Eclectic Muddlehood

This summer, I have been very focused on reading, researching and generally studying all manner of subjects associated with gifted children, gifted education, the pros and cons of labeling children as gifted, the concept of intelligence in general, testing for giftedness, American culture and its view on intelligence and giftedness and other assorted topics that might […]

I am exhausted.
Seriously exhausted.
But in a very positive way.   It is actually somewhat amusing to me that, as a year round homeschooler, I am being struck by the physical, mental and emotional adjustment period that is Back-To-School time.  Athena had no desire to take a break over the summer for more than a few days […]

I have heard this statement countless times in the last four and a half years in any number of locations, always in reference to the fact that I have taken my children somewhere with me that others dare not venture with their own or anyone else’s itty-bits.  Most recently, it was at a Major League […]

An amused gentleman assisting his adorable toddler daughter up the jungle gym to the slide at the same playground we were enjoying overheard the following conversation today:
KINDY GIRL: Mama, I cannot go down this slide right now.  There are insects on it.
CRUNCHY MAMA: Hon, it’s alright.  You are much bigger than they are and they will […]

With the impending opening of my own little Etsy shop,Catherine’s Crunchy Creations, and our recently formulated Family Vision Statement, we have taken the Buy Handmade Pledge this holiday season. This is something I encourage every mindful family to consider doing this year. Between the countless safety recalls made for mass produced children’s […]

Barely able to suffer the one hour wait required before the gingerbread house could be decorated, my eldest swore she would stand a vigilant watch until the much anticipated moment the kitchen timer would chime heralding her into the land of frosty gumdrop and sweet peppermint ecstasy…

As another holiday melody drifts across the living room and into the kitchen, I find myself suspended in bliss. I smile to myself as my ears hear “fall on your knees, all hear the angels’ voices.” This morning I hear them in the sparkling crystal laughter shared between us as my eldest daughter and I […]

I envy the self-awareness of a two year old. I am working daily to undo years of conditioning that has stretched my own mind-body connection rice paper thin. My daughter, however, is at one with her body. After three days of eating almost her body weight in raisins during her waking hours, I finally asked […]