Search Results for: blog why arent you preparing

A Day in the Life of a Single Parent

Last night it became glaringly obvious to me how much more difficult it is to parent on your own. The night started off like any other night. We had dinner, we played, we got in jammies, read our stories, and were off to bed. At four o’clock in the morning I woke to find my son coughing and throwing up all over not only his bed but mine too. Immediately I took him in my arms rocked him and ventured back upstairs to clean him up. Now comes the tricky part. When you are married you both can pitch in … Continue reading →

Preparing for Homecoming Weekend

(My Daughter’s Homecoming Dress) This weekend is homecoming weekend. It’s an exciting time for many teens and the parents who get to partake in the excitement. In some ways I feel like I get to live out my high school years through my daughter. I wasn’t allowed to go to homecoming. When I think back to my high school years, I do wish that I had been allowed to go. But getting to share in my daughter’s experience is more than making up for it. There is a lot of thought and planning that goes into this weekend. The first … Continue reading →

Preparing for the Battle, Gearing Up for the War

When my children were younger, I really thought I knew how I was going to parent them as teenagers. I observed other parents and saw much of what I thought was “wrong.” Sure, I saw some good examples but I was convinced that parenting with strictness was the only way to go. Well let me tell you something, most of what I thought when they were younger has completely gone out the window. And even though my children will probably still tell you that I am “strict,” they have no idea what it could have been. If I had decided … Continue reading →

Preserve Your Family Recipes in a Family Cookbook

As I was making turkey burgers the other night, I paused to wonder whether my son will ever ask me how I make them. He’s only nineteen months old, so it will be a while before I show him how to cook. To his credit, he can say “burger” already and it sounds really cute when he says it. I would like to think that he will someday be an ace in the kitchen, just like his mom and dad. When the time comes to teach him how to cook, I want to make sure that he learns all about … Continue reading →

Preparing Emotionally for Mother’s Day

So I am beginning to emotionally prepare myself for Mother’s Day. Every year I try to not have too many expectations and yet despite that, I always end up feeling disappointed in some way. Maybe it’s really just me or maybe it’s just that my children truly don’t grasp the importance of this day to me. Maybe I shouldn’t make Mother’s Day to be of such importance. Maybe I should just appreciate the fact I am a mother and leave it at that. Maybe… But I would be lying to myself if I tried to pretend that there is a … Continue reading →

Why Home Cooking is So Important to the Budget

I know you have heard it before…cooking at home from scratch will make a real difference in the amount of money that you spend on food. It is probably the number one way to start seeing money left over at the end of the month. It isn’t always easy to keep the motivation up for cooking at home, but like anything, you can get into the flow and the habit of it. First start with the baby step of preparing meals at home. You can get started by using some convenience items. Once you get used to the idea of … Continue reading →

When Your Chronically Ill Child Rebels

As a parent of a child with a chronic, life-threatening condition, I know how hard it can be when she fights her treatments or medication. It is frustrating, because you know she needs it. It is heart breaking because you hate that she needs it. In addition, you feel torn between forcing her and just giving in this one time. But it is never just one time. Children with chronic conditions go through a lot of stress and grown-up issues, more than most people can imagine. And they deal with this illness every single day of their lives. Treatments often … Continue reading →

Not the Way You Want to Start Your Vacation

“Hope for the Best. Expect the worst.” I think Mel Brooks helped make those words famous. Or maybe it was the person, who typed them up on small pieces of white paper, and stuck them into fortune cookies. Either way the idiom often becomes my mantra when traveling with children. I just survived a 10,000-mile journey to and from Hawaii with my young daughter, and yes, I hoped for the best, but expected the worst. Shockingly, things went fairly smoothly… unlike past trips. Despite two delayed flights and a few shoulder blows courtesy of the guy sitting behind me, who … Continue reading →

From the Mouths of Babes: Why Pets Have Such Short Lives

I’m a big fan of the James Herriot books and stories. You may be most familiar with All Creatures Great and Small — the book, the film, or the series. Herriot referred to them as his “little cat and dog stories”, but they are much more than that. They are glimpses into lives — Herriot’s own, and the lives of his clients and their owners. My favorite story has to be the one about why pets have such short lives. It goes a little something like this: a family needed to have their dog put to sleep. The dog, at … Continue reading →

Why You Should Buy Real Wood Baby Furniture

A Georgia Family recently questioned why their baby had a persistant cough. They had a suspicion that the new furniture was the culprit. They had it tested, and they were right. Formaldehyde and other toxic chemicals used in the making of pressed wood furniture can poision the air. When a child spend 18 hours a day sleeping in that room, it can make them very sick. Parents already are educated on the fact that crib slats hould be no more than 2 3/8 inches apart and that the matress should fit tightly. They assume, however that if the crib is … Continue reading →