Mom's Timeout

Being pregnant is great, isn’t it? You gain a lot of weight, grow another human being, and listen to what every one seems to feel is perfectly acceptable to say to you – some of it is, no doubt, rude and insensitive and the rest of it is just plain ridiculous. I remember being pregnant […]

This is a subject that’s near and dear to me. It took me almost a decade to conceive my son. I had to listen to so many well-meaning people give me excuse after excuse as to why things weren’t working out the way that we had hoped. Sometimes, I wanted to cry – not listen […]

I’m sure it isn’t exactly a surprise to anyone that babies are expensive. As if raising kids isn’t hard enough these days, fitting everything that you’ll need into your budget can be even harder. It’s crazy to think about how quickly it all adds up. No worries, though. It’s definitely possible to raise a baby […]

I come from a long line of teachers and nurses. These women valued education and caring for others. These were smart women, often ahead of their time. These women were also excellent homemakers. They very often managed careers when it wasn’t popular for mothers and wives to do so. These brave, strong women who paved […]

We love amusement parks! We live near Cedar Fair’s Carowinds and visit often. My little boy loves the characters and the shows. We’ve been counting down the days until he is tall enough to ride a roller coaster. He will finally be tall enough this summer. It’s all he talks about. The problem is that […]

I have a love/hate relationship with working at this point. I love my job, but I hate being away from my son 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of pros to working full-time, but that’s a story for another day. Today, I’m focusing on the […]

Instead of choosing to cohabitate in my 20’s, I chose to live alone. I chose to come home every day to an empty apartment – as least as far as living things went. For almost a year, there were no roommates and no boyfriends. There wasn’t even so much as a  plant. I learned the […]

Sometimes, being an adult sucks. Growing up definitely leaves a lot to be desired, doesn’t it? You have to abandon your careless youth and start to pay more attention to the things that you’re spending your hard-earned money on. After all, this is apparently what we signed up for when we turned 18. Aren’t you […]

The first time I used the word doula, I remember the looks I got from my mom and aunts. What is a doula? That’s often the first question. Many people have never heard of doulas. A doula literally means “a woman who serves.” No, she’s not a maid. Doulas serve women during pregnancy, childbirth, and […]

Doing art projects with very young children can be more stressful than it is fun. You spend the whole time trying to keep them from eating toxic paints or gluing things into their hair. In the end, the only finished product you have to show for it is a kid that needs to go straight […]

When you’re a new mom, every day is so new and exciting with your little one. You want to remember everything! Every little moment seems so important. With my first, I saved every tiny trinket and wrote down every memory and date. I was terrified of forgetting anything. Now that I’m a veteran, I know […]

There have been so many examples of schools or daycare centers overruling parents in the news lately. Or maybe, I’m just noticing these stories more so now that I have a child of my own. Either way, I can’t help but wonder at what point institution should overrule family. Should schools and daycare centers be […]

We all need a night out once in a while. It doesn’t even have to be a night, at this point, I’d settle for coffee with a girlfriend on my lunch break.  Why is it that we never give ourselves the night off? I think mostly it’s the guilt. Mommy guilt is ruthless. Especially when your […]

Is being a WAHM (work-at-home mom) right for you? A lot of working moms daydream about being able to stay home with their kids. There are a lot of reasons one might choose to be a work-at-home mom. Sometimes the decision to work from home is made out of necessity. Living on one income is […]

I can’t imagine any potential scenario where my son could possibly come home with a project to do that I wouldn’t have the supplies on hand for. It’s practically unthinkable around here. Craft supplies are truly my one and only weakness and are second only to books. What if I didn’t have so many supplies […]

Life changes dramatically when your sweet little angel becomes a toddler.  It becomes painfully obvious that the chubby infant you once cuddled for hours is growing up. When you’re a mom, watching your kids grow up is bittersweet. The toddler years are the perfect preparation for it. One moment you’re looking at your baby.  The […]

There’s no end to the list of things that we dread hearing as moms, especially as moms of babies. It’s hard to believe that, in spite of the fact that our little ones can’t talk quite yet, it’s still a surprisingly long list. I just happen to have a few personal favorites – a few […]

This has been one of those weeks. You know the ones I’m talking about. Nothing goes right and everything seems somehow difficult and overwhelming. Everyone’s been sick for two weeks now and a certain little someone is teething to top everything off. As if one isn’t bad enough, the combination of the two makes an […]

Potty training your kid. What a ridiculous, nauseating process. Obviously totally necessary, but a pain in the butt, nonetheless! So, how do you do it? There are tons of books, millions of sites and everyone’s neighbor’s opinions on how to do it correctly. The truth is that every kid and every situation is different. But […]

So, when you’re dating, you think, “Oh, yeah, marriage! Bring on the sex.” And in the beginning of your marriage, that thought probably continued. Add in a couple years, some kids, and exhausting jobs and lifestyles, and for most of us ladies, that loving feeling has gone to the wayside. What about our men, though? […]