My children are pros at wasting things. One of their favorite nap-time activities is to take sheets of printer paper and cut them into minuscule pieces that I find for days. They don't color on them — they just cut them up, and then throw them away. When school starts, they bring home reams of paper, covered in "art" that will be treasured for approximately five seconds and then cut into tiny pieces. The same is true for toys. They are joyously acquired, and then quickly forgotten about. Water is left running, lights are left on. Don't even get me started on the food I throw out every evening. You get the picture.
Because sometimes we need to be told to stop. Sometimes it’s not OK to keep pushing. Sometimes it’s OK to say, 'I can’t do this.' But nobody tells us to stop. Everyone tells us we’re amazing and asks how we do it and applauds us and throws confetti as we slowly drive ourselves ragged into the ground.
Summer is full of unfulfilled promises we made to ourselves during the spring about what we would do once the weather turned warmer. If you’re anything like us, you didn’t hold yourself to your promises this summer. Still, we had fun not doing much at all and not meeting our goals. Here’s where we fell short.
Whether your meals are on a couch at dinner time, at the counter in the morning for breakfast before school, or on a picnic blanket for dinner at the playground, do it together. Find your normal, make it a priority, and stick to it. It doesn't matter what other families do. Do what works for you.
Two years ago, when a persistent cough and mild chest pressure turned out to be a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma tumor the size of a dollar bill compressing my husband’s airway, we joined that club. My husband was 31 and I was 32. Our children were 4, 3, and less than 1. Welcome to the cancer club.
And you want to go on a road trip? Not sure if you need one pack and play or two? Heck, bring three. You’ve got room. Going to the grocery store? Go ahead, buy the 80-pack of toilet paper. No problem. And speaking of toilet paper, tired of stopping every 10 minutes because someone else has to pee? Or dealing with accidents because they couldn’t hold it until the next rest stop? Throw a little potty in the back and pull over when one of them needs to go. You just cut two hours off your travel time.
Now that we're heading into fall, all we want to do is soak up the nice weather. As a Boston mom, there’s so much to do in the city! But when you have an 8-month-old who doesn’t do a whole lot yet, where do you go? Here are some of our favorite Boston day trips for mom and baby.
Let’s be honest — raising small children can suck the life right out of you, making it seem like the worst time to start a business. Ironically, I found it gave me back the energy my kids were draining from me. Having to problem solve, explore my creativity that had felt locked away, and learn new skills to run my business created a spark in me to keep working, even after a long day with the kids.
Since it was time to register the children for the following school year, I became even more confused and emotional about what would be best for him. How could I send him back to preschool without truly knowing what he understood, where he fell in the classroom lineup, or where he would be with his speech therapy. It just didn't feel right. While brainstorming ideas, a thought came to me: What if he repeated the 3-year-old class? It may sound odd to hold a toddler back in preschool. But for my son, it was a pivotal choice.
Look for a place where teachers are trained to listen to a child’s needs (at different ages and stages) and respond with appropriate suggestions and questions that guide children toward choices that will leave them feeling confident. Are teachers focused on what the children are doing? Are they engaging with children by asking questions and talking respectfully to them? How do they handle tears or children working to share a toy?
After the ordeal of getting through security, I am full of dread. I quickly realize that the extra outfits I had put aside for the carry-on bags are still sitting in the living room. I have no change of clothes for my baby, and we're only minutes into our vacation.
I sneak upstairs and wash my face. I put in one contact lens. Then I hear screaming from the preschooler — 'Stop sitting on me! Stop bothering me!' I go down the stairs — half blind — hop the baby gate, and pull the toddler off his sister. I bring the toddler upstairs while I finish getting ready. Desperate to just get out of the house, I allow him to bring his potato chip breakfast upstairs, too.
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Things to Do During April Break at Boston Children’s Museum
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