Parents understand worry very well. Not only is the world a scary place, but babies and young children are just so fragile. I remember worrying about my kids when they were both newborns. SIDS terrified me and, since both were born early, both were slightly more likely to succumb to it. When my oldest learned to roll over just before he turned 6 months, he loved sleeping on his face. I spent a very sleepless week worrying about him. I slept with the monitor glued to my ear. I got up every 10 minutes to check on him. All night. Every night. Then the kids started to crawl and walk…
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Finding Magic in Motherhood, Part 7: I Should Have Known Something Was Going On
Despite my husband’s reassurances, I was prepared for the long wait for another positive pregnancy test. The doctor had said to wait 3 months, but we had decided to not follow his advice. Still, there was no guarantee I would ovulate any time soon, no guarantee I would get pregnant again right away, no guarantee that my body was actually ready, or even capable of, carrying a child. After the miscarriage, I had to go in for blood work to make sure my hCG level was going down. Fortunately, it did, and I stopped getting positive pregnancy tests. I was nervous, but it was time to try again. The end…
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It’s Not Just Children Who Stare
Whether you have kids or have found yourself around them, you know the stare. They can’t seem to help themselves as they stare intently at a stranger. Sometimes it’s unblinking without the hint of a smile. Sometimes there are a few blinks and a partly open mouth. And, no matter what you do, they won’t turn away, won’t smile, won’t say a word. They just stare. My kids don’t do this often, but it’s still a bizarre experience. But it’s not just kids who have mastered this stare. Or perhaps adults have simply remembered how to do the stare. That’s right. Adults. People older than my kids and people older…
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Motherhood is Magical: Redefining The Lily Cafe
Lately, I’ve been struggling with my motherhood posts. I’ve gotten caught in wanting to both fit in with other mom bloggers even though motherhood is only one focus of The Lily Cafe and with trying to talk about the kind of mom I am, which sometimes is at odds with what other mom bloggers write about. I adore reading mom blogs. I’ve found honesty, funny stories, encouragement, and a plethora of ideas. But the more and longer I read them, the more I feel out of place. After trying to fit in last year, I decided to focus on my mom truths and write about how I raise my kids,…
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My Late Preterm Babies
November is Prematurity Awareness Month. I debated for a while about whether I should write about my premature babies because, even though they were born early, they are far from the tiny babies born at twenty-something weeks who had to spend weeks to months in the NICU and face a lifetime of health, emotional, and behavioral problems. But if I blog for my children to one day read it and learn a little bit about what they were like as kids, then I want them to know they were born early, but are lucky, and maybe they’ll realize this is why they may have faced challenges at a young age.…
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Cuddle Bear Drive — Raising Money for Children Cancer Research — Confessions of a Parentless Mother
Do your good deal of the day and donate to the Cuddle Bear Drive! via Cuddle Bear Drive — Raising Money for Children Cancer Research — Confessions of a Parentless Mother
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My Little Troopers
My kids amaze me every day, but in times of crisis they are more than amazing. They are my little troopers. This past Saturday, The Husband wrote a post I could not bring myself to do. With love, empathy, and understanding, he crafted a post that not only spoke of what was happening in our family, but also paid tribute to beloved family members. Early last week, my grandma had a stroke. My mom described it as “very bad.” I was shaking since I was familiar with neuroscience and married a man who studied it and knew any outcome was bad. She ended up in the ICU for the rest…
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Baking with Young Children Tip #5
In lieu of a daily question on Fridays this month, I’ll be giving a baking with young children tip. I’ve switched up Fridays this month to highlight dads, but I can’t bring myself to forego food entirely. Baking tip #5: Have fun! Doing anything in the kitchen with small children can be difficult. There are small people getting underfoot, small people demanding attention and to be picked up, small people screaming if they don’t get to help, small people littering toys that you must navigate like a minefield, small people who decide the time when you absolutely must get something out of the oven is the best time to have…
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Soul
We are tired (Kat more so than I) – as I imagine many of you and others are out there in the world. We’ve made a conscious choice to be present. So there are many functions and events that we do not currently attend. Simple outings are challenging. Let’s all commiserate as we discuss “going to the market for groceries.” Is the toddler car seat in? Is the baby seat in? Who will take care of one child to prepare him/her to go outside while other parent does the same for the other child? Going down the stairs is also an adventure in futility as our first born can be…
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Celebrating Mothers: Mother’s Guilt by theworldtravelingmom
The Lily Cafe is thrilled to be celebrating this month and is honored to be able to share this lovely post on mom guilt by theworldtravelingmom! I am changing gears a little bit today for this blog. I want to talk about Mother’s Guilt. Doctors use words like postpartum, exhaustion, and hormonal changes. They give you pamphlets and offer advice on how to combat these things. They give you warning signs and reds flags to look for. But what they don’t […] via Mother’s Guilt. — theworldtravelingmom Thank you so much for letting me share! Do stop by this lovely lady’s blog and give her a follow! I hope you enjoyed…
