Tag Archives: parenting

by Wendy | October 25, 2011

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?

It’s an ongoing debate – one that really hits a nerve with some people.

Merry Christmas OR Happy Holidays!? Which do you say? Is either really offensive?

In my opinion, yes.

I may be dumping out a whole can of worms here, but here’s my take on it: If there’s Christ in your Christmas, my omission of the actual word sure as heck isn’t going to change that. And, if you automatically assume that since you celebrate Christ at Christmastime, I must too, well, that’s kind of a big assumption, now isn’t it?

I say “happy holidays” (or even just “Have a great day!”) and I can be found regularly asking people what they celebrate, if anything. I find it interesting, and I think it’s nice to acknowledge that people celebrate all different kinds of things. If I am not familiar with your holiday, that’s even better. Tell me about it, and why it means something to you. But you’re not going to hear a general Merry Christmas out of me, unless I know you well enough to know it’s appropriate. If there’s one thing I’m sure about this season, it’s that Christmas may be a holiday, but it’s not the holiday.

OK. #endrant.

Since I have friends that celebrate in lots of different ways, I prefer to send out very general greeting cards during the winter season. That’s why I always get my cards from Shutterfly. Sure, they offer holiday-specific cards, but they also offer a ton of cards that carry just the happy, heartwarming sentiment I want, without being so specific as to alienate anyone. With their selection of holiday cards and greeting cards, I can feature a beautiful photo and send the same card out to all of our family and friends, sending our love and wishing them the best the season has to offer.

The only problem is narrowing down my choices! I love so many of them!

This may be this year’s winner. What do you think?

Do you wish people a “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays”? Does either offend you?

Do you believe you should wish people a Merry Christmas even if they may not celebrate Christmas at all?

Are you a blogger? Want a chance at 25 free cards this holiday season? Register here:http://goo.gl/DDw7Q

5 Comments

Filed under Product & Restaurant Reviews, The Everyday, Uncategorized

Tagged as atheist holiday, Christmas guide, deals, family, greeting cards, happy holidays or merry christmas?, holiday cards, holiday greetings, parenting, photo cards, religious holiday, saving money, Shutterfly

by Wendy | October 20, 2011

Look out, Potty! Here we come!

I knew this time would come…eventually.

My 23-month-old son has shown quite an interest in the potty for a while now, peeing occasionally, and throwing lots of paper in when we aren’t looking.

But now? We have POOP!

Not every time, but often enough to know that he’s well on his way to learning how to use the potty full-time.

So, why do I feel a stinging twinge of sadness?

Because I’ll miss my FLUFF!

The stash I researched so diligently and worked so hard to build (building a community of like-minded friends along the way, I might add! Bonus!) The stash I painstakingly laundered and sunned, sniffing to make sure they were as fresh as a spring breeze for my sweet baby’s bum. They might be poop-catchers, but there’s nothing quite like a pile of freshly washed, stuffed and folded diapers in a rainbow of colors!

I surely don’t have the most impressive collection, and I’ll admit that we never did quite get to the point where we gave up our little stash of disposable inserts (GroVia rocks, by the way!) , but there’s just something about making that choice – the economical choice, the ecofriendlier choice, the healthier choice - that made me feel like I was doing my absolute best as a mom.

Ah, cloth. How I love thee! It saddens me that our time is coming to an end, but I have hope that someday I’ll unpack you and fall in love all over again!

Thanks for the memories!

Until next time…

(I just wonder if I’ll feel the same way about my mama cloth when I join the menopause community… )

Wow. Did I just say menopause?! Can you tell I’m feeling the clock tick away? Come on Baby #2!

_____________________

To all my cloth diapering readers: did you miss your fluff when the potty took over? Were you sad to see the transition begin?

My son, a cupcake, and a major parenting dilemma.

We just finished our third week of daycare, and things are swimming right along beautifully!

(Can you tell we’ve been watching a lot of Nemo lately?)

I expect that there will still be bumps in the road, and yes, there is a lot of crying in the morning during the dropoff. But – and this is pretty dang amazing, if you ask me – the director of the daycare has been sending me a text message when little man settles down (which is usually about 5 minutes after I leave) and she’s even been sending me photos on my phone! I’ve been able to steal of glimpse of art projects, snack breaks, and big smiles throughout the day, and it’s made SUCH a difference in my adjustment (it’s harder for us than it is for them, right?)

For this mama who works 60 miles away from that daycare, a photo to calm my nerves midday is absolutely priceless!

But then, on Friday, I got a different kind of text message. It struck fear into my very soul.

“Project today is decorating cupcakes. We’re going to eat them at lunch. Wanted to check with you to see if its OK. We can take him into another room if you want.”

Oh dear. Ohdearohdearohdear. What do I DO!?

Well, I say NO of course! I tell her to take my son as far away from those evil things as she can. Wrap him up in bubble wrap and don’t even let him hear you say “cupcake”!

Yeah, right. If only. (I did NOT tell her that.) I chilled out for a moment, and thought about it, and ran it by my coworkers (One of whom called me a food freak and mocked over the cubicle wall in his best teacher voice “Oh no, little man, you go into the closet by yourself and play with a carrot.” Haha. )

If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I go to pretty good lengths to make sure my family eats the most natural diet possible. We fall off the wagon once in a while, but when it comes to my son, I’m pretty vigilant. He gets his fair share of treats, but they’re always healthy, “real food” ones, and he really hasn’t had any cake other than on his first birthday, 11 months ago.

But it’s not the cupcake itself I have an issue with. Really. As I’ve explained to my mom a bunch of times – he can have cupcakes. And cookies. And ice cream. And all the good stuff that I sure as heck grew up with and loved. He just gets pure, natural versions of them.

THIS is my real fear:

I’ll admit: Cupcakes are happy food. Ingredients ending in “5 & 6″ are not.

And even though I knew (as my coworkers dutifully pointed out) that one cupcake never hurt anyone, there was one thought I just couldn’t escape: If you say you believe in something to your very core, what does it say about you if you buckle when that belief is challenged? Who are you, really, if you let that happen?

_________________________

Can you guess what I did? Cupcake or no cupcake?

What would you do?

3 Comments

Filed under Green Living, Parenting & Family, Recipes & Food

Tagged as artificial ingredients, Betty Crocker, cake, cupcakes, daycare, daycare snacks, healthy child, healthy eating habits, healthy food, healthy toddler foods, natural, organic, paranoia, parenting, parenting dilemmas, real food, vegetables

by Wendy | June 28, 2011

My Top 5 Tips for a Successful Date Night

This past Saturday night was a fun one – my high school reunion! I was never the type to go to those kinds of things, but this time around it sounded like fun, and my husband and I decided that after 20 months, we were ready for our first date night since becoming parents!

Yes, I’ve left my son plenty of times. He spends 4 days a week with my mom while I work, and he’s fine there. But I’ve never left him at night before. When I’m not at work, he’s with me. Period. He’s nursed to sleep every night since birth, and I’ve never not been the one to tuck him safely into bed at night.

There’s also the fact that my mom and dad take care of him while I work, so I hate to ask for extra babysitting. But since he’s comfortable there, I wouldn’t consider leaving him anywhere else for his first (partial) night without Mommy and Daddy. I think my mom knew even better than I did how much my husband and I would benefit from a real date, so she happily took on the challenge and off we went!

And you know what? It was a total success! I’m still processing the actual reunion and the memories that came with it (high school was not a great time for me…) but all in all it was a ton of fun! I felt totally reconnected with the man I married, my best friend. I’ve missed that guy! Not only did I get to spend some QT with him, but I really felt like myself again. Or rather, the new “Mommy” me, with some of the old me thrown in.

Anywho, I think there were a few reasons why our night went so well.

Here are my 5 top tips for a successful Mommy/Daddy date night:

Be really, really sure of your child care. Like I said, I was a little worried that my son wouldn’t go to bed well without my being there to rock and comfort him, but all in all I was 100% confident in his safety and well-being. A night that is meant to be relaxing is not the time to try out a new babysitter. Save that for your dentist appointments or daytime errands.

On the same note, date night is no time to be trying out new hair products, either. Trust me, rewashing your hair to get the weird gunk out is not what you need…especially when it was supposed to make you look and feel like a million bucks.

Is it a treat for you? Then make it a treat for your little one, too! A new toy, new movie, maybe a favorite dinner. They all go far in making the night a little easier, a little more fun. We stopped on the way to my Mom’s to get a pint of fresh blueberries for dessert…and it worked! Who can be sad when there are blueberries around?!

Do do it until YOU are ready. That might mean 2 months or 20 months, but only you will know when the time is right for you and your family. I hear it from others all the time - You need to get OUT for a little while without your kid! – SO annoying! Don’t let the opinions of others push you. You won’t have a good time if you’re spending the night hovering over your phone or working against your gut instincts, questioning whether you really should be out or not.

Leave the guilt at home. I’ll admit it – I feel a little guilty when I do anything for myself, especially when it doesn’t involve my baby boy, and I’ve been defending my lack of date nights for a long time. I adore my little man, and I really want nothing more than to spend every possible minute with him…but I didn’t really understand how much I needed a night out until I had one. I’m glad I waited until we were all ready as a family, because it was a great evening, and feeling rejuvenated will surely help make me a better mommy in the long run. I can’t wait to do it again!

(…but many not right away. )

___________________________________

How old was your child when you left for the first time to do something fun?

Do you have any tips for us first-timers? Please share!

6 Comments

Filed under Parenting & Family, The Everyday

Tagged as date night, high school reunion, marriage, mom's night out, parenting, quality time, tips for successful date night, toddler

by Wendy | June 19, 2011

Happy Father’s Day!

I spend so much time thinking about motherhood and trying to be the most conscious, balanced, and present mother I can be to my son, that I sometimes forget that parenthood isn’t all about me. There is another realm of parenting out there with its own intricacies and nuances that make it quite different than my role, and very, very special.

Fatherhood!

I consider myself extremely fortunate that I’ve married a man that is a fantastic, engaged father, and I have a pretty top-notch dad of my own. They’re pretty great guys to have in my life, especially considering I’m raising a son who will likely be a father himself someday. Given the role models he has, I’m pretty confident that he’ll grow up knowing what a truly loving daddy is, and that just tickles me to no end.

So, I guess that’s what Father’s Day is all about, right? Telling these men that mean the world to me that I love them, I respect them, I value them, and I hope my son grows up to be like them. I really hope they already know, but I’ll tell them again today anyway.

My message to my husband? Thank you. Thank you for knowing that we were too young at 17 and 21, and for letting me go, even when I didn’t want you to. To college, to learn, to grow, to figure out who I was, and what I wanted. And now, almost 20 years to the day after you broke my heart (oh, the fragile heart of a 17 year old! ) I also thank you for getting smart and knowing when we ran back into each other that the time was right for us, for our family. And thank you from the bottom of my heart for the single most important thing in the world – our baby boy. I love you, and I can’t wait to see you turn into an even more incredible daddy as the years go by!

The day my husband became a daddy. You should have seen the bruises he had after my labor!

My message to my dad? Also a thank you. For more than I could ever write in a simple blog post. Thank you for being a dad that has never wavered throughout my entire life, a dad that has taught me so much and been there without fail every single time I’ve needed you, a dad that showed me that you don’t call off work and that the moulding should always line up straight. And now, for spending so much time with my son. Your influence will undoubtedly make him a better man. Your support (especially at times like I wrote about here) means the world to me, and you couldn’t be more of a superhero if you had an actual cape and funny tights.