Ages & Stages

I’m four months pregnant with my third baby and my one-year-old daughter WILL.NOT.SLEEP. I’ve tried it all: diffusing essential oils and lavender baths, dark room, sound machine, magic merlin suit, sleep sack. It seems like no matter what I do, she still wakes up every 30-90 minutes ready to play, all night long. Multiple days of sleepless nights can quite literally drive you insane. Combine the lack of sleep with the pregnancy exhaustion and I feel like a walking zombie. I sleep-trained my son just fine and he’s a great sleeper. But my daughter is a force to be reckoned with and has decided she doesn’t need beauty sleep because she’s already beautiful. I decided to enlist the help of...

2022 was a year of loss for our family. We lost two of our oldest, most cherished pets only months apart. One was expected, and one was certainly not. Our 18-year-old cat, Fat Boy, had reached the end of his life - a long life filled with unconditional love, cuddles, and captivating memories. We were able to not only say our goodbyes but also say all the things we needed for proper closure in his final days. His death definitely left a hole in our hearts, and it was the first death of a pet that our 6-year-old daughter had experienced. There were lots of tears, and the heartache didn’t come immediately. The tears came in waves, most often...

When the nanny announces her exit, sheer panic swells from within. Life, as I have known it, just blew up. Childcare provides you with the ability to provide for your family. Childcare allows you to run into the store to buy the king cake in under four minutes. Childcare ups the odds that your hair gets washed more than once a week. Childcare lowers the temperature of stress and exhaustion in the house that week. Childcare ensures that I can attend that dentist appointment. I have been on this rollercoaster before. We have tried family support, babysitters, daycare, and nanny life. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it was a disaster. When I look back, my happiness / stress level directly correlated to whether...

One of the many questions that pops up in Mom Groups is "How old would your kid need to be for you to trust them home alone for 15-30 minutes?" The problem is that Louisiana doesn't have a clear-cut age to leave your kid home alone. I am not here to give you an answer, because I don't have one. I think each kid is their own determinant. I will tell you, I've seen many legal and law enforcement mention there is a particular base age that you would be safest from prosecution of "abandonment" if something were to happen. But that's not why I'm here. I'm here to share how we've been preparing our children for the days they could...

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by East Baton Rouge Parish Library.  FREE Literacy Program Available Via East Baton Rouge Parish Library East Baton Rouge Parish Library’s Press Start! Ready, Set, Read! program seeks to equip children ages 2-4 with early literacy skills that will enable them to enter school with confidence. Parents and caregivers may stop by the children’s room of any Library location to pick up a booklet that focuses on beginning literacy concepts that can be incorporated into their daily routines. The booklets are full of fun activities that the children will enjoy while learning basic concepts that build a firm foundation for math and reading. Each monthly booklet will feature a new letter, number, color or concept, while also building on the previous month’s concepts....