Porridgereport.com

Nothing says Happy Mother’s Day like a child’s artwork made by their own hands.  

Today’s videos feature advertisements for the wildly popular video game, Call of Duty by Activision. My boys have begged for this violent video game countless times and, so far, I’ve not allowed it. Many of their friends, from ages 7 to 12, own and play the game regularly (even though it is rated M

Everyone feels relieved when the No Video Game Rule is lifted Friday afternoon. I can relax by my laptop, or on a sunny day like today, on my deck sipping a glass of wine. The kids can play to their heart’s content without worrying about any mom-induced consequences. So go ahead, kids. Play.    

We all know of the many actions we can take to make the world a better place: hold the door open for someone else, recycle your garbage, volunteer for a charitable cause. The list is infinite, in fact. Yet, as our society migrates to the web, many of us spend almost as much time online [...]

We all need a good kick in the pants sometimes to remind us of what is truly important in this world. I got one today when I attended a tour of the new Ronald McDonald House® in Toronto.  If you’re not familiar with this organization, its very worthy mission is to provide a home away from home [...]

This is week 2 of my journey into the world of kids’  innovation and science. We’re back in the kitchen making goop (my kids like getting messy.) This particular experiment helps kids understand propulsion through the use of catalysts. Rocket fuel, for instance, is created when a catalyst is added t

Movies that have inspired my writing. This is today’s post theme for bloggers who are participating in the 2012 blogathon through the month of May. And, I have spent a good portion of the day agonizing over my inability to get inspired by this particular idea. Movies? Writing? Yes, the two go hand-i

No video games from Monday to Thursday. Of all the family rules I have ever devised, this is the one that I treasure most, and try hardest to maintain. You can read about when I first instituted it here. It requires serious vigilance because this unpopular rule is under constant attack by its detrac

Three boys hovering over a glowing screen is a common scene in my household. Every once in a while I ask, “what are you watching?” Invariably it’s some inane YouTube video they are more than eager to explain to me in painstaking detail. Or worse, they ask me to watch it with them. As a [...]

Procrastination is a writer’s worst frenemy. We resent it, yet can’t ever seem to get enough of it. Especially now that it’s so darn easy to do, thanks to the internet. Back in the olden days, when writers had to duke it out with a clankity-clank typewriter, procrastination required effort. A writer