RIP: Charles Allen Cricket
This morning, it is with differentially heavy hearts that we at Caterpickles must report the death of another male cricket. As reported last Friday, The Nine-Year-Old’s first…
In which The (then) Five-Year-Old absolutely is not crying
One afternoon, Daddyo and The (then) Five-Year-Old were talking about emotions. Somehow, Daddyo found himself caught up into a not-exactly age-appropriate conversation about extreme depression. Daddyo,…
Teaching The Eight-Year-Old to be a savvy spender, Part II
Here at Caterpickles Central, we believe that everyone in the family works together to keep our household functioning without expecting any particular compensation beyond having clean silverware to eat with, the ability to walk through the house without tripping, and clean clothes to wear.
So when we decided four years ago that The (then) Four-Year-Old was old enough to receive an allowance, we didn’t ask her to do any chores around the house to earn it. Instead, we decided to use the allowance simply to teach her how to manage money.
What’s The Eight-Year-Old reading this week?
After reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in two breathless gulps, The Eight-Year-Old couldn’t wait to start Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. And if she wanted to read it, our book parenting philosophy demanded that we let her. But knowing she wasn’t ready for it (and knowing that the remaining books become ever-more challenging as the series go on), could we in good conscience let her?
Wordless Wednesday: What I did this week
I lost one of the apples to this toy while we still lived in Norwood. Two moves later, I finally found it. Honestly, it kind of…
The Seven-Year-Old gets even
Nearly every day, the Seven-Year-Old comes home from school with a tale of how one boy or another grossed her out at lunch so badly that she couldn’t eat — generally by chewing with his mouth open — a teachable moment if ever there was one — or by playing out bathroom humor with (in)appropriate sound effects around the lunch table.
Except for one glorious day last week.
Classic Caterpickles: “Why does Santa miss some kids?”
While I enjoy all the rituals around Santa and the Easter Bunny, it is undoubtedly harder to teach your child that it’s important to care for others when your child’s world is populated by magical beings who are perfectly capable of doing all that work on their own. Here’s how I explained to my five-year-old why we can’t just sit back and expect someone else to do all the work of caring for others.
Classic Caterpickles: “Does Santa smoke?” Or how to use Santa to talk to your kids about smoking
This year, Patricia McColl self-published a version of Clement Moore’s classic poem, Twas the Night before Christmas, which edited out all mention of Santa smoking his pipe. And that’s a shame, because censoring objectionable things in old books robs parents of a chance to talk to their kids about why opinions on those things have changed.
That’s going to be a problem
The Six-Year-Old, stopping suddenly in the middle of the hiking trail: “Mommyo! My imaginary tiger! He’s lost!” Related Links: Funny Stuff My Daughter Says (Caterpickles) Funny…
Teaching your child to be a savvy spender
The Six-Year-Old has been getting an allowance since she was four. Since starting the allowance, I’ve been surprised by how hard it’s been not to dictate to my daughter how she can spend it. I want her to be a savvy spender, but she’ll never get there if I protect her from making mistakes with her money now, while the consequences are still small.
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