by Dawn | Feb 4, 2016 | Frugal Living & Sustainability, Parenting
“Thank you for your order. Total: 12 pounds.” Wait–I’m not British. I don’t have a pound in my pocket, just a few extras around the waist. It seemed my kid sent somebody in Manchester, England a pizza over the internet. It cost about...
by Dawn | Jan 27, 2016 | education reform, family, simplicity
My son’s been in the bathroom for a very long time. I thought there was a problem. Nothing’s wrong except the iPad has a full charge. In the olden days, we took real books into the bathroom–honest to goodness literature. Dickens is plenty long...
by Dawn | Jan 21, 2016 | Rhode Island, sustainability
Yes, Squirrel Appreciation Day’s a thing. I saw it on Twitter–it must be true. The number one reason we have Internet is to discover all those things we never knew were critical to life. The second reason is to dumb our reading down to fourth or fifth grade...
by Dawn | Dec 30, 2015 | education reform, family, parenting, Teaching
The boy screams and wails. I panic and run to the other room. “It’s signed me out of X-box Live!” he says. I try to be relieved–nobody’s injured. Instead, the cold hand of fear wraps around my soul. I cannot fix the Xbox. I have no...
by Dawn | Dec 22, 2015 | family, gratitude, self-improvement
It’s time to have a serious talk with the boy. I sit him down. “Listen, Declan,” I say. “Santa’s not getting you everything on this list.” “Yes, he will.” It’s a hefty list. “No, he won’t.” I...