parenting stories | photo j

May 18, 2020 by JiaYing

Face masks

Beginning today, Public Health - Seattle & King County is asking everyone over the age of 2 to wear a face mask in public. For ParentMap, I wrote about where to buy masks locally, and tips for convincing your kid to wear it. Story here.

May 16, 2020 by JiaYing

Seattle garden guide, no matter the size of your space

I wrote some gardening stories for The Seattle Times! Here's a Seattle garden guide, no matter the size of your space, and 2020's gardening best-sellers. Turned out one of the plant experts lives 2 blocks away, shortest commute to a photo assignment ever.

May 10, 2020 by JiaYing

Small acts of kindness

Well, school’s a crapshoot for the rest of the year and who knows when things will be back to normal-ish. Everyone’s frustrated and overwhelmed and could use some cheering up. Here are some little ways Seattle-area families are offering connection and support to their communities. My story is in ParentMap here.

May 10, 2020 by JiaYing

Happy Mother’s Day!

The fabulous balloon lady of Magnolia was at it again today! (My story in The Seattle Times is here.) We drove over and had Chris take a quick photo. Happy Mother's Day!

May 10, 2020 by JiaYing

Easy Mother’s Day crafts

I don't know who needs to hear this, but no one is coming home from school with Mother's Day crafts this year. Here are three low-effort but visually impressive crafts to try at home, story in The Seattle Times.

First up, DIY "stained glass:"

DIY scratch paper

And homemade tiny art, aka Shrinky Dinks.

April 14, 2020 by JiaYing

How to look good on Zoom

Like everyone else, I've been on a lot of Zoom calls lately and I've seen some terrible ones. (Granted, most of mine are with 8-year-olds, but still.) Photo tips for video conferencing in The Seattle Times here.

April 11, 2020 by JiaYing

Bike rides in Magnolia

Beautiful Magnolia. Daily bike rides are the key to our sanity.

Is there such a thing as a silver lining to coronavirus quarantine? I worked on a list of things I'm grateful for. It's on ParentMap here.

Our route is mostly flat, except this big hill up to our street. Maybe by the time this is over, we'll be cruising all the way up.

April 2, 2020 by JiaYing

April magazine

The April issue of Seattle's Child went digital! You can flip through the pages here. I wrote this month's SHOP section (p. 15, if you are browsing on your device). Here's a link to the main story.

How about some inspiration for throwing out clutter? I also wrote this story about a family that lives in the cutest little converted school bus. #goals

April 1, 2020 by JiaYing

Backyard fun and virtual field trips

My story is in The Seattle Times! With a photo of Paul in our backyard.

March 14, 2020 by JiaYing

At-home fun with kids

School is cancelled until at least April 27 and privately I am THRILLED To have this time with Joseph and Paul. We had a super fun day today (and will continue to for the next 6 weeks). Some people stocked up on toilet paper — I stocked up on family-size boxes of Froot Loops because my kids will happily make cereal necklaces all day, every day. This activity (plus 22 more) are in a story I wrote for The Seattle Times about fun things to do using stuff you already have at home.

Joseph is a sweet and innocent 3rd grader. His rainbow necklace made him so happy.