I recently brought my oldest child, Hedley, to the orthodontist for the first time and it ended up being a very painful parenting moment. We discovered that he doesn’t have some of his adult teeth growing in on the bottom, which is exactly what I experienced growing up. It was hard for me to discover [...]
Tag Archives | five children
Keeping the Santa Myth Alive for My Little Kids
I’m tackling the issue of Santa Claus in this video, so if your little ones are in earshot you might want to wait to watch this one! When your older kids realize what’s up, how do you prevent the disclosure from moving down the chain to the younger kiddos during the holiday season?! Do you [...]
Older Dads: A Wife’s Perspective
There’s been a lot of talk about older parents lately, and it’s certainly struck a chord in my family. Most recently, Judith Shulevitz writes in the New Republic about “the grayest generation” and the implications of “old-age parenting” on American society. As Lisa Belkin notes on The Huffington Post, Shulevitz examines the risks associated with [...]
‘Good Cop’: My Day Off From Disciplining Kids
It seems I’m always the “bad cop” parent, the one disciplining the behavior of my five children, giving instructions, mediating and generally keeping the peace (or trying to, at least!). So recently I decided to take a day off and try a more relaxed attitude with my kids. What happened? Well, dad didn’t exactly step [...]
Finding Quality Time for Each of My 5 Kids
One of my biggest challenges as a mom is finding quality one-on-one time with each child. In my house, we’re so caught up in the craziness of just managing to get through the day and keep everyone fed and occupied and where they need to be, that sometimes days have gone by and I realize [...]
Stir-Crazy Kids: How to Referee Fighting
Like many moms along the Eastern Seaboard today, I’m home-bound with the kids for the fourth day in a row. I certainly cannot complain since we’re safe and we have power and water, but I do have to admit that my patience is running thin. What wears me down more than the cooking and cleaning [...]
New Shoes and an Unexpected Parenting Lesson
I’m the kind of person who likes to have a system in place. I’m just not the “wing it” type. This applies to everything from when my baby eats, to when he sleeps, to the kind of shoes he wears. When I first entered the world of baby shoe shopping back in 2005, my first [...]
My Top Five Fighting Rules
My husband and I are celebrating our 10-year anniversary this year. Ten years and five kids later, I feel blessed that I love my hubby more now than I did the day I said “I Do,” but that doesn’t mean we don’t have our fair share of arguments. Thankfully, we don’t argue all that often and [...]
Is There a ‘Mom Gene’?
There are a lot of terms and topics that are guaranteed to incite debate among moms. “Attachment parenting.” “Co-sleeping.” “Breast is best.” “Helicopter parenting.” Now you can add another one to the list: “Mom gene.” That’s right, scientists are diving head first into the Mommy Wars by suggesting that some women might be biologically built [...]
Struggling to Give Away Baby Clothes
I’ve been having a really hard time giving away my youngest daughter’s baby clothes — I think I’m so conflicted about parting with them because it makes me face the fact that I won’t have another baby. But “CloudBaby” Marielle is now 21-months-old and her closet is overflowing with things that don’t fit, so watch [...]
