Perspectives in Parenting

2020: The Year We Never Could Have Prepared For I know many of us find ourselves having to be more flexible than ever this year, especially when it comes to our work-life balance and our children's education or childcare. As a teacher and a mom, I never would have expected the year to look like this. Teaching from home with no daycare in the spring brought a lot of challenges and our family had to find ways to quickly adjust and make it work, as did many of you I'm sure! Having the summer off was more than convenient this year given the circumstances. Now that we've rolled back into the school year, I've been teaching from home and I've...

On January 3, 2018 I delivered the most perfect, squishy, nine-pound baby boy right here in Baton Rouge, LA while my husband - his father - was protecting America’s freedom in Africa. I’ll let that sink in for a second.  So, let’s go back just a little. After dating for 6 years, we got married in 2013, six weeks before he was sent to Afghanistan for his first deployment. We were kid-less at this time. I thought this deployment would be the most challenging thing to ever happen to us. When he got home in May 2014, it didn’t take long for us to become pregnant with our first son. He was born on March 29, 2015. Beyond ridiculous morning,...

It goes without saying- being a mom is hard. Being a working mom is hard. Being a stay-at-home mom is hard. Being a mom who works from home is hard. There is no debating any of this. Some women are born to have careers. It’s practically in their blood to rock high heels and a suit on a daily basis. Other women are made to be homemakers. They live and breathe taking care of their families and homes. In my opinion, both types of moms are heroes. As for me, I fall somewhere in the middle, which is why I’m a working mom even though I wish I weren’t. It’s not that I don’t like working. In fact, just the...

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...

When the pandemic began, I remember people sending me well wishes, praising me for my sacrifice of being a healthcare worker. At times I found it undeserving, but the appreciation made my heart swell during those shifts that tested my limit. Commercials flooded my television screen mentioning how selfless we were, the nurses and doctors putting in long hours to keep a growing pandemic at bay. My, have things changed. Recently, it seems while viewing every avenue of media, I have found myself feeling frustrated and defeated. I have been called "sheep." I have been called "brainwashed." I have been told to "hop on your boxcar" to follow the rest. Just mere months ago I was a leader, a dedicated servant...