Asha Dornfest, Author at Babble

Babble Contributor

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Q: How is Following different from Liking someone?

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Asha Dornfest

Asha Dornfest is the founder and editor of Parent Hacks, a blog that shares "forehead-smackingly smart parenting tips." She's also the coauthor of Minimalist Parenting: Enjoy Modern Family Life More by Doing Less, with Christine Koh. Asha lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two kids.

15 tips for minimizing work travel “reentry” stress

My husband, Rael, and I both travel for work. His is the more “official” business travel given his more formal work setup; every six weeks or so, he spends a week in the office (he’s telecommuted from home to jobs based in other cities ever since we moved to Portland 12 years ago). He sometimes MORE »

4 hours ago

0 Comments

Mother’s Day fail? Lessons learned — and honest advice for avoiding disappointment next year

“I hate Mother’s Day.” This, from a friend I ran into on the walk home from school. I appreciated her candor but couldn’t help feeling sad. What was supposed to be a lovely occasion for her turned into a day of miscommunication, forced cheerfulness, and clashing expectations. She’s not alone. Several people I know felt MORE »

7 days ago

2 Comments

How my computer crash made me more productive

When your entire work life lives on your computer, and you’re faced with a computer crash — BOOM — what do you do? Well, after you stop panicking, and you deep breathe until your heart rate is back in the normal range, and you kick yourself for not backing up your data more often, and MORE »

21 days ago

0 Comments

Hall of shame: publications that have burned parenting bloggers with sensationalist “spin”

For most bloggers, a press mention is exciting. A quote in a well-known magazine or newspaper confers a stamp of legitimacy to writers who work primarily online. A feature can open up new audiences and even start the dominoes falling toward new writing opportunities. But with every press mention there comes a risk. Interviewers can MORE »

25 days ago

18 Comments

Things you can drop so you can hold on more: 6 things you can stop doing

Do less, enjoy more. There’s a symmetry to that line…a balance that’s so tantalizing in its simplicity. Unfortunately, it brings to mind another line: Easier said than done. Life is messy. There are so many variables, so many people, so many needs to consider. Reality isn’t so simple. But what if it is? What if it really is MORE »

28 days ago

5 Comments

Screen wean! 8 fun and useful outdoor “chores” to coax your kids outside

Spring is springing and it’s time to get outside and enjoy the show! My kids need some prompting to emerge from the winter “indoor slump” which, for them, includes lots of Minecraft, YouTube and other inertial screen-based entertainment. It’s time for some screen-weaning. For us, it begins with reminding ourselves about all the toys, gear, and MORE »

35 days ago

0 Comments

The secret of “quality time” I learned from my 79 year-old dad

Meet my Dad. He’ll be 80 this year. He’s a strong, quiet man, not much for novelty or fads, and yet very interested in what’s happening in the world. Retired for 10 years. A devoted gardener, exerciser, and reader. Amazing cook. My dad was born in India and arrived here in his early 20s with MORE »

52 days ago

31 Comments

8 pick-and-eat crops for your kid-friendly vegetable garden

I swear, the sun comes out for 48 contiguous hours in Portland and I’m ready to wear flip-flops and play in the dirt. I also get the itch to dig in my tiny vegetable garden. I’ve got two small planter boxes on my broken concrete patio in the backyard. This year, I’m going to try MORE »

60 days ago

36 Comments

Pollyanna Power! Have you got it?

I’ll see your crossed-arms cynicism and raise it with goofy enthusiasm. Just because you play it cooler than I do doesn’t mean you’re more intelligent, worldly…or cool. There’s a pile of dog crap under a rose bush. I’m not suggesting you pretend the crap isn’t there. But you get to choose whether to smell the MORE »

68 days ago

17 Comments

The 11 books I wish I had read as a new mom

One of the exciting (and unexpected) privileges of writing Minimalist Parenting has been the feeling of joining a conversation already in progress. This shouldn’t come as a surprise–after all, what is blogging and social media if not conversation? But when I was a new mom, that’s not how it felt. Parenting books and magazines and their MORE »

74 days ago

127 Comments

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