Red Stick Mom

When did having a "guilty pleasure" become a negative thing? Everyone has a guilty pleasure. Some people enjoy food, coffee, magazines, and/or music. My Guilty Pleasure is the BRAVO channel. Yes, pretty much the whole channel. Drinking game alert…every time you read the word “Bravo,” take a sip of Pinot until you get Ramona Eyes. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t watch every show on BRAVO. That would just be crazy and more of an addiction.  Thanks to my trusty DVR, I can enjoy my guilty pleasure whenever I have an opportunity for me time. Nowadays, my me time frequently includes folding clothes and cleaning the house in conjunction with catching up on my shows.  BRAVO is wonderful about replaying shows incessantly and regularly having marathons,...

I am perhaps the worst housekeeper ever, of my own home that is. I grew up in a home where everything had its place; the floors were vacuumed and mopped daily, and dusting was routine. In an act of rebellion somewhere along the way, I decided I would not be "that person," but the truth is living in a clean environment does bring a sense of peace. On the flip side, spending every waking hour to maintain "clean" does not help one achieve that peace either. Cleaning our homes can lead to bitterness (it needs to be cleaned ALL THE TIME and I am so sick of doing it!), frustration (I swear the kids are making a mess out...

You're a busy mom with kids, and you've read it all: use the crockpot, eat frozen pizza, cook in bulk. But, today, I'm sharing some tips and tricks that you may have never thought of that will save you HOURS of kitchen work and get you cooking healthy, at-home meals! Whether you stay home, work, have one child or five, you will LOVE these unique, time-saving ideas that will get healthy meals on the table and keep you sane in the process! 1. Get dinner ready at breakfast (or lunch) This tip is a game-changer once you get into the habit of it! The trick is to prep dinner while your children are eating breakfast and are semi-entertained.  For some of...

Today, we are so happy to have Sasha from The Mushy Mommy here. This south-Louisiana blogger and stay-at-home-mom is giving us an intro to eco-friendly living with baby. We hope you enjoy her guest post, and after reading be sure to head on over to her fab blog and take a look around! Now, here's Sasha! So I’m here to tell you all about how you should become a tree-hugging hippy. Actually no, I’m just here to explain some of the cool things that you can do to help this planet out all while making a healthier and safer home for your baby. Bingo. “Healthier and safer home for your baby” is the part that will hopefully keep you reading past...

I anticipated that Jack would be a late walker. I don't know what it was, but from the time he was a tiny newborn I was determined not to rush his gross motor development. He took what seemed like forever to roll over, but I was unfazed. I didn't worry a bit when he waited until 8 months to sit unassisted. And as the months continued to pass, I breezily reassured relatives that "some babies never crawl, they just skip straight to walking." He eventually did start crawling and, later, pulling up and cruising, but at 18 months that's still all he does. Sometime around 15 months my confidence started to waver. I found myself avoiding the park and any other situation where strangers...