Written several years ago by my online manager, Melody Hansen. Several years as in her boys are now 9 and 11 and far less squishy. I've had a few friends mention to me lately that they get discouraged reading about the perfect lives of Moms and their brilliant, well-behaved children.  I did read recently that people tend to glamorize their lives on Facebook and other online forums, so it can be easy to get discouraged. If you read about a Mom who makes her children homemade waffles every morning, volunteers 3 hours every day, makes homemade cookies for the neighbors every weekend, never fights with her husband and sings carols at nursing homes Keep Reading

Traveling with a toddler can have its challenges if you aren’t fully prepared. When you decide to travel across the country, there are several layers of stressors for your toddler.  From navigating the airport to being confined to an airplane seat for several hours, your little one will be dealing with stress that they possibly never have before. Ensuring you are fully prepared will help you to make the trip as enjoyable as possible. Preparing for a trip when you have a toddler is a whole different animal than flying by yourself or with other adults, much more than just packing enough clothes and a few toys.  You’ll need to think ahead and not only Keep Reading

Our family just recently got back from a trip to Disneyland and California Adventures in Anaheim and ever since, I've been deluged with questions and concerns and would-you-go-backs and tell-me-all-about-its. The one question I've heard over and over is "How in the world did your kids do?". Our kids are 5 1/2 and 3 1/2 and to be perfectly honest, I was a little concerned about how they would do. The youngest still takes epic naps and they get grumpy and irritable and stubborn when they are tired. How would they possibly make it through a whole day? I love Disney with all my might, but wasn't sure if it would work its magic on my boys, at least Keep Reading