12 reasons why I garden with my kids: Raising mini gardeners

12 reasons why I garden with my kids: Raising mini gardeners

Gardening with your kids has about a million benefits, but these are the top reasons I get out in the yard with my children. It’s not hard to garden with your kids. Try it and report back if you see any of these side perks, too! This post contains affiliate links. 

The other day, Peeper looked out the window and asked, “What’s on fire?” In a panic, I looked outside and saw not smoke—but clouds upon clouds of pollen wafting off a tree in our backyard. Spring is officially here, people.

(Now where’s my Claritin?)

As much as allergies annoy me, I am so ready for spring, partly because I can’t wait to garden with my kids! We’ve been talking a lot about what we want to plant, and we picked up some seeds from the garden store the other day. We’re raising bees this year, too, which will greatly benefit our garden—and influence what we plant, since I want to ensure we grow a pollinator-friendly garden.

But my aims to garden with my kids goes beyond providing food for our honeybees. Getting outside with my preschooler and toddler, connecting them to the natural world and teaching them responsibility by caring for plants are just a few reasons why gardening with my kids is at the top of my priorities.

Curious? Hungry? Excited for spring? Here are my top reasons why you should dig in with your little gardeners.

12 reasons to garden with kids. Ten Thousand Hour Mama Read more

The all-time best toddler thank you

The all-time best toddler thank you

Toddler thank yous are honest—and heart-melting. Here's the best one I ever heard. Ten Thousand Hour Mama
Image by Becca Jean Photography

The other morning Kiwi got up before the rest of the family. Like many mornings, we cuddled on a chair and woke up together. I pulled a quilt over us, one I’d sewed when I was pregnant with Peeper.

“I made this quilt when I was pregnant with your sister,” I told Kiwi.

“I come there?” Kiwi asked.

I wasn’t sure what she meant. “When you pregnant?” she added.

I clarified that I was pregnant with her after Peeper was already born. (Details like these often escape toddlers.)

“You grew inside me,” I explained. I pinched two fingers together until they were almost touching. “You were this little, and then you grew bigger and bigger and bigger inside my belly until you were born!”

Kiwi paused, taking this in. Then she said, “Thanks, mommy.”

*heart melt*

You’re welcome, my beautiful daughter. Even without that perfect toddler thank you, I’d do it a million times over if it meant I’d get you in my life.

Growing kids, heartwarming moments and the best toddler thank you I ever got. Ten Thousand Hour Mama
Image by Becca Jean Photography
Mixing colors: Ideas for homeschool preschool activities

Mixing colors: Ideas for homeschool preschool activities

These homeschool preschool activities help kids learn about mixing colors in a hands-on, fun way. Make sure to read all the way to the bottom to read about our preschool science experiment, a dragon that spits foam! This post contains affiliate links.

Homeschool preschool ideas: Activities and lesson about mixing colors, including art and science projects for toddlers! Ten Thousand Hour Mama

At a recent meeting of our homeschool preschool, one mom joked that I was the messy mom—not necessarily because my house is always disheveled (which it is), but because my homeschool lessons always involve a warning: “We could get messy today. Dress accordingly!” The toddler-friendly activities about mixing colors were no exception.

I’m a giant fan of anything having to do with art and paint, but I try to design my homeschool preschool activities to involve pre-math skills, science and/or fine motor and gross motor skill-building options. So when I planned a day to learn about mixing colors, I kept this in mind and included hands-on projects that tick multiple boxes.

The mixing colors homeschool preschool lesson was a success! The kids—and the moms—got a kick out of the variety of activities we did to learn all about mixing colors. Read more

“Let them be little”—protecting your kids, or white privilege?

“Let them be little”—protecting your kids, or white privilege?

“Let them be little”—it’s a hashtag I use on Instagram often enough, and it’s a sentiment I hear on Facebook. But when a friend wrote this in response to a post I’d written about involving my kids in the resistance against injustice, my gut told me, no. Sheltering children from reality at any cost doesn’t do them any good, and it is a mark of white privilege.

After all, parents of color can’t “let them be little” when it comes to teaching their kids how to deal with a police officer so they don’t end up shot. Undocumented parents can’t “let them be little” when it comes to preparing their American-born children in case parents are detained or deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or police.

We live in a time where raising children to grow up and create the world we value is more important than ever. For me, that means raising socially conscious, compassionate and strong citizens.

"Let them be little" - good parenting or white privilege? Ten Thousand Hour Mama Read more

4 surprising ways to entertain kids at the doctor’s office

We have been fortunate that overall, our kids are pretty healthy. But when Peeper had to go to the doctor’s office a bunch last month, I found myself stretching to keep her happy as we waited. The waiting room isn’t inherently fun (unless you’re a fan of fielding 100 questions about getting a shot), but it’s not impossible to entertain kids at the doctor’s office. With a little creativity (and by swiping some of your pediatrician’s stuff!), you and your kids can have fun while you wait and the doctor’s office!

It's not typically fun at the pediatrician's office, but these 4 surprising ways to entertain kids at the doctor's office will help as you all wait to get better! Ten Thousand Hour Mama Read more

Enduring a holiday hangover

Christmas has come and gone, and in spite of a holiday hangover, we had a phenomenal day.

The morning started with the girls and their cousin absolutely jazzed about their stockings, the presents under the tree and the note Santa left behind thanking them for the cookies, milk and carrots they left out the night before. We opened presents in shifts—after all, kids’ attention spans are short enough that they want to play with the toys they just got for Christmas.

But in all, the best part of Christmas didn’t come wrapped. As always, the best present was the presence of our loved ones.

The excitement is worth the holiday hangover, but thank goodness Christmas comes only once a year! Ten Thousand Hour Mama Read more

How to decorate a perfect Christmas tree with kids

Christmas is the best time of year no matter what, but it gets even better when you have kids. You get to relive the excitement of waking up Christmas morning, the joy of tearing through wrapping paper, the wonder of listening for jingle bells and hooves on the rooftop. And now that you have kids, you can decorate the perfect Christmas tree. (‘Cause kids never break Christmas decorations, right?)

To make this super-straightforward task even simpler, I’ve broken down how to decorate the perfect Christmas tree into just 18 easy steps. So what are you waiting for? Round up the kids and get ready to have the most Pinterest-perfect Christmas tree of all time!

How to decorate the perfect Christmas tree with kids. Ten Thousand Hour Mama Read more

Tea ring: The best Christmas breakfast pastry you’ll ever eat

Tea ring: The best Christmas breakfast pastry you’ll ever eat

When my brother and sisters and I were growing up, we eagerly watched the front porch at Christmas. We got excited about every delivery, but we waited for one package in particular: One from my grandma containing tea ring, the best Christmas breakfast pastry I have ever had the good luck to eat.

She made two tea rings for us every year, without fail, my entire childhood and mailed them to us in Oregon all the way from Illinois. They arrived slightly squished, but that just made the deliciousness more dense. We never complained.

Tea ring is a Christmas breakfast pastry that combines a fluffy dough, cinnamon, brown sugar and butter—lots of butter, of course. It’s a little like a cinnamon roll but won’t give you a sugar headache afterward. Even better, the recipe makes two, so you don’t feel bad going back for seconds—or fourths.

This Christmas breakfast pastry is like a cinnamon roll—but better. This tea ring recipe is a holiday family tradition! Ten Thousand Hour MamaThis Christmas breakfast pastry is like a cinnamon roll—but better. This tea ring recipe is a holiday family tradition! Ten Thousand Hour Mama

In the Christmas spirit of giving, I’m sharing my family’s most-treasured recipe for tea ring here. It’s legendary around these parts: Family friends continue to talk about tea ring, and friends of mine have dropped by Christmas day to “say hi”—aka angle for a slice of tea ring.

I’m always willing to share. If you have Christmas breakfast pastry this good, it’d be cruel not to.

The best Christmas breakfast pastry you'll ever make: A tea ring recipe handed down 4 generations, perfect for a new holiday family tradition! Ten Thousand Hour Mama Read more

Make a Christmas tree for animals

When we traveled to the Midwest for Christmas last year, I figured we’d be cold. But then we arrived at the tail end of a winter storm and our first day in Chicago had a forecasted high of 10 degrees. People. 10 degrees. So yes, we were cold. And when we arrived at my in-laws’ house in Michigan and saw so many animal footprints in the snow, I thought of all those critters struggling to survive the long winter months with scarce food and low temps.

So in the days leading up to Christmas, I wanted to give the critters a little present. The girls, their grandparents and I thought we’d provide a little holiday treat: We made a Christmas tree for animals.

How to make a Christmas tree for animals: A new holiday family activity to do good! Ten Thousand Hour Mama Read more

Portland’s The Grotto with kids: Outdoor Christmas fun

This week we checked off a Portland bucket list activity: Visiting Portland’s The Grotto with kids. The families from Kiwi’s homeschool preschool planned a p.m. field trip to see the Christmas lights there, and since I didn’t exactly know what was in store, this Portland Christmas activity gave me so much more than I expected!

Visiting The Grotto with kids is a painless, fun outdoor activity to get in the Christmas spirit in Portland.

If you’re looking for a family activity in Portland that’s

  • inexpensive
  • easy for little kids and entertaining for older kids, too
  • not stressful

then I recommend visiting The Grotto with the whole family. (I didn’t receive compensation or free entry for this post; I just really enjoyed our visit and am glad we finally went to see the Christmas lights there!)

Family Christmas activities in Portland: The Grotto with kids Read more