Crap, it’s cancer: parenting during a health crisis
My husband was diagnosed with rectal cancer in February 2011. He turned 40 only one month before. I’m only 31. We have a six-year old daughter and a three-year old son.
A DIY alternative to a chalkboard wall
I’ve been wanting some sort of chalkboard in my son Jackson’s playroom for some time now — I just wasn’t sure what would work. The room was built to be a living room and has outlets everywhere. We have the baby-proofed, but the placement of the outlets blocked me from being able to just paint a chalkboard onto the walls.
When I discovered chalkboard spray paint exists, I knew just what I wanted to do…
The questions that defined my daughter’s birth
Paloma’s due date came and went. Nine days later I got my bloody show, and within 30 minutes, full-on labor had begun. I got in the pool. I was biting on a towel, begging for ice cubes and asking for as little other stimulation as possible. I couldn’t be touched. I didn’t want to be talked to. My poor boyfriend was trying to keep it together but was beside himself.
How can we explain his brother’s autism to our four-year-old son?
My stepson, A, is 11 and autistic, and my younger son, M, is four. M has just started to question why A isn’t “like his friend’s big brother.” When M asked “Why won’t A play with me? Does he not like me?” it struck us that we really didn’t know how to explain autism in a way that a four-year-old would understand.
A mother and son celebrate 10 years of Harry Potter love
My friend Kim and her son, E, have been long-time Harry Potter fans — as the photo above will attest. They went to the only place in town who still has a cloud backdrop and recreated a photo to mark the beginning, and end, of their HP madness.
Respectful parenting begets respectful teens
There seems to be the almost universal belief among North American parents. I’m sure this is a phenomena found elsewhere as well, but I’m just talking about what I’ve personally seen. Kids, whether these are theoretical future children or actual kids, will hate, or, at the very least, dislike their parents. Teenagers hate their parents: everyone knows that.
I’m finally dating after my divorce — and my six-year-old loves it
A few productive, insightful, sadly celibate years rolled by after my divorce, and then it happened: I meet a fella. I couldn’t even believe it was happening… until my now six-year-old asked me if I have a boyfriend. When I said yes, she asked to meet him.
A doula’s advice: the dos and don’ts of visiting friends after they have a baby
I know how exciting new babies are. I know how much people want to see and smell them when they are brand new. I also know that being a good friend to new parents means taking the utmost care with a new and very delicate situation. As a postpartum doula, I’m here to tell you how you can be a good friend while you visit new babies and their parents.