Back to School

By Day 3, they started to come around.  They woke up happy and I smugly thought to myself, "Pat on the back mom, they needed this as much as you did. Way to stand your ground."

I have been here before. At one point, before my daughter came along, all three of my boys were in school at once. I didn't like it. I treasured the disappearance of the sibling WWF rounds and the cries of "I'm bored." Or "I'm starved." But between those bits of relief, I felt empty. Like I had lost my purpose.

Make time to spend time with your teen. Tell her you love her. Give him too many hugs. This is not the season to walk in offense. Love when you are rejected and love them when they fail. Love when you really, really don’t want to.

He is only going half days for kindergarten. I tell everyone that it is because I don’t think he can handle full days yet. And that is true. The other reason is because I am not ready for him to do full days yet. He is my first and my only and I am clinging.

If you think road rage is bad on I-25 during rush hour, you have not experienced the frustrations and barely restrained hostilities happening every day in school parking lots. Different schools, different cities, different states. It's all the same. And much of it boils down to some basic personality differences.

To combat those fears and jitters our little ones (and their mamas) may experience when attending preschool for the first time, I wanted to share some of the things he and I have discussed. 

These days when it is time to shop for groceries, I simply look at my weekly meal plans, print out the appropriate shopping list and go! By keeping the current list of meal plans on our fridge, I know exactly what to prepare ahead of time and what to set out to thaw. The hardest part is remembering to look at the list.

As the pressures of present day living fade away for a short while, she stops thinking about what everyone thinks of her. She can simply be herself.

Newbie parents get all kinds of cool lists - what to pack for the hospital, what you need in a nursery, and even what to put into a diaper bag. The lists are endless. But as my kids get...

The hesitation is apparent, as I mull over the question again and again in my head.  Where is your favorite place to shop?  I laugh nervously. The small group of women and mothers I am talking to lean in closer, but my answer never materializes. Instead,...