That Mom Gig

Not EVERYONE has to LOVE the beach!  Okay - there - I said it! I don't love the beach, and maybe you don't either. Maybe it's time for people to openly admit that the beach isn't EVERYONE'S happy place, not everyone's paradise... it's okay if you prefer the mall, your mother's front porch, or even your bed. I certainly prefer all three of those things, and feel like there is a giant stigma that in the summer, everyone has to love the beach. Let's all just stop pretending that humidity, sand and scary waves are everyone's dream vacation. It's okay to prefer to stay home, let your kids run around in the living room or on your front lawn with a hose. It's okay to feel nervous about going to large public places even if they are outdoors. And it's certainly okay to opt out of never ending sand and schlepping in a crew neck with sleeves and my head covered. It has taken me years to admit this. This summer, after a few weekend trips to t

I have found that there are two kinds of moms out there. Those who care about sleep schedules, and those who don't. We can break it down even further though, if we separate naps from nighttime. I have been a stickler for naps and bedtimes since day one with both of my children, and I have never benefitted from it more in their lives than I have during the COVID stretch. Of course, when I had one baby I could do errands around lunch time and know that she'd sleep in the car, in the stroller, wherever we went. But as she got more routinized out of infancy, those car naps were harder to sustain. Kids can sense when the car comes to a stop or when the engine shuts off. I enrolled my daughter in daycare at 10 months where they quickly trained her to take one nap a day. That blocked out time was sacred to us on the weekends - to keep her on schedule, and provide us with some much needed downtime - I mean, I was already pregnant with my second on the way and the sleep couldn't b