Red Stick Mom

If you see me in public with my children, the odds are pretty good that my daughter, Ellen will be wearing a princess dress. It'll be poofy and glittery and girly - and not at all what I would have chosen for her. But it's not my job to choose for her anymore (not ALL the time, anyway). I didn't get to that place without a pretty entertaining internal fight. When I was pregnant with her, I made a big deal about decorating her room. I wanted it to be modern, but not too trendy. I wanted it to be beautiful but not girly and without reference to any established gender role. There was to be no pink, no frills....

For a brief moment after my daughter was born, a scary thought swept through my mind. I envisioned myself on the side of the road holding up an “anywhere but here” sign. Am I awful? I know I am. What kind of person lands her dream life, and wants to run away? It’s amazing what a lack of sleep and normal human interaction causes one to think. In fact, it’s amazing how basic our needs become shortly after baby. We revert back to survival mode where safety, food, and water are all we need. Important things lost their priority. Clothing was questionable. Sleep was optional. Relationships were nonexistent. If I was in survival mode, my marriage was figuratively on life...

Have you ever considered fostering a child in Louisiana? My family receives tons of questions about our experience, so below I answer the most commonly asked questions and debunk some myths. Fostering a Child in Louisiana Our family is in the final stages of the foster care certification process; and we are eagerly awaiting sweet little bodies to fill newly purchased toddler beds. Our almost two year old can't wait for her "shishters" to come; Dad is still pulling for a boy! We have gathered clothes for boys and girls of all sizes, and are trying to prepare our little one for the transition from only child to oldest, or youngest...or even middle! I was adopted as an infant, and have...

Here is a simple, all-natural way to dye your eggs this Easter! And it can be done with things you already have around the house. Start a new, beautiful tradition as you follow these steps: 1. Start with a dozen of your sister-in-law's fabulous "home-grown" eggs. (Well, at least my sister-in-law's. I'm lucky.) Aren't they pretty? If you don't have a family member who raises chickens, you can most certainly get a dozen eggs at the grocery store. 2. Take out a pile of onion peels from standard, yellow onions. Just save the skins of the onions you cook with (like I do) or go to a grocery store and ask if you can clean out their onion bins. They'll be...

It’s a common theme on blogs, in parenting magazines, in commercials: Mommy versus baby, parents vs. kids, surviving motherhood, etc., etc. It can often be comedic, and I know all parents feel like sometimes their kids are out to get them, but I think that mentality, even if it's mostly meant as a joke, can sometimes get in the way of resolving issues between children and their parents. My son has started throwing some tantrums. He’s 15 months old, and while he’s always been a kid who knows what he wants, he’s started getting very, ahem, peeved when he doesn’t get his way. It’s been new territory for me, because before this, if I had to take something away from him...