I have a confession to make. Remember when I bragged that my son’s bedwetting issues were over? Yeah, well, call it the parent-of-one-child intoxication, but after a week of dry sheets, I am now swimming knee high in smelly, wet bedding on a daily basis. I’ve gone through one of those large jugs of Tide-with-Bleach in one week. What’s that, like 42 loads? Insane.
I mentioned this problem at my book club and one woman – the mother of two grown boys – said the bedwetting at her house got so bad when her kids were young that she would literally …read more

In theory I would like to be one of those mothers who limits my son’s television viewing to one hour a day and discourages the video games that have so corrupted this “Playstation Generation.” But for me, to be the best mum I can, I need to maintain some ounce of sanity, especially when I have to have an uninterrupted conversation with my husband or, say, buy a week’s worth groceries without blood-curdling tantrums. Which means, there are times when a video or a game is the only thing that can pacify my child – next to sedating him and, …read more

My son woke me up last night laughing hysterically. I like that he does this from time to time. Sometimes his eyes will be open and he’ll even say things like, “That hairy green guy! Ha ha!” And then just as quickly as it started, it’s over. His eyes close, his head rolls to the side, and he is fast asleep again.
My son has always been somewhat of an active sleeper. Sometimes he laughs at night, sometimes he chatters away. Other nights he screams violently. These are the most difficult to handle, as you can image. We’ll find him flailing …read more

Most every mother I know has a favorite pair. Mine? The red ones with the monkeys. Robeez were great first shoes for my determined little walker. They are soft, comfortable, hard to slip off, hard to slip in. Yes, you can get knock offs for less, but consider that you’re funding some faceless corporation when you buy the knockoffs, and taking income away from the (originally) small business that created them.
I found Robeez at Bippity Boppity Baby for $25.95 and free shipping (booties are 36.95 and free shipping). It’s a great price, you’ll pay that at a retail store, and …read more

A friend of mine’s son was having trouble with the monsters in his room. I sympathise. It seems we had a monster infestation for a while, there. But we got rid of them.
My son would ask if there were any monsters in his room, and I’d always say, “Nope.” Which would be followed by that inevitable toddler question, “Why?”
Well, I kept looking for answers to that question. Sometimes, the monsters had gotten tired of waiting for him to come, and so they’d gone to a friend’s house to play. Sometimes, their monster mothers had called them home to eat supper. …read more

I’m a fan of baby carriers. Forget Dr. Sears’s weird baby carrier. Forget the Ergo or the Baby Bjorn. Today’s hip mama wears her baby with a Maya wrap or an EllaRoo. And now you can get those beautiful EllaRoo baby carriers at jwkbaby.com and help a stay at home mom of three follow a dream.
There are adorable, customized baby shirts and onesies, and Barefoot Books, too.
Did you wear  your baby? I had to… I had what Dr. Sears lovingly refers to as a ‘high needs baby’. AKA, Oh. My. God. He wouldn’t be put down, had to be in …read more

We are officially a diaper-free household. Tonight is night #2 in the great Commando Sleep Off. Honestly, I’m not worried about it. I can’t remember the last time he woke up wet. It all happened so gradually, I’m wondering if there shouldn’t have been some sort of ceremony or marking of the event.
Saturday night I tried to casually get him into underwear, but he was having none of it. His big blue eyes went all round and shiny, his lower lip pouted out, and he gave me his patented Sniff Sniff little snortle of child dismay. “What, you still want …read more

Are you loving the fact that your child loves stories, but aren’t getting any work done around the house because you are ALWAYS reading books to him/her?  While I don’t suggest you stop reading to your kids, I do occassionally employ audio stories to free up my own time.  Some of my favorites are:
StoryNory Podcast
Boomerang Magazine from Audible
I actually purchased the subscription to Audible a year ago for my own business needs and ended up buying one history book for myself and 11 children’s books for my kids (and 12 months of a subscription to Boomerang).  We bought things like …read more

RudeBusters, which as the name suggests is a site devoted to taking the rude out of people, has a pageful of links to useful tips on raising children to be well-mannered and polite. It’s quite interesting, and very helpful to me at this point in time because my daughter is beginning to assert herself and her opinions, not always in a way that is acceptable.

Cookie cutters aren’t just for baking. Here’s how to get your fussy eater to eat breakfast – make cookie cutter sandwiches. It’s simple, fun and no-muss. Simply let your child choose a shape, press into a slice of bread, then butter the “cookie sandwich” with jam or peanut butter. It’s a guaranteed hit. My daughter ate at least three this morning, each of which comprised two slices of bread stuck together.