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The Many Adventures of a Mini Road Trip
A solo road trip with young kids can be a scary proposition. Not a lot of upside – if they’re good and quiet, it’s still not enjoyable because you ride with the anxiety that the mood will turn any moment. Now the downside, however, is pretty significant. There is not much worse that being stuck in a car with a screaming baby or toddler, by yourself, when they are flipping out and there is nothing (short of pulling over) that you can do to stop it. You’ll try anything – sing, make funny noises, turn on the music, turn it up, turn it up even louder – anything to make…
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We Speak Opposites in My House
This may be a shocker, but our three-year-old doesn’t like to do what we say. It’s not just that he doesn’t like what we have to say, or that he doesn’t want to do what we ask of him, the simple fact that it came out of our mouths makes it utterly unappealing. We’ve been observing this behavior pattern for a while. When it first started and was still “cute” we would mess with him and tell him not to do things that we really wanted to do. After a couple rounds of “don’t you play Joe Diffy!” to get him to sing and play his guitar in front of…
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The Secrets of Parenthood
I’m going to let my non-parent friends in on a couple of the secrets that we parents don’t want you to know until you join the club. I’m probably breaking some code of silence, but here goes. It’s ugly, it’s shameful, but it’s the truth about being a parent. 1.) We try to look like we’ve got it under control (even when we don’t) – Every parent has been there. Out in public with your little one when they totally freak out on you. There you are, in a sea full of criticizing eyes, knowing that your kid is winning this one. What does a parent do? Fake it. Act…
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Crime and Punishment: The Age-old Parenting Dilemma
We’re facing the age-old parenting dilemma – how do you effectively punish your children? How do you strike that balance between teaching them boundaries, respect and the difference between right and wrong, but at the same time, not make your home a no-fun zone where you are the dictator? Theoretically, we know what we’re supposed to do. You’ve got to be firm and consistent. Be loving and nurturing. We’ve been taught to count bad behavior – we’ve read 123 Magic – we’ve actually got the book and the DVD. But philosophical guidance does you no good when you are toe-to-toe with a three-year-old, and you are unwilling to let him…
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Making Great Sleepers
My boys are not model children. They don’t always listen, Brogan talks back, they throw fits, they scream, they hit… but, they sleep. Hallelujah, they sleep! We have gone through fits and starts with the sleeping, but overall, they have been very good sleepers. They were both sleeping through the night around three or four months. Brogan took two long naps a day until he was 2 ½. And the biggest thing for me is that they go to sleep on their own. As with most things, Brogan was better with this than Beckett – probably because we had the time to follow all of our own rules. I think…
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The Ladies Man
My three year old is a ladies man. I think I’m in trouble. I can’t pinpoint exactly where this came from – perhaps it’s a natural charisma, perhaps it’s too many country music videos. But wherever the origin, Brogan loves the ladies – and the ladies love him. The first signs of his blatant “ladies man” act came a couple of months ago when we were at the mall and he asked his dad if he could go meet some girls. We were a little caught off guard by his confident request, but we laughed and thought it was cute. But he was serious, he had his eyes peeled for…
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The Rehearsal Dinner
So I must admit, even though my boys are only 1 and 3, I’m already thinking of the stories that will be told at their rehearsal dinners. I’m certainly in no rush for them to grow up, let alone get married! (The thought actually gets me choked up!) But for some reason when they do something really good (and by good, I don’t really mean good) it’s like the contrasting thoughts of I can’t believe you just did that and one day we’ll all laugh at this make me think we’re telling this at your rehearsal dinner! Now Brogan, partly because he’s older and has had more opportunity for precarious…
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Why Being a Working Mom Works for Me
When I was pregnant with my first, I had many people ask me, presumably I think, if I would be staying home to raise my son. I would answer no, and I think for those who chose that path, it was hard to understand. Ever since I was young, I had a very strong drive to be an independent, working woman. Yes, I always wanted a family, a big family in fact, but I had a dual desire to pursue a career. I worked hard to get into college, moved to Atlanta for opportunity, found a great job, went back to school for my MBA and as soon as I…
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Discipline Sucks
Discipline is the worst. Why can’t kids just come out of the womb obeying all the rules? The old adage “it hurts me more than it hurts you” is so true (as a kid I thought this was total BS). It’s such a contradiction – you want to punish kids so they stop their bad behavior, but then you don’t actually want to punish them. Ugghh! Brogan is and has been quite the little button-pusher. The threat of discipline rarely deters him – we actually have to follow through. Admittedly, my husband is better at this than I am (so while he may be a participant, he is definitely the…
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Personal Growth
One morning, after arriving late to work, I was telling my co-worker about all I had been through since waking up. I can’t remember the specifics of what went on that morning, but I’m pretty certain it contained a refusal to get dressed, a refusal to brush teeth, screaming, crying and a last minute pit stop at the potty. Some mornings I’m so frazzled that walking through the doors at work is like taking a break. Work is much less stressful than those bad mornings any day. So as I was recalling my tribulations to my co-worker, and trying to look on the bright side, I called my misadventures personal…
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