Read It All
You know how we’re not screen people for our kids, right? It started when SuperBoy was really little and the AAP came out with its no-TV-under-2-years-of-age recommendations. Sometimes I soapbox about it {Damage of Screen Time} {How I Survive without Screens for My Kids}, but truly I get it, parents, I get it. You need a break. We all need a break. Screens provide both opportunities for education & entertainment. The biggest break for me has been audio stories. Books on tape, as they once were called. And I’m not just talking Curious George though I love this story so much. Those books on CD are fab for our car trips for the flip-the-page part. But my mom gifted us with a new batch of really, truly, educationally, awesomely entertaining: Jim Weiss audio stories. We’ve got Greek Myths, the Old Testament, Arabian Nights, King Arthur, Gone West, American Tall Tales, Egyptian Treasures. His voice is magical. It’s not too tough for a preschooler to track with. Stories with cultural importance, historical value, and a moral to the story? We listen to them morning, noon, and night. When we read our Greek Myths now, SuperBoy can really go deeper because he’s heard the audio stories. We bought a Lewis & Clark book that he’ll sit with for hours, largely because the Gone West CD goes into their journey in detail. And the King Arthur??? He’s gone retro with my old lego set that’s all knights and dragons and a castle. I think it…
Read More
I wish I could invite you all into my kitchen. It’s a spacious kitchen. It could probably fit almost all of you 😉 But truly, breaking bread with friends or bringing bread to them is one of my most rewarding actions in life. So because you live in your computer as I live in mine, let’s do this virtually. Before I give you the food that we’ve been gulping down, a few places to feed your brain: 1) Building Bridges Podcast I talk with Cristina & Jenna about our approach to parenting which is a mesh of attachment & survival. I think we all want this golden ticket for parenting: this amazing approach + book that will ensure the best children and best parenting experience ever. It does not exist. I repeat: it doesn’t! My little girl and big boy even make a cameo interruption. Yes, we talk about co-sleeping & sex too. 2) Shake it off, Jesus Edition My devotion that addresses how evangelizing works within relationships and a world that may not agree with you. How to not personalize, love, and just truck along with your beliefs while accepting others where they are. 3) FOOOOOOD Smitten Kitchen’s Raspberry Cake. Alice Waters’ Yellow Cake + my mom’s chocolate frosting from scratch Lavender Blueberry Muffins modified from King Arthur Flour recipe. Smitten Kitchen Slaw // modified with red cabbage. Roasted asparagus. Olive oil & broil + salt + pepper. Loaded nachos. Broiled in toaster…
Read More
I’m sure there are couples out there who have children and those children provide them with bountiful and endless hours of loving tender couple-to-couple moments of synchronized oohs and aahs over gently executed bedtimes and healthfully imbibed dinners. That’s not us. We have 3 kids, five, three, and one. We have 24 hours in one day. We have 12 hours apart. We have 6-7 hours sleeping. And many days I want to lose my temper with everyone because I want to and want to and really want to. Husband, kids, dog, cat, my air conditioner unit in the window that was installed upside-down (don’t ask) and leaks. My six steps to saving my marriage from the wearing & tearing of small children: 1) Close eyes and bite tongue. Today we said goodbye to the last of our family in town for almost the past two weeks. It was hard to see them leave, and harder still to face the prospects of the cousin-provided entertainment and sibling-provided conversations go with them. Yet to relax, all I wanted in life was to watch White Collar online and work on my crocheting and finally get over this lingering flu bug. I did NOT want the kids to ruin it. I just wanted my husband to put them to bed so I could soak in solitude and air-conditioning. As things unfurled, this didn’t happen. Instead of yelping at him to somehow keep them away from me and in their beds, and why does your back have to be…
Read More
Yes, the bonnets and caps are ready for your delights in my shop, Whole Parenting Goods!!!! It was a lot of tweaking and playing and re-fashioning (I felt like Lydia Bennet in Pride & Prejudice taking my bonnets apart!) but I am thoroughly satisfied with them and hope you are too. They fit perfectly for new babies through small children // sorry not for us, ladies // and the ties are ribbons. Rickrack for fun if you will, or just quiet cotton ties. They keep out the sun and add some zest to my life, at least. Tell me your life is zesty enough, eh? These are just a few of my more than dozen offerings of different fabrics. EDEL: if you’re going to the women’s conference in Charleston next next weekend, I’m so sorry I’m going to miss you. BUT I’m sending along a box full of my products for your purchase. Cash & credit accepted 😉 Come find my handcrafted numbers at the Blessed is She table!! Lurve ze fabric! As usual, subscribers to my Whole Parenting Goods Domestic Arts newsletter get first dibs and a nice discount of some sort. They took a BITE out of these! Thanks for the support, you special friends! If you want to be on the list, subscribe here. But they did leave some pickings for you. I tried to go with fabrics that were nongendered for the most part, and fashioned the caps so they can be with or without a brim. The brim…
Read More
I’ve had my share of surprises in motherhood. I’m sure all mothers have. But when I was chatting with a pregnant first-time mom the other day, I realized there were about a dozen things I really couldn’t have anticipated, no matter how much I read, quizzed seasoned moms, and needled my own saintly mother. This isn’t a list that covers what you “should” know, because there are very few “shoulds” about parenting, outside of safety of the child and mental wellness of the parent. I.e., don’t shake a baby no matter how angered you are by screaming and get help and space between you and an incessantly screaming baby so you don’t go crazy and hurt the baby. It’s simply a few discoveries that I didn’t know would happen, and I’m glad they did. 1) People will ask awfully inappropriate questions and yet mostly don’t mean to be rude. I.e., You look so big! (to moms carrying in their wombs) or You have a kid? I didn’t know you were pregnant (to moms carrying in their hearts) or Your baby doesn’t sleep through the night?! 2) I was overwhelmed. Just simply: overwhelmed. 3) I didn’t magically lose the baby weight but eventually did. It wasn’t night/day after delivery. 4) That annoying sing-song voice people use when talking to children? I unconsciously adopted it. 5) I count a meal as eating slices of cheese and meat and a paw-ful of grapes while standing and watching them eat their carefully curated lunches of the same damn…
Read More
Burnout doesn’t discriminate. You have one child or twenty. You work or you stay home. You are a single parent, you have a partner. Every mom I’ve ever asked has confirmed: she’s experienced burnout. The funny thing is that not only does burnout look different for different people, but we cope with the experience and find our way out of it differently. Last fall I was so burnt to a crunchy crisp of a brussel sprout roasting in the oven after too many commitments. Only after I faced my overcommitting tendency was I able to really look and see, yes, I was burning up & out, but yes, I also can pull back. I also can feed my kids whipping cream for breakfast. How I’ve pulled myself back this time, and I’m writing it down so I can remember it the next time it ratchets up. 1) See the burnout, look at it, acknowledge it. Naming it is half the battle. And no shame here. It’s okay to say parenting small children, and heck, older children, is hard. That doesn’t make you a weak parent. It doesn’t make you a less-than parent. It doesn’t mean your children “won” and you “lost.” It means you’re experiencing something very normal that most of us go through. All of us, really. 2) Stay hydrated and respect the hormones. I never am hydrated enough. Especially as I am nursing. Water helps everything. It also helps stabilize your appetite and mood. Drink up. Maybe infuse it. Contemplating buying…
Read More