Achievements!

Mom of 3 flies first class, eats all the snacks, refuses to leave

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My husband and I decided to do something special for our tenth wedding anniversary this summer. First, we were going to leave our kids at Grandmas for the week. Then we would climb into bed, turn down the lights, find the perfect music and just….sleep. Oh, wait, did I mention this would be done on a plane? I had better explain.

We decided to fly across the country for a kid-free trip and as the ultimate indulgence, we cashed in our air miles to buy business class tickets. We have never flown anything but economy, so this was a big deal. However, please do not tell us how much this normally costs. Since air miles are not real money, it was easy to upgrade when no real numbers are involved. I’m serious, please do not send me the dollar amount. Some things are best left unknown.

As the day drew closer, we began to get excited about the flight. Would there be fancy food? Champagne? Lots of people in monocles and top hats? We really had no idea. We had never seen what was on the other side of the curtain. We heard rumors of full sized snacks but were trying not to get our hopes up.

“It is probably not that much better,” we told each other. “We probably won’t even notice the difference.” Continue reading →

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A Brutally Honest Christmas Card

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Well, it’s that time again! Time to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. It is apparently also time to write Christmas letters and stick them into cards to update said friends and family on your life for the last year. I love getting these, but I almost never get myself together enough to write one for our family. So instead, let me send this digital version to all my friends and family online. Here goes:

Dear friends and family, (and internet strangers) Continue reading →

Potty Training: A Captain’s Log

~ newbiemomsite ~ 1 Comment

The time has come for the tiny human to join acceptable society in using the potty. It became apparent that the tiny human was not going to potty train himself, so the Captain and First Mate will have to bravely go where they haven’t gone before. (To the store to buy a potty.) The Captain and First Mate begin this stage by doing some reading. Though the reading makes them feel guilty for waiting until Tiny Human was so old to begin this journey, it also allows them to begin to imagine a future without diapers. Then they look at their other, tinier humans and quickly give up this dream. Finally, along comes the dreaded day.

Day 1: It begins

7:00am: Though the Captain and First Mate have been preparing the tiny human for this change for many weeks, he has been taken by surprise. Rather than comply with the inevitable, he is instead staging a mutiny! This will not stand. Continue reading →

Twin Questions Answered Part 2: The Deep Questions

~ newbiemomsite ~ 2 Comments

If you are looking to chat with a lot of random strangers, go some place with twin babies. When they notice my giant double stroller, they can’t help themselves. Since most people don’t have experience with twins, they have lots of questions. Last week I answered some of the logistical questions I get about my infant twins. You can read more about that here.

This week I am answering some of the deeper questions. Keep in mind that a) my twins are very new, so I am not an expert at all and b) this is only my opinion and should not be taken to represent all twin parents.  Continue reading →

100 Pieces of Advice for New (and Newish) Moms

~ newbiemomsite ~ 2 Comments

Today is a big day at Newbie Mom Site: It’s my 100th post! I decided to celebrate by collecting 100 pieces of advice from parents.

I know what you’re thinking: “Uh, Newbie Mom, isn’t your blog tagline about how you DON’T do advice on the blog? And now you’re giving out advice?”

Oh, you read that, huh? Well, um, yes. But, it is a special occasion, after all. Maybe the tagline should be no advice except every hundred posts, when I’ll throw out all the advice I can think of. That’s catchy, right?

Anyway, I talked to many of the wonderful people in my real and virtual life, and they gave me a wealth of great tips for life as a parent. The names of these terrific people appear next to their advice. Any advice without a name is mine.

Here are 100 Pieces of Advice for New (And New-ish) Parents:

Or anyone who likes advice, really. Continue reading →

What my Toddler is Getting you for Christmas

~ newbiemomsite ~ 4 Comments

Well, we’re in the holiday home stretch now! With one week until Christmas, we have finished our shopping and wrapped all the presents. I know! I feel so on top of things this year.

My toddler would like to announce that he is also finished with his presents for the holidays. Spoiler: he went the “home made” route this year. He can’t exactly go to the store, after all. These gifts may be a tad unusual, but he thinks you will love them.

Here is what my toddler is getting you for Christmas:

Continue reading →

Guest Post: The Art of Bedtime Stories

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This week’s post is a guest post from Zara Lewis.  She is a freelance writer and a mom, who is stopping by to write about the art of bedtime stories. You can read more from her here.

One of my favourite things as a parent is reading my son stories. He is a big bookworm already and I love it! We all know that reading has benefits for our kids, but we rarely consider the full extent of these benefits.

The art of bedtime storytelling: influence on child developmentfeatured.jpg

Long before they were ever written down, stories existed in the oral form and were passed on from generation to generation, beautifully altering along the way, but with a never-changing moral of the story. The famous French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss underlined the importance of myths and ancient stories by explaining how societies expressed their moral and ethical values through these wonderful art forms and preserved them for future generations. This incredible heritage of the entire human race is still kept alive on a daily basis through the simple act of telling (or reading) bedtime stories to children. Here are the main benefits of continuing to do so. Some may even surprise you.   Continue reading →

Me doing laundry VS. my husband doing laundry

~ newbiemomsite ~ 14 Comments

During my undergraduate degree, I spent a few summers working in a living history museum. It was one of those places where the interpreters dress in the clothing of the day and do activities typical to the time period. As a result, I have many useless skills for modern living.

Anyway, one of those activities was laundry. We would spend the morning showing visitors the joy of doing laundry without mechanical assistance, as it would have been done 100 years ago. Let me tell you, it was difficult. I have no idea how women did this and still managed to feed anyone. (Or do anything else, for that matter.)

By comparison, doing laundry with the help of modern technology seems like such a simple task:

1. Put laundry in washing machine.

2. Put laundry in dryer.

3. Fold laundry and put it away.

Easy, right? Sure. However, as most of us know, it is never quite that easy. For example, my husband and I have developed some very unique variations on this task. Let me show you what I mean.

Continue reading →

Why I love baby-led weaning

~ newbiemomsite ~ 2 Comments

First, in case you haven’t heard this term before, let me translate. Baby-led weaning is a way to introduce solid foods to babies. Basically instead of mashing or pureeing food, you just cut it into large pieces and allow them to gum it/suck on it. Eventually they learn to take bites, chew and swallow the food. There are lots of sites to Google, if you want more information about this.

When I first heard of baby-led weaning, I dismissed it. (Actually, I believe I told my husband that it was “some hippy s*it”.) Anyway, I take it back. I happily admit that I was wrong because I love baby-led weaning. Like LOVE it. We started it with my son when he was 6 months old and now, at just over a year old, he eats most foods happily and feeds himself. I have never done purees, or had to sit down to two dinners because we had to spoon feed him his food first.  We eat all together using most of the same foods.

Here are some things to know about baby-led weaning:

Continue reading →

I want to go back to work and I don’t feel bad about it

~ newbiemomsite ~ 2 Comments

Today is my first day back at work. Before you offer me a tissue, I am actually very happy about it.

I have been on a maternity leave for 1 year with my son. I have enjoyed the time and feel lucky that my country allows me to take a year of leave. I feel a little nervous about heading back, but overall I am looking forward to going back to work.

This can be a hot button issue for new moms. I know that some new mothers will read this and be completely mystified about why I would want to return to work and put my son in daycare. They will stay home for a variety of reasons. Some will go back to work, but count the minutes until they can return to their kids. I am not this person. I make no judgements about how you decide to care for your children, but I don’t think I am going to be the mom crying in the car after dropping her son off at daycare on my first day of work. I want to go back to work, and I don’t feel bad about it.

Let me explain: Continue reading →