Encouragement

If you are like most moms, you’ve probably made a last minute trip to your local Walgreens, CVS or Wal-Mart the day before Valentine’s Day to pick through the leftover boxes of cards and treats for something decent to send your child to school with for their class party. As I checked my options – Frozen or Paw Patrol – I noticed a theme in the card’s messages. Yes, while some said, “you make my heart beat,” most were encouraging and friendly. And while Valentine’s Day is marketed as a romantic holiday, as parents, we can use these cards to teach our children a valuable lesson they can carry with them throughout life. Be respectful and inclusive My children’s daycare sent a...

We all grew up with a parent or a grandparent that has told us at least once, if not several times, to stop "adding fuel to the fire." Typically this phrase was told to us as a warning in a negative way because our actions or our statements would do nothing but harm in making a bad situation worse. We've always heard this phrase in a negative connotation but last week I was sitting at work thinking about marriage after kids and how it takes more work than marriage took before kids. The statement "adding fuel to the fire" came to mind but not in a negative way. Instead this phrase was floating around in my brain in a...

I never wore red lipstick. Over the years, I tried different shades and I always felt I looked ridiculous. I stuck with more neutral colors or no lipstick at all. Until 2014. I don’t know if it was the fact that I was finding my own with fashion, makeup and hair (finally at the age of 32) or because I was feeling fearless as we went through our first round of IVF … But I wore the red lipstick. And I loved it. Back Story… The company I work for was participating in the local university’s homecoming events, including a business skit competition. The script written by our fearless leader that year included a spoof appearance by Snow White. I am more...

Reading is good for the soul, but when on earth does anyone have time to read anymore?! We have work to do, children to raise, houses to manage, and family to love! Really though, we all need some "me time." Everyone needs some time to sit, be quiet and reflect. What better way than to get lost in a story? Reading a few pages or chapters of a book a day feels like therapy. As much as we need alone time, we also need friend time. My passionate, eclectic, and hilarious friends just happen to love gossiping about a book. We call that group therapy. When I moved to Baton Rouge, I learned that a lot of people from my...

The Amount of Time Spent With My Child Everyday After taking 12 grateful weeks off for maternity leave a year ago, I had the same feeling every working mom has when we go back to work and the child spends all day at daycare - Are they okay? Is it 4:30 pm yet? What would I be doing if I was not at work? Do I really need to work? It took me about a week to really get back into the routine and groove of going back to work and dropping her off every day. However, it wasn't until the fifth day when I was sitting in traffic that I really thought about how much time (or lack thereof) that...