A pile of clothes littered the bedroom floor. Stuffed animals sat on bookshelves wearing my daughter’s underwear after she dressed all of her furry friends in her clothes. Usually, I let the kids manage their rooms and pick up after themselves, but this time I had to intervene. The mess was at my limit. We […]
There’s no place like home for the holidays… Many people interpret home differently when they become adults. For me, home is wherever my family is. However, the definitions for both home and family have changed over the years. With each stage of life, they take on new meaning and I’ve shifted into different roles. When […]
Necessary disclaimer: I understand and acknowledge that not every school in Sweden does things the same way. This is simply a little peek into what we have experienced. I’ve written in the past about my children’s experiences with Swedish preschool and with föreskoleklass so, now it’s time for an update as the fall term of first grade […]
Candice Cabutihan Cipullo describes her experiences raising her kids in Japan, Canada, and the Philippines. Her chapter dives into the challenges of experiencing life while always feeling foreign and how she explains the answer to her kids when they ask her, “Where is home?” Listen to Candice narrate her chapter here. Candice Cabutihan Cipullo has […]
50 reasons why I don’t allow my kids to play video games in our house
The conscious decision to open or close a life-changing gateway is an emotional process. Before an international relocation (or a domestic one, for that matter) every component of the decision is weighed countless times over. Potential consequences from each path and direction are analyzed from all angles. The immediate, intermediate, and long-term effects are mapped […]
“It’s my body and I can wear whatever I want.” My daughter stood defiantly before me, hands on hips in her underwear, a t-shirt, and sandals. Picking her up from preschool is usually fairly quick but today, my sweet daughter looks more like a stubborn rhino. She will not budge. Her teachers, also unwilling to […]
This should not be hanging in my soon-to-be-kindergartener’s classroom. pic.twitter.com/mWiJVdddpH — Georgy Cohen (@radiofreegeorgy) June 6, 2018 Columbine High School’s shooting happened when I was a sophomore in high school (10th grade). I remember sitting in the sunny second floor classroom in Dr. Gomez’s Spanish class and praying that if we ever had an active […]
How many kids do you have?” the dental technician asked me while her latex-gloved hands were working inside my mouth. I could feel her knuckles against the inside of my lips, expertly moving the mirror and probe from tooth to tooth. Now really isn’t the right time to be having a conversation, I thought, but […]
Determined to “clean up the streets” a small group of volunteers in a suburb outside of Stockholm, Sweden, struggled to find trash to fill their bags. Armed with gloves, oversized trash bags, and water to stay hydrated in the hot June sun, the group wandered along the pedestrian paths searched for anything to grab using […]