Red Stick Mom

Season 6 of Parenthood premieres on Thursday, September 25 (tomorrow!), and I am a ball full of emotions.  If you are familiar with this show, then you know that one does not simply watch Parenthood.  One gets involved.  For example, on numerous occasions, I have found myself praying for the Bravermans, the family on which the show is centered.  I have prayed that Max would find a true friend who would understand him and his Aspergers completely and love him unconditionally, and I wept when he found that friend in Hank (played by Ray Romano, so, I mean, come on).  I have prayed for Julia and Joel that they could find reconciliation and healing in their marriage, and I have prayed...

Several times in my new motherhood, I have found myself telling someone, “This is, like, a thing now.” For pretty much any parenting decision you make these days, there is a corresponding label for it. And a few piles of books written on it, detailing why it is the best thing in the world. Natural childbirth, attachment parenting, unschooling, free range parenting, authoritarian parenting, cry it out, baby-led weaning. When Sam turned six months, I dutifully introduced solids – with my shiny new immersion blender and silicone ice cube trays (BPA free, of course), ready to puree all the things. Yeah, he would not have it. For a month, I fought with Sam, trying to get him to eat these...

I recently read that 50% of America's children will see their parents divorce.  That one statement hit me like a ton of bricks, but sadly I can relate.  I was raised in a divorced home, and now my dear son is living it too. I was married at the mere age of 20 years old.  I was told to wait, I was told to think things over before I rushed into a marriage, but like I said, I was 20 years old.  At 20, I had just enough freedom to know that I was the one who made decisions in my life, and with that knowledge my boyfriend and I got married.  A short three months later the little white and pink...

Once I found out I was having a little boy, I was elated.  I heard it from everywhere, "Oh, boys just love their mommas!" I couldn't wait for the kisses, snuggles, and crying for me and only me.  Call me a bit self-absorbed, but after 10 months of carrying the boy and 21 months of nursing, I was ready to sit back and soak up all the admiration. Buuut that never happened. My son is the biggest daddy's boy that ever existed! And I'll be honest, I've let a 2-year-old hurt my feelings from time to time as he scraped his knee and ran past me to reach for daddy and demand his boo-boo kisses.  Or when he wakes up in...

I have to confess, my husband and I watch a good bit of television. To be fair, it's just been the two of us for the last three years (our first is due any day now). So we don't have to share our TV time with Daniel Tiger or Sesame Street juuuust yet. And while I'm a huge proponent of unplugging and spending quality time together, which we do often, there's also something to be said about being able to zone out and be entertained for a little bit after a long day. So, as a self-confessed TV aficionado, here are a few shows I'm super excited are returning, and a couple new ones I'm planning on checking out. New...