Puppets Puppets can be very open ended and offer children of all ages the opportunity to re-create favorite stories and often inspire new tales.  They come in all shapes, sizes, materials and complexities. You can purchase them new, or just use odd socks, your hands or paper. You can create a stage, or not. But [continue reading]

So Your Daughter Has Gluten Intolerance? “So your daughter has your gluten intolerance as well?” The nurse grimaced and her faced seemed to echo my sentiments exactly-grimace, grrr, darn-it-all and other choice words and phrases that I can’t share on this family site. A food allergy, speaking again from hindsight, is a pain in the [continue reading]

Kids Creating Video Games Many kids today are great at playing (consuming) video games but who will create the video games of tomorrow?  I think it’s fine for kids to play appropriate video games in moderation.  See Common Sense Media for reviews and ratings for video games.  However, many kids today only consume content.  What [continue reading]

Community Service: Volunteering as a Family During the holiday season there was much discussion about community service opportunities families could participate in together. Now that spring has arrived, many parks are getting ready for the season with spring clean ups, an excellent time of the year for families to participate in community service together, while [continue reading]

The Edible Book: A Benefit for the Friends of the Forbes & Lilly Libraries The Forbes and Lilly Libraries are holding their Edible Book event on Sunday, April 22nd this year, an annual event that crosses culinary arts and language arts with creative free play! And April vacation week is the perfect time to start [continue reading]

An ADHD Child Visits Magic Wings Have you ever wondered why children who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) don’t seem to listen and cooperative well? On some occasions they get easily distracted, see “something shiny,” and ignore the adult’s instruction. Although experts still don’t know exactly what causes this disorder, they [continue reading]

That Little Chicken! (Ese Pollito) Is there anything more adorable than a baby chick? A perfect omen that Spring is on the way! This month I’m featuring a huayño – a type of traditional song from Peru.  The video to follow tells the story of someone who gets a chicken as a gift and it [continue reading]

Note 12, There’s No Place Like Home The twelfth Mash Note to Paradise! Really? Over this past year in these notes I’ve loved our bike paths and our college town-y-ness, our farms and our farmers’ markets, our give back mentality and our reverence for all sorts of families and our indie vibes. Much as I [continue reading]

Local Government in Rural Communities Talk at the Meekins Library Williamsburg ♦ April 15th @ 2pm Small, rural towns are much different in structure than urban and suburban areas are.  Instead of electing officials to make decisions, many small towns have an annual town meeting where community members can contribute their thoughts on issues being [continue reading]

Seven Community Coalitions Supporting and Serving Families in Western MA Communities that Care Coalition brings together youth, parents, schools, community agencies, and local governments to promote the health and well-being of young people in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region. Programs include Healthy Youth Initiative (youth nutrition and physical activity), Bullying Prevention Workshop, education [continue reading]