Family Life | New Urban Mom

Archive for Family Life – Page 4

The Gift of IDEAS…

I start every holiday season with the best of intentions and they begin with the promise that all gifts will be purchased before December 1 so that I can ENJOY the holiday season. You know what they say about best laid plans. Well this year I zeroed in on the problem. When it comes down

What I’m Thankful For

Like many people, I don’t spend enough time acknowledging the good people in my family and in my communities that make life meaningful for me. Good thing this Thanksgiving holiday slows us all down for a short while to focus on these very things. This year has been a special one for me. I celebrated

High Quality “School Communities” – Finally…21st Century thinking

How many of you chose a neighborhood because of the quality of the local schools there? I bet quite a few of made your decision that way but I bet you’re also concerned about the general trend of public schools in our country. The problems in our worst schools become a problem for the nation.

Buy Local – My Local Farmer’s Market

I’ve posted before about the joy and benefit of buying local (see more under the “Green Living” tab). This Saturday morning my husband and I took a short trip to our local farmers’ market. Our suburb is surrounded by farms to the north of us (those that haven’t been gobbled up by developers). It is

Community Involvement – Your PTA

The things you love about your community were probably made possible by others who share your opinion. Let’s say you have a wonderful nature conservation area where you live, it’s likely because past or current residents in your community took steps to protect that area. The same holds true for our schools where we trustingly

The Center of Town

One of the things I love about new urbanism is that you can enjoy the benefits of new urban living whether you live in a new or old development located in the city or the suburb. New urban living is just about enjoying the natural beauty and spirit of our communities. We make our communities special

Caring for Parents

I’ve always thought my parents looked young. In my mind they looked the same to me now as they did when I was a kid. That all changed significantly for me last week. It only takes one serious illness to make you realize that life has been preparing you for a role reversal you weren’t

Garage Sales and Life’s Little Journies

Garage sales are a big deal in my community. Our street use to do one every spring and then the last two years we passed on the “opportunity.” Well this weekend my neighbor got me all into the garage sale fever again. My neighbor and I are both early birds. We’re out either on our

Ah…Summer Festivals

Our community places great emphasis on invigorating community life. We have events throughout the year that are designed to bring people together on our streets, in our parks and at various business and recreational venues across our region. This weekend we have an international golf tournament in town. To involve everyone in the excitement (golfers