Becoming a good mom, one hour at a time
Flying with kids is probably in the top 10 hardest things you do as parents, somewhere below labor but above having having The Talk about the birds and the bees.
Flying with two kids—and no partner—is worse.
But, as I write in this month’s Metro Parent, taking flight with a toddler and a baby can also be an opportunity to open yourself up to the kindness of strangers.
Take a read here, or pick up a copy of Metro Parent in Portland!
Back before I had Peeper, I felt ambivalent about breastfeeding. I resented the fact that people assumed I would breastfeed my baby (what if I wanted to use formula instead?), and I didn’t have a goal of nursing her for a certain stretch of time.
Two babies, two years and uncountable challenges later, I have a totally different perspective:
I love nursing my baby.
Here’s why I love breastfeeding—in spite of our troubles nursing.
Read more
Driving home from preschool earlier this week, we got stuck in horrible traffic. A semi and car had crashed ahead of us, and we had no opportunity to exit before becoming mired in the standstill. As my car crept along, idling more often than moving, my impatience grew.
Then Peeper started singing from the backseat.
“Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,” she began. She paused then added, “Sing it with me now, Mom!”
We spent the rest of the trip home singing Raffi and Christmas songs at the top of our lungs.
Music has been central to many smiles in the last week. I brought out a tiny toy piano, which has fast become Kiwi’s favorite toy. She’s clearly a virtuoso, as this video shows.
[vimeo 153986401 w=500 h=281]
Tummy time jams from Catherine Ryan Gregory on Vimeo.
Another night, Peeper exclaimed, “Let’s start a band!” The whole family got in on the action—banging drums, strumming a ukulele, tapping piano keys and jingling bells.
If only we’d remembered to break out the mini accordion Nana got Peeper for Christmas!
We’ll announce our tour dates soon. Until then, we’ll keep jamming.
Trent’s World hosts a Weekly Smile link-up, where bloggers post tidbits of happiness. The internet could use a little more positivity, and I’m glad to share what made me smile in the last few days!
Forget health food crazes and packed gyms; the nuttiest New Year phenomenon is preschool visits, if you ask me. But a handful of friends and I are skipping the preschool tours altogether; we’re starting our own. You can, too! Read on to learn how to start a homeschool preschool of your own!
Some of my earliest memories feature my great-grandmother, whom we all called Pretty Grandma and after whom Peeper is named. I sometimes watched Hollywood Squares with her—for whatever reason, she loved the trivia and cheesy banter. It was all over my head, but that’s the first thing I think of when someone says “shapes.”
Peeper, and probably your preschooler, doesn’t automatically envision a celebrity tic-tac-toe gameshow, though.
To help little ones learn about squares, triangles, circles—and even quatrefoils, add these books about shapes to your reading rotation. Read more
One year ago we moved into our West Linn home, which, thanks to Peeper, we still call New House.
We’ve been here long enough that people have stopped asking us how we like our “new” neighborhood, house and town. But I’m just as grateful today as I was on that first day we moved in.
Yesterday Kiwi got a series of vaccinations. I had hoped the shots would make her sleep—after all, after the first round of ’em two months ago she got her longest stretch of shut-eye ever.
Alas, it was not meant to be.
So as I’m feeling like a braindead zombie today, I stumbled across a weekly smile link-up hosted by Trent at Trent’s World.
We must have been on the same page because this week my mom, Eric and I also tried sharing our day’s high and low at dinner. It felt a little silly, but it was nice to hear the highlights and dips of my loved ones’ days.
Here, then, are a few smiles from my week. Read more
“I’m showing you two, right?” Peeper asks, holding up her index and middle fingers to show how old she is. She hasn’t quite mastered holding up a half-finger, though technically she should: She’s 2 1/2 years old.
Eric and I routinely marvel at how freaking awesome she is. She makes me laugh, like when she warned Eric, “Don’t get a head wedgie!” and when she blows a raspberry and says, “You tooted with your mouth.”
In the days leading up to Christmas, Peeper kept sneaking glances out the window. “It’s going to snow soon,” she said.
Yet the rain continued, and snow refused to accumulate.
The lack of powder was even more cruel considering a huge snowstorm stopped her Aunt Amy and Uncle Luke from driving down for the holiday. At least Peeper got to see all the snow on FaceTime when we talked with my sister.
Then finally, finally, over the weekend it snowed!
I recently read my friend Deb’s post about being grateful, and her spontaneous list inspired me to count what I’m thankful for, too.
Tales from the Motherland is hosting a LinkUp for bloggers to post their own gratitude missives. The instructions are easy:
If you’d like to join in, here’s how it works: set a timer for 10 minutes; timing this is critical. Once you start the timer, start your list (the timer doesn’t matter for filling in the instructions, intro, etc). The goal is to write 50 things that made you happy in 2015, or 50 thing that you feel grateful for. The idea is to not think too hard; write what comes to mind in the time allotted. When the timer’s done, stop writing. If you haven’t written 50 things, that’s ok. If you have more than 50 things and still have time, keep writing; you can’t feel too happy or too grateful! When I finished my list, I took a few extra minutes to add links and photos.
To join us for this project: 1) Write your post and publish it (please copy and paste the instructions from this post, into yours) 2) Click on the blue frog at the very bottom of this post. 3) That will take you to another window, where you can past the URL to your post. 4)Follow the prompts, and your post will be added to the Blog Party List. Please note: the InLinkz will expire on January 15, 2015. After that date, no blogs can be added.
Will you join in? All it takes is 10 minutes!
The end of the year is the perfect time to reflect on the many, many good things in my life. I’m looking forward to 2016, but first, here are 50 small things for which I’m grateful.
