Super cute kids stationery is a fun and simple way to encourage kids to write notes or keep up with pen pals. This post is sponsored by Iscream. All opinions are my own. 

If your kids are anything like mine, they love getting stuff in the mail. There’s something so fun about having a surprise show up in your mailbox just for you. The anticipation of opening it up and seeing who it’s from and what’s inside can lead to birthday present level excitement. Hell, I love getting mail that doesn’t fall under the umbrella of bills I don’t want to think about or junk I don’t want to waste my time opening.

So why don’t we do more of it?!

Why don’t we send more mail that will brighten someone else’s day? It’s not at all the same as sending a quick text. I mean, it’s nice to let someone know you’re thinking of them with an emoji-filled sentence or two. But it’s so much nicer to get a handwritten note saying the same thing.

Can we challenge ourselves to write more letters and get our kids in on it too?

More than twenty years later, I’m still learning about how the death of my father at an early age has shaped me. For one, it has made me intent on raising strong, independent daughters.

We watched our tiny, not quite graceful ballerinas twirl around the dance floor while dramatically mouthing the words to a Moana song. Their faces were strong and determined, as if they were heroic wayfarers dancing across the sea. In my head, I also sang along and was pretty sure all of the other moms watching through the glass were too. “This song is going to be stuck in my head for days,” I grumbled, not nearly as broken up about it as I sounded.

We laughed, launching into a conversation about all of the kids’ movie soundtracks we know by heart. The subject of Frozen, one of my favorites for so many reasons came up and another mom was lukewarm. “I don’t know,” she said. “I have a hard time with Frozen. I’m all for girl power but, to me, it’s not a real fairy tale because there’s no prince. Maybe I’m a traditionalist, but I want my daughter to believe in true love.”

I had an immediate visceral reaction, but stayed quiet, nodding as she explained her point of view. I respected her opinion and the place it was coming from, but I completely disagreed. Finding no words to explain why, I remained silent. All I knew was that I felt very strongly about the fact that I did not want handsome princes shoved down my daughters’ throats.

I’ve always considered myself a swoony romantic. I grew up on a steady diet of romantic comedies, weddings always make me cry, and love stories make me feel warm and fuzzy and electric inside.

So why did the idea that every princess needs a prince make me want to scream?

Lice might be teeny, but they strike fear into the hearts of parents everywhere. To take away at least a little bit of the panic, I asked a lice treatment professional all of the big questions about lice that parents want to know, touching on everything from lice prevention to facts, treatment, and cleaning tips.

This post is sponsored by Lice Free Noggins.

Nothing makes a parent’s skin crawl faster than hearing the dreaded L-word: lice.

The second the letter comes home from school, parents start itching. Every time your kid so much as brushes her hair out of her face, you lunge, combing through with your fingers in an effort to find the little critters you are sure have taken up residence there.

So far, we’ve had lice once and I still have nightmares thinking about it. Both girls and I ended up with it and I spent weeks combing through our hair and cleaning every surface in our house I could think of. By the end of our ordeal, I was ready to shave our heads and move, leaving all of our belongings behind so that no little creatures could hitch a ride with us.

Figuring it doesn’t have to be that dramatic an experience, I decided to talk to a lice professional and ask her every single question I could think of about the little buggers. Lena Gorelik, founder of Lice Free Noggins, was kind enough to answer all of my neurotic questions without making me feel like an idiot.

We are always looking for books to add to our To Be Read list. We look for books of all levels: picture books, beginner chapter books, middle-grade fiction, and books that busy moms can enjoy. Figuring I can’t possibly be the only one out there who is hunting for good reads for a variety of age levels, I put together a list each month of the books my family has been reading. Sometimes our thoughts on them will be gushy and glowy. Other times they’ll be lukewarm. Either way, we’ll let you know if we think they’re worth your time.

Nothing about this month was particularly leisurely for me. March was filled with birthdays and snow and school closures. But we did manage to squeeze in some solid reads in the middle of all of the madness. Here’s a little peek at what we read… 

Need something to keep the kids busy? This bundle of free kids printables allows them to have lots of fun and use their imaginations. Included in the download are a BINGO game, a play restaurant check, and a comic strip template!

Tell me you haven’t been here before.

You just ran around setting your kids up with a fun activity. Let’s say it’s painting. You laid out newspaper to make sure the table doesn’t get destroyed. You set them up with brushes, little palettes of paint, some water to keep things clean, and plenty of paper to go to town on. They seem happy, which makes you happy. You ask Alexa to turn some music on, sing along with them, and then it happens.

You haven’t even screwed on the lid of the last jar of paint you’re trying to put away when they ask: What are we doing next?

Their brushes drip with paint and they’re swirling colors all over the place, but they’re already thinking ahead. And you can already feel it coming. The dreaded sentence: I’m bored.

Now, I totally agree that kids should be bored sometimes and they should have to find ways to get creative and occupy themselves. However, there is only a certain number of times a parent can hear the phrase whined at all different lengths before you lose your freaking mind.

That’s where this free kids printables bundle comes in!

Perfect for keeping the little boogers entertained, these printables are great for home, while traveling, waiting for appointments, sitting at restaurants and more. To make them durable and more longlasting, print them out on cardstock and have them laminated, that way you can use dry erase markers on them and not use so much paper.

All you need to do is enter your email address here and the whole set will be sent directly to your inbox! But first, let’s take a look at what’s included…