My ten year old went to an away camp last week and there was a lot of crying… by me. When he left, he was beside himself with excitement. I barely got a hug out of him as he went out the door. This is from the kid that would stress out [...]

It’s been a long time since I posted. Life is a whirlwind I guess… I’ve been off of teaching for the past 2 years. I’ve been at home with my little girl for the past year and a half and (the other 6 months was spent on “house arrest” with a difficult pregnancy). I’m going [...]

Our house hold is like so many in the United States. We have the merged mixed. I have one son from a previous marriage, my husband has a son from a previous marriage, and then we have one between the two of us. My son is with us full time and his son goes back [...]

When my Dad flew me across the ocean and country to send me off to college my freshmen year, he said a lot of things to me as if this were his last chance to parent (little did he know this was a life time job for him). I am sure he said a lot [...]

This weekend my son, age 9, came home, upset over teasing that went too far. It was a strange game that started out with picking teams by nationality. Somehow all the boys were part Irish, except mine, who is the classic mixed breed. So he was on a team of “dog-piling” all on his own. [...]

Wow. My kids are singing while they work. We’ll see how long this lasts!

My kids are spoiled. I look at them and all their friends and even my students… they are all spoiled! They play all day on weekends. After school they hang with buddies or watch TV after homework. Meanwhile the weeds are growing out back, the cars need to be washed, the [...]

As a teacher I am disappointed when my kids forget their homework … but I am even more disappointed when their parents show up with the homework. What does this teach their child? It does not teach them responsibility. I always tell parents at the beginning of the year that in middle school GRADES DON’T [...]

I have been a teacher for 10 years. I teach middle school science and can’t think of anything else I would rather do. People ask me if I am crazy. Maybe. But I love what I do. I love the kids. I love their middle school gawkiness. I love their lack of inhibition of asking [...]