Growing Up

Dear Tiny Yogurt Handprint, This is the 5th morning you and I meet like this at my dresser drawer. It makes me chuckle, because there was once a time when the first sight of you would have sent me dashing for the Pledge. It’s been days though, and I still haven’t touched you. Boy, has motherhood changed me. Initially, I chalked it up to the fact that I haven't stopped running around chasing after your artist long enough to get rid of you. However, even when I found the time, I stopped myself. I now realize that I'm pretty fond of you, and I think I've become attached. More than that, I imagine the day you stop popping up on every...

It seems as though there is no shortage of advice these days on the internet about any subject you could imagine. So why is it so hard to navigate the murky waters of body image with our daughters? Do you remember the first time you were critical of your body growing up? I’ve seen my two daughters (ages 13 and 10) begin to grapple with these issues at a far younger age than I ever thought possible. Or maybe it’s that as women we’ve been critical of our own bodies for as long as we can remember. We don’t remember when it started, we only know it’s always been that way. I can remember when my oldest daughter was five years...

The talk. I had so many questions. When is the right time? How do I bring it up? Do I use diagrams, books, charts? Which ones? How much detail is enough? For the past year, I have asked myself these questions over and over again, never giving myself any answers. On the day I noticed my 9 year old daughter had “blossomed," I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer. Complete and utter dread is what I felt when planning how this talk would go down. So I took the easy (read: cowardly) way out and bought a book to do the explaining for me. Shameful, I know. If you are also coming up on this stage of parenting, allow...

I have always thrived on having a set schedule and routine. I like to mark things off of lists. I am a planner nerd, not in the planner (probably not going to happen). I feel like this characteristic has served me well; it has helped me be organized and goal-oriented in school and jobs alike.   As I joined the motherhood club, this characteristic was amplified. Very quickly, my firstborn established a pretty predictable routine of feeding, sleeping, and pooping. I loved that he slept for 12 hours every night. I loved that at 1 pm when he started fussing, I automatically knew that he was ready to eat.   Enter baby #2 three years later. The oldest is still on...

When I found out I was pregnant, I immediately started to watch my words. Not swearing around children seems to be a widespread social agreement, so my first instinct was to repress any bad words. I even looked for a chart to help me with that. On a normal day, I don't really say that many curse words, but sometimes it is the best avenue to express a feeling or an idea. Excitement, frustration, joy, grief, or even love. Think about it. Cursing can be a tool, and like any tool, it needs to be practiced to be well applied. Today, what keeps me up at night is not that my son will say a bad word in an inappropriate...