Lifestyle
Why I Left the Career I Loved :: Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom
I thought I could be great at mommying while being great at teaching. I planned birthday parties, attended school events, packed five lunches every night, and scheduled play dates and outings. By social media standards, I was killing it. But I wasn’t. I was on autopilot, and there were glitches I had no time to catch or fix.
Why I Get Myself Into These Things…
I felt lost and alone, despite the fact that I was surrounded by family and friends. So I did what I had always done: I joined things. I longed to make mom friends and connect with them in a way that was not possible with my husband, my friends who are not mothers, or even my friends who are mothers, but of older children. I needed moms in the same ‘boat’ I was sinking in — that sleep-deprived, drowning-in-love, disoriented-and-dehydrated, struggling-with-breastfeeding, hating-my-post-pregnancy-body boat.
To the Moms of Hyperactive Kids During Winter
Let’s talk about winter. Have you seen your kids become stir crazy and experience cabin fever? Try living with us. I never knew what hyperactivity was really like until seeing it in my son. Unless we’re on vacation or out and about, things are just dang hard, ya’ll. We never get the in between, where a kid will sit during screen time or do a craft for 10 or 15 minutes. Instead, we get the need to have the TV/tablet on while juggling a whole bunch of other things simultaneously. Having a kid who despises crafts or seated projects indoors is definitely hard, especially when it is super cold like Boston can be. Activities with continuous movement are what we need.
You Know You’re in the Third Trimester When….
Pregnancy is a special time. A woman’s body is going through so many changes in order to support and nurture new life. And, let’s be honest, a lot of those changes suck, particularly in the third trimester. If you’re currently in the third trimester, I hope you can identify with (and laugh about) some of these “special” changes. If you’re in the earlier stages of pregnancy, here are some things you can look forward to. (And if your pregnancies are behind you, you can nod knowingly and be glad these things are in your past.)
5 Ways to Raise a Book Lover
Let your children see you reading. It can be hard to put down the phone and pick up a book or leave the laundry for later (OK, maybe that’s not too hard). I know you may be interrupted 100 times and it may take an hour to get through a page, but it’s worth a try. Our children, especially when they are little, want to do what we do. If they see us reading for enjoyment, they will see it as something fun and want to do it too.
4 Years of Boston Moms Blog :: Our Top 10 Posts
The last four years have been a whirlwind. Boston Moms Blog has become a resource and a community we are so proud of, and we are honored to share it with you.
To the Mom Whose Kid Doesn’t Sleep
I see you over there stifling a yawn during toddler story hour. I see you guzzling another cup of coffee during playgroup. I see you struggling to muster the energy to chase that little girl of yours (who might just rival the Energizer Bunny) around the gym. I see you — and I get it.
Kindergarten :: Now or Later?
From the time my 4-year-old son was an infant, my ex-husband and I were sure we wanted to wait until our son turned 6 before we’d start him in kindergarten. His birthday is at the end of July, so with an August 31 cutoff, he would be on the end of the spectrum in terms of age compared to other kids in his class. A girl with a September 1 birthday could potentially be leaps and bounds different from our son in terms of emotional and social development.
Do Something Epic With Your Kids (Or What I Learned by Reading Harry Potter to My Daughter)
Recently, a few days before my daughter’s ninth birthday, we finished reading the final book in the ‘Harry Potter’ series. And in the process, we learned a lot. More than just about thestrals and hippogriffs. I’m talking about the kind of stuff one learns when they embark upon an epic project over days, months, or even years. Think a large-scale LEGO creation, a 2,000 piece puzzle, or a fitness chart tracking one-mile runs with an end goal of 100.
