"There is no way to be a perfect mother, but there are a million ways to be a great one."
We all have preconceived notions about parenthood before we actually become parents ourselves. As a mom of four, it’s quite funny to look back at the things I swore I’d do or never do as a parent, before I actually became a parent.
I vividly remember the call from my son's teacher. My baby bites? There must be something wrong with him; why would he bite? I have experienced the pain of a toddler bite as well as the frustration of the toddler who bit. In my experience, although toddlers bite for countless reasons, there are some ways to navigate the biting phase and manage the new behavior.
Transitioning from breastmilk or formula to solids can be a daunting task. Since birth, all your baby has known is liquid nourishment, and even that process may have been a struggle at times. Start by taking cues from your baby as this important milestone nears.
Last week, two of my children went back to face-to-face learning in school after almost a full year of at-home learning, an experience that tested my patience as a parent and my skills as a teacher. What did I learn? I am a better parent than I am a teacher, and I have a much greater appreciation for the importance of public schools and the roles teachers play in our children’s lives.
I became a mother when I was 34 years old. I had been married for 11 years and at my current job for nearly five. I had established routines, rhythms to the week, and seasonal activities. Needless to say, that all changed when I had my son. In addition to my full-time job, I added on a 24/7 responsibility. How was I going to make this work?
As any parent will tell you, child meltdowns happen. But they are a developmental milestone as important as speech and walking, so understanding why they happen and how to handle them can go a long way.
As a mom of four, much of my day is spent sorting through school papers and art projects. I hate to just toss the kids' art projects to the side, so I recently spent some time looking for cute and creative ways to display these. Here are a few of my top picks, with the key focus on being able to easily swap out last week’s piece for this week’s.
The first year of motherhood is often filled with long days, sleepless nights and hormonal adjustments. But there can be other minor, and often very frustrating, physical struggles that occur with little notice. But what I learned in the course of a year was to be gentle with myself and appreciate my body in new ways.
