Houston humidity is a thick, wet blanket that clings to your skin the moment you step outside, but it never stops twenty-two energetic kids from wanting to explore the muddy banks of a local pond. I have spent fifteen years as an elementary school teacher here, which means my life is a constant cycle of…
Rain was lashing against the kitchen window in Beaverton last March while I stared at a pile of discarded scallop shells and hot glue. My middle child, Lily, was turning seven, and she had specifically requested a “mermaid symphony” for her birthday party. I thought I was being a genius by trying to glue tiny…
Last Saturday found me knee-deep in lime green tissue paper and tiny plastic watermelons while my Golden Retriever, Barnaby, tried to eat a stray JJ sticker. My best friend’s daughter, Sophie, was turning three, and I’d been drafted as the unofficial “Favors Fairy” for her Austin backyard bash. If you’ve ever heard the first three…
My kitchen smelled like a hardware store on a Sunday morning back on October 14, 2024. Metallic spray paint fumes hung heavy in the Atlanta humidity while I stared at a pile of discarded Amazon boxes that were supposed to become a legion of mechanical servants. I am just a single dad who once tried…
The smell of buttered popcorn and slightly damp sneakers is my permanent reality every April in Houston. If the humidity doesn’t melt your spirit, the sight of twenty-four second-graders vibrating with sugar-induced energy certainly will. Last year, on April 12, I decided that our annual spring bash needed to be moved inside because a literal…
Houston humidity in May is basically like trying to breathe through a warm, wet washcloth, and my classroom smelled like a mix of sweaty second graders and stale popcorn. It was May 12, 2024, the Friday before our school’s “Big Race” spirit week, and I had exactly forty-five minutes to transform Room 204 into a…
My kitchen floor is currently a shimmering wasteland of turquoise glitter and half-eaten snowflake sugar cookies, and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s 4:00 PM on a Tuesday in rainy Portland, and I am finally sitting down with a lukewarm oat milk latte after surviving Sophie’s 7th birthday bash. If you’ve ever…
My kitchen table in Chicago was a disaster zone last Tuesday night. Sticky ribbons, stray Skittles, and nineteen empty paper bags stared back at me while the wind howled off Lake Michigan. Maya and Arjun, my twins, were turning twelve on April 17th, and the pressure was on. Twelve is a weird age. They are…
Toddler Easter Egg Hunts: Are we overthinking it? Or not enough? By elenadoesparties Okay, GINYOU Party peeps! I’ve been wrestling with something for Easter coming up, and I really need to hear what everyone else does, especially those of you with little little ones. My youngest, Maya, just turned three last month, and while her…
Twenty-two first graders in a Houston classroom during a rainy April afternoon is exactly what I imagine a beehive feels like right before a swarm. I have spent fifteen years managing the beautiful chaos of six-year-olds, and if there is one thing I have learned, it is that they do not just want to see…
