My memory holds a snapshot, rock-bottom moment from my daughter’s bout with colic. I was emotionally, mentally and physically exhausted. I’d isolated myself, even pushing her father, J away. I felt I was the only one who could comfort her, even though I often couldn’t, because, well, she had colic. I stood there holding her, […]
If you’ve spent time on our website, you know that we frequently address the stressful aspects of parenthood. Why? Because parenting can be rough. Cheryl and I really want to be two supportive voices in your life that say, You’re normal to be struggling, we’ve got your back and we have ideas and resources to […]
We all mean well. Parents in the Wild (aka Target) tune into each other, and can keenly sense distress. The desire to help each other out is natural and good, but sometimes our ways of going about it miss the mark. Here are three ways I often received “support” that felt anything but supportive: “Enjoy […]
Kirsten’s awesome anxiety tip made a visual pop into my head: a big deck of gross cards, representing the multiple anxieties I had/have about motherhood. It took me a long time to connect with any sort of desire to have children, and when that drive finally became strong enough to push me through the intense […]
You’re a real trooper. I love receiving that compliment and I’m known to frequently dole it out myself. Other versions of it go something like this: You’re a hoss. You’re super tough. You roll with the punches and keep on rolling. When I hear these affirmations, I envision a thick-skinned warrior woman, covered in armor. […]
A lot of moms and partners experience some sort of let down during pregnancy, birth and the first few months with their newborns. Maybe you hoped to have a girl, and felt a twinge when you got the ultrasound results. Maybe breastfeeding was insanely difficult, and you had to switch to formula sooner than you’d […]
Wander over to the parenting section of a bookstore, and you’ll find shelves crammed with various child-rearing philosophies: Attachment Parenting, Slow Parenting, Tiger Parenting. Everyone has advice to give and they often seem to contradict each other. You’re not alone if you find this to be overwhelming. Occasionally I’ll find a gem of a book […]
Being married to a therapist, my husband has participated in his fair share of parenting strategy sessions. Ok… maybe MORE than his fair share. (This would be an appropriate time to bestow a little sympathy on spouses of therapists everywhere.) One of our initial co-parenting talks took place while I was pregnant with our first […]
Meet Claudia Kramer Santamaria. She is a lifelong educator who has worked as a teacher, elementary principal and currently, the Supervisor of Parent Programs for Austin Independent School District. We asked Claudia to share about her experience of immigrating to the United States from Uruguay as a child. We also wanted to learn about the […]
The Hardest Job :: Monday Musing
Parenting is the hardest job you’ll EVER have. I repeatedly heard folks say this before I had my first child but I had no earthly idea what they meant. “I think I’ll take up scrap booking while I’m home with baby… you know, something to fill up my time,” I casually mentioned to one of […]
It took me a long time to get pregnant. Approximately four years, from the time I first thought, Hmmm. I might be ready for a baby, to the morning I saw those two pink lines miraculously show up on the pregnancy test. It was a journey that began gradually and naively for my husband and […]