If you’ve gone through the process of formally hiring a babysitter through the magic of the Internet, rather than through a family friend of colleague or baby cousin, then you know there are a thousand lists of very practical, necessary questions you ought to be asking.  Things like, do you know CPR and First Aid, what would you do in

Someday, they tell me, I’m going to miss waking up at all hours of the night for a sick kid or a crying baby. Someday, they insist, I’m going to wish I heard a little voice at the top of the stairs asking mama for one more song even though they should be in bed. Sometime in the future, I’m

If you’re looking for a nice non-alcoholic treat this summer, behold my go-to list sent straight from heaven to my brain and passed on to your eyeballs reading this.  Because as much as solo parenting frankly is enough to drive me to drink, sometimes it’s not the right time or place. ALAS. Looking back not-so-fondly that time at the botanical

Whether you’re traveling solo or with the little ones in tow, I’ve got summer travel tips for miles and miles of breastfeeding and pumping!  If only you could earn skymiles that way… Solo So you’re on a solo trip and you’re pumping.  How to keep your sanity? Find places that have pumping stations.  Just the other day, I was at

My daughter was born in July, and (heat stroke pregnancy aside) it’s the beeeest.  But it also means hosting a gaggle of hot, sweaty children who have no concept of “dehydration” or “don’t touch that AC unit by the side of the house, you’ll lose a finger, kid.”  Lucky for them (and you!) I’ve got TIPS. Behold, these summer birthday

I love summertime.  I mean, who doesn’t?  Come onnnnnn. It’s awesome — popsicles and pools and jorts, what more could a girl want? Fine, a personal bubble of air conditioning at all times would be nice.  But I don’t see that happening, so I’ll bask in all the other summery things that ARE good, and try not to think too

For a long time, i felt like I couldn’t explain the concept of hope to my daughter. There are a lot of things in this world I want to — need to — talk to the kids in my home about, of course.  Things like kindness. Love. Patience. Confidence. Empathy. Bravery. Courage. The list could go on forever.  But the

Ah yes.  The first days of summer vacation — can you smell it?  That unmistakable scent of longing and anticipation and blissful freedom and abandoned lockers with lingering gym socks left behind to rot.  But let’s not get too excited about all the ice cream dates and zoo trips and hiking trails and bike paths and soccer games that loom

Every time I try to boil down what I’ve learned by being a foster mother, I start to feel overwhelmed.  There are so many layers to foster parenting, and just when you think you’ve discovered all the layers, still more layers present themselves.  It is nuanced, tricky, emotionally complicated, socially complicated. There are whole relationships you have to maintain, both

Dear Potty Training Mama, You’re ready. At least, you think you are. You’ve got your sticker chart, your dog-eared library copy of Oh Crap!: Potty Training, your sense of grit and firm resolution hardening your lips into a stern line.  A box of Franzia from CVS. You know nothing, Potty Training Mama.   You think you know of boredom, but