It Isn’t Easy Being Green
We can all feel super “green” when it comes to parenting – and I’m not talking about being environmentally conscious. Parenting seems so new and foreign. It doesn’t really matter how many books you’ve read or how many classes you’ve taken in preparation for becoming parents (or even how many classes you’ve taught about the […]
Love Gives You Wings
Short and sweet reminder for all new parents: Remember that our partners will care for their babies differently from us. They are unique individuals who come to their role of parenting with their own set of family and life experiences, thoughts, and ideas about how to take care of a baby. Depending on their personal […]
Ready or Not?
As the couples file out of the classroom at the end of my Childbirth Preparation series, I usually ask them something: “Are you ready?” This might seem like a loaded question, and it is. I’m hoping that I’ll hear something along the lines of, “I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” or “I’m […]
Circle of Trust
Sometimes it’s hard to trust that you’re good enough to be a parent. It’s such an important job. But it’s a job that is all to often undervalued in a society where our worth is judged by how much money we make and how much stuff we own. With parenting, there’s very little monetary gain. […]
“The Period of Purple Crying” What is THAT?!
Have you heard about “The Period of Purple Crying?” Have you already experienced it? If not, consider yourself lucky. If you are reading this in the midst of such a period, you have my greatest empathy. The Period of Purple Crying is something that most parents will experience at some point and I want you to […]
I Was the Best Parent Ever – Until I Actually Became One!
Is it possible that you might not be the ideal parent that you thought you were going to be before the baby arrived? Is it possible that you might parent differently than you’d imagined because – Hellooooo, reality? Just a couple of questions to think about as you begin your parenting journey. Because this is […]
Why Does Embracing Change Have to Be SO Hard?
I think that many new parents feel that when they have a baby they’ll essentially remain the exact same person they were before. Only now – they have a baby. And there is great appeal in that because as human beings, most of us don’t really like change. We like things to be pretty predictable. […]
I’m Ready for My Close Up!
As new parents you might be tempted to try and capture every moment with your new baby. This is true of almost every parent – even those of us who had babies before smart phones were ever invented! (I know, I know… I’m old.) I’m putting this in writing for the sake of my two […]
A Family That Thrives
After my husband I got married, well-meaning people would ask us all the time, “When will you be starting a family?” Which was just the more polite way of saying, “When are you going to get busy and make some babies?” But weren’t we a family? I mean, we had chosen one another out of […]
31 Days – What Can I Say? It’s a Calling.
I sat in the darkened auditorium watching a series of slides: different women laboring hard to bring their babies into this world, while Tracy Chapman’s The Promise played quietly in the background. I felt like I had finally discovered what it was that I wanted to devote my life’s work to. This made no practical […]