Violins (from the Landfill Harmonic Facebook page) The teaser for the upcoming documentary, Landfill Harmonic, has been making the rounds on Facebook and other social media for the past few days; watching it this morning kick-started my hopeful optimism for the day. I'm a sucker for stories about mentors and teachers who are making a difference with children, who are providing inspiration to do great . . . more »

The dreaded "no." The word most adults hope that the toddlers in their lives don't learn. Because, when little people do learn the power of those two letters put together, they wield it with incredible force. But...what if "no" could be used in a fun way? Two of my niece's favorite board books, at the moment, are: It's A Little Book by Lane Smith and . . . more »

Way back when I was student teaching, I also took a night course in American Sign Language (ASL) because I've always thought that it is a beautiful language. I picked up just enough sign to teach some basics to my students when I taught Kindergarten, which was fun, but very limited. When I found out that I was going to be a Tante, I was . . . more »

The highlight of my week is getting to take care of my niece, who is now nearly a year and a half old. This past Tante Tuesday, she introduced me to a rockin', stampin', twirlin' good book that's just perfect for the active toddler set. Sandra Boynton's Barnyard Dance! gets the party started on the first page and keeps it going the whole way through . . . more »