The Gaithersburg Book Festival is a celebration of the written word and its power to enrich the human experience. Our mission is to foster an interest in reading, writing and literary conversation. Since its inception in 2010, the Festival has quickly become one of the nation’s top literary events, attracting hundreds of award-winning and best-selling [...]
Back Yard Science: 17 Year Cicadas
If you happen to be blessedly unfamiliar with the 17 year cicadas, let me enlighten you. They are a species of cicada (yes, those big googly-eyed bugs that make that only exist in order to make that annoying sound so you know it’s hot all summer long) that has evolved to emerge from the ground in force on a 17 year cycle. Unfortunately for us, that doesn’t mean they only come once every 17 years. Each brood comes every seventeen years, but there are overlapping swarms of these things.
Lower Carb Italian Sausage Casserole
OR how to salvage your eMeals recipe after a well-known, popular grocery delivery service brings you such badly damaged zucchini that you can’t make grilled stuffed zucchini boats after all. (Yes, we have huge, giant, first world problems. It weighs heavily on us.) This was not Plan A, but it was delicious and we’ll be [...]
There is nothing wrong with you!
Perhaps you saw or heard some of the furor surrounding the statement given by A&F CEO Mike Jeffries regarding why they don’t make their clothing in larger sizes. A great many people seem to be of the opinion that the biggest indictment against this statement is that it reflects a desire to make women feel [...]
I needed a quick, easy, and food coloring-free frosting recipe for a birthday playdate, and this one really came through! It works up fast in the microwave, and, as a bonus, you dirty exactly one bowl and a set of mixer beaters. (Which my guys wouldn’t lick. Because they are WEIRDOS.) To turn these into [...]
Give us what we want, what we really, really want!
Some dads I know have confided (not very confidentially) that they think the expectations for Mother’s Day are confusing, hard, and guaranteed to make sure they are always wrong. And a whole lot of moms of my acquaintance have confided (fairly confidentially, as the “insult to injury” part of the program is the need to [...]
Here it comes- the stomach bug is making its way around your kid’s school, and the school nurse just called to ask you to pick your child up. There’s only one thing you can do. Well, two things. You can either keep your sense of humor, or go under for the third time. Brace for [...]
Today I was on the mom side of the “your kid is sick” call from the school for the very first time. It made me remember how the time between when they called your mom and she came to get you was an eternity, no matter how long it actually took. We are fortunate enough [...]
Jack and the Beanstalk (plus lesson resources)
Jack and the Beanstalk simply couldn’t be a more perfect foil for hands on storytelling. First of all, Good Ol’ Jack doesn’t listen to his mother and mass chaos ensues. If you can’t make that work for you, then you just aren’t trying very hard. Secondly, he grows a giant beanstalk that turns out to [...]
The Storyteller Discussion Questions
Below are six discussion questions for the Storyteller. You may answer them all, or you may pick and choose the ones that interest you. I would recommend reading the story first before beginning to answer the questions. To answer the questions, you must click on “You are Next…Click Here to Enter”. (If you do not [...]
Kid’s Garden (plus lesson resources)
Margaret Atwood said: “In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” Well, we’ve certainly got that down. This starting new plants thing goes like gangbusters around here. The “getting them to maturity and harvesting a crop” part is touch and go. We have a big yard and easily have [...]
If you happen to be blessedly unfamiliar with the 17 year cicadas, let me enlighten you. They are a species of cicada (yes, those big googly-eyed bugs that make that only exist in order to make that annoying sound so you know it’s hot all summer long) that has evolved to emerge from the ground in force on a 17 year cycle. Unfortunately for us, that doesn’t mean they only come once every 17 years. Each brood comes every seventeen years, but there are overlapping swarms of these things.
Jack and the Beanstalk simply couldn’t be a more perfect foil for hands on storytelling. First of all, Good Ol’ Jack doesn’t listen to his mother and mass chaos ensues. If you can’t make that work for you, then you just aren’t trying very hard. Secondly, he grows a giant beanstalk that turns out to [...]
Wired Momma took on the milk shamers last week and I, myself stepped into the ring to defend the Mom on an iPhone. These are just tiny, little, barely noticeable skirmishes in the larger Mommy Wars. I’m here today to call for peace talks. The tendency to consider mothers public property and to snipe their [...]
Updated: Now that I’ve seen the mother bird, I know this is actually a Northern Cardinal’s nest! See more posts about her at Back Yard Science. Our back yard is a bastion of kid-friendly landscaping. By which I mean… it’s full of holes the kids have dug, the hedges are pruned for ideal hiding spots [...]
Look at the baby, and repeat as necessary. Seriously, everything else is covered by “it depends,” which would have been number four if they’d asked for four tips. When you get to “it depends,” there will always be someone ready to give you advice whether you want it or not, so you’re covered.
Let’s just remember: Tomorrow is another day. Today, we all made mistakes. Tomorrow, we will all do better.
Once you and your kiddo have finished reading Old MacDonald Had a Dragon, he’ll want to carry the theme mouse/cookie style. Here are some ideas: Start with some Farm Printables and follow up with a visit to a nearby Pick Your Own farm. Play The Farmer in the Dell, and then visit a local farmer’s [...]
A constant source of friction in my family is that I’m not a fan of screen time for my kid. I’m not exactly “pro” screen time for other kids, but my kid in particular has always had trouble regulating his mood after watching anything on a screen. Predictably, this is a problem because he LOVES [...]
Before I had kids, I would never, never, NEVER have touched this thing. I might have looked it up to see what it was or I might have killed it just to be on the safe side. I am not what you’d call a “bug lover.” Unfortunately, it’s mutual, and anything that bites or stings [...]
Imagine the jubilation when the kids found an Eastern Box Turtle in the yard this morning. Unfortunately for him, they had given him a ride around the yard and several turns on the slide before we realized that what they had was really and truly a turtle, and rescued him. (And yes, we made everyone [...]
There are five phone numbers that should be programmed in your phone, your spouse’s phone, your house phone, and any other phone you might pick up and use in an emergency.When things go sideways, the last thing you’ll want to do is wait for Google to find them for you. Poison Control When your child [...]
doingstuffwithkids.com announced today the re-launch of its website, just one week after the release of its first publication to Amazon Kindle: Doing Fun Stuff with Little Kids by Tracey McKeown.