Archive of ‘parenting’ category

31
Mar
2017

Dissecting my role as a stepmom

categories: parenting

my role as a stepmomAccording to some movies, the stereotypical stepmother is usually someone reminiscent of the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’. Well, I’ve been a stepmom to my stepson for about 3 years now – and in his life for about 8 – and I’d like to think that my witch tendencies are at a minimum. Mind you, it’s not always easy to be a supplementary mom to a kid who already has a very present, hands on mom. In fact, what is my role as a stepmom anyways? Besides for being married to the kids dad, I mean. And how do you avoid overstepping boundaries? (more…)

27
Mar
2017

Mom guilt: Needing time away from your children

categories: parenting

Mom guilt: Needing time away from your childrenI’ve been dealing with some mom guilt over the past few weeks. You know, “mom guilt”… when we, as mothers, beat ourselves up for various reasons beyond our control. Things like not keeping your home clean enough to eat an egg from the kitchen floor, or not cooking enough healthy meals with 27 food groups in it, or not spending enough time finger painting and making skeletons out of popsicle sticks with your children. Things like that. My recent (very serious) case of mom guilt was brought on by the fact that I did not want my toddler to be around me every second, of every minute, of the day. Ever crave some time away from your children? Well, I was there. I needed a BREAK with a capital B-R-E-A-K! What type of mom thinks that about their kid?! (more…)

24
Feb
2017

The most popular (and off beat) baby names of 2016

categories: parenting

baby names of 2016In the deep recesses of my spreadsheet brain, I secretly want to have hundreds of children, just so that I can name them. I like naming things. And yes, I do realize that admitting this makes me seem slightly weird. It’s okay, I’m pregnant and people have to be nice to me. I’ll be alright. Anyways, where am I going with this? Well, deciding on a name for our newbie was a no brainer because Hubstopher kinda named him way before he even proposed to me. But, when I found out I was pregnant, I still thought to look up other possible names (because spreadsheet brain and all). Some of the suggestions I received were slightly more ‘off beat’ than I would dare take on. But hey, don’t take my word for it, check out the more popular (and uhhh, interesting) baby names of 2016: (more…)

09
Feb
2017

Help! My kid wants to date!

categories: parenting

My kid wants to dateThe other day, in mid-‘living my life’, my teen mentioned the word DATING to me. Gasp! My kid wants to date! Whaa?! I tried not to give him a look that said “boy, are you out of your mind?!” Because the kid is 15 years old and yes, it would make sense that he likes girls. But dating?! Is he ready for the commitment? Would it affect his school work? And what does he expect to GET out of it? I didn’t want to scare him away, so I excused myself and took a moment to throw a silent, non-violent, facial-expressionless #momfit. It got me thinking, what are OTHER moms doing when the ‘dating’ word comes up? Moms, do you have a plan in place for when your little one wants to start dating?  Moms of older kids – lend us your wisdom – what did you do when your teen took an interest in dating? Well, here’s how my situation went down: (more…)

01
Feb
2017

The doctor said my baby could have down syndrome

categories: parenting

The doctor said my baby could have down syndromeA few weeks ago a phone call from my amazing OBYN turned my world upside down. She said that the blood tests, she had ordered, came back showing me as “high risk” for Down syndrome. My baby could have Down syndrome. My little Jonah boy had a 1 in 50 chance of being born with an intellectual impairment and/or physical abnormalities. She asked me to arrange an appointment to have diagnostic tests done so that we can know for sure. But I immediately knew that I was NOT interested in diagnostic tests. I did NOT want to “know for sure” if there was something wrong with my baby. There was just no room in my head for something like that. (more…)

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