Perspectives in Parenting

5 Items For A Successful Beach Trip With A Newborn Last year some friends shared that they took their 9 week old on a beach vacation and we thought, "are they crazy?" Well, this year, when the opportunity presented itself we decided to take a beach vacation, with our 10 week old in tow. Now we were the crazy ones. We packed up our play yard and headed to the Florida panhandle for a much needed vacation. We brought our usual creature comforts, beach items, and items for the house: play yard and portable sound machine for sleeping, extra clothes and regular baby care items. We also packed several items to make it easier to take an infant to the actual...

Why I Choose to be a Great Stepmom When I met my stepdaughter, or bonus daughter as I like to say, she was the sweetest little six-year-old that I had ever encountered. She immediately bonded with my biological daughter who was three, and assumed the role as big sister gracefully and naturally. My husband and I were married within six months, falling madly in love with our blended family and our similar passions. My daughter’s biological father passed away when she was two, and my husband seamlessly and lovingly stepped into the full-time daddy role, adopting my daughter and becoming her superhero. The future seemed bright, but we had a very long and tumultuous custody battle ahead of us with his...

As a pediatric nurse, I’ve always had a MAD respect for teachers and what they do. We used to joke as nurses, when the kids got their kid energy back it was time to go home! Teachers ALWAYS have healthy kid energy and they have to teach and push through their days. Nurses and teachers are very similar professions. They are both selfless, time consuming, and professions of the heart. They both require love, compassion, empathy and time management. There are lots of nurses and teachers that do not have much of those things. They are what I call “book nurses” they are good at the black and white, straight textbook things. They can memorize and take tests well but...

“I look tired and feel fat.” “I have no energy and still have so much to do.” “Everyone else seems to have it all together and I struggle with even the basics of everyday life.” You don’t look the way you want to look, act the way you wish you’d act, and “mom” the way you wish you’d “mom." Sound familiar? Most of us have been in, or are currently in, this toxic relationship with … OURSELVES. It’s unhealthy and perpetuates habits of thoughts and actions that become engrained in who we are. We focus on what we do wrong, what our spouses and kids do wrong, what is not done to our standards and likings, and what falls short...

Family Day at My Son's Fraternity House When the invitation to spend family day at my son’s fraternity house arrived, all I could envision was a bunch of college boys trying to make “Animal House” look presentable. Was that even possible? I sure hope so. After all, this place is running mostly on parental donations and dues. Surely, they will want us to approve of the investment, right? We walked up to the tables and tents nicely set up around the front lawn. There were parents eagerly looking for their sons and boys, sleepily and not nearly as excited (it was before noon, mind you) looking for their parents. I was impressed that most of the boys looked clean and put...