Learning through Play

February 27, 2012

Learning a new skill has to be fun for kids, or anyone really when you think about it, and our job as parents is to make it as fun as possible to help kids develop a life-long love of learning. Sweetness, now at 4 ½, is starting to show interest in learning to read. We’ve […]

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Teaching Geography with Google

February 20, 2012

It was by complete mistake that we came across one of my daughter’s favorite rainy day learning tools. My husband was looking something up on Google Earth and Sweetness became suddenly enthralled. Soon we were showing her our house, then cool places around the country. Before long she was asking about things she’d seen on […]

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Changing Perspective

February 16, 2012

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks here at the Heligirl household. I apologize for the lack of Mom Tip Mondays of late. We’ll return to the regularly scheduled programming next week. Promise. Just before my annual pilgrimage to Heli-Expo last week I had to take a quick trip to Washington, D.C., for business. While […]

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The Restaurant is Open

January 30, 2012

If you read last week’s post, you know we’re climbing the walls here with the bad weather. This past week the snow left, but it has been pretty rainy on the days I’m home with the kids. We’ve built couch forts, played hallway bowling, designed elaborate ramp systems for Mr. Man’s car collection that breeds […]

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Crossing Paths Again

January 26, 2012

I’ve reached out to an old friend who means a great deal to me but who I’ve not spoken to in quite a long time. In remembering him and how we drifted apart, I got to waxing rather poetic. Amazing what we learn about ourselves and those we love when we take the time to […]

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Avoid the TV Trap

January 23, 2012

Weather the last week here in Seattle included snow, sleet, freezing rain, wind, ice, rain and slush. To say the kids are climbing the walls would be an understatement. I’m a big proponent of outside time every day, but with temperatures in the 20s and blowing freezing rain, outside was not something any of us […]

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Ice Ice Baby and Daniel Day-Lewis

January 19, 2012

So yesterday we had a big, old snow storm. Lots of snow everywhere. Most everyone stayed home. It was cold, and blowing. Today it turned into an ice storm. I’ve never seen a real ice storm here in Seattle before. It’s rather beautiful if you don’ t have anywhere to go. The icicles are 12 […]

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Letting Go of Control

January 16, 2012

Chances are you’ve heard all about helicopter parenting. I come across that and cringe just because I’m a mom and a helicopter pilot and sometimes people wonder if my blog is about helicopter parenting. Ugh, quite the contrary. Helicopter parenting is in essence parents who hover over their children at all times, rarely giving the […]

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