Growing Up

No screens before 24 months. Thereafter, children should have a maximum of 1 hour of screens until age 5. Why is this? We have all heard the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations, but does it really matter? Is that just for television time or does that include educational content as well? What our family has learned from heeding screen recommendations. Some of the reasons for the recommendations of no screen time until 24 months is because research has shown that there are zero benefits to screens, educational or not. What studies have shown are that screens before 18 months of age affect children’s speech and language skills including reading skills and attention in the long-term. What do we do in place...

I love the idea of Grandparents Day! What a sweet time to reflect on the people that helped to shape you and shape your parents. I did not grow up with grandparents living nearby.  My maternal grandparents lived in Venezuela and my paternal grandparents lived in New York.  So it was a long trip to visit either set of grandparents. I was very fortunate to spend one long summer in Venezuela, and I even went to school there for a couple of months, but I really cannot say that my grandparents helped raise me. The difference between one family and another can be light years different. My husband, on the other hand, lived on the same street as his mother’s parents. She did...

7:42 a.m. Day 1 of summer break. My youngest, 11, comes up to me and lays in my lap as I am working. I already know what she is about to say because we have been here so many times before. "I'm boooooored," she moans. "I can't help you. You have plenty to do." She marches off, mad and mumbling to herself. I remember being that age and home during summer break. I spent my afternoons playing outside or with friends. I never told my mom that I was bored because she would just give me chores to do. I learned that lesson pretty quickly. My kids have also learned the same lesson. When my children were younger, I would plan out their summers. Bucket lists of...

The holidays are here. Family gatherings are around the corner. For most of us, that means navigating difficult relationships that we are only obligated to navigate twice a year. “Eliminate toxic relationships from your life” has become a buzz phrase as of late. While the notion had great initial intentions, it has become overgeneralized. There are two problematic ways people have synthesized this: 1) Eliminate anyone who thinks differently than you from your life. 2) Remove perplexing relationships from your life and label them as toxic for validation of your decision, rather than growing as a person by learning to navigate the relationship. I hear people stamp the “eliminating toxic relationships” mark on difficult family members in particular. In comes the United States Supreme...

Being a mom of four, every time one of my babies started to grow up, I’d just have another one. Well, now “baby” four is growing up and there isn’t another baby coming in her spot. It’s a hard pill to swallow. Don’t get me wrong, our family is completed and I don’t long for another baby but I do long for this period to stay a little longer, but nonetheless, it’s fleeting. As Kenny Chesney says “don’t blink!” There are things you never think will make you emotional until it’s time to move on. Cleaning out the bottle cabinet. My youngest hasn’t had a bottle in over a year and every time I open the cabinet to clean, I....