Blog
A Brutal School Day for Cole
Cole had his 13th day of school on Wednesday. It would be his sixtenth, but he had the flu by the end of week 2, so we kept him out a few extra days. On Wednesday, he came home with a shiner, and small cuts under his eye. He also came with a note saying that hand, foot and mouth disease might have been something he came in contact with… this is only day 13. Read more…
Blog
Our Three-Year-Old has Begun Apologizing
It had been my understanding that it didn’t make sense to teach very young children to apologize, because, until they understand empathy, it wouldn’t mean anything. As the daughter of a Canadian, I apologize constantly… egregiously to Americans. I actually mean it when I apologize, too. I feel bad for most things, even if they have nothing to do with me. SO when Cole came home and apologized for nothing… (seriously, it’s only been two Read more…
Blog
10 Blogs You Should Be Reading if You’re a Parent
1 . Potty Mouth Parents! I would be doing you and my family a terrible injustice if I didn’t mention our very own blog. You should read this on because we really do care about your experience as parents. We’re not people that sugar coat too much, and we’re imperfect as people and as parents, but like so many parents, we do try and we do strive to be a little better than the day Read more…
Easy
Chia Fruit Cup Recipe.
So we picked up these little fruit cups with Chia seeds. Our Two-Year-Old went BONKERS! He loves them. I didn’t hate the ingredients, but I did want to “organify” them (this is my made up word for adding organic ingredients, if that wasn’t apparent). I picked up three things to make this… Organic Chia seeds from Trader Joe’s, Fruit Juice (with NO ADDED SUGAR) and fruit. You can buy fruit cocktail with juice instead Read more…
Blog
10 Ways to Pump up Engagement for Your Blog
Do you envision tumbleweed rolling thru the corridors of your blog? You give your heart to your blog if you’re writing about something that makes you passionate, but what if other people aren’t passionate about your blog? What if they don’t even know about your blog? You may feel like you’ve wasted your time, but don’t give up before the miracle happens! Trust me! You may be competing in a niche where there are Read more…
Finance
Saving Money- September 2018
So, If your scroll down to my 2016 post about how I saved over $14,000 in one year on stuff that I didn’t need, you have a good jumping off point. That post referenced a time before we added kids to our life though, so there are more savings to be had, still. Here are some additional ways to save on what you’ve been over-spending on AND, I am including a chart at the bottom Read more…
Finance
Why I Buy Used Whenever Possible.
So a little intro into my inexpensive lifestyle….If you’ve read ANY of my posts on money, it becomes pretty clear that I’m not one to waste money. I was raised by a very cheap mother and a financially wasteful father, and I was terrified to spend money. Now, I don’t fear it, but I’m just not a wasteful person. I don’t enjoy clutter, and I enjoy watching my money grow. I mean honestly, if you Read more…
Blog
Holiday Toy Guide: 2018
The holidays are coming up unbelievably quickly. A part of me isn’t concerned. I know what our three-year-old likes, and our one-year-old has eight million hand-me-down toys, not including whatever gift we get him… and our toddler isn’t a picky guy, but what worries me is the speed at which his tastes change. Also, he just started preschool, so he may start to want toys he sees or hears about, which was never an issue Read more…
Blog
Why I Don’t Post Pictures of my Kids Online
Its back to school season and time for all of the first day of schools photos. I love seeing them, they’re always adorable. I posted a bluefish photo of our three-year-old a day after the photo was taken, and said I was posting even though I don’t like to post pictures of my kids on social media, and within a couple minutes a friend asked WHY. This is a normal question, its normal to want Read more…
Blog
Why I Talk About Self-Improvement, Without Being Self-Deprecating
I want my kids to aim for the sky in life, but I don’t want them to aim for perfection. Perfection isn’t real, its an illusion. Maybe it drives some people, but I feel like it will always amount to disappointment. Instead, I want to be encouraging and promote improving. Whether its one task a day or a year, any progress is fine, but progress is necessary. That’s all I need them to strive for. Read more…
Blog
Dirty Dozen, and What to Buy Organic
So the List, The ‘Dirty Dozen’, refers to the most contaminated produce. These are the items that you should buy organic. It can be hard, because of the cost difference, and especially with berries, sometimes the deal for the inorganic just seems so good its hard to turn down, but here are the items you should buy organic, no-matter-what… Sweet Bell Peppers Celery Potatoes Tomatoes Spinach Strawberries Apples Nectarines Peaches Grapes Cherries Pears Its Read more…
Blog
I Didn’t Know What I was Missing… Motherhood for me.
My apartment was always clean…. Like ALWAYS. I used to enjoy pulling everything from where it was, cleaning everything, and then putting it back. Sometimes I would change my entire organization methods. THAT was my spare time fun. If I wanted a craft beer, I’d call a friend and I’d go get a craft beer… or some food that no one should eat. Maybe tater tots or fries, a tempeh rueben… fried awesomeness. I’d tie Read more…
Blog
Going Back to Work and the Resume Nightmare.
I’m ready to work a day job other than being a Mom. I LOVE being a Mom, but Alex has an art degree and I have an MBA, and it may make more sense to have me dialing for dollars in corporate America than to have Alex at an IT help desk, losing his mind to ridiculous questions 40 hours a week. My resume has been an ongoing ordeal, but I’ve learned SOOOO much along Read more…
Blog
10 Ways to Take Advantage of Summer as a Family (or even solo)
10 Ways to Take Advantage of Summer as a Family (or even solo) Buy your produce at the farmer’s market – leave the recycled air and flash-frozen produce behind, and support your local farmers. I actually save a ton by buying produce from the farmer’s market too. You get fresh air, may run into someone you know AND its a great opportunity to get your kids outside and to promote healthy eating. Its a win-win-win! Read more…
Blog
Post Partem Weight Struggles… they’re real for me!
After we delivered our first baby, I was only 15-20 lbs more than my pre-pregnancy weight right after I had him. I had a lot of trauma at delivery and was restricted with TONS of physical therapy for the five months following, and ended up putting back on the weight I lost immediately after giving birth. I finally started losing weight again when our baby was about a year old… just in time to get Read more…
Blog
18 Things I Do that my Young Kids Think are Hilarious
20 Things I Do that my Young Kids Think are Hilarious Make animal noises. Its not always the same noise that they think is hilarious, so I keep plenty of animal noises in my repertoire I do Silly dances. I twirl the boys around, and they don’t seem to think it gets old. This can sometimes tone down a temper tantrum where tickling would make my two-year-old angry if he’s already upset. Tickles! This works Read more…
Blog
Motivating You Kids for Life.
First, a little tiny bit of back-story I think of myself as a pretty motivated person. I have some lazy attributes, but I try and put my best foot forward consistently. I am someone in the middle of a ten-kid family, and was raised in a home with three of my siblings. most of us have a good work ethic, all of us are pretty creative, but motivation hits a wall at some point Read more…
Blog
35 Things We Tell Our Kids that are Positive
So, anyone who follows this blog knows that not yelling has become our primary objective as parents. I felt like I was breaking our toddlers will and joy every time my volume went up, and I didn’t like it when he screamed in response. I’ve always said nice things to both of our boys, but I wanted us to take it to the “next level”, so I came up with a pretty definitive list of Read more…
Blog
Apparently, You’re Not Supposed to be an A$$#%le to Your Kids.
I’ve never been an asshole to our two-year on….. on purpose… that’s not to say I never asked him what the hell he was doing? It’s called Pottymouth Parents for a reason, our kids will be fine… chill. I found, however, that I was hurting my child’s feelings. Not because of my use of curse words (he’s totally desensitized to that (OOPS))… but my TONE was hurting his feelings… a LOT. I could see Read more…