Giving New Meaning to Parenting

We’ve talked about how much children sleep before, but I don’t remember discussing bedtimes. What time do you send your children to bed?
Around here, the march to bed begins at 8:30 or so. Sometimes it’s earlier, but that’s our usual accomplishment. The boys don’t have to go to sleep at [...]

As the older boys move closer to adulthood (they just turned 12!) I’m seeing more and more of the adolescent… stuff… I’ve been warned about. You know. Moodiness. Messy rooms (oh! the inhumanity!!!). Smells. Puberty.
Lately, I’ve realized that I have turned into a Very Annoying Person. The [...]

We ran a poll the other day, about the age(s) of your children. The results were not overly surprising – 30% of you have kids between 5 and 11 years old. 19% have kids between 2 and 5, and 12% of you said you had babies at home (Newborn through 2 years old). So, half [...]

As I sit here typing, 4 boys are sprawled about the room engrossed in a silly show on the television.  They’re not paying attention to the tapping on the keyboard or the fact that I keep staring at them over the laptop.
I love watching them when they don’t know I’m looking.  Their expressions as they [...]

My Oldest child just turned 14. 14 seems so old. 14 seems just a few steps away from freedoms of driving and dating and graduating from high school.  And yet, 14 is still in 8th grade. 14 is not allowed to date yet, but has had boys who have liked her for years now. 14 is responsible [...]

I should start off by saying that I’m friends with a carseat inspector.  Here in MA, you can go to various fire and police stations and have your carseat installed for free by a certified carseat inspector.  A lot of places also offer free clinics throughout the year.
When we first switched from the bucket seat [...]

Jack Jack has been wearing “big boy” underwear for almost nine months.
Jack Jack has been sleeping in a “big boy” bed since his third birthday, this past June.
We have been encouraging Jack Jack to take care of his toileting needs independently for the last two months.
I went back to work in August after having the [...]

Parenthood Statistics
• There are 4.25 million new mothers each year in the US.
• 425,000 are teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19.
• 100,000 are 40 or older.
• About 40 percent of all births are the mother’s first; 32 percent are the second.
          – U.S. [...]

My youngest son turns ten this week.  He made the transition from Toddler to Little Boy to Boy a while ago, but now that he is “hitting double digits”, as he puts it, it’s time for me to admit he’s no longer a little boy anymore.
As the youngest, and also being somewhat small for his [...]