Do your children believe in Santa? I never told my daughter that Santa existed. What she knows, she learned from cartoons and other people. I never had a reason not to tell her that he exists. I just didn’t.
Is...
If you were to ask my close friends and family what my hobbies are, they'll tell you watching The Princess Bride on repeat (while quoting it excessively), and reading. I LOVE to read! At night you'll find me in...
What started as an attempt at introducing a different culture and language to my son, spurred by my own allyship for and celebration of the LatinX community, has evolved into so much more.
Pre-Encanto, I got ready (in the morning)...
Can you smell that old familiar scent? Spring is in the air!
"Spring?! Are you nuts, Kristi? It was snowing last week!!"
I know, I know, I know, it seems like spring is a long way off right now. The days...
Nothing reminds us of how fast our children are growing up like the growing piles of clothes they outgrow seemingly overnight. Along with them going up in size, they are also going up in cost.
When my son was around...
Spring is here, which means it's time for my family to do some spring cleaning! We've spent so much time indoors the last few months and our home is overdue for a little tough love.
At first glance, my home...
I remember as a little girl my mom would cover our kitchen table with the latest edition of The State newspaper. She would line up all of our coffee mugs and drop colored tablets in them with vinegar and...
Passover is one of my favorite holidays and also the one I am most likely to observe haphazardly. Don’t get me wrong - I love a rousing rendition of “Dayenu” and will absolutely eat your gefilte fish if you...
Let me set the all too familiar scene: Your alarm goes off. You’ve had two consecutive hours of sleep since your baby was last rooting around to nurse, your teething toddler’s molar erupted, you finally finished your presentation for...
As a parent, you hope to leave the planet a little better off for your children, or at the very least, no worse, right? We could talk about all the trendy buzzwords -- carbon footprints, climate change, global energy...
I love decorating my house for Christmas. But the second Christmas is over, I hate the décor. It feels cluttery and adds to the chaos. I cannot wait to undecorate for Christmas.
However, undecorating inevitably leads me down an If...
The trouble with being a writer is that all the stupid things you’ve ever said are out there in the ether, just waiting to embarrass you.
Take a column I wrote in 2003, in which I bragged that I was...
Many of my friends started listening to Christmas music on November 1. The stores were decked to the halls by the end of October, and fall decor was on discount. But before everyone dives too deeply into Christmas cheer,...
I come from a LARGE Italian family. We lived a couple of hours away from my dads family, but my moms family lived in the same city we did. Pretty much ALL of my moms immediate and extended family...
In + Around Columbia
Let’s Hit the Trails :: Top 10 Kid-Friendly Hiking Spots Around...
The Midlands is home to a surprising number of family-friendly hiking trails. This fun, inexpensive, and educational hobby is a great way to wear...
