I remember the day my son figured out how to get his tiny thumb into his mouth. He was 4 months old, and when I went to check on him during a nap he was sucking away. I snapped...
Dear parents of three-year-olds. Welcome to the threenage year! This year was created to prepare you for your future as a parent of a teenager. Below is a list of comparisons between a threenager and a teenager to better illustrate what is to come.
See, things have changed a lot. Parents of young kids these days can be distracted — myself included. We have a lot going on, and technology and social media have created an additional burden on us despite all the ways they have made life easier. In part because of all the information we have available, we are constantly judging ourselves. Moms in particular struggle with comparing themselves and their parenting abilities to those of everyone they follow on Instagram or are friends with on Facebook.
I am so thankful for my amazing daughters, my loving and supportive husband, and my community. I am so grateful for the laughter, the songs, and the hugs that are constant in my life. And I am thankful for... dirty diapers.
Halloween has come and gone, and that means we're moving right into what many consider to be the happiest (and often busiest) time of year — the holidays. Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and soon the kids will...
If you are new to these toys and this world of Thomas and Friends, here are some tips my obsessive-research side has compiled over the course of my son's total Thomas fandom.
My hope is that my children see me model this and it becomes something they copy and do themselves. My kids are 8, 5, and 2, so too young to really understand what it means that their "Pop" served in Vietnam. However, I do expect them to thank my father-in-law. Someday they will know and understand the sacrifices he made. And they can be just as proud of him as I am, and just as proud of him as I was of my grandfathers.
It doesn't matter where — school, daycare, soccer practice, swim lessons, a birthday party, Nana's house, vacation. It could be the most exciting trip to an amusement park that we've been planning and talking about for months. We are always late!
My daughter learned how to stretch her body and wait patiently for her turn. Her teachers encouraged her to look in the mirror and be proud of who she saw looking back at her. She sang songs while she danced, practiced walking on her tiptoes like a princess, was encouraged to use good manners, and, above all, learned to be kind to her classmates.
We all have some version of a 10K in our lives. We all have a challenge ahead of us that we can use to break through the maternal wall. And we can shatter all the ideas out there that limit us as women who happen to also be moms. I hope my story will inspire you to find out what your 10K is and decide that you will get through it and come out stronger than when you started. I know you can.
Leading up to Odie crossing the rainbow bridge, I had a Carrie Bradshaw thought. When you’re 20 and get a dog, do you really think about who you will be in 10 years or who your dog will be? Odie became a brother (when I added another dog, Abita, to my family a year later) and remained an important part of my life for 13 and a half years. He road-tripped from Louisiana to Massachusetts with me, lived in six homes with me, and went everywhere I could take him.
From learning and practicing jiu-jitsu, a child becomes stronger, faster, and smarter. When faced with a bully, a child with a jiu-jitsu background is not likely to back down. When bullies sense this unyielding confidence, it is more likely they will back down before engaging. A child who has self-confidence in his ability to defend himself will exude that. This can prevent many bullying encounters. At the same time, jiu-jitsu instills humility.
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TV Shows for Kids That Won’t Drive You Crazy!
If the dinner's not done, there's poop on the floor, or mom needs a shower, who do you turn to for 20 minutes of...
