After a long day of screaming kids, trivial battles, and the endless cycle of trying to pick up after my children who are constantly making messes, I am completely and utterly exhausted. The belief that self-care in the form of me time where we begin indulging in ourselves, treating our desires, and letting loose is … well… not accurate….
Sweet spring rain and wonderful family memories flood my March and April. We spent 5 solid weeks back at home with my parents. In that time the kids spent quality time with their grandparents and some of the most beloved time spent was getting to plant rows and rows of tomatoes. Each morning my 3 year old…
Every day, parents like you are reading and sharing great information through social media. Sometimes it’s simply great because it made us laugh, other times it was thought provoking. Either way it’s absolutely newsworthy! Starting this month, I am going to be gathering up and sharing with you the most popular ones from the Extremely…
I sat in the living room explaining to my almost 4 year old that I was sorry. Sorry I lost my temper. Sorry that I let something little get in between her and I. Sorry for not prioritizing her over something trivial. In those moments of regret, both she and I learned something. She learned…
Somehow in 30 seconds or less, I can hand my child my phone or iPad and turn around to find nearly 200 selfies and shots of little foreheads. It never fails. A full memory from family photos plus files and apps that seem to strangely disappear, the plight of sharing a family iPad can be difficult. But with a…
It wasn’t too long ago we sat down and watched the first installment of Kung Fu Panda as a family. It was a movie I remembered liking even before having kids and I knew it would be a hit. Little did I know it would become almost an obsession. We quickly progressed to the second…
Having kids changes us, doesn’t it? It softens our hearts and refocuses what is truly important in life. Being human, I am not perfect. But I know and recognize that in the last several years I have had to handle my own emotions better, especially once I became a mother. It’s also been a journey…
Life with toddlers is difficult isn’t it? The precious little babe you once had is now a tantrum-filled toddler that seems to rage at what seems like nothing. Each day is new, beautiful, and a little bit scary. And maybe what worked yesterday is falling flat today so you feel like you’re troubleshooting toddlerhood and…
My oldest is currently two and a half. She is working towards discovering her independence, but she is also struggling with not feeling confident enough or with getting frustrated. I know that this is just the first stage in her life where she will feel like she cannot conquer a task she is trying. However,…
We’ve all said it. “Good job.” But what does it really mean and is it even effective in helping raise our children? The truth in the matter is that praising our kids more and more doesn’t help enable them, nor does it boost a child’s self-esteem.
I remember when my oldest had just turned one, the few months following I felt this urge to have more kids. Maybe because it was my biologic trigger, maybe because so many around me were adding baby 2 and even 3 to their line-up, or maybe just because I desired a large family. Regardless, we…
Even great parents have to ask hard questions about child abuse. It’s important to keep our kids safe with both those we know and those we don’t. And it’s an open-ended conversation that we should all be having even though it seems to be a taboo subject. This is all about tools to think about…