A central component of the homeschooling experience is choosing one’s curriculum. Curriculum, the plan of study a student follows, ranges greatly from homeschooler to homeschooler—thus one of the appeals to homeschooling families. My son studied the solar system for almost a year, Roman history for a semester and worked through a month-long history of Halloween Read More …
Author: Catherine Torres
Productivity Tips I’ve Learned After Homeschooling My Son for a Year: It’s Not Revolutionary, Just Gentle Reminders
A glossy customized planner won’t make you more productive I reminded myself as I perused 2023 academic planners. Still, I bought two. November will be the year mark for homeschooling my son. I’ve moved up from slips of paper planning our daily lessons to full-blown academic planners. It began as a solution to a Thanksgiving Read More …
Parents, Teach Your Kids to be Decent Human Beings
Photo by Matt Collamer on Unsplash Bottle-fed or breast-fed. Co-sleep or sleep training. Cloth or disposable. Child-led, parent-led. Public school, private school, homeschool, unschooled. Even spanking or no spanking, I honestly don’t care — it’s your business. I do care, however, when your parenting decisions affect my children, specifically if your kid can’t function as a decent human Read More …
Five Tips for More Memorable Travel
What makes a trip memorable? The company? Novel experiences? Incredible food? Travel is personal so creating a memorable trip is different for everyone. Yet, when we are present and can handle travel hiccups (or disasters) with less stress a trip becomes more pleasant and even more memorable. Here are six things you can do to Read More …
I Hate the Pomodoro Technique, Here’s Why
If you’ve struggled with procrastination and searched for methods to conquer it, or if you want to maximize your production and dug into various productivity methods, there’s a good chance you’ve come across the Pomodoro Technique. People rave about it, I can’t stand it. Developed in the 1980s by a university student named Francesco Cirillo, Read More …
Little Wins
We could all use a little win once in a while, I took it upon myself to track mine. It’s my version of self-care.
Feel Guilty, Stressed, and Torn Between Obligations? Maximize Your Time With a Minimalist Routine
Like most people, I’m busy. We all have full schedules, endless to-dos, and never enough time in the day. Tired of feeling like there was always something I was forgetting and trying to split my attention constantly, I established a minimalist routine. What is that? It’s a way of living that deters physical and mental Read More …
Rest, Recover, Recharge: Be Superwoman Tomorrow
As an ambitious perfectionist, NOT doing has become my goal.
Resources to Jumpstart Your Simpler, Minimalist Life and Focus on What Matters Most
Ready to downsize and streamline your things, routines, and life, but not sure where to start? Here are some of the resources I’ve used in my journey towards a minimalist life.
Figuring out Phthalates
Phthalates. That’s a fun word to spell, not so much fun to be exposed to. Unfortunately we’ve all been exposed to phthalates; they’re dubbed the “everywhere chemicals” because they are quite frankly everywhere. Let’s start at the beginning. Phthalates have been widely used since the 1950s. They are esters of phthalic acid. What’s an ester? Read More …
Thanksgiving Prep 101: All The Other Stuff
The star of Thanksgiving may be the turkey (Psst! I have a post dedicated to the bird), but I’m a sides-girl through and through. I’ll overload my plate with a little bit of everything, then for seconds get my favorites plus the tiniest sliver of turkey. Before the meal though, there’s the appetizers: the stuff Read More …
How to Make Friends as an Adult
In kindergarten a girl named Jane sat next to me and said, “Want to be my best friend?” as if it was an opening she had selected me to fill. I said yes. We’d be playmates for the next two years until my family moved a few towns away. I cried when my parents told Read More …
Why I Started Caring What’s in My Lipstick and Why You Should Too
I never really cared too much about my beauty products. My skin isn’t terrible (thanks mom!), and I’m not crazy about having the newest, latest make-up. My skincare routine has been fairly set since high school: regular cleansing, moisturizer, and sunscreen. When I bought products I stuck to the $$ price range skipping between brands Read More …
Goal or Bust: Getting Back on Track
Sometimes we just need a minute. We have our routines, we’re productive, and everything is going well. We’re on our way to success and reaching our goals. Then life happens. We fall off, need to take a break or change course, or even retrace our steps. Apologies for sounding similar to Dr. Suess’s “Oh, the Read More …
Four Habits to Jump-start Your Productivity
Feeling frazzled? Like your to-do list never ends and an impending project deadline looms closer and closer without much progress? It’s time for a productivity reboot. Try out these five habits to help clear the noise and sharpen your focus. Let’s boost your productivity! 1. Work at a Standing Desk In terms of healthfulness, standing Read More …
Confessions of a Pregnant Woman
3 January 2017 Today I’m 21 weeks and 4 days pregnant. For anyone who hasn’t had a baby yet and glosses over when the discussion shifts to babies (aka me just this past August), that’s just over halfway there. Your due date is the start of week 40. That’s technically 10 months of carrying a Read More …
Things To Do Thanksgiving Weekend That Aren’t Shopping Related
It’s almost Thanksgiving! A wonderful day dedicated to eating delicious food surrounded by loved ones. Even if you don’t celebrate with family, you surely have some sort of tradition every fourth Thursday of November. What tends to be up for grabs is the days that come after Thanksgiving. Sure you can lounge around in front Read More …
How to Fail Successfully
The best way to understand a person is to watch him fail. Anyone can be spectacular and optimistic while riding the wave of success, but when one fails, especially deeply, true ambition and even personality emerges. It’s likened to the classic story of the character that steps up during tough times to save the day, Read More …
Four Books to Read for a Fresh Start this Spring
Spring is a great time for cleaning, organizing, and getting into gear. We’re already a few weeks into spring, but it’s never too late to break into a book that could give you the fresh perspective you need. A heartfelt story about securing destinies, Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is a quick read with deep meaning. Read More …
How to Get the Most Out of a Wine or Beer Festival
Wine and beer festivals are great: attendees get to sample a variety of drinks, local breweries and wineries can market themselves, food trucks and local restaurants get in on the action, and raffles add a bit of excitement. It’s also quite easy to indulge too much and end up with a bad hang-over with little Read More …
The Case Against Excuses
“I wish I could [blank] but I just don’t have the time” “I can’t do this or that because of XYZ reason” “I’m getting too old, I already missed the boat for [blank]” Excuses. We hear them everyday; a lot of us say them everyday. What would it be like if we stopped with the Read More …
Three Workplace Spring Cleaning Tips
Many of us are still feeling the effects of springing forward this past Sunday, but rationalize the early morning dragging will soon be replaced with more sunshine and warmer days. Seasonal changes offer great opportunities to freshen up homes, lives, and even the workplace. Here are some tips to get started: 1. Declutter. Aligned Read More …
Sticking to Goals: A New Look at New Year’s Resolutions
Less than 10% of people who make a New Year’s Resolution actually accomplish it. The main reason so many people fail is due to their approaches. If you’re trying to become one of the 10%, consider thinking about New Year’s Resolutions as goals versus mere declarations. This goal mentality will help quantify your Read More …
Motivation for Frigid Weather Work-Outs
In the past decade I’ve lived in Colorado, Hawaii, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Washington state, so I know first hand motivation for working out come easily during warmer weather, even mild, sunny days over freezing, dark wintry evenings. The sun sets earlier so outdoor work-outs are grim, gyms are crowded with the New Read More …
Thanksgiving Day Prep 101- Turkey Basics
Turkey day is upon us! Those of you who volunteered to host guests, without much regard for what the dinner entails, may feel a bit stressed right now, especially if you’ve done zero preparation. Don’t fret, you still have plenty of time to plan a deliciously memorable Thanksgiving feast, and, using my quick Read More …