Ashley Carter - Everyday Family (Page 5)

The Allowance Jar and a First Lesson in Saving

My daughter got her first dollar of allowance at seven and had it spent in her head before it hit

The catalog version of a backyard — the cedar play structure, the in-ground trampoline, the water table that costs more than

Somewhere around thirteen, my oldest decided family game night was beneath him. The eye-roll when I suggested it could have

The first time my son flipped a Candy Land board because he drew the wrong card, I genuinely didn'

I have bought, made, and laminated approximately six chore charts in my parenting career. Five of them are dead. They

Every March I get the itch to throw open the windows and purge half the house, and every March my

The couch has gravity. Some afternoons it pulls both of my kids in by 3:30 and won't

Spring break has a way of sneaking up and then sitting there, nine empty days long, daring you to fill

The first screen-free night we tried felt like a hostage situation, and I was one of the hostages. The kids

I praised my kids constantly, with the best of intentions, and for years I had no idea it might be

The first time my eleven-year-old walked to the corner store alone, I watched from the porch like a Secret Service

I used to say "share!" roughly four hundred times a day, like a malfunctioning toy, and it accomplished