The "trick" to get your kids to listen the first time lies more in the changes WE can make as parents instead of changing our kids. If you are tired of yelling "Make up your bed" only to walk upstairs and see covers undone, read on... "Come downstairs and get your shoes on....we are late!!!" I yell loudly to my two girls up the stairs. To be honest, it's my mantra every day ...
parenting
Your “Best” Pediatrician Checklist
If you have a young child, you of course want to find the best pediatrician. Which is easier said than done! As someone who's daughter has spent more than her fair share in doctor's offices, I have learned that the best pediatricians will always meet these 6 criteria. I have never failed to find interesting the fact that new moms will agonize for hours over the best carseat, the ...
There Are Days Parenting Is Hard
Dear Children, There are days parenting is hard. Then there are days when it seems easy. There are days when I can't wait for you to wake up and spend the day with me. Then there are days I count the hours till bedtime. There are days when I worry so much about your health, your future, your soul that I can barely contain my fears. Then there are days I let all of that ...
If You Are Lucky Parenting Is Wonderfully Hard
I was standing at my kitchen island, my hair thrown back in a low bun...no makeup on...my smelly gym clothes still stuck to my body. I was coughing...the same cough I'd had for 3 weeks but didn't have time to make an appointment for. Unpacking groceries...while my oldest whined that she was hungry. My youngest started crying because she stubbed her toe (again)...and both of them ...
What Really Scares Me As Your Mom
Tonight, in a VERY typical episode in our home, my two girls, age 3 and 6, came running into the house screaming from the backyard. It was 6 pm, but very dark with this blasted time change so I kinda sorta figured they were spooked about something. I was right - on their way down the concrete stairs that lead away from the swingset, the girls had convinced themselves (in a ...
When Your Birthday Was Mine
"Happy Birthday Bryan!" his mom happily yelled into the phone...it was 8 pm the night of July 6th, my husband's 36th birthday. "Thanks Mom," he returned quickly, with a yawn, worn out from a full day's work, helping with bedtime and baths for Hannah and Hazel, thinking about all the work ahead of him tomorrow. "Gosh Bryan, I've been trying to get in touch with you all day...I kept ...
Day 31 Learning To Let Go
"Bye! Have fun!" I yelled with my happiest smile plastered on my face. "I'll be back in a few hours to pick you up. Love you bunches!" Hannah looked back briefly to wave but quickly turned her attention to her friends in the car, on their way out to eat for her friend's birthday party. No big deal for most parents maybe but a HUGE one for me. This was the ...
Day 30 Tell Your Kids You Are A Failure
"I stink at this!" I yell across the room at my oldest as she's crying on her bed and I'm standing at the door. The red handprint on her bare hip is glistening, almost screaming at me to remind me what an awful mom I am. Let me tell you, I don't need the reminder. Hannah is only 3 and in a particularly trying day, she has not been listening at all. The final straw came as ...
Day 29 You Cannot Buy Their Happy
Kids ask for a LOT of "things" don't they? Toys, games, movies, candy! It's at the store, on tv, in Sunday's paper. THINGS are everywhere aren't they? And they want a piece of it...that happiness, that joy, that whatever the crap is being promised to them on tv once they have that.one.extra.thing. Real life is kinda like that too isn't it? I mean, we think once we ...
Day 28 Quit Trying To Be That Other Mom
So you’re reading this blog series to BE a better mom right? Well, for starters, you need to quit trying to be that other mom. You know, the perfect mom you think you know. We all know the perfect mom. I mean, don't we??! The one whose hair is always perfect and outfit always matches. The one whose kids are always perfectly behaved with yes ...
