Perspectives in Parenting

I was one of the lucky ones for whom breastfeeding happened pretty naturally with my son. My milk came in just fine, we had no problems with latching, and once I got past the initial raw-ness it was painless. My little man had a great appetite and was gaining weight, but he certainly wasn't a chunk either. I went back to work after 8 weeks of maternity leave and struggled with the breast pump, but I had committed to myself and my son to breastfeed as long as I could, so I pushed on. I had been back at work less than a week when I got a text from the family member caring for my son. It was of...

We homeschool. Those two words can evoke a range of emotions from anger, to annoyance, to curiosity, to awe, to indifference, to defensiveness. I’ve fielded questions about my competence to educate and my children’s abilities, gently defended against common misconceptions, and encouraged those on the fence with honest questions and concerns. Most days I don’t mind because it comes with the territory of choosing a different path. Homeschooling is growing rapidly, but there is still mystery surrounding the lifestyle. I hope to normalize homeschooling and clear some of the misconceptions. This is what we homeschooling mamas want you to know! 1. We’re not mad at the schools. I’d guess this is true for the majority of homeschoolers (or the ones I...

Last week, as we joyfully celebrated my son's first birthday we also celebrated another milestone: another trip to the pediatrician's office. I'm really starting to feel like I should have a VIP parking spot or some kind of frequent visitor punch card.  For more than half of my sweet baby's life, he has battled a multitude of illnesses.  All of which my pediatrician says are normal for an infant in daycare and experiencing his first cold and flu season (not what any mom wants to hear).  I'm just not really sure how much more my heart can take watching my son in misery with yet another illness.  My husband and I are exhausted from sleepless nights, weary from rocking him...

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Crawfish Aquatics, which offers year-round swimming instruction for students of all ages. “It happened so fast,” a reflecting mom said to me. “One minute we are all outside in the yard playing. Then I decided to run inside to turn the oven on and got distracted sorting some mail. That’s when I heard the yelling, the screaming. What I saw next I have replayed in my mind over and over again. My 4-year-old son was in our pool, alone. His legs were almost fully submerged, but his chest and head were above water. He was floating on his back." “My six year old daughter was going back and forth, yelling to me and calling to...

My daughter’s sixth birthday party was a few weekends ago. We (I) like to celebrate usually with an at-home party, a meal’s-worth of food, homemade birthday cake, balloons, tablecloths, opening presents and some sort of entertainment for the kids/guests. It takes a lot of time and energy to execute. A lot of that time and energy is spent making it look like it didn’t take a lot of time and energy to execute. After it’s over, I’m usually exhausted. I may have mentioned it before, but I’m old. However, I can still remember going to birthday parties when I was a kid. Most of them were low-key, inviting neighborhood friends and friends from school (back then, they were one-in-the-same) to...