Babies and toddler life gets real, but what about those perfect moments that you only get in the first few years? Here are five early parenthood moments I’m missing hard, now that my boys are growing older. That moment when first they ask for YOU. Speaking it, signing it, giving you that look—it doesn’t matter how the communication is happening, just that it’s so, so sweet when it does. When … [Read more...]
4 Steps for a Simpler Second Pregnancy
Let’s be honest: first pregnancy or tenth, each one has its beautiful moments and its challenges. I’ve never been able to nap as much as I did with my first child, but having a toddler around was a great distraction from the less thrilling parts, the second time around. Adjusting to pregnancy fatigue, lifting restrictions, and nausea with a little one around was an experience, though. Making … [Read more...]
What Do I Tell My Children About Grown-up Problems?
Adult life is messy, between break-ups, prejudices, money problems, illnesses, and death. In the past, it was seen as pivotal to keep these things hidden from the kids—but now we know that kids pick up on things pretty quickly, and that secrecy often just means that they don’t feel comfortable coming to us about these issues. First, the most common recommendation, but sometimes the most … [Read more...]
Give Your Toddler the Chance… to Fail?
Somewhere along the way, we stopped letting my son mess up laundry time, and 3 years later, I realized it was a HUGE mistake.When we had a toddler and a newborn, lots of our former parenting routines were changing. One of them was laundry. Our toddler couldn’t fold well and was constantly knocking over our neatly folded piles, and we were too exhausted to deal with doing everything twice! So we … [Read more...]
How to Deal With Toddler Separation Anxiety
When our first son went off to nursery school, my husband and I were surprised. He got into line with a serious look on his face and marched right into the classroom without a look back! By the time son #2 was that age, he cried every time we left him—and we knew we had to do something to prepare him for the first day of school. Separation anxiety in infants and toddlers is completely normal, and … [Read more...]