School ← Mommy Warriors

The Best College Essay Ever

Apr

2013

While high school seniors (and their parents) across the country are finding out what colleges have accepted them, I thought I’d do a college themed post. Years ago I came across this. It is an actual essay that a prospective student had written on their college application to NYU. Besides making a mockery of the idea of young 18 year olds having enough accomplishments to actually list, it is also so clever that by the end, this essay itself proves to be an accomplishment. Enjoy… 3A. IN ORDER FOR THE ADMISSIONS STAFF OF OUR COLLEGE TO GET TO KNOW YOU, ...

Spring Break Your Back

Apr

2013

Who ever came up with the term “Spring Break” clearly wasn’t a mother. We are 1 week and 2 days into our Spring Break, and it’s anything but a break. In the past 10 days we’ve gone to the movies 3 times (nothing I particularly wanted to see), made 3 dozen cupcakes (of which I ate too many), played endless rounds of championship “Go Fish”, gone for 6 bike rides (up hill both ways), broken up a dozen sibling knock-down fights (got clipped in the jaw in the process), cleaned up after countless art projects, chased after a lost dog ...

Homework without Tears

Mar

2013

I used to think I was the anomaly, that some how my 9 year old was the only kid who cried over having to do homework. I used to think that I was doing something wrong, that I was somehow creating more stress for him or putting too much pressure on him. That all changed when I was reading the latest “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” to my daughter the other night and saw a blurb about how Gregory’s mom had a reward chart on the wall that was entitled “Homework without Tears”. What’s this? I’M NOT ALONE!!!! Okay, albeit I ...

How TAP Can Help Classrooms Across the Country

Jan

2013

My post today is an informative one rather than on the entertaining side as I wanted to share some information that I came across in the education arena with all our readers. As parents, we want our kids to get the best education available to them and the key to that education is getting them in front of the most talented and quality teachers available. Students and teachers need to be working together as a high performance team in the classroom to ensure success for both the educator and the student. According to research conducted by the National Institute for ...

Do We Compliment Our Kids Too Much?

Jan

2013

When I was growing up my mother was a big complimenter. “Honey, you did such a nice job. You did great. You’re so smart. You’re so amazing…” My dad, on the other hand, rarely complimented me. “93%? Why wasn’t it 100%? Are you satisfied with that? Is that really your best? Not bad. Now what are you going to do?” In the end, my dad’s reaction did a lot more to push me to try harder than my mother’s compliments. My husband’s boss is one of three brothers, all of whom are at the top of their field. One brother ...

Sugar and Spice, but Not Always Nice: One Woman’s Quest to Put an End to Mean Girls 1

Oct

2012

Mommy Warriors Interview with Dana Kerford – Founder of GirlPower We hear it over and over again. Boys are so much easier to raise than girls. Boys are basic. Their needs are obvious. Their school conflicts are usually resolved quickly. Girls, on the other hand, are complicated. They’re emotional and sensitive. Their school conflicts can last weeks, months, years, and because these complicated beings are trying to have friendships with other complicated beings, all hell often breaks loose. Dana Kerford, founder of GirlPower, teacher and mother, is making it her life’s mission to help girls around the world navigate ...

You Can Lead a Kid to Nutrition, But You Can’t Make Him Eat

Oct

2012

Everyday I fill my kids’ lunch boxes with a variety of healthy items; sliced apples, carrots, snap peas, besides the usual pasta, goldfish, turkey sandwich. And everyday they return home from school with a lunchbox void of all the carbs, but still full of sliced apples, carrots and snap peas. So I wasn’t surprised to read the New York Times Article, “No Appetite for Good-for-You Lunches” informing us of how teenagers at a high school outside of Pittsburg started a protest over the new healthy lunches. You can’t take kids and suddenly deprive them of fat, carbs, salt, and sugar and ...

Back to School = Back to Stress

Sep

2012

It was nice while it lasted, wasn’t it? Sleeping until 8. Planning the days as we went. Living by the moment. Forgetting the rules. That was Summer. This is now. Time to return to school. Now it’s back to a schedule. Back to making to-do lists. Back to homework. Back to expectations and goals. And back to the stress. For some reason, this year seems even more stressful of a start that in years past. Part of the stress is personal. We are house hunting, in hopes of moving to a new place with more space for the kids. Part ...

Welcome to Freshman Football!

Jul

2012

My oldest son is now a freshman and he has gone out for the high school football team. His last day of junior high was a Friday and the following Monday freshman football camp started. He was excited and a bit nervous but he was really looking forward to it. On Monday it was all about getting your paperwork in, suiting up in your new shorts and shirts and hopefully getting the coach to learn your name. Tuesday, things got a bit tougher. The coaches were more about I don’t care what your name is, just do what I tell ...

The $100 Dress Shirt 2

Jul

2012

I have to tell this story about my son’s shirt that he wore to his graduation. As you can see it was a nice black shirt with a white collar and white cuffs, exactly what he wanted but, IMPOSSIBLE to find! My son doesn’t ask for much so when he wanted this particular shirt, I thought, what the heck, I’ll get it for him. Let me tell you, it was not an easy task for mom to pull this one off. I spent hours on the internet trying to find this darn shirt in his size to no avail. It was ...