Mom's Timeout

Need something fun to do? School just got out and the kids are already bored. You’re searching for fun ways to pass the summer days without breaking your budget. I’m always looking for new ideas too. At this point, I feel like we’ve tried so many things. Lots of the “money saving” ideas for family […]

Okay, so… I’m willing to bet everyone has experienced at least one of these. What are they, you ask? Murphy’s Laws of Parenting, of course. In other words, parenting is ironic so we may as well all humor ourselves and share our failures because there are certainly enough of them to go around. Cheers! I […]

I love to carry my son. I love to just hold him and rock him in his darkened room at bedtime.  Those sweet tender moments, holding him and taking in his scent as he drifts off to sleep… that’s the best! Recently, I discovered that my three year old is getting too big for this […]

Are your kids whiners? My son isn’t usually a whiner. Most of the time, he’s the kind of kid that smacks his head on the monkey bars and gets up with a grin. But there are days… days when I don’t think I can take another second of whining. That whiny toddler voice is so […]

Do you remember all the times your parents said “Do as I say, not as I do?” Talk about a popular parenting line, right? It really wasn’t all that long ago that I mentioned to my husband how much our son picks up just from watching us. Neither one of us has to say a […]

There’s a new trend in parenting that stems from the attachment parenting philosophy. It’s called “gentle parenting.” I have to admit that it sounds awesome in theory, but what about in practice? Does it really work? For our toddler, we have found that gentle parenting and discipline practices work well most of the time. However, […]

Most moms have heard “you can’t comfort him all the time” or some version of that statement from well meaning family and friends.  I’ll never forget the white hot anger I felt the first time someone told me that. I’ll admit that I was a new mom with a heady dose of hormones coursing through me […]

My kids never sleep! I joke about how little they sleep to keep the resentment at bay. Secretly, I despise the my friends and their bedtime routines that work perfectly. I’ve tried them all and we’re still raising two little insomniacs. I can’t be the only one in this boat. I know there are other […]

I can’t even imagine having a child with severe food allergies. I thought I had it tough with a kid who is overly-picky and particular about what he puts in his mouth. Here’s the thing, though. I don’t have to worry about it. It’s not a life or death thing. We’re not going to end […]

Today I ventured out of the house with my toddler & my infant.  It’s always an adventure.  It was great… until it wasn’t. What could possibly ruin such a perfect outing?  When the baby won’t stop screaming, the toddler is roaring at other children in the play area (he’s part dinosaur), and he refuses to […]

I’ve got some bad habits. For instance, I bite my nails when I’m worried. I yell at other drivers in traffic jams when I know they can’t hear me. I have a legendary sweet tooth that gets me in trouble. I’m not perfect. I’m a mom and most of the time I think I’m a […]

Today, at a play date with a good friend and her children, we started talking about the struggle to get out of the house with kids.  She mentioned that she hates to leave the house in the mornings. “It’s such a struggle to get three children out the door!” she lamented.  I can relate.  I […]

  It’s hard for me to wrap my head around how quickly my son is growing up. It feels like just yesterday he was a newborn. And yet here we are almost two years later and I have absolutely no idea how the time passed so quickly. Every now and again, either my husband or […]

When was the last time you left your child’s toys out? Have you ever forgone cleaning up altogether? Has it ever occurred to you that it might not be a bad idea to acknowledge how hard your little one worked on something and not make him or her put it away? Until I found this […]

If I could assign resolutions to my loved ones, I’d definitely get my husband to stop drinking soda.  I’d have my mother resolve not to jump to conclusions and I’d get my best friend to resolve to come out for coffee more often. If my three year old son was making his own New Year’s […]

Do you ever wonder if you’re going to survive the toddler years? I know people talk about the so-called “terrible twos,” but ones can be just as difficult. Heck, my 18-month-old is officially asserting his independence and it’s all kinds of fun. My husband keeps telling me he’s going through the “terrible twos” early and […]

Oh, the things I thought I’d be able to accomplish once I had a baby. Right! I thought I’d suddenly become a domestic goddess… Cooking, cleaning, creating – oh, and of course working from home too. And then the little guy came and I realized just how wrong I actually was. These days, I have […]

One thing that I’ve made a conscious effort to do ever since my son was born is to talk to him. Talk about what we’re doing, where we’re going, or even just what the weather’s like. For a long time, I felt like I was talking to myself, but these days he’s starting to respond […]

My son turned three years old this month. Yesterday he pooped in his pants. He pooped so much that I chose to throw the clothes in the trash rather than deal with the disgusting mess that was there.  He did not mention that he needed to go to the potty. He kept right on playing […]

Being a mama is hard and I’m willing to bet that’s something we can all manage to agree on. As with everything else worthwhile in life, being a mom takes patience and perseverance. Our kids depends on us for everything from the mundane to the major. It’s our job to create awesome adults. And you […]