Perspectives in Parenting

Flowers left on the front porch, a thoughtful note, warm dinner or a gift card for delivery, offers to care for the kiddos, a simple care package: reaching out to a friend in times of need goes farther and means more than we realize—until we’re on the receiving end.  When we get sick or receive hard news, Mama, life doesn’t stop. We might have to breastfeed between emergency trips to the toilet, take a child to their doctor visit while enduring a migraine, or even celebrate a kiddo’s birthday with anxiety looming overhead and a stomach bug. These times are rough to say these least, but it’s also in these times that we can really show up for each other....

Before my personal experience as a NICU mom, I knew other moms who had been through a NICU stay. My sister and sister-in-law had both been there. I visited my nephew in the NICU. I saw what was on the surface: they left the hospital without their baby, the strict NICU rules, scrubbing in. Still, I had no clue what they were experiencing on a personal level, at least not until I had my son at 24 weeks, weighing 1 lb. 11 oz. and 12 inches long. From September 1, 2017, to June 25, 2018, Junior was in the NICU in critical condition. One of the toughest parts of his 10-month stay was the fact that not a single person knew...

Today was a scary day. As any normal day, I was home with my three kids (ages: 8, 5, 3) and our ginormous dog. We'd been out and about most of the morning, done our school work, and we'd enjoyed some time in the outdoors and had just come in for a water break. Our pup, a Great Pyrenees has a tendency to get mouthy, and also sort of trample our 3 year old when he tries to herd her. Nothing dangerous, just annoying. So as I was trying to push him away from "protecting his flock," I flicked my hand while telling him no. In doing so, my finger made direct contact with his canine and INSTANTLY hurt....

Motherhood is hard ...  … and while we have Google and endless advice from Aunt Karen, everyone ultimately has to figure things out on their own. The opinions of others are so accessible to the modern-day mama, that I genuinely believe our mental health suffers any time we pick up our phones throughout early motherhood.  It’s a new kind of struggle and one I’m having a difficult time navigating. I generally use my manners online, but that doesn’t mean I’m not affected when someone I respect chooses to parent differently and raves about it. It doesn’t mean I’m not affected when a stranger blatantly blasts the way I’ve chosen to go about teaching my child to sleep. It doesn’t mean I’m...

Oh gosh. I guess you opened this piece thinking that there would be some pithy antidote here. Like a poorly patched thesis statement about tough conversations. About America the beautiful. E Pluribus Unum and all that. Well, this is awkward. I got nothing. Right now. Welcome to the drawing board. My kids are 2 and 4. I did have to explain today why we can’t grab ant piles by the fistful to bring home. I’ll probably have to go over correct usage of a toothbrush (hint guys … the body part it cleans is in the name). I’m safe for tonight while so many who are reading this are not. I have no idea what I’ll tell my children. Not tonight but...