When does hockey season end? People ask me that a lot. Is it never? I think it’s never. Here we are in my son’s second season as a hockey player. He is having SO. MUCH. FUN and is learning so much – new skills, faster and more precise skating, more rules of the game. He even got his first penalty (and then his second, and third . . . ) And I’m still learning a lot, too. Did you see…
SNACKS!!!!!!!!!! As parents, we’re all quite familiar with them, constantly bombarded with requests for them, and constantly on a quest to find just the right snacks for kids that they will love and that we feel good about giving them. We go up to Expert Level Parenting when we actually find one that all the kids will like, which is a challenge in my house. My oldest son has never liked what are often considered the typical/easy every-kid-loves-these kind of…
What’s it like raising boys? I get that question a lot as a mom to three of them. My answer varies from “it’s an adventure” to “high energy” to “I sit in pee” to “so much more wrestling than I expected,” and everything in between. It’s like nothing I ever could have imagined and everything all at once. I’ve been in the thick of Hot Wheels and Nerf wars for several years now, but my oldest son is now a…
Are you a New Year’s Resolution person? Sometimes I am. This year, I made a list of things I want to focus on – not necessarily resolutions that I’ll beat myself up over if I don’t stick to or live up to my own standards, but sort of a list of intentions, to make sure I don’t lose sight of what I’m thinking and hoping to be, at least right now. I share them here with you in case they…
There are 14,233,064 posts about laundry on Instagram. Actually, I made up that number, but I know it’s a lot. #laundry alone has 2 million posts, and when you add in #laundryproblems, #laundrylife, etc. — you get my point — there is a lot of talk about laundry. What is it about laundry that makes us talk about it so much? There is SO. MUCH. GOOD. in laundry: Fresh, clean clothes!!!! No more stains, nice, bright colors, that super-clean look…
I should have posted this weeks ago in preparation for Halloween, but didn’t have a chance to write it until now. The good news is that it doesn’t just apply to Halloween, but to all holidays, to any eating occasion, really — for a food allergy family. Today is Halloween. Spooky, right? What’s REALLY scary it is navigating holidays with food allergies. As I set out the candy in hopes of trick-or-treaters coming my way tonight (we shall see…
The best days were when you were a newborn. I just held you and snuggled you and breathed you in. You slept and you cuddled and you nestled in my arms and all we needed was each other. The best days were when you were a baby, and I could watch you discover the world — emotions, fingers, colors, toys, feet, people, sounds, smells, characters, textures. Everything was a wonder to you, and you were every bit of amazing…
Can kindness be taught? I’m not sure, but I’m sure trying to find out. “Use your manners!” I call out with a sing-songy voice, checking the box on doing the right thing to raise my kids to be good human beings. But is that enough? I don’t think so. Sometimes, no matter how great a role model I try to be – remembering my own “please” and “thank you,” my kids can be downright rude to each other, and…
Pumpkin spice latte, warm scarves, harvest-themed decorations, scented candles, mums, yada yada all the stuff we go crazy about during fall. As excited as I was about my new fall themed throw pillows, though, my kids didn’t seem to care. How dare they! Oh yeah — the kids. They want some fun this fall, too, and not just in picking out a Halloween costume (and then changing their minds 14 times between October 10 and October 30). So, aside from…
Everyone is talking about back-to-school right now . . . and you know what happens at the same time, right? PUMPKIN. SPICE. EVERYTHING. It’s fall, and it’s time for fall family fun! It creeps up on me every year (yes, I know .. . it comes the same time every year, I get it . . . ) — suddenly weekends need to be filled with fall fests and cider and pumpkins and cute boots and fall scarves and kids’…