Toddlers

“Soak it all in, you’ll miss this!” I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard this phrase since becoming a mother. But if I’m being honest, it offends me sometimes! I am dealing with the toddler phase right now and let me tell you, I will not miss it! I will not miss the sleepless nights due to sleep regression- waking up every 2 hours, no thanks. I will not miss the public tantrums. I will not miss the random emotional outbursts and the constant testing and pushing of buttons. I will not miss the game 21 questions asked 21 times in a day in 21 different ways. I will not miss teething. Toddlers are pint-size tyrants who can...

Gifts. Everyone wants to buy gifts for my kids. They want to shower them in love, that’s cool and all until they ask for gift ideas. Because this adorable angel is actually an undercover tyrant and here’s what she really wants as gifts ... Electrical cords. Phone cords -- pretty much anything she can chew on that offers the slightest ability to offer a bit of danger alongside her teething journey. A knife, or two, to practice her knife-throwing skills. But really she will most likely wave it in the air like a madwoman while giggling maniacally.  Water puddles - for drinking. You heard me. Her favorites consist of puddles at the zoo. The ones near the crazed peacocks, she likes...

A wonderful mama recently wrote about contradictions in parenting. As I read it, I was nodding my head and silently screaming YES! EXACTLY! If you are like me (and countless other women in this world), you hoped and prayed for the day you would become a mama. Whether it happened the old-fashioned way, with a little (or A LOT) of help from modern science and great doctors, or via adoption, it happened. And now, we are in the thick of it. Dealing with overwhelming emotion from all sides. We dreamed of those insta-worthy moments of cuddles, belly laughs and joyful sweetness. What we didn’t dream about were the tantrums, public outbursts and seemingly unending pressure from society to be perfect. It can sometimes...

Shortly after Christmas, I found myself at an indoor play place trying to let my kids burn off some energy. It had been raining constantly for the past two weeks and we were utterly stir-crazy. I sent the kids off to play and sat down to drink a cup of tea, all the while keeping an eye on my little hooligans. My younger son, Henry, just turned three and has always played very rough. He’s a physical kid whose first instinct when frustrated or upset is to throw something or sometimes, unfortunately, hit or push someone. My husband and I have been doing everything we can to discipline him and show him the right way to behave — talking about...

As my youngest approached his second birthday, I hit a parenting wall. I had thoughts like "Can postpartum depression be delayed two years? Are my hormones out of whack? Maybe I'm not cut out for the toddler years." Then I started reading "Happiest Toddler on the Block" by Dr. Karp, and a light bulb went off! In part one, he writes "Toddlers are tricky even for experienced parents," and "Your tot's words or deeds may open up feelings of hurt and humiliation from deep in your past." My life as a mom was subconsciously reminding me of issues in my own childhood. It might sound a little kooky, but bare with me. Now that I had two boys who can (and still...