Welcome to The Kid Experiment

For any family with kid(s), the process of raising them feels a little like conducting a kid experiment. As parents of three active children, we have spent a lot of resources researching, discussing, and trying new products, services, activities, and healthy recipes to try to provide our children with the best and most enjoyable start.

The Inspiration
This website was born out of our desire to share our knowledge and experiences in the hopes that we are able to provide helpful information and insights for those young families who find themselves in a similar situation… constantly searching for good advice and ideas.

Baby
Ever wish there was a manual that comes with a baby? YOu’re not alone. For me, there has never been so much to learn, in so little time, and with so much on the line. Having the right equipment helps, but avoiding some mistakes also helps. Needless to say, I don’t have anything close to a manual, but I can recommend a few books that do a pretty good job. What I can also offer are recommendations for good baby gear to make things a little easier and learnings from actual mistakes. If I can spare anyone of these, that’s a big win.

Education
This is something we, as parents, highly value – not necessarily from a monetary perspective, but more from a quality-of-life perspective. Kids spend a lot of time in school, more than they do in any other activity. With three very different personalities, the challenge for us has been to find ways to cultivate a love of learning, and finding ways to meet each child where they are, given our constraints with time and money.

Extracurricular Activites
We have tried a mix of different types of activities under many circumstances: while we were both working, while only one of us was working, and during Covid. The kids have been in chess club, ballet, gymnastics, swimming, soccer, tennis, art club, and music lessons. The trick here is striking a balance between interests, time committment, experience, cost, and parental committment.

Health
This is a subject that we all know is important, but compared to more urgent issues, and there always are, it always sits on the backburner. IMHO, few things matter if your health is not intact. It is foundational to our ability to achieve our potential in every aspect of our lives, which includes showing up for our children in the best way we can.

Recipes
In correspondence with the topic of health, I’ve spent a lot of time experimenting with recipes to find healthy meals, both quick and not-so-quick, that my children either like or love. We live in a busy world with many conveniences; packaged and processed foods are an easy way to save time. But hopefully you’ll be able to find some of my recipes to add to your arsenal that are quick and palatable and that can be easily incorporated into your weekly routine.

Travel
We live in the northwest and our children are young, so we mostly travel locally. We’ve been to other states, but all have been in the U.S. thus far. Some ideas and inspiration can transfer to your local area. The question here about travel always centers around, “things to do with kids.”