Monday, April 28, 2014

Happy Birthday You Old Old Man...

My Husband turns 40 this week.  With the help of his mother and some other fabulous folks, I threw him a nice party.  It was my first grow-up party.  Usually we do the 'BBQ at our house" with family or friends.  I cook and he grills and we just hang out.  Well since it was his 40th I opted for a nice but small shin-dig.

His brother and his best friend from childhood are both just two years older and both called him an Old Man this weekend.  Which got me thinking about age.  In reality I think my husband is "younger" now than he was 14 years ago when we got married.  Honestly he seems to be reverse aging.


I know I am totally biased but the man is more handsome 
and fit than he was when we first began dating.  He is svelte.   

But when I say he has undergone reverse aging, I mainly mean it more than just in his physical appearance.  He is more relaxed, more playful, more spontaneous, more comfortable in who he is. 

When talking about age developmental psychologists refer not only to a person's chronological age, but also to their biological, social, and psychological age.  

Thursday, April 24, 2014

It Is Not Just a Stage: Your child is on the way to becoming a brat.

Why do people say "it is just a stage" to excuse compulsively bad behavior?  It is not just a stage.  If you don't help your child to stop acting like a brat guess what? That is exactly what he is going to grow up to be.  Sure kids are going to be harder or easier at different times in their life, but that doesn't mean it is okay to accept crappy behavior from them!  You are the grown up.  They are the child.  Teach them.  Fix the situation.  Because if you don't do it now when are you going to do it? Ask yourself - How bad are you willing to let it get?

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

The Grass is Always Greener: Sleep, naps & saying goodbye to mommy guilt



In parenting we have a tendency to look at our situation and think "oh, if only...".  Moms with babies and school age children sometimes fall into this as we look at how we parent our younger children differently.  We can have almost a nostalgic recollection of what family life was like with just the one.   I am as guilty as the rest of assuming my baby & the rest of us were suffering from her status as last born...until Easter break came and we were able to bend our schedule to hers.  What a mistake!

Sunday, April 20, 2014

The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes

This could quite honestly be one of my favorite books of all time.  Ridiculous I know for a self-proclaimed nerd, but it is fabulous.  I kind of wish I had one of those Amazon links on my site so that I would get some of the $$ from all of your purchases.  You are all going to want to buy it once I give you the scoop!

First disclaimer - I may be biased because this is the copy that I had growing up.  There is a bit of nostalgia associated with it.  It was published in 1939 and my copy has been tattered and taped and tattered some more.

But there really are some wonderful things in this story.  The premise of the tale is that there are actually 5 Easter Bunnies - not one - and like the Supreme Court Justices they are selected for life.  Kind, Wise, Old Grandfather Bunny selects them when an opening arises.  The Easter Bunny appointments are based on a bunny's exceptional Kindness, Wisdom, and Swiftness.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Things that go bump in the night



Nightmares are horrible.  So is sleeplessness.  Think back to the last nightmare you had.  Don't think ABOUT that nightmare - just think about what you did- chances are you didn't just roll over and go back to sleep.  So don't expect your child to be able to do that. They need you and they need your help.
A few nights ago Gracie had a nightmare.  Now all my kids have handled their bad dream episodes a little differently.  My eldest was the worst - Anthony would be up for hours.  He would be fairly inconsolable and almost argumentative at times.   When he was 9 we had our house blessed and he finally got a pretty good handle on them.  JR seems to have a bad night every once in a while but he seems to be not fully awake even when he is complaining about the dream.   And Gracie, well she is just sweet about them.  She will sometimes tell us in the morning that she was up "all night" because of a bad dream.

I had moments of panic myself when I thought of all four kids having the same type of nightmares that Anthony had.  Maybe we have worked out way into some good strategies, maybe the other kids are just easier.  Anthony is old enough now to be more logical about the scary times.  Regardless, here are some good strategies for the middle of the night scary times.

Friday, April 18, 2014

5 Reasons Why I send My Kids to a Catholic School

I am linking up with Rita over at the The Catholic Review for this weeks post.   Be sure to check out the posts from other great Catholic bloggers at that site as they too write about why they send their kids to Catholic Schools.


One of the things that rocked me in grad school was the recognition that not even the educators of educators agree on the real purpose of education.  As a developmentalist in the College of Education my curriculum entailed courses like Inequality of Education.  We discussed the role that culture, both macro and micro levels - has on the education system.  Some view education as a place for social reproduction whereas the more optimistic see it as a leveling field.   After 7 years teaching future teachers, with a shinny PhD in my hands,  I opted out of public education and happily paid the extra cash for my kids to go to a Catholic school.  It isn't because I think public schools in our community are bad - quite the contrary we live in a great district.  It is because I am greedy - I want more for my kids than what public schools are allowed to give.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Q & A with Dr Mom

As mentioned in previous blogs, I have done a little writing for  A Mama Collective.  I love this site and it really get me moving to write and put together this blog.  It is well designed, beautiful, and the content is great.  The Collective has asked me to do a Dr. Mom Question Answer series for a while and we went live with our first question today: Should I hide Breastfeeding from my kids? I hope you enjoy!



Monday, April 14, 2014

God's Baby Shower

This week my friend Splendid* and I hosted a baby shower, or I guess the better way of saying it is we co-hosted the shower with God.  This shower was really different - everything was different.  The people present were different, the gifts were different, the activities were different.  But the biggest difference was that this shower was for a mom who's  baby who isn't going to live much past his due date.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Body Remodel

A few years ago, I found myself feeling indignant about our culture and its obsession with perfect bodies.  I had entered that age in life where everywhere I turned it seemed some one was getting "The Mommy Package".  After having become pregnant and birthed healthy babies, my more wealthy peers were turning to plastic surgeons to erase the physical signs of motherhood.  Breast were being plumped and raised, faces were getting tightened, tummies were being tucked.  Those with the means were spending in pursuit of the bodies they always wanted.

Friday, April 4, 2014

Preaching by Our Deeds

We have a little tradition - the kids and I - on their 1/2 days and at the end of school before breaks, I take them to YC's Mongolian Grill.  


I love it for a few reasons.  First, I get an enormous amount of healthy food for about $25.  That includes drinks and take home containers for 5 people.  Honestly, we have lunch and then enough usually for at least a start for dinner another night.  I also LOVE their chicken soup and I get my asian food fix.  They have lots of drink options and the place is great for people with allergy issues because you build your own.  They have allergy alerts and clean the grill before they cook your stuff.  The down side is that it is a little stressful for a mom with 4 little ones to help.  It is serve-yourself.  So I have to serve up 3 bowls and supervise/critique/warn the boys as they are doing their own.  Thankfully my eldest has figured out that in order to keep going to this place he has to Step It Up.


Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Mommy Time Outs

I am a big fan of telling my children "Mommy needs a time out".  I will admit it doesn't happen as often as it should. Plenty of times I say things or do things when I should just walk away and cool off.  But when I think of it, I will tell them I need a time out.

This Fall God, yes, as in God the Heavenly Father, put me in a time out.

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