Three years ago, my daughter moved out of our crib and our bedtime routine turned upside down. Suddenly she needed me specifically to lie down with her until she fell asleep. While I was happy to do this, I also had a baby in need of my attention and both my husband and I wanted to more flexibility with our evening.
Read More“We watched no TV today!” I’d announce to my husband as if waiting for a gold star. It certainly felt like a massive accomplishment, 12 hours of parenting 2 kids under 4 in the middle of winter. But there was no gold star, just my own sense of achievement or sometimes my own sense of utter exhaustion and simmering resentment as my needs we relegated to the bottom of the list yet again.
Screentime is an excellent illustration of the modern parenting dilemma. It comes down to this equation:
Tired parents in need of support
A lifetime's worth of highly captivating and addictive children’s entertainment
Constant reminders of the dangers of screentime
It’s a lose/lose, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Read MoreSomething always felt off about this industry and I could never quite put my finger on it. I suppose I didn’t want to see it. Because I wanted to believe, like most, that if I followed all the tips and hacks shared in perfectly curated videos that I’d do it! That I’d be the calm, got it together mom who was the perfect blend of playful and firm, who didn’t need any help, who meal planned but was also spontaneous, who worked but not too much, with well behaved kids who ate vegetables and never watched tv and always said please and thank you, who were wild and creative but also obedient (but not too obedient) and of course slept through the night.
Read MoreMany days parenting will strain your nervous system to the absolute edge. Two small children crying at the same time, dirty dishes as far as the eye can see, dinner that needs to be made and jobs with unending demands. Waiting for a proper break is just not an option. Amidst this chaos, I’ve found little moments of spaciousness when I find myself breathing deeper and feeling softer. These are 3 ways I soothe my nervous system day to day.
Read MoreSix plus year of parenting and our household had managed to avoid the dreaded HFM (hand foot and mouth) disease. When our streak came to an end two weeks ago, it wasn’t due to my daycare attending 3-year-old, no, I was the one to succumb. I figured I’d bounce back quickly, that the worst would be over in 24 to 48 hours. In reality, 13 days later, I’m still recovering.
Being sick for so long gave me a lot of time to just think. As humans, we are always trying to make sense of life. Why did this happen to me? What is the point of this? What did I learn? And while I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, I have a few takeaways to share.
Read MoreGrowing up in the country, at 13 I was babysitting for all the neighbourhood families. I changed diapers, prepared bottles, handled bedtimes and even wrangled a family of 7! My husband, as a teen, babysat for over a dozen families on his street in north Toronto.
Today, many parents confess no one has ever cared for their children, except for maybe Grandma. It’s not uncommon to hear parents haven’t had a child-free night out in years!
Read MoreDo you ever wish for a crystal ball? Some way of knowing all your efforts to raise a kind and responsible human being will pay off?
Many parents today are thoughtful and intentional about parenting. We care about things like emotional intelligence and self-regulation. We’ve swapped timeouts for time-ins. We listen to podcasts and read books.
But then your 3-year-old kicks you in the shin when it’s time to leave the park and shouts for all to hear, “You’re a stupid face!”
In those moments it’s impossible not to think, “Ummm, I’m not sure this is working?”
While I don’t have a crystal ball I do have some promising signs to watch for and reassure yourself you are indeed on the right track (tantrums and all)!
Read MoreIt had been an epic 45-minute tantrum. At its worst, I thought she might succeed in ripping the baby gate off the wall. Hard to believe as I gazed down at the diminutive two-year-old lying before me, peacefully zoning out to Paw Patrol. Should I make a doctor's appointment? This didn’t seem normal.
This wasn’t always the case, but since her sister was born a few months earlier, since we then moved to a new city and started a new daycare - things had been escalating. The meltdowns left us all drained, frustrated and well, sad. Why was my daughter so angry and how did parenting get so hard? Something didn’t make sense and I was determined to figure it out.
Read More“My daughter fell asleep 3 hours earlier!”
Have you seen these ads? I scoffed at the use of these extreme, one-dimensional marketing ploys on tired parents - and yet, months later I found myself downloading the Moshi Sleep app.
Are you curious? Have a seat and let me share my honest experience and opinion on adding the Moshi Sleep app to our bedtime routine.
Read MoreWhat would you do with a weekend at home alone?
When this opportunity presented itself, I was thrilled. And also terrified of how I might squander this rare treasure
I felt the impulse to make plans - and yet I hesitated. The expectation to be anywhere at a certain time felt entirely too much. I felt the pull to be alone. And so somewhat guiltily, I told no one.
After a sweet tearful goodbye and the car was safely out of sight, I sat down, stared at a blank piece of paper and wrote:
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