Mary’s New Year’s Resolutions: 2022

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

As Child(ish) Advice completes another trip around the sun, I want to say thank you for all your continued trust and support as we continue to provide content, tips, and activities for kids and parents.

This past year has been a fun and welcomed challenge, filled with TikTok videos, research, and continuing education courses, on top of raising three kids under five. And with the arrival of 2022, I’m looking forward to growing personally and professionally. Here are my New Year’s Resolutions for this year:

Continue reading →

The Great Red Jolly Conundrum: What to do about Santa Claus?

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

As much as you try to avoid it, there’s a big cheery man in a red suit around every corner. You can’t escape him. Eventually, our kids are going to ask about him, like who he is, how he can be breaking and entering without getting arrested, or how is it possible to deliver all these presents in one night?

And the biggest question of all: “Is Santa real?”.
Well, Virginia, let’s break this down before we jump to any conclusions.

Continue reading →

Family Holiday Traditions: Lost and Found

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

December signals a time for family traditions, new and old, no matter your background.

A Tradition is defined as the transfer of meaningful customs, rituals, or beliefs passed down from generation to generation.

When you think about familiar holiday traditions, you might picture a big family gathered around a dinner table, a huge Christmas tree dressed to the nines, or a snowy morning where people exchange wrapped gifts with smiles on their faces. But for me, it never quite played out that way.

Continue reading →

Things We Loved: November

| Patti Webb

Hey Everyone,
We hope you’re enjoying the beginning of the holiday season. All of our OT-friendly gift guides are out and we have one more week of posts before taking a much-needed end-of-year blogging break. For this month’s Things We Loved, we’re recapping our busy November, prepping for a crazy December, and sharing the things that are getting us through both.

Continue reading →

Child(ish) Reads: The Montessori Toddler

| Patti Webb

I purchased The Montessori Toddler about a year ago. I have never planned on sending my kids to a Montessori school or daycare, and neither my husband or I have ever attended a Montessori school. I was interested in this topic because it’s a huge parenting buzzword; a whole philosophy on a better way to raise kids.

With all of our Childish Reads books, I expected to have a few key points or gems to takeaway. But TBH, I was a bit disappointed.

Continue reading →