Indoor Fun

"I'm not a housewife, but I AM real." If you know Bethenny said that, then we can be best friends - well not best friends, but we can totally hang out. In the dark - so no one can see us while we watch our SHOWS. I like The Real Housewives. Not in a super-proud-fan-girl-sort-of way but in an I-can't-believe-I-am-admitting-to-this-sort-of way. I don't just like it. I love it. (You don't have to hide your eye roll.) Because I loooooooove it. All of them except Miami. I was actually so sad when D.C. was cancelled. Each episode made me more deliciously uncomfortable. Excuse me for a second while I Google whatever happened to Michaele Salahi. I like those shows in spite of the opinions of...

When we decided to get rid of cable in 2014 (read about it here), I had hoped it would help our family to watch less TV. It didn't quite work out like that. Instead, Netflix and Hulu and several other Roku apps made it possible to watch our favorite shows whenever and wherever. I learned along the way that toddlers somehow don't mind watching the same episodes of the same shows over and over and OVER. Once you've seen every episode of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Curious George 174 times, you start fighting the urge to pull your hair out. You also sing yourself to sleep in cute jingles, but that's another story. Needless to say, we needed some serious...

Like most all moms, I'm guilty of providing visually-stimulating entertainment to my child in the form of television shows. Those 15 minutes of freedom that my kiddo stays glued to the TV buy me precious moments to shower, do chores or for Heaven's sake use the bathroom ALONE! I swear there must be deeply embedded subliminal messages in these shows that can stop an active child dead in their tracks and keep them quiet and safely occupied for 15-20 minutes.  But why, oh why, must some of the television shows geared toward children be so terribly annoying?! Every mom has her list but yet still allows her kids to watch these aggravating shows (often on repeat) because those few minutes...

So, it’s the summer, and you want a new book to read.  Maybe you’re headed to the beach and you are imagining some quality reading time in between watching the kids and building sandcastles.  Maybe you are wanting a new literary journey during naptime.  Maybe you’re nursing at midnight and three in the morning and want a dreamy escape. Or maybe, you’re like me, and you squeeze in a little reading while the kids are wrestling with a movie on in the background.  (Please tell me some of you do that!)  If any of the above apply to you, perhaps I can help you out.  I have some suggestions for you to consider.  A little nonfiction, a little fiction,...

I don't think I brag about my son William any more than average. I try not to. Of course, because he is mine, I think he's the most special person on this earth. But every parent feels that way about their kids, right? But if I may take this moment, I will say that he appears to be a very intelligent kid. Time will tell of course (he's only 16 months), but I truly believe that reading to him daily has already greatly affected him in a positive way. This is nothing new: there are countless news articles citing the advantages of reading to your children from a young age. Most pediatricians recommend it. But I wanted to share a...