Learning to avoid conflict
As a rule, if the conflict is triggered by your emotional state (I’m crabby) or an emotional reaction (you’re pissing me off), it’s...
top of page
The Upside Down World ~ The Blog
- Nov 15, 2011
- 3 min
Let’s talk about sex, baby!
In the early ‘90s Salt-n-Peppa famously sang “Let’s talk about sex, baby” and boy, oh boy do we take their exhortations to heart. Sex is...
- Nov 14, 2011
- 5 min
My Dog’s an A-hole
Hobbes the dog This afternoon, I strapped Olivia into her stroller and headed out the door for a nice, long walk. I was going to fetch...
- Nov 2, 2011
- 1 min
The real reason prosperous humans have fewer kids
I think that those countries trying to boost fertility rates could help a lot by making it easier to pay for household help for families...
- Oct 7, 2011
- 5 min
Mom’s Going Crazy Recipe
I didn’t punish a lot. I yelled, but always let the kids know that freaking out was a fault of mine and let them see me struggle with...
- Oct 6, 2011
- 1 min
Question for Parents: “Are you angry?”
Is there a place in parenting for holding anger over our kid’s head? If your kid doesn’t have to deal with anger when he screws up...
- Sep 28, 2011
- 3 min
Is it my fault he smells like cumin? Thoughts on parenthood
We live in an era of high-stakes parenting. I read a copy of Scholastic Parent & Child magazine the other night and wanted to give my...
- Sep 22, 2011
- 5 min
Raising a bunch of characters
There are several problems with situational ethics. First of all, how do we know what the right thing to do is? What are the...
- Sep 21, 2011
- 8 min
I am not the Pioneer Woman –
Not The Pioneer Woman! For the 3 of you who do not know, The Pioneer Woman is Ree Drummond, a homeschooling mother of 4 who lives with...
- Sep 1, 2011
- 6 min
Heads or Tails?
We assume that this verse means that the husband should lead his wife, but does Christ really lead the church? We have no record of...
- Aug 30, 2011
- 1 min
Things I always tell my kids
Dumb people never learn from their mistakes. Smart people learn from their mistakes. Wise people learn from the mistakes other people...
- Aug 27, 2011
- 2 min
Desiderata
Desiderata Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be...
- Aug 25, 2011
- 3 min
Jiu-Jitsu for the Bullied
(It always kills me that “socialization” is seen as a potential problem for homeschooled kids. Like the barbarians that run the social...
- Aug 22, 2011
- 1 min
The Laundry!
Sophia replied, “if we were real princesses, we could do it.” “You’re not that kind of princess, honey,” I explained, “if you were that...
- Jan 21, 2011
- 1 min
My husband can’t afford me!
I did a little research about the going rate for the services I provide for a family our size in the area I live in and I also looked at ...
- Nov 30, 2010
- 2 min
The best parenting advice I’ve heard all year!
If your teen breaks curfew and you meet her at the door ranting, what do you think she’s going to focus on—the fact that she’s late or...
- Jul 31, 2008
- 6 min
Who me, gifted?
The first point which needs to be made is that contrary to the perception that unusually smart people are arrogant and think that they...
- Jul 30, 2008
- 1 min
My terrible mom moment of the day
OMG. I had an awful bad mom moment this morning. I signed my 13 year old up for a two day camp where he will learn to canoe. For...
- Jul 29, 2008
- 6 min
How being gifted means being different
First, the differences. I always figured that high intelligence was just about how a person learns new information and skills. What I...
- Jul 28, 2008
- 4 min
Summer Camp and Peer Socialization
While I’m pleased as punch that he handled himself well with other kids, I am not nearly so pleased with how quickly and (to me)...
bottom of page