dance Archives - The Ten Thousand Hour Mama

Clothes for moms who do all the things

August 16, 2017August 16, 2017catherinemryan

Nearly every mother I know has a hustle. Or three. Or more. There’s something about motherhood these days that practically none of us is “just” a stay-at-home-mom or career mom or a mom period. We’re also entrepreneurs, bloggers, creatives, homeschoolers and so much more—not to mention being a partner, friend, sister, daughter and a whole list of other awesome roles. Enter: clothes for moms that do all the things.

It may sound silly, but my daily style impacts my ability to be so many things at once. (Anyone else think of Hermione and Ron’s interaction in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? Ron said, “One person can’t feel all that at once, they’d explode.” Hermione replies, “Just because you have the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn’t mean we all have.” AMEN HERMIONE!) When I need to be ready to get the girls ready, jump on a conference call, bust out a blog post, plan the week’s meals and have the mental energy left to have a conversation with my husband that goes beyond Daredevil plot points, I need an outfit that works for me.

So when I partnered with Athleta to write a blog post about their new fall collections, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Athleta’s lines are just that: clothes for moms who do all the things.

I received an Athleta gift certificate in exchange for writing this post. As always, all opinions and content on this blog are entirely my own. Read more →

Kiwi is 20 months old: 10 things I love about my toddler

March 27, 2017March 24, 2017catherinemryan

Kiwi recently turned 20 months old, and I love my curious, spunky, opinionated toddler more each day.

She’s moved past her static cling stage (mostly), though she still loves Mama time. She is growing up fast—but not too fast. And I’m definitely not pushing her to speed up!

At 20 months old, Kiwi is learning something new every day and exploring the world in the way she best knows: through experience. She gets into everything, which is simultaneously infuriating and hilarious, like when she finds the pots and pans then reaches into the utensil drawer for a spatula. Instant drum set!

There are so many things I love about my toddler, but I wrote about just 10. Here’s lookin’ at you, kid.

My toddler at 20 months old: 10 things I love about my daughter / Ten Thousand Hour Mama Read more →

For the love of Mexican music

June 25, 2015catherinemryan

Peeper has found a new passion.

We were out to dinner in Seattle (at Mama’s in Belltown) this week, and Peeper was teetering on the edge of Meltdown Canyon. She had been going to sleep much later and skipping naps altogether in our few days out of town, and I was beginning to think that a sit-down dinner in a restaurant was simply asking too much. But we’d already ordered, so we made a go of it.

That’s when the music started.

Toddler Mexican ballad music — The musicians even let Peeper strum the guitar; this is her clapping and strumming along.

11 months

June 24, 2014catherinemryan

“Peeper, can you say ‘dada’?” We were driving to Woods Memorial Park for a family walk recently, and I could hear our little one playing in the back seat.

“Dadadadadadada,” she replied, pulling off one sock.

“Good job! Peeper, can you say ‘mama’?”

She paused.

“DADADADADADA!”

Despite her continuing refusal to say mama, in the last month she has come so far in learning to express herself.