When Ava was four, she had just left a phase that made me think the term “terrible twos” was coined by someone yet to experience the shitstorm that comes with a child’s third year. Olivia, on the other hand, was a delightful three year old, though she’s more than making up for that reprieve now. I think [...]
Archive for the ‘Parenting’ Category
5 Apr
The night Bryan ruined Christmas
This title is, of course, totally unfair, but let me explain… Recently, Ava has expressed that she “just feels seven,” as if the impact of this new number has suddenly hit home. When I visit her room at 7 am, I find the door closed, with holiday-themed “Elves at Work” do not disturb sign hanging [...]
18 Mar
It’s 5 o’clock somewhere…
…and the second shift is just beginning. For the most part, running a two-working-parent household works pretty darn well for us. Granted, the kids are young and relatively uninvolved in extracurriculars, but for now, most weeks go by pretty smoothly. If there are problems, they seem to revolve around differing priorities. For example, as I [...]
7 Feb
On new labels
Bryan made mention of “his son” last night, and I noted we’d have all kinds of new phrases to throw around after this baby’s born. I told him that I still remembered how remarkable it was the first time I said, “I’m Ava’s mom,” as I walked into the NICU the day after she was [...]
20 Jan
“I can’t even carpe fifteen minutes in a row, so a whole diem is out of the question.”
My friend Lori shared this brilliant parenting article by Glennon Melton—it’s the perfect answer to the common refrain of “Enjoy every minute of this, it goes by so quickly.” Turns out, my (silent) response of “THANK GOD” is not entirely inappropriate. A few excerpts: “Every time I’m out with my kids — this seems to [...]
5 Oct
“We’ve got spirit, how ’bout you?”
Nope. No spirit here. Each year, the KU spirit squad hosts a fundraiser. For about fifty bucks, you can send your little cheerleader down to the sidelines to cheer on the Jayhawks during a football game. One of Ava’s sitters cheers competitively at the high school level, and she invited Ava to participate. I thought [...]
29 Jan
Parenting is hard, but also kind of awesome
A special edition of “Overheard,” as it pertains the previous post: — Olivia’s preschool teacher, Karina: “Your daughter is doing really well. She’s so sweet and well behaved, and she is very obedient.” Me: “I’m Rebecca, Olivia’s mom.” Karina: “I know….” Me: “Oh! Right. Great, then.” — Me: “Ava, don’t you remember the conversation we [...]
27 Jan
Parenting is hard, part 312 of 1,290.
I think, honestly, I am good at a lot of things. Unfortunately, I am not sure parenting is one of them. Especially between the hours of 7-8 am and 5-6 pm. Not to mention bedtime… Any tips from parents who found ways to make these parts of the day a bit easier to manage? How [...]
16 Oct
Guilty as charged
An article about toddlers and iPhones landed on the New York Times’ homepage this morning, and despite the adorable headline—”Hi, Grandma! (Pocket Zoo hold)“—I was reluctant to read it. I already know Ava and Olivia spent way too much time with our iPhones, and Olivia is pretty sure Bryan purchased the iPad for her use [...]
26 Jul
The backlash against overparenting
When Ava was a baby, I worried about EVERYTHING. I think my exhaustion as a new parent was due primarily to this stress—even more so than relatively sleepless nights. I’m not completely reformed, but I do remind myself of two things quite regularly: People are generally good, and my children will be fine. This mantra [...]
