We made the decision last spring to enroll our child in forest school. It has been a little bit of a learning curve, but it has been well worth it. Our kiddo has absolutely bloomed playing outdoors three days a week with children his own age. When we first started, he was only going two days a week, and we had kept up with his gym classes at the same time. But the benefits of forest school trumped the benefits of gym class by miles. Part of this is very much our child’s temperament. We […]
Historic Sites with Littles
I have been on a professional break from my work with museums since my little was about 5 months old. This does not include the freelancing for my spouse or the museum conferences I have been to (mostly on behalf of my spouse). But I have been a museum visitor during that time. And bringing a toddler to museums has become a point of interest for me. Most parents choose to actively avoid the museums where their toddler might cause havoc. If they are going to go to a historic house museum, they will choose […]
Traveling to Iceland with Your Little
We just came home from a nine day trip to Iceland with our toddler and learned some very important lessons while we were there. So I thought I’d share. Do not forgo the stroller! Top of our list was regretting not having a stroller. After reading somewhere that having one in Iceland was kind of silly and a waste of good carry-on space (we have a Babyzen Yoyo²), we just decided that we would make due without. Instead, I packed my TushBaby “hip seat” thinking that would fill some of the gap. What we severely […]
The Stroller Saga
I have been struggling hard with the stroller issue ever since the first one. There’s just not one stroller that can do everything! And worse, living in the city means that you need something compact. We were living in downtown Salem, Massachusetts when we chose our first stroller. It was a travel system – the Maxi-Cosi Zelia 5-in-1 Travel System. It was mostly okay for what we needed it for, but not amazing. To be fair, it is one of the cheapest well-rated systems on the market. It didn’t like off-roading or gravel. It hated […]
Actually Helpful Books for Parenting
Parenting is hard. There’s no way to explain that. I love my little one. But it is harder than you think it will be, even if you know it will be hard in advance. Which is part of the reason that having some good solid books behind you – especially ones that will actually tell you that you are still a good parent even when it feels like you’ve lost every battle that day – is so very important. Top of my list for go-to parenting advice is Dr. Becky. If you are not already […]
Scaffolding Toddler Learning
I came out of my child’s pediatric well check feeling like an incompetent mom earlier this week. It was the first time I’d really felt like I wasn’t on the same page as the pediatrician. It was a little disconcerting. And also completely ruined my Valentine’s Day. My mood completely nose-dived. My spouse took our little for a walk while I tried to get my head back on straight, which is when I realized a couple of things. The biggest of those was that we hadn’t truly had a conversation about what we were doing, […]
Giving Yourself Space at Mealtime
I’ve found recently that one of the most toxic phrases in my life is “You can just…” It has floated around for the past year with the follow ups: “… throw what you’re eating in a food processor and feed it to them.” “… find 15 minutes to yourself while they’re sleeping.” “… put them down.” “… listen to audiobooks while you’re taking them out in the stroller.” “… put him in the play-yard and take a shower.” I’ve been struggling to give myself space. Being a stay-at-home mom is significantly more difficult that I […]
No Villages, Just Venting
How many headlines have popped up on my feed since before my child was born proclaiming how tired, angry, frustrated, and overburdened mothers are – especially now that we are in a pandemic? I’m tired of them. These headlines and the stories behind them are all venting with no solutions. I remember back a few years ago when I was talking with one of my younger managers. I had just broken the news that there was going to be a policy change. I had been upset myself when I heard about the change, but after […]
Pregnancy During a Pandemic
I haven’t really posted about my pregnancy in anywhere completely public until now. I am most of the way through the 5th month, so it’s been a little while and has certainly been a journey so far. It’s been a fairly easy pregnancy, all things considered. Which is probably just as well as it’s also a weird time to be pregnant with your first. There are a lot of things that just are not normal because we’re in a pandemic. The biggest one is that I think twice before stepping inside any business – which […]