by Marc Parsont
The war between the sexes never really ends. I’m not talking about the inequality in wages, the glass ceiling, the cost of dry cleaning or hair styling or being taken advantage of by mechanics in general.
I’m talking about toilet seats. Up or down. And the general leading the charge in our house is my six-year-old son. […]
by Cyma Shapiro
Photo by Shana Sureck
You are so happy! You see the finish line before you and are racing toward new older motherhood with joy and trepidation. However, you haven’t thought out the rest of this journey. In fact, I’ll bet that you haven’t thought much past the blessed event.
Whether you are marrying into a family with children, are adopting, fostering, having children through a surrogate, undergoing natural childbirth or IVF, or becoming a guardian, the end result may be the same.
Here are nine tips for planning in advance:
1) Shore up your support team – whether it is friends, family, a therapist or support group. You are about to be embark on the ride of your life. Having cheerleaders around you cannot hurt. […]
by Ellie Stoneley
Driving down to the airport, the nervous queasy feeling grew and grew. By the time we arrived, I’d quite happily have turned around and sat in traffic for another 4 hours rather than face the security queues and the stress of flying 12 hours with a toddler on my own.
I was prepared, I had the bare minimum in my hand luggage. Only, the bare minimum when you’re flying with a toddler is quite a lot. Here’s what I’d brought:
nappies
wipes
changing mat
extra vests
extra tights
extra outfits (all in case of catastrophe or flight delay)
small pyjamas
tiny cardigan (because it gets cold on the plane)
book with pictures of baby animals
stuffed giraffe
blankie
clean knickers for me
change of outfit for me
I put Hope in her buggy for check in. Joy of joys, the lovely lady on the desk was far less terrifying than her red lipstick and slicked back hair led me to believe. She blocked out the seat on the plane next to me. As the flight was fairly quiet, she also confirmed that the baby was small enough still to have a sky cot. […]
by Wendy Sue Noah
It’s a new year! Hip hip hooray! Doesn’t 2014 sound magical?!
I’m really into new starts of all sorts ~ an opportunity for rebirth, change and new beginnings. This includes my love for Monday’s, which seems unusual to the mainstream world. However, Monday is the start of a brand new fresh spanking week, for fresh perspectives and new opportunities. Imagine if we chose to embrace Mondays instead of hate them. Our lives would change considerably with that one conscious choice! […]
by DeAnna Scott
Courtesy, DeAnna Scott Photography
This is my 46th New Year and my 1st as a mom! As I hold my daughter Phoebe, I start thinking about all the firsts that we, as a family, have to look forward to this year. It is all so joyously overwhelming! My twins will learn how to crawl and then walk; say their first words, and maybe join them together to make sentences. They will learn how to hug and kiss. And, most exciting of all, they will turn One! Oh yay, a birthday party! For these reasons, I embrace the New Year like I have never in my past 46 years – with a new gratefulness and excited anticipation. […]
by Serena Kirby
Undoubtedly the most noticeable drawback for the young ‘only’ child is the absence of a sibling playmate. This often leads to heightened demands for parents to be the child’s primary playmate. As fatigue can be a major factor for older mothers of a young ‘only’ child, life can be a whole lot more tiring if your only child’s world revolves totally around You. […]
DeAnna Scott
The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we decided to decorate our Christmas tree. It was the earliest we had ever done that. But we had the twins this year, and I wanted to leap into the holiday season with gusto. For now on, it was my intent to build up the anticipation of Christmas morning – to give my children as many days as possible to marvel at the season.
Although they are only six months old, it’s never too early to start traditions! […]
by Janice Eidus
The first time my husband and I (both middle aged) gazed at the photograph we’d been sent of the black haired, ten-day-old baby girl who we were in the process of adopting from Guatemala, we instantly fell head over heels in love with her. And we knew we wanted to raise her to be Jewish, something neither of us had predicted.
I’d grown up with atheist, left-wing parents, lifelong, fiery champions of the oppressed, via civil rights and union activism. They considered themselves Jewish – and were sensitive to anti-Semitism — but didn’t celebrate or observe any Jewish customs or traditions. When asked directly about their Jewish identities, they declared themselves, “Atheists first, Jews second.” […]
by Shana Sureck
Everyone was having children. Except me. Co-workers. Friends. The teenagers I taught in an afterschool program. The moms at the mall who yanked at their children’s arms and made them cry with curses and slaps.
I received birth announcements. Baby shower invites. I wanted to celebrate and feel joy for my friends, but each new announcement brought a yearning for what I couldn’t have. […]
by Cindy Bailey
Sticking with your fertility diet and routine over the long run can be challenging under any circumstances, but it’s especially taxing during the holidays. Gatherings of friends and family, especially if they include children, can bring up emotional stress and pain. And then there’s all the holiday food and sweets—at the office, at home, at parties, at dinner events. How do we resist the temptation to munch on food that doesn’t nourish us, and stay on the path of bringing our baby home? […]