School starts in two weeks. This summer has been our family’s first Big Kid Summer. Last year, Nate was still in diapers and a stroller, which limited what we could do in a day. But this summer, the kids are older and more independent. They play Star Wars in the playroom for hours. Catie can...Continue Reading
Behind every five-year-old in America is a mom struggling with the question of whether or not her kid should repeat Kindergarten. Five minutes into a conversation with another parent of my generation and we will talk about this topic. Chances are this other mom’s child will have repeated Kindergarten and she will claim it as...Continue Reading
Looking back, the 2013-2014 school year was the busiest one ever for our family. And one of the most eventful. Catie moved to Westlake, Nate started Preschool, I started a school Newspaper, we went to Galveston most weekends, the kids did more activities and sports than ever before, and we (pretty much) LOVED it all....Continue Reading
May might be the busiest month of the year. That used to be December, but everyone seems to know December is insane and doesn’t schedule anything superfluous. May has sneaky busy-ness. It’s the end of spring sports, the start of summer sports, end-of-the-year competitions, final recitals, and SO MANY school projects. Jen Hatmaker describes the...Continue Reading
When other shoppers see our huge Target cart of blonde kids coming down the aisle, about half of them grin and tell me how wonderful big families are. The other half just kind of stare. And count. And check me out to see if I might be pregnant again. Or wearing an Amish hair...Continue Reading
During Spring Break, the kids and I spent the day at a friend’s house. And by house I mean farm with horses, zebras, peacocks, longhorns, and chickens. Like the roles farm-visitors have played for centuries, our family fit the city kids stereotype perfectly. Our hosts (the farm kids) were patient when my kids complained their...Continue Reading
Seventeen days of vacation together gives you family stories. Family stories are those memorable little tales that happen when you least expect it. They are the delight and surprise of life not going according to plan. They are the stories your family will tell the next generation. Hergenrader Family Stories from 2013 Christmas Break 1....Continue Reading
Traveling through the Southwest for Thanksgiving Break has confirmed we have two kinds of kids: those who believe a cactus is sharp and those who have to touch it themselves. Kids who touch the cactus are also the ones who feel my hot curling iron, who pick up the hotel phone hundreds of times to...Continue Reading
Two summers ago, right before Elisabeth and Sam were to start Kindergarten the first time, another mom snuck me a list of 100 Sizzling Sight Words. “This is the list!” she said, like she had stolen an advance copy of the Bar Exam. “They’ve got to learn this list of words to go on to...Continue Reading
Sam and Elisabeth are afraid of the dark, which has mostly just been a problem at night. Sam shares a room with Nate and Elisabeth sleeps with Catie. You would think this roommate situation would be enough to combat their fears. Nope. Even with a sibling sleeping inches away, both Sam and Elisabeth need the lights...Continue Reading
