Christina Fairman

Christina lives in Northwest Illinois with her husband, daughter, and two English Springer Spaniels. Before becoming a reluctant stay-at-home mom, she worked in a variety of customer-service-oriented jobs while dreaming of living in the lap of luxury as a housewife. Unfortunately, having a child threw a wrench in Christina's plan to do nothing but eat bonbons while lounging in the Jacuzzi reading all day. Now, she spends her time looking for fun activities and crafts for her daughter and easy-to-prepare meals for her family, while trying not to land the kid in therapy when she grows up. Christina volunteers at her local library, and does both volunteer and paid work as a sexuality educator. She loves to read, and to learn about--and share--new products and resources.

Since 1970, people have celebrated Earth Day each year on April 22. While many of us pay attention to our impact on our planet all year round, Earth Day is a special day to take a moment to recognize the impact humans have had—and continue to have—on the world around us, and to think about …

My daughter attends a cooperative preschool where one of the co-oping parent’s jobs is to provide the class’s daily snack. At our two-year-old classroom orientation, the teacher mentioned a time when a family brought sardines (maybe anchovies? some kind of gross fish) when the class was doing their penguin unit. She was using it to …

I first heard about a leather playmat from Gathre last year, when the company was still known as Let’s Playground. I was a bit skeptical about the practicality of a mat made from leather, but then I spent way too much time drooling over their Instagram feed full of pictures of these rich-looking Gathre mats …

Just between us, I hate nature. Humidity, dirt, sand, bugs, itchy grass, heat, mud, snow, cold, rain, animals, bodies of water that smell like fish, the funk that washes up on the beach. Ugh. I’m an indoor kind of girl. But like many of my other, um, “less-than-charming” attributes, my dislike of the great outdoors …

“She just threw a handful of skittles on the floor. Conference call.” God, I love Honest Toddler. But seriously, this is kind of the reality of working from home with young children, yes? Here are some tips to help make it easier. 1. Invest in Books that Read Themselves. Best thing since sliced bread. My …

I can’t remember what advice book/article/blog post I was reading when my husband and I were looking for preschools a couple of years ago, but I remember coming across the recommendation to look for children’s artwork posted throughout the school space. It seemed like weird advice, but I’ve learned there’s a lot of thought behind it. …

Adding a new member to the family is a big change for everyone. It’s an especially big change for the new big sibling, though! They have been used to having all the parental attention on them, and having to share that attention can be challenging. While it’s hard to deny that a newborn baby is …

I lay no claim to being an art expert, but trust me when I say that you simply must visit the Renwick Gallery to experience the amazing WONDER exhibit. I first saw a photo of one of the installations on a local blog I follow and I immediately made a mental note to take my …

I spent years working in retail. This means I grew rather accustomed to getting a brand-new wardrobe every four to six weeks. (It was quite a shock to the system when I left retail and had to give that habit up.) All of my friends joked that when I had a baby it was clearly …

There are many areas in parenting in which we modern parents can reach back to the wisdom of the ancients (or at least our own parents) for advice. Of course, there are many where we can’t, as any listicle about children of the 1970s and 1980s will attest. And then there’s screen time, the most …

Ah, Valentine’s Day! A time to buy a box of the crappiest, most-character-covered, cheapest cards I can find, or to spend more money and time than the end products are worth to craft Pinterest-inspired, Instagram-worthy Valentines. All so my child—who can’t read—can give them to her classmates. Who also can’t read. If we’re really lucky, …