About the Author

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Kristin Van de Water is a former journalist and teacher who relies on humor, faith, and her mom crew to get her through the day. Raising four kids in a two-bedroom NYC apartment, Kristin is always on the lookout for life hacks to save time, space, money, and her sanity.

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Creative Childcare Solutions for Life in NYC

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If it takes a whole village to raise one child, then thank goodness I live in New York City. As a stay-at-home mom of four on the Upper East Side, I’m grateful for my network of friends, babysitters, and neighbors who help when I need to be multiple places at once. Within 15 minutes of both my babysitters calling in sick today, I recruited a neighbor to monitor my sleeping toddler and a classmate’s dad to pick up my twins from Kindergarten while I hopped on the bus to collect my third from preschool. Finding last-minute creative childcare solutions that are affordable means embracing our beloved city. While some parents might be daunted by the thought of raising kids in New York City, especially when family lives across the country, there are certain characteristics of NYC life that work in moms and dads favor when it comes to childcare. Love your neighborhood Take advantage of high population density. Look for a sitter in your local neighborhood so her punctualit...
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Ten Skills I Honed as PTA President

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During my first foggy years of stay-at-home motherhood, Mommy brain replaced the quick wit I previously employed as an English teacher. Life suddenly revolved around my brood of four kids under four years old rather than my cohort of rowdy freshmen. Literature started to look more like board books and less like Shakespeare. My mind threatened to turn to mush in the melee of spit up, swings, snacks, swaddles, strollers, and stretchy pants . It was hard to see beyond the immediate task of making sure my household was fed, clothed, clean, and sleeping. Just when I glimpsed a light at the end of the tunnel (aka all kids attending school), COVID-19 hit and launched us into a blurry year of hybrid learning limbo . When my youngest child finally entered full-day Kindergarten in 2021, I emerged from the daze of new parenthood. Not looking to return to the classroom as a teacher, but ready to expand my focus beyond meeting my family’s basic needs, I dipped my toe into volunteering with our el...
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Have you ever noticed how kids vie for your attention at the most inconvenient times? Ridiculous, rude or lazy demands irritate me and often get ignored. But there’s one type of request that I feel horrible brushing off: story time. “Mom, will you read this book to me?” “Arrgh, there’s too much going on right now,” I say while the kitchen timer beeps, my one-year-old practices standing on the edge of the couch and my three-year-old sings, “I need a wipe! I need a wipe!” “Mom, can we read this book?” “Sorry, sweetie. There’s no time. We’re trying to get out the door.” “Mom, what does this say?” “I can’t see what you’re reading,” I yell from the shower. “Ask your brother.” My new year’s resolution is to create more opportunities to say yes to my kids , especially regarding their hunger for reading. It might mean planning an extra five minutes of wiggle room in our morning routine to save time for a book. It likely means reducing screen time (...
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