Goodnight Mom

It’s been a while since I posted anything on this blog. When I’m done working and taking care of the kids and cleaning up our mess for the day, getting on my computer to write about my thoughts and feelings is the last thing I’ve wanted to do. Instead, I’ve gone to the gym, had dinner with friends, or watched The Crown on Netflix, or wandered into the rabbit hole of obsessing over & consuming all things Meghan and Harry (I’m done with that though!).  But, I do love this blog. The outlet it’s given me to express myself about parenthood. The impact it’s had on the folks who read it. (Thank you, by the way, for reading and to those of you who have reached out to respond). So, I have returned to write about something controversial but weighing on my mind. Parenting young kids kind of sucks. In my opinion. If I had $1 for every person who told me we were in the “best years of our lives” or the “best time” of parenthood, I would be able to pay for full time childcare until they both ...

Back in February 2021, Steve and I were exhausted by the pandemic (anyone else??). He surprised me one evening by sharing a ton of research he’d done on a possible trip to the big island of Hawaii. We’d wanted to go there for years, but had always hesitated because we never had enough PTO to make the cost of the trip worthwhile.  But this time, we had more flexibility in our schedules and Steve thought it would be a great way to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary. We figured, by November 2021 most folks would be vaccinated and Covid would be much less of a concern (sigh… as I write this Omicron is doing a number on us).  “I don’t need any details, just book it all, I’m 100% in,” I told him.  The thought of scuba diving in the coral reef off the Hawaii coast was a beautiful day dream that occupied my mind. Steve found us an AirBnb in Kona on the big island across the street from Kahalu'u Beach Park – a place known for great snorkeling and beginner surfing conditions...

In my last post , I wrote about our experience taking Max to Cosmic Honey for a camping party weekend. When I drafted that post it got very long because I was trying to talk about everything related to partying with a baby AND being prepared for a camping weekend. So instead, I decided to split the post in two.  Steve and I both enjoy camping so we didn’t want that to stop just because we have a baby who needs to nap a lot. Our first trip with him was when he was 4 months old. Now he’s 18 months, and has recently transitioned to one nap per day. I’m hopeful that our next trip will be a little easier!  It’s not always going to be easy, and if you go camping with your young child they probably won’t get as much sleep as they usually would. But they’ll have so much fun outdoors, it will be way worth the hassle!  Practice makes perfect I just wanted to shout out to the fact that our first camping trip with Max was in July 2020, he was 4 months old. I told Steve, we have to pr...