Child Care

Making the Best of It

Starting tomorrow at 6 am Chicago locks down. Again. But, this time it is different. Schools can stay open (although the city’s 400,000 public school kids have been 100% eLearning since March). People are allowed to leave home for work…but no one is supposed to leave home. Restaurants are closed indoors, but warm and cozy […]


National Day of Kindness

Monday, November 2. The day before the election. Like Americans on all points along the political spectrum, I cannot wait for tomorrow. I just want to know what is going to happen. I just want it over. Last week I took Ben and the twins to vote at the local elementary school. The election has […]


Not the Worst Summer

So, the summer came and went. Poof. Just like that. Despite the turmoil and uncertainty swirling around the globe, our little (ok, big) family made the most of my favorite season. Here in Chicago, much of what we love about the city is locked down (beaches, playgrounds, museums) or burning down (looting and rioting), so […]


DO.

My city burned last night. A peaceful protest highlighting the systemic injustices that led to the vicious murder of George Floyd descended into complete anarchy. As we sat watching the news late into the early morning hours, I was struck by fear. Fear of the unknown and fear of having no control. How can any […]


Books to the Rescue!

Saturday. Or is it Wednesday? Does it even matter? Who knows?! Now in our umpteenth week of quarantine, the days are blurring together. Weekends don’t really feel special anymore, except for the fact that I don’t have to constantly herd the kids back to the dining table to finish their eLearning. To be honest, I […]


Grateful For This Day

My big girls are off school all week for the Thanksgiving holiday, but the boys had to go Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. While it might seem annoying to have kids on two different school calendars, it actually works really well for our large family as I’m always grateful for time with a smaller crew every […]


Life is Happening

My 11-year-old daughter recently pointed out that I haven’t written on Homemade Mothering much lately. She loves reading posts on this site – especially ones from when she was little. It really is our family’s record book. But, lately, life has just been so BUSY. So full. Which, I am absolutely grateful for because we […]


“A Very Hungry Caterpillar Show” at The Chicago Children’s Theatre

After a dry, hot summer, this weekend’s weather was a bit surprising: torrential thunderstorms! Sticks of lightening! Many, many inches of rain! All baseball games were canceled, and since Chris took the car all weekend to a Notre Dame game with his friends I was – in theory – stuck at home with six kids. […]


Camp Favors

Evie and Mack spent a week at sleepaway camp this summer. The YMCA camp they attended oozed classic Americana: archery, canoeing, camp fires with silly songs, mosquitos, s’mores. It is the same camp I went to as a kid, so it was a nostalgic trip to bring my kids back! When I went to camp […]


If You Are Gay

This summer the whole family has really gotten into Netflix’s Queer Eye series, where five gay men transform the lives of people who need a boost. Chris started watching it first, and he said it was a truly great show, so the kids and I piled onto his bandwagon and it has been our family […]


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