Parenting Blogs

January 16, 2010, 7:31 am

Before I had children, I would see kids throwing tantrums in the grocery store. "My children will never act like that," I'd say to myself. Before I had children, I'd hear my friends complain about picky eaters. "I know my (future) kids will eat anything and everything," I'd assume.  When I'd see...

January 27, 2010, 12:50 pm

A healthy lifestyle is beneficial when learned early in life. Longer life span, more energy, and happiness and contentment all accompany good health. And what more could you want for your children? But for some families maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle isn't easy. It takes effort. It...

January 29, 2010, 12:57 pm

The holidays have come and gone. If you're anything like me, I'm still not back to my normal routine. I feel that I'm almost there, but not quite. It's hard to wrap my head around a whole new year, and the fact that my vacation is over. Reality is calling, and I'm trying not to answer. Chances are...

February 1, 2010, 11:07 am

My children are daredevils. No, really. Okay, so they're not fearless, but they definitely like to try things out.  "Things" sometimes mean doing something that causes my heart to stop beating for just a second, though. But for the most part, they just tend to dive into any adventure. This...

February 16, 2010, 9:06 pm

I am slightly sleep deprived. Wait, let me back up. I have a new baby--a beautiful little girl--and I'm slightly sleep deprived. Sometimes life takes some unexpected turns. And sometimes the outcome of said unexpected turns is amazingly beautiful. As some of the more regular readers might...

February 20, 2010, 4:54 pm

I have an admission to make: I am a former (definitely former--definitely mostly former) control freak. Granted, it's gotten a lot better since Bear made his debut in May of 2006; having kids kind of takes the edge off in that way. And in many ways, I have learned to let the little things go. I'm...

February 23, 2010, 7:29 pm

"Why do we have to see a judge?" Bear asked for quite possibly the hundredth time. "A judge is someone who helps complete adoptions," my husband offered. "Oh," said Bear, clearly unimpressed. "But we get to go out to dinner after that, right?" Hey, you have to have priorities, no? While...

March 1, 2010, 4:34 pm

Bella is my only first-hand experience with open adoption, and I'd like to share some of my thoughts on my experiences thus far. When we agreed to enter an open adoption, the decision wasn't a difficult one in the least; however, we were venturing out to uncharted territory for our family.  I...

March 9, 2010, 11:25 am

I recently had a conversation with a good friend, someone I respect and appreciate very much. The long and short of it is that our conversation centered on motherhood--by means of either biology or adoption. While she's always been completely open to adoption and doesn't personally view it as "the...

March 10, 2010, 7:55 pm

A little foresight can save you a lot of money sometimes. I think that concept is pretty true for most things, actually. In many ways, I feel I subscribe to this belief. I scour ads to compare big ticket items (as long as they're on sale, that is); I try to think of realistic value for every dollar...