Real Talk

The Advantages Being an "Older" Mom I wasn't one of those women who had aspirations to be a mother growing up. I blame this on being the oldest of 4 children and not ever really feeling like a child. In the workforce, I would encounter working mothers and had no idea how they did it, working all day and then going home to take care of someone else. It sounded so exhausting. I had devoted my adult life to my career and traveling, but I was always missing something. Fast forward to age 37 when I married a man who had two young daughters and my life forever changed. I fell in love with two little girls, and I loved having a...

Kindergarten Chapter 2 :: “We Finally Did It!” You hear about someone else’s child getting held back for Kindergarten until it is yours. My oldest son and I navigated many tears while doing Kindergarten over again. In Spring 2023, I felt thrown into a closed door when I was told my child would not advance to 1st grade. Months before his first Kindergarten school year was over, he was diagnosed with ADD. At first, we thought it was ADHD, but he doesn’t experience the hyperactivity. Personally, my family and I decided not to medicate our son because, for us, the cons outweighed the pros. We gave him Saffron gummies and other vitamins instead to help our son during test days. Fast...

GroupMe Etiquette for the Modern Parent Okay, moms. Let’s talk about GroupMe. I’m officially using my unofficial authority to set some rules. This is for your own good. These rules will liberate you - freeing you from feeling obligated to respond to every message in GroupMe and silencing the constant barrage of notifications. You probably have several unread and irrelevant GroupMe messages to tend to now, so let’s dive right in. Rule #1: If the coach asks who will NOT be able to attend the game or event, only respond if your child is NOT attending. This one’s pretty simple, but it’s commonly misunderstood. Let's examine this one closely: "Not attending" signifies your child won't be there - not present in...

You're Not Alone Mama Life has a funny was of throwing curveballs at us. Not everything always goes as planned. Jobs are lost. People breakup or divorce. Loved ones pass on. None of us are immune. Eventually something will happen that turns our lives upside down and all around. Our human experience is disappointing sometimes, there’s no denying it. Days filled with tragedy that force us to examine the things that really matter. So how do we proceed with grace? How do we look at these obstacles put in front of us and continue on to live another day? Do we lean on our villages, hoping for a shoulder to cry on? What if we don’t have villages? What if our...

Fostering Healthy Body Acceptance In Your Teen Daughter Teaching a young girl how to accept and love her body starts with her mother. You will be a mirror to either her strengths or her insecurities. It's up to you to decide which she will reflect on. She will already be bombarded with the unattainable world of filters, advertising, TikTok videos, and the latest internet celebrity. She will hear the gossip of peers calling out the too fat, too thin, too tan, not tan enough, too tall, too short, anything too much, making her feel less than. But you momma, can lessen the damage of these things. Never Criticize Yourself in Her Presence Momma I'm with you. I've got pounds to lose. There...