Alana DiMario
Keep Your Elf Busy: 10 Holiday Activities for Toddlers
Christmas is approaching fast and it can be easy to get swept-up in an endless list of things to do. If you have a toddler this holiday, like everything else, it gets even more...
Explore at a Snail’s Pace: Encouraging Deeper Play With Your Kids
"Come on."
"There's more to see, so let's keep moving."
"We didn't come to the aquarium to watch a duck in the pond all day, let's go."
I get it. Many of us feel the pressure to...
Small House Solutions: Six Ways We Make It Work
We are a family of five (plus a dog) in a house that is a little under 1,000 square feet. When we bought this house eleven years ago as a newlywed couple, we marveled...
Head’s Up, Partner: Here’s How to Help With Our Mental Load Imbalance
Photo by Dan Burton on Unsplash
Emotional labor, invisible labor, mental load - the terms might be new, but they are putting a name to something that is familiar to a lot of women. These concepts refer to...
Sparking Joy For Our Boys: Marie Kondo and the Gillette Ad
Photo by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash
At its core, parenting children is a hopeful act. You hope that your baby gets here safely, you hope they like you, you hope you will do the right things to help...
Why I Don’t Care About RICAS Scores
If you live in Rhode Island and have a child in school or about to enter school, you may have seen that the results of the first year of the Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment...
Small Joys for Small Kids: The Case for Not Overdoing It
One November night when my oldest son was almost three and his younger brother was about six months old, I was solo parenting through bedtime. I had my baby on his changing table fresh...
Fall Playground Burnout? 4 Fun and Budget-Friendly Activities to Mix it Up!
It's no secret that I am all about maximizing outdoor time during every season. Looking for opportunities to be out in nature, stretch our legs, and get out some energy are important throughout the year....
Laundromat Lessons: Finding Teachable Moments
My children have never known a life without a washing machine and dryer in their home. A few years ago, I started teaching them how to do their own laundry - sort, settings, start,...
Five Strategies To Help Busy Families Run Smoothly
School, work, sports, play dates, birthday parties - the non-stop schedules can sometimes leave us feeling scattered and overwhelmed. If you have already been able to evaluate your family's schedule and make the decision...