Parenting
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Does Raising Children Dead End Your Dreams?
Torn between doing what you love and being a good mom, let me share my experience of how I kept my dreams alive while raising my kids. Before becoming a mom, I thought I’d have to give up my personal desires but, to my surprise and delight, my children were a catalyst for my dreaming new dreams…even better dreams for my career and life goals. You see I liked what I was doing—working on marketing projects for a high tech company—but I didn’t like the structure of a 9 to 5 schedule. I worked hard to make myself a valuable employee who could work independently, make deadlines, and add…
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Project Night Night Helps Children Feel Valued and Safe
Last year I came across an organization that melted my heart. It is called Project Night Night and was started by Kendra Robins in 2005 because she saw a need to provide some comfort for children who are displaced out of their home into shelters due to domestic violence or financial reasons. Surprisingly, 1 in 50 American children will face homelessness in her or his lifetime. Together with volunteers across the country they have provided over 30,000 tote bags to over 700 shelters that are filled with a stuffed animal, an age-appropriate book and a soft blanket to help ease the fear and worry they might have. I had a chance to speak to Kendra about their…
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The Happiest Little Elf
It’s that time of year again. With what feels like the blink of an eye, we’re back to celebrating the holiday season. It seems that with each passing year, as the kids get older, this special time of year seems to roll around faster and faster. I don’t know about you, but I dread the day when the kiddies no longer scamper down the stairs on Christmas morning and squeal with delight at the sight of presents under the tree. I never want the magic to end! Somewhere around mid-December of last year, my family was ready for Christmas, but it wasn’t quite ready for us. The tree has been…
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Inspirational Moms: Amy Norman and Stella Ma of Little Passports
One of the ways to teach our children to be compassionate and thoughtful of others is to teach them about the world around them. With knowledge and understanding of others comes an appreciation of the diversity that makes up our planet. I recently discovered a wonderful company called Little Passports that provides a fun and educational tool for parents to use that gets children excited about learning. I had a chance to interview the the two founders, Amy Norman and Stella Ma, both moms, and they talk about what inspired them to start Little Passports. Tell us what inspired you both to start Little Passports? Amy: I moved around a lot as…
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Presents – How Much is Too Much?
Can you believe Christmas is around the corner and the silly season is nearly upon us? Amongst all the feasting on rich food, indulging in plum pudding and hanging out with extended family, there’s the inevitable mountain load of new presents for the kids. It’s got me thinking lately, how much stuff do our kids really need? Deciding how many presents to give can be tricky. Most people would agree that kids today receive far more presents than we did when we were young. We love to see our kids’ faces light up when they receive what they wanted, but we don’t want them to develop an entitlement behavior…
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PBS Kids Curious George takes an Australian Adventure December 3rd
Most of us grew up reading Curious George and now our children are able to enjoy him on PBS Kids. Curious George is in its seventh season and is television’s number one series for preschoolers. They are opening their seventh season with a trip down under and animal conservationist Bindi Irwin is making a special appearance. I am so excited to see her continue the work her father, Steve Irwin, started years ago. This episode “Monkey Down Under” takes George and The Man with the Yellow Hat south for an Australian Outback Adventure. While The Man with the Yellow Hat goes sea cow sightseeing, George decides to stay behind to investigate a…
