Natural as Possible Mom

We had a very long day. We started off with a family dance party and contest. We all get together, put the iPod on shuffle and dance. After breakfast — and after Big Girl came in first– we went on the boat, rafting up with seven other boats. (All the boats tie up next to [...]

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One of my go-to sitters had a serious accident about six or so weeks ago. Her neck was broken. It was horrible. She is okay, thank goodness, but I’m in a pickle. I was counting on her to sit for me over the summer. Big Girl is signed up for camp every day, but Little [...]

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I’ve spent the better part of a week counting calories. Not for me. For Little Girl. I hate it will all my being. I brought her along last Friday to her sister’s sick visit. While we were there I decided to stick her on the scale. It read about the same as it did two [...]

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I use food as a reward for my little girl. There. I admitted it. I’m doing something I absolutely shouldn’t do, and I don’t know how I feel about it. I was way more careful with my big girl. I never used food as a reward. Hugs and kisses, yes. A cup of yogurt or [...]

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Before Big Girl was born I questioned my parenting potential. I spent months, actually, discussing this very topic with a therapist. Would I be a good parent? Would I screw up any child I had because I was, well, a little screwed up? I agonized over it. And yet when she was born, I wondered [...]

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Keira is dexterous. This is a problem. Yes, she is day potty-trained, but I still put a diaper on her for naps and at night. Seems she doesn’t like wearing a diaper ever, so she’s been taking off her sleep sack and tossing the diaper onto the floor. No big deal when it’s naptime. She [...]

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Keira had her 21-month well visit a few weeks ago. The nurse came in to take height and weight. She put her on the scale. “She didn’t gain an ounce since her last check up,” explained the nurse. Then she got measured. She only grew 1/2 inch since her last visit, which was three months [...]

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My mom watches Keira on Tuesdays. I moderated a Webinar today, so they both left the house for the afternoon. When I finished the Webinar I put my home phone back on the hook. There was a message waiting. “Hello, Karen? I took her shopping and we came back to my house to put the [...]

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I’ve had three really scary choking kid experiences in my life. Two with my own kids, one with a friend’s kid. The one with the friend’s kid happened first. It was five years ago. We were out at a Mexican restaurant eating lunch. My friend gave her then-18-month-old a tortilla chip. He ate it and [...]

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Over the Christmas holidays we went to the Long Island Children’s Museum. While we were there, one of my friends ran into one of her old friends. The girl had a 9-month-old and a three-year-old. We started chatting. She asked me how my big girl liked becoming a big sister. She wanted to know, she [...]

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