Red Stick Mom

Our society puts a lot of pressure and worth on physical appearance. How attractive we are to others can affect our success in life – our place among friends, all levels of schooling, mate selection, even our jobs. There is no getting around this societal norm – it has to be faced one way or the other, particularly for women and girls in my opinion. It’s likely something we have all encountered before, and for me it drives home in a major way when I think about my child and how physical appearance already affects her young life. I have always been comfortable in my own bare skin even before I became a mom. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy going glam...

We all know it, we all hate it, the dreaded "Mommy Brain!" You know that crazy sense of chaos that makes moms feel like they are loosing control of everything in their lives. We have all had days where "Mommy Brain" takes over and whether it's forgetting where you parked the car, dropping your kids off for school late (AGAIN), or forgetting to set the timer on the oven and burning dinner the mommy brain monster can make any bad day worse and make you feel pretty inadequate. In my day job as a Speech Therapist, I work to aid patients who have experienced neurological injuries or illness to strengthen, re-develop and overcompensate for cognitive deficits. I provide my patients with...

Want to dance, jive and have the time of your life? We hope you'll want to join us! When the working day is done, girls just want to have fun! You deserve a break for a little pampering and lots of fun, because some days let's face it, we’re just livin’ on a prayer. When you're missing sleep and the toddler won’t stand up on her own two feet---you need to shake it off! We invite you to grab your girlfriends and join us for this amazingly fun night that we have planned just for you. Don't worry, no need for a poofy ensemble! Grab those jazzy heels or that cute dress that's been staring you down in your closet and get...

My son was the first experience I had with potty training. I researched every book and webpage on the subject and decided that the 3-day naked potty training boot camp was the way to go. I started training him just before he was 2-years old. One morning, we took off the diaper and didn’t put one back on. Yikes! I had a training potty in the bathroom,  one in the living room, and one in the kitchen. My son walked around in just a t-shirt. We had many accidents! How many times can you clean up tee-tee from the floor? The sofa? The bar stools??? By the end of the three days, he was NOT potty trained. Eventually, we...

April is Autism Awareness Month and, if I am being completely honest, a few years ago I probably felt like it was just another month of the year that we bring attention to some cause or issue that everyone already knows about.  The reality is- lots of people have heard of autism, but very few people actually understand autism. Autism wasn't really on my radar for most of my life. I had heard about autism, but my understanding of it was as limited as having seen the movie Rain Man. Yikes. And then our son was diagnosed with autism and my need to engage with the autism world changed. We adopted our son  in March 2014. He had been in our care...