The other day we had a nice moment of siblings crying out of true regret and asking each other for forgiveness. If you would have walked into our house at that moment, you might have been impressed. It really was a nice moment. But before we really embrace that nice moment, let’s take a look …
I regularly feel like I am failing as a mom. Am I disciplining consistently enough? Why does my 4-year-old still fall to the ground moaning when asked to complete a simple task? Am I pushing my struggling reader too hard or am I not pushing him hard enough? What if my kids are not learning what …
Last week I was at Kohl’s and as I walked in the door, there was a girl having a meltdown. She looked to be about 10 years old. I am talking about a screaming, stomping, full-on tantrum. Also, at the front of the store were some shoppers talking about how ridiculous her behavior was. She very well could just be …
Of all the topics that come up among new moms — sleep, feeding, exhaustion — there is one that doesn’t get talked about nearly as often as it should: postpartum depression or PPD. So to help normalize the conversation about PPD, I want to tell my story. Hopefully, it will help at least one person …
My friend has often said that her husband, who is a doctor, tells his medical students to always pay close attention to what a mom says about her child because she knows more about that child than anyone else. While this is not always true, it often is more than it is not. We know our kids …
Sometimes when I look around my house I just see the things I hate. We bought our house 9 years ago. We sanded down floors, replaced the bathtub, tore down walls, and repainted every room in the house. Nine years and 4 kids later, it could use major re-sanding, re-painting, and hole-patching. Our house was built in the …
Today felt like a page out of the book, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” — one thing led to another, and then another, until it became one big exhausting mess. It began with a baby fork in the garbage disposal. I removed the splash guard to reach in and pull out the fork but it was so gross around …
The evening was one of epic meltdowns and temper tantrums. The older 3 kids had spent most of the day at my sister’s house making Christmas crafts. In a moment of spontaneity, I decided to stop at Chocolate World after leaving her house at 7 p.m. For those of you not familiar with Hershey’s Chocolate World, it is a …
Last week, my 4-year-old had his yearly follow-up appointment with a surgeon. I dreaded taking all 4 kids along with me — a year ago, we had to wait 2 hours to see the surgeon due to an emergency. Any kind of appointment with 4 kids can be hectic, especially with so many people crammed in a small exam room with only two chairs! …
There is something about being home all day with the kids, and the cooking, cleaning, and general chaos that can be mind-numbing. I often hear, “The days are long, but the years are short,” which is oh-so-true, and yet the struggle of how to deal with those long days is grueling. I don’t want to …