Whine With Mama

Some days I get to the end of the day and wonder what I actually finished. The laundry may still need folding. There are dishes in the sink. Something I meant to do for myself has been pushed to tomorrow again. Yet I have been busy all day. I think a lot of moms know that feeling. So much of what we do is easy to miss because the result is often that someone else’s day runs a little more smoothly. The work behind the work There are the tasks you can see: meals, laundry, rides, appointments, and cleaning up. Then there is everything we keep track of in our heads. Who needs a new pair of shoes? What is coming up this week? Did we return the library books? Is there enough time to make dinner before the next thing starts? Who seems quieter than usual and might need a little one-on-one time? In my house, that list also includes homeschool lessons, books, supplies, and thinking about how each child is doing. Another mom’s list may look completely different. Either way, remembering, noticing,...

Books give children a chance to recognize themselves, meet someone whose life is different from theirs, and ask questions they might not have known how to ask. That is part of why I pay attention when a children’s book is challenged. As a homeschool mom who cares about reading, I want to know what a book is actually about and decide how to approach it with my children. During Banned Books Week, I’m looking more closely at four books about Black children and Black history that have faced challenges or removal. A challenge does not mean a book disappeared everywhere. Each title has its own story, and that distinction matters. New Kid by Jerry Craft New Kid is a middle grade graphic novel about Jordan Banks, a Black student navigating friendships and school life after enrolling in a predominantly white private school. It has humor, family, and the ordinary awkwardness of growing up alongside moments when Jordan faces assumptions about who he is. In 2021, a petition ...

“Can we do something else?” If you have heard that right after bringing out a reading lesson, you are not alone. It can be frustrating when you know reading matters and your child wants nothing to do with the book in front of them. I care deeply about reading in our homeschool. I also know that pushing through a miserable lesson does not always get us closer to the confident reader we hope to raise. When a child resists, I try to get curious about what is making reading feel hard. Find out which part feels difficult “I don’t want to read” can mean a few different things. Maybe the book is too difficult to read independently. Maybe the child can sound out the words but is tired from doing it on every line. Maybe the topic does not interest them. Or maybe they simply need a break before they can focus. I start by making the task smaller and noticing what happens. If one sentence feels manageable but a whole page feels overwhelming, that tells me something. If a child happily listens to t...