquet.
80. You can go to a convention.

81. You can go to a meeting.
82. You can have a mastermind.
83. You can design a cool logo.
84. You can finally create an Instagram account.
85. You can create a Twitter account.
86. You can create a Snapchat account.
87. You can create a Periscope account.
88. You can create a Pinterest account.
89. You can create a Flickr account.
90. You can create a YouTube channel.

91. You can create a Facebook page.
92. You can create a Facebook group.
93. You can create a business.
94. You can start a blog.
95. You can register an LLC.
96. You can set long-term goals.
97. You can make short-term goals.
98. You can do big things.
99. You can make a difference.
100. You can start now.

Do you want to download this list of 100 Reasons to Plan a Girls’ Getaway Today?

Tell me what you think about a getaway for friends–I’d love to hear your location recommendations, idea recommendations, fun memories, and more!

fyi: Many thanks to Newman-Daley Resort Properties for inviting us to stay in one of their gorgeous Destin properties and to Brotula’s Seafood House for treating us to our fabulous meal. And, of course, huge and happy thanks to each one of my girlfriends for making ‘girl time’ a priority this month.
fyi: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. This small percentage of money helps offset the costs of hosting this blog, which helps me keep this content free for you. Forever and always I recommend only products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” For more information, please see teachmama media, llc. disclosure policy.

how to prepare your family for a weather emergency (especially in the dc metro area)

01 | 21 | 2016

Originally published on 10/28/12 but republishing because there’s a winter weather emergency declared in the DC Metro area again.

Something’s coming our way.

Something big. Something named Sandy who is bringing with her high winds, ‘astronomical’ tides, and rain like we’ve not seen in decades.

I’m trying hard–hard!–not to get swept up in the hype. I’m trying hard to maintain my calm, find my zen, and be that calm, cool, and collected mom I strive to be. But I am having a really hard time.

I’m nervous.

I’m way nervous.

My husband and I failed miserably a few snowstorms ago with our immature lack of preparedness. We really did.

But we’re older now, and a wee bit wiser.

And though my husband is playing Joe-Cool now, I, too, am slowly finding my calm–only as we seriously prepare our family for this impending weather emergency. This collision of fifteen storms, the ideal situation–the Perfect Storm–which will be arriving shortly over my very own home and making her way up the coast to my extended family, my sisters, parents, Nana, and friends.

Ugh.

Here’s the skinny. . .

How to Prepare Your Family for a Weather Emergency (especially in the DC Metro area): I say, ‘especially in the DC Metro area because we have a tendency to totally freak out over here.

I mean, like totally freak out.

Like here’s the water aisle in my grocery store at 6:30pm on the Friday before the Sunday middle-of-the-night storm kind of freak out:

So it’s easy to fall into the hype. Plus, we almost always lose power–for anywhere between hours to days. And way back when–before we had kids–and we had fewer cares in the world–no power was fun. It was cool. It was . . . romantic, even.

But now? It’s so not fun, it’s not even a little bit funny.

So here are 10 things we’ve done–and we usually do now–to prepare for any type of weather emergency, be it hurricane, blizzard, tornado, Perfect Storm, whatever:

1. Store water. We buy water–about 2-3 cases, and we fill our water bottles, our pitchers, small sports coolers. And sometimes–if the tub’s clean, we’ll fill it, too.

2. Find ice & gather coolers. I’ll bag up the ice from our ice-maker, filling a few gallon ziploc bags. And (thanks to my smart sister, Mary) today is the first day I’ve filled quart bags of water, flattened them out, and froze them. That way, they’ll fit nicely into a cooler if need be. Because we don’t have a generator, if we lose power, we’ll have coolers close to save what food we have in the fridge–our house fridge and our garage one.

3. Gather towels and rags. In a big basket on our lower-level floor, we keep these guys close because, well, you never know. And buckets. We grab buckets, too.

4. Charge devices. This should be numero uno, I know, but sure–everything’s charged. Our battery packs. Our re-chargeable radio (we quite frankly love and want to marry the one my parents got us last year–an Eton Self-Powered Digital Flashlight Radio that is an all-in-one-dream. Solar powered, flashlight and cell phone charger). We fill our gas tanks because we can always charge our phones in cars if need be. We make sure our extra gas can is filled. My pal Leticia covers just about everything you need to ‘digitally’ prepare for a weather emergency–it’s totally worth reading.

5. Cook food. Any meats in the freezer, I cook. Eggs in the fridge, I boil. We bake cupcakes and cookies–if we have time–because why not? Might as well have sweets if we have no power. And we gather matches because our gas stove can still be used if we can light it. I grab plastic forks and knives, napkins, paper plates, and garbage bags. I make coffee and keep a container of it in the fridge.

Baking helps–in any situation–

and having protein to grab if need be makes me feel more prepared.

6. Prepare house. We try to do the wash (who knows when we’ll be able to do it again?). We try to pick up toys & tidy things (who wants to be stuck in a dirty house?). We gather games, playing cards, craft supplies (who knows when we’ll see other people again?). We gather blankets, socks, sweatshirts, pillows, flipflops or boots–whatever we may need. We turn up the refrigerator to the highest setting to keep it cooler.

7. Prepare yard. Obvious, I know. But pulling in the yard furniture, placing it all either in the garage or under a tarp and against our house helps. We keep the area under our windows free and try to keep things low and flat. We cover our wood pile and clean gutters–my husband’s most favorite job in the world. He’ll go up on the roof and get all of the junk out of the gutters so that the rain will flow freely. Out of our gutters and down the drains properly.

8.Prepare kids. We try to keep it cool. We talk frankly and honestly about the situation, telling them the information they need to know and we do not–I repeat, do not–leave the news on the television. Not in this situation or ever. We think our kids are way too young for it, and though we read the newspaper with them every day, we really pick and choose what we cover. The hype of the storm on tv will do nothing but freak them out.

9.Prepare self. Mostly prepare me–I should say. If a storm’s a comin’, vain me will shower and do my hair because I know it will make me totally cranky to go without for several days. I’ll get myself into the ‘game’–I’ll finish up on my work so that I’m a little bit ahead instead of feeling behind and totally stressed out (even though I can’t control it). I’ll let all of our ‘game time‘ tickets fall to the wayside so the kids can fill up on electronics while I catch up.

10. Pray. Really. For sanity. For safety. For strength in any situation that may arise. For clarity and for thanks for all we have.

11. Relax. And try to have a little fun with it.

And that’s it. I’m sure I forgot a ton, but I’ve got some brownies in the oven and a load of wash to fold. And then the fun begins. . .

Need more?

FEMA’s Natural Disasters Resources
CDC Natural Disaster Resources
Take the Winter Preparedness Quiz and see how you compare to others
Weather Channel Family Emergency Plan
USDA Family Preparing for Emergency Safe Food Handling Information

Do you have a family tradition that helps you get through events like this, weather emergencies or something similar? Please do share them with me! I’m always up for learning more. Wishing everyone a safe trek through this weather emergency. . .

Some affiliate links are included in this post. If you’re cool with it, please consider using them so your friend over here at teachmama.com will score an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weenie cut of your purchase.

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