Perspectives in Parenting

People always try to tease me because I am a consistent Hallmark watcher. They say the movies are corny and always end the same. My response to them: “I do not care!” When you have lived with debilitating anxiety for almost a decade, are a wife, mom of three and full time educator, predictable and corny sound amazing! There is safety in the familiar. I find that watching the Hallmark Channel provides me a sense of peace. When each day of life is so unpredictable and maintaining emotionally stability is a constant task, knowing that everyone will end up happy and okay is quite comforting. I don’t need to watch something that will damper my mood or make me feel uneasy. These movies...

I am not a “Disney person.” I feel like that’s somewhat sacrilegious on this particular forum but it's the truth. I’ve been to the parks a few times when I was younger, but really I just remember waiting in long lines and the heat. I’m sure at some point we’ll take our kids but I still can’t wrap my head around the hype and money. (Please don’t stop reading). Now the movies that I can enjoy in the comfort of a theater or my air conditioned living room are a different story. The second that “When You Wish Upon a Star” starts, I immediately transform into seven year old me. I’m transfixed and belting out the soundtrack of my childhood,...

In my early twenties, I had the whole “Mom” thing figured out. Although I lacked an actual child and was not yet a mother, I had a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, had spent years working as a teacher, and had babysat and nannied more kids than the Duggars could count. I knew exactly what type of mom I would be one day—that mom who brought homemade cupcakes to PTA meetings, who hosted playdates complete with age-appropriate sensory activities, and who only fed her child healthy food. All this changed once I actually became a mom. Well, Maybe Just This Once…. Screen time. It is big “no no” for children under the age of two, according to the American Academy...

  My kids have been doing what everybody tends to do (and what every mother dreads): they are getting older. They can’t help it. I don’t want them to and most of the time, I don’t think they want to either. They are inquisitive and curious. The older they get the more I worry.  The more I worry, the more sleep I lose and the more anxious I become.  I have been told (on more than one occasion) that “at least mine are older.” Yes, they are older and are growing more self-sufficient. But that only means more worrying and more work. I will take a screaming toddler in a restaurant over a sleepless night over an argument with my kids any...

With all the news lately surrounding the US-Mexican Border, one can't stop to think about the children involved. Is it because I am a mom of three or just maybe because my heart desires a world where we all live in peace? Either way, I can't stop thinking about all the children involved in what's going on to the left of our state. The innocence of the children. I know we have all heard this saying, They didn't choose their parents Well, the children who are suffering not only in our country but along the US-Mexican border did not choose that life for themselves. If only there was an answer to help all of them, but how? How do we fix a country that...