In the Striving

Bees’ll buzz.   Kids’ll blow dandelion fuzz.   And I’ll be doing whatever snow does in summer. Tee hee, ok so I couldn’t resist.   Moving on.   Summer is here!   This is the time of the year that if you are a parent (especially a stay-at-home parent), you might find yourself in one of two categories: Parent A: You have been counting down the days for weeks now and it’s finally here!   You have already made a list of all the things you plan to do with your kids, including craft projects, trips to the splash park, and of course, the library’s summer reading program.   You’ve spent countless hours, exhausting the likes of Pinterest and parenting blogs in order to come up with plenty of “Free things to do with your kids” ideas.   You’re excited.   You’re ready. Parent B: You’re still in denial that the school year is over.   You are wondering how in the world you’re going to get your grocery shopping done, now that you have to lug a few kids around with you each time.   You’re dr

I started this blog post around Thanksgiving.   It’s now mid-February.   Needless to say, it’s been a busy few months, and so I’m just now picking this back up for the last and final “thing every kid needs.”   Because it’s been so long, please feel free to reference my previous 6 posts in order to figure out what the heck I’m talking about! Anyway, so since I began writing this over Thanksgiving, for the sake of this post, let me pretend, for a moment, it’s that time of the year again.   Throughout the month of November a flurry of inevitable clichés begin appearing on Facebook (ie: daily “I’m thankful for” posts, pictures of elementary age children in their pilgrim and/or Indian costumes, etc.)   Typically, I roll my eyes at these things…or anything cliché, for that matter.   But one particular post jumped out at me the other day.   A friend of mine posted a picture of a project her kindergartner had done at school.   He was supposed to list who he was thankful for and why.   His