Tag Archives: Order

An Organized Closet Encourages Independence

Typically, we think of cleaning and organization in terms of how much order it can bring to our family lives, but as parents, having an organized closet—whether it be the linen closet, in your entry way or your child’s clothes closet (and this goes for cupboards and pantries too) can actually encourage our children to learn how to be more independent. Consider this: if you take the time to arrange your child’s closet in an orderly way, label and mark where everything goes, and provide plenty of accessible storage—your child can learn and be expected to put things away. If … Continue reading →

I Can’t Think for All of Us

I wrote yesterday while pondering just how much a single parent can cram into his or her brain without having the benefit of writing it down. The flip side of this is that the truth is—we CANNOT cram it all into our brains. I know with my children, I can remember telling them when they were younger that they were going to have to manage some of their own things because there was no way that I could “think for all four of us!” I can actually recall one day one of my daughters saying to me: “Mom, I know … Continue reading →

Going From No Routine to Order

Sometimes, when single parent families have been through a period or crisis, or they are in the early stages of establishing themselves as separate from the former, two-parent family incarnation—things can get pretty chaotic. It can be a time where there is no routine and people are just trying to hold it together and get through the day. As the dust settles, however, it is important to start to put some order and routine into things. Figuring out where to start and how to create organization out of chaos can be a huge challenge… I liken it to how things … Continue reading →

Adoption Day

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We had been fostering our children with the intent to adopt them for eighteen months. We had satisfied every requirement of the state adoption system. It was much harder than it should have been. It was finally time to go to court to finalize. I am a retired lawyer and I know what a crowded courtroom can look like, but this was unbelievable. The week before had been Thanksgiving week, meaning that there were three days worth of matters before the juvenile court on this day. There were a number of nurses present to testify, which usually signifies that there … Continue reading →

Teaching Baby How to Clean Up

You may have looked at the title to this and raised an eyebrow because obviously you don’t expect babies to clean up after themselves, after all – you may be excited that they just learned how to hold their own sippy cup without assistance. Still, there’s a lot we as parents can do to encourage your baby and toddler to participate in cleaning up, straightening or in general helping to keep their environment the way they like it. Mother’s Little Helper When my daughter was little, she loved to watch me do the daily tasks around the house and when … Continue reading →

Passover – The Order

The Passover Seder consists of 15 parts. Each year Jews follow the order in their Haggadah in celebration of the freedom of the Jewish people. Some families will sing the order as a song before starting their Seder. The order of Seder is as follows: 1) Kaddesh – Blessing over the wine or the Kiddush 2) Urchatz – First time, washing of the hands 3) Karpas – Taking a green vegetable (parsley, celery) and dipping it into salt water 4) Yachatz – Breaking the middle matzah for half to be used as the Afikoman 5) Maggid – The telling of … Continue reading →