Toys and Activities

If you are trapped inside with kids because it is cold, rainy, gray, or all three at once, welcome. You are among friends. These are the inside toys we actually use in our house. Not the ones that look cute on Instagram and then collect dust. These are the toys my kids ask for, fight over, and somehow keep them entertained long enough for me to drink my coffee while it is still warm. All of these are budget friendly, parent approved, and perfect for kids roughly ages three th

A Real-Life Example From Our House (Today) Here’s a real-life scenario that happened in our house today: My eight-year-old was practicing piano. She’s learning a new song in a new hand position, and frustration hit fast. Tears, overwhelm, the whole thing. I wanted to help her- but I couldn’t. I had just finished trying to regulate my three-year-old with a walk around the yard after waking her from a nap (she was not okay). The baby had just woken up and needed to be nursed. I

The other day, my daughter had a really hard day at school. I was trying to fish out of her what’s going on and what happened. I was met with a lot of ‘tude, snarkiness, and eye rolling. I said “hey, why don’t you go do a few flips on the gymnastics bar.” She went there and started flipping. And then I sat on the couch and waited. No phones, no distractions just me sitting watching her do some flips. I didn’t have to say a word and within moments she started to open up and te