Reclaim Your Life: How To Redirect Excess Gifting

This year has definitely been an eye opening year for me. I discovered that most parents are overwhelmed with the amount of toys children have and receive for gifts. And many long for extended family members to understand and adjust their giving. In our culture, there is this idea that in order to show children…

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How Minimalism Can Benefit Those With Sensory Issues And Special Needs

Disclaimer: I have only a little personal experience with special needs and sensory processing disorder, what is written here is wisdom gleaned from friends who were gracious enough to share with me. We all are greatly affected by our surroundings and minimalism to any degree can benefit our mental and emotional health. With a growing recognition of autism and sensory issues, there…

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Easy Homemade Pizza

Having a family pizza night is one tradition that I really enjoy. We’ll all work in the kitchen- rolling the dough, stabbing it with a fork, grating the cheese, spreading the sauce, placing the toppings. We can all visit while we work and all enjoy our hard work afterwards. To make myself feel better of…

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A Clutter-Free Easter Celebration

We don’t do Easter Baskets. I know that some people may be bothered by that, but guess who isn’t: Our children. That’s right! So, if you are reading this as a young parent and you don’t have massive gift-giving traditions in place, take some advice: don’t start them.  The easiest thing as a new parent…

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10 Family Fun Ideas For Valentine's Day

I love Valentine’s day! In my mind Valentine’s Day isn’t about gifts, though I do love getting flowers and chocolates, for me, Valentine’s has always been about specialness. I don’t want to do “typical” things on Valentine’s Day, fighting the crowds, making reservations weeks (or months!) in advance, so we try to get creative with how we…

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Gift Giving Isn't About the Giver

In our culture there is this idea that in order to show children our love, we must give toys in abundance. But why? Why do we feel that it is necessary to give so much? Or even that it is our right to spoil? Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for giving gifts. I, myself, LOVE…

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Jack O'Lantern Cuties

  So simple and easy, but super fun and no worries about all the excess sugar and everything else we want to avoid during these sugary holidays. This is another project that is fun for kids to be involved in! Having a big bowl of jack-o-lantern to munch on during your Halloween party is terrific…

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Chocolate Dipped or Painted Apricots

I love having “food crafts” for my kids to work on. Having the kids help with preparing food is great on so many levels! Gets them in the kitchen so they’re comfortable with “cooking” Builds wonderful memories Fills the creativity need Gives them something to work on Helps them enjoy giving to others (we always make treats…

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