Katie McKiernan

Katie grew up on the South Shore before spending four years apiece in Indiana and Louisiana. She returned to the Boston area in 2012. She and her husband have two red-headed children: a son (2016) and a daughter (2018). Katie spends her days teaching middle school math and French and her evenings trying to get dinner on the table. She recently traded in her beloved Corolla for a minivan. Yes, please: camping, palindromes, and drinking coffee on the back porch. No, thanks: science fiction, pickles, and disorganized drawers.

Christmas Gift Ideas for a (Moderately) Minimalist Mom

Be specific! “I’d like to take your kid(s) for the morning one Saturday in January” is a lot more helpful and less stressful than “I’ll take the kids sometime.” Depending on how well you know the mom and the kids, see if she’ll let you take them out of the house (to the library or the playground — it doesn’t have to be fancy!). A morning alone in my house to do whatever I please? Wow. Now that sounds like luxury.

early to rise, coffee - Boston Moms

Early to Rise: A Window into My Life at 5:40 A.M.

I cherish my early mornings. Those minutes before the kids’ wake-up clock turns green are all mine. They help me stay sane. Here’s a window into my “early to rise” mornings — or a week’s worth of them, anyway — and what you can find me doing at 5:40 a.m. as I try to hold all the pieces together. This is not a tale of heroism. In fact, it might be a tale of foolishness. Though I bristle when I hear myself use the word “busy” to describe my life, here I am… busy.