Perspectives in Parenting

Being the youngest of three with a pretty large age gap between me and my sisters, I was lucky to become an aunt at ten years old. I suddenly had these two built-in friends who I got to help love and raise and now are in their twenties being WHOLE humans out in the world. As I grew and became a Mama, seeing my kids' relationships with my sisters and friends grow made my heart soar. Suddenly there are all of these strong women helping me raise my kids. I think Aunts need all the Cheers! Cheers to the aunties who pick up their nibblings from school on the days the parents can't. Cheers to the aunties who LOVE camping and are...

When my sisters and I were young girls, my family watched the mini-series, The Thorn Birds, almost religiously every time it was broadcast on network television. We were raised in a strict Catholic home, as evidenced by our family of five female siblings. None of us ever questioned how this tale of a conflicted Catholic priest became family canon, or even why we were allowed to watch such a film in the first place, but in hindsight (particularly in the wake of a much more aware cultural and moral battleground) has led to many questions that I think are worthy of exploration. If you are unfamiliar with the 1983 mini-series based on Colleen McCollough's novel of the same name, a...

My daughter spent 18 days in the NICU after she was born eight weeks early. This was new territory for me since my son was evicted at forty weeks three days. The experience made her homecoming that much sweeter, but it was a difficult journey fraught with emotions for our entire family. Admission to the NICU When your baby is very premature, they are quickly taken to the NICU after birth. I got a brief view of her when the doctor held her up for me to see. My husband got to see her while she was weighed, measured, and her birth APGAR scores were taken. But neither of us got to hold her when she was born. She was quickly...

In 2022, we’re all aware of the need for self-care. Whether it be a corporate office pretending to give a crap by extending lunch breaks or a spouse that feels they exemplified selflessness by “letting” a mom shower in peace, there’s a lot of pretending out there when it comes to self-care. Self-care in Motherhood It shouldn’t even be such a buzzword in motherhood because the idea around self-care when you’re a mom is to simply take tiny bits of time to “recharge,” just to go back to motherhood. When will society accept moms are people, too? The thing is, while there’s a ton of support around taking care of yourself, even as a mom *gasp*, there’s a lot of judgment in the...

There are so many emotions tied with breastfeeding: joy, exhaustion, accomplishment, and even sadness. I love the bond it gave to me and each of my sons, starting my journey was a steep mountain to climb, and I miss every second of every bit of it. Thanks for hearing about my journey, I hope you can be encouraged. The dream Seven years ago I was pregnant with our first son. The most I knew about pregnancy was from my mother's stories. She had four unmedicated childbirths and I believed that was the typical experience for women. Once I became a teenager I watched Hollywood movies and was then fearful of what childbirth could be. It was then that I decided I...