Perspectives in Parenting

It started when I was 36 weeks pregnant. I was at the point in my pregnancy where I just didn't want to move. Unfortunately I had to move because life needed to be lived and bills needed to be paid, but in those moments where I could chill - I wanted to watch the most mindless trash shows on television. Around that  36th week of pregnancy, my husband was also in this super frugal phase. He decided to cut all unnecessary expenses, including cable (gasp!). Considering the cable bill was north of a hundred dollars, I was all for it. He suggested we stream television through the internet for a few bucks a month. That's how Netflix entered my life. My relationship with Netflix started...

We all have fears and worries when it comes to our children. The first several years of my son Baylor’s life was filled with just that… The constant fear of losing him in a store or crowded area. How would I ever find him when he can’t even speak, much less tell someone his name? Or being upset when he has been pumped about Halloween for weeks and weeks but 5 minutes before leaving, your child does a 180 and suddenly doesn’t want to go. After pulling him aside and talking to him, you realize he doesn’t want to go now because he remembers he can’t say “Trick or Treat” like the other children. Imagine looking out your front...

After 2.5 years as a stay-at-home mom, I reentered the corporate workforce. Finding childcare was stressful to say the least, and I wasn't really sure what to look for.  My criteria were something along the lines of affordable, keeps my kid alive, and doesn't have a wait list of 2 years. The transition was very smooth, and Etta Mae was very happy with her new daily routine.  I accepted from the start that there were going to be things that wouldn't thrill me about daycare.  But I was committed to giving the benefit of the doubt as long as she was happy and healthy. Naturally, I got to know the teachers and aides in the 2-year-old hall.  And despite my...

When my husband and I left our hometown about 5 years ago to move to the Red Stick, we gleefully waved goodbye, looked at each other with naive excitement in our eyes, and boldly said "We will never live in that city again. Thank God." We were without kids at that point, and ready to face the world alone. The whole situation was totally awesome- until about a year later when we had our kiddo- and now I totally understand why people never move away from their hometown. If you have family that lives close enough to help out with carpool or when your kid is sick or give you a date night every now and then- please, do not take this for granted....

Do you ever have days where you feel like all you do is reprimand everyone in your house? Last weekend I had one of those days. I felt like all I did was chase after everyone and say things like "Stop jumping on the couch!" "Don't hug the toilet!" "We aren't having any more chocolate milk!" At the end of the day my husband looked at me with exhaustion in his eyes- nobody was having fun. As I laid my head down that night I wondered why the day had felt so brutal. Was it a phase we are in? Was the kiddo particularly fiesty? Were we experiencing a little cabin fever? And then it hit me. Sure, the kiddo was probably...