kids Archives | The Sparrow's Home

Parents, wow the kids at dinner tonight with your mastery of teen slang!

December 17, 2018 by Susan 18 Comments

Every once in awhile you stumble upon a gem and you just know: From this moment forward, nothing will ever be the same. Finding this article about teen slang last week was one of those moments.

Let me be perfectly clear: Parents who think they are cool are not cool. It’s embarrassing, really.

No, my husband and I know exactly how old and out of touch we are. We just happen to also think it’s hilarious to illustrate that to our teenage children now and then.

So upon finding this article, I messaged my husband, and we spent the day learning a foreign language.

Nurture your child’s head, hands and heart

October 29, 2018 by Susan 5 Comments

Young children learn best in gentle ways. Making crafts, telling stories, cooking together. Even more than the fun of the experience, they build memories with your child. How wonderful would it be if someone did all the legwork, laid it all out, and you could just choose what would work with your family?s

I am being compensated for my time in reviewing Rooted Childhood. As always, all opinions are my own.

Teenage boys don’t particularly like doing crafts. Nor do they like to read poetry or snuggle, for that matter. Thankfully, although my boys are getting older, I have some delightful littles in my life that I can do all this fun stuff with.

I thought of them immediately when I discovered Rooted Childhood. Well, first I thought how much fun it would be to have had this collection when my boys were young…then I thought of my little friends. I invited them over right away.

Where to draw the boundaries on media content? That’s up to you. How to do it? We’re here to help.

October 1, 2018 by Susan Leave a Comment

Resources to help parents control what kids watch, play, and do online. Every family has different boundaries on media content and screen time for kids. Regardless of where you set your boundaries, we’ve got resources to help you do it.

As parents, it’s hard to draw the lines regarding what tv shows, movies, video games, or apps we allow. I’m not here to tell you where to draw those lines today. (Let’s have that discussion another time, I’d love to know how you make those decisions).

For today, let’s agree that being intentional in setting boundaries matters. Because honestly, if you’re not…well, you’re choosing open your child up to anything. And that’s not cool. Or responsible. Or loving.

This boundary setting is an ongoing process. Clearly as our kids get older the boundaries change. And by the time they are older teenagers, our job is more in apprenticing them in how they can set God-pleasing boundaries for themselves as adults.

At every stage, however, we need tools that can help us to know which media is a yes, let’s watch, which is when you’re older, and which is our worldview prohibits this.

Let your geek flag fly. Dragon Con for families.

September 10, 2018 by Susan 4 Comments

How many places can you see Thanos, the Dread Pirate Roberts, Tinker Bell and zombies all at once? Not many, I’ll tell you that.

Something called Dragon Con is not something that would garner my attention normally. Even though I live with three guys who are into games with lots of orcs, wizards and superheroes, and we watch movies with…well, lots of orcs, wizards and superheroes….I can handle only so much of the nerd-dom.

I’ve known about Dragon Con for a long time. Some of the organizers are friends of ours and Greg went a couple of times when we lived in Atlanta. Still, not something I ever thought I’d be interested in attending myself. I mean, a sci-fi convention is a bit much for me. Little did I know…

S’mores Snack Mix: 3 Ingredients Mix and Go

June 4, 2018 by Susan 2 Comments

Sometimes, I am not my mother’s daughter. I run late..a lot. And I forget things. Lots of things. Things like when I’m in charge of bringing snacks for after church.

I’ll admit it’s gotten better since I’ve been paired with my niece. She is much more like my mom. Organized. Totally on top of things. She typically texts me during the week to ask what I’m bringing, which is usually my reminder that I’m on treat duty that Sunday. (Thanks, Steph!)

Adding the words “kid friendly” to your kale chips recipe isn’t fooling anyone

May 7, 2018 by Susan 11 Comments

There’s no one definition of a picky eater, but I think we can safely agree that plain wins the day. These simple recipes tend to go over well and can be customized.

Do you have picky eaters?

If so then you, like me, are skeptical of lists that claim to be “kid friendly”. It’s especially offensive to click a link promising “10 recipes your picky eaters will devour” only to find it full of recipes with ingredients many adults I know wouldn’t even eat.

Chickpeas, really?