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By not your average mom So this was the year I was going to get tons of shit done, right? All the kids were finally going to be in school full-time, and I was going to be more efficient than ever. My house would be clean, everything would be organized, meals would be planned, and the laundry would never pile […] The post 5 Strategies For Stay At Home Moms…

By not your average mom When I was a kid (and actually all the way up until I had kids of my own) my grandma sent me a card for Valentine’s Day. Her cards always had some sort of treat taped inside, like a quarter or one stick of Wrigley’s gum in the foil wrapper, as well as a little […] The post It’s Okay If You Didn’t Do Anything…

By Jamie If you are reading this before taking your first trip with a baby, then the title is spot on. It is a survival guide. While we can’t give you money to get first class tickets on a plane or make your nervous toddler fall asleep or interested in the roadside scenery, what we can do is give you some tactics and pointers on how to play defense in…

By Jamie We all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Even so, when the decision is between extra time in bed and a good meal, most of us choose bed! If you don’t eat a healthy breakfast, you set off on the wrong footing. Your brain function will be slower. And, by mid-morning, you’ll be thinking only of your grumbling stomach. The goods new is, there’s…

By not your average mom If you are anything like me, and if your kids are anything like mine, you may be presented with multiple situations every day where you are feeling exasperated. You are nagging and repeating and yelling, your kids aren’t listening, you don’t know why the f*ck they won’t just do what you tell them to do, […] The post Three Things You May Be Doing As…

By not your average mom I was born and raised in Connecticut. Although we’ve had a relatively mild winter in New England this year, we are used to significant snowstorms. Some years we are hit with multiple blizzards. Some years we only get a couple inches here and there. A couple days ago, we had a near blizzard here. We […] The post Stop Driving Like An Asshole In The…

By Jamie Getting a driver’s license is a landmark for teenagers that is much anticipated. With a driver’s license comes a modicum of freedom. However, with great freedom comes great responsibility. The thing is, parents of new drivers also have their share of that responsibility. What do you think you might need to know when your teen is about to have that extra bit of freedom? Here are just a…

By not your average mom Yesterday we got over fifteen inches of snow here in CT. All the kids were home from school. Number 5 was still recovering from (f*cking) Norovirus, and I never even got out of my pajamas. By 7 pm last night, this is what things looked like. I was reduced to letting Number 5 style my […] The post What Behaviors Challenge You Most? appeared first…

By Jamie Image Source Tools in and around the kitchen are an essential to preparing any dish well. If you don’t have the right stuff for the job, you may not get the same impact out of a dish as you would’ve expected, or it could take you a lot longer to prepare and serve the meal than the time you had set aside to do so. Even worse –…

By not your average mom Number 4 is a pretty good swimmer. She’s got natural talent and a body that is conducive to the sport. She also works her butt off. She swims year round on the Y swim team. In the summer, she also swims on the town’s rec team. And this year, as a fifth grader, she swam […] The post Do We Really Need to Take a…

By not your average mom If you have a kid in first grade, then you and your child (but mostly you) may have just completed the (fucking) 1ooth Day of School Project. This project, along with every other long-term project that teachers assign to students to do at home, is bullshit. It’s not just the 100th Day of School Project. […] The post Long Term, At-Home, Elementary School Projects Are…

By not your average mom When is the last time you said No? And I don’t mean no to things like Mom, can I stay up until the Super Bowl is over? or Mom, can I eat chocolate chip cookies for dinner tonight? or Mom, can we get a kitten? I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, reflecting and evaluating in […] The post Less Yes and More No appeared…

By not your average mom If you guys have issues with your kids and power struggles, I have a little story to share with you. But first, let’s just talk about this for a second. Power struggles suck. They are exhausting and infuriating. What we may not realize, though, is that our kids aren’t creating this problem. We do it to ourselves! […] The post If Power Struggles With Your…

By not your average mom Dear Moms, I thought maybe you could use a reminder. Because last night I had one of those nights and I realized that I needed one, too. Whatever that thing is you are losing your fucking mind over right now? Um… It’s not that big a deal. Oh, wait… Your thing is different? Your thing […] The post A Reminder To All Moms To Chill…

By not your average mom It is often said that being a parent is the hardest job on the planet. While I would argue that being married is equally challenging, I’d have to agree. Being a mom is fucking hard. There is no greater task than growing, teaching, training, and raising another human being. It’s a tremendous gift, burden, challenge, […] The post Are you guilty of this parenting mistake?…

By Jamie YOUR BODY Your Hair Image source Particularly during the winter, it can be hard to keep your hair in good condition. First and foremost, it’s important to make sure that you get it trimmed regularly – it isn’t just your hairdresser trying to make extra money when they recommend that you go back every two months! Cutting the ends off and getting it restyled will keep your hair…

By not your average mom I have spent the past two days in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I came down here from CT to attend a program entitled Teaching Parenting the Positive Discipline Way. And it was awesome. And while I’m sitting here in the Fort Lauderdale airport waiting for my delayed plane, I thought I’d share some things I discovered in […] The post Seven Things I learned in the…

By not your average mom Rant forthcoming. Yesterday I wrote a post about dealing with tantrums. And I received this comment: “…I’ve never experienced a kid tantruming…” It’s only part of the comment. I don’t think it was written by someone who was simply trying to get a rise out of me. I think it was written by a judgmental […] The post Newsflash: Your kids aren’t perfect. And neither…

By not your average mom If you have a two, three, four, or five-year-old, then there is a good chance you have the pleasure of experiencing at least one full-blown, level 10, code red temper tantrum a day. Our youngest is now five-years-old. I’d say the temper tantrums at this age are less frequent. But what they lack in frequency, […] The post If you don’t think you can deal…

By Jamie image credit: https://pixabay.com/ Tiny toes; tiny lips. The little fat rolls down the thighs. Oh, the smell of a newborn’s head. It is enough to make any mother start leaking breastmilk. Add in a crying baby, and there could be a need to change bras. While funny, that is not the overall point. The message is that breastfeeding is normal, right, and needed for the highest quality of…