Thoughts from a Hamilton County Mom

I remember when I became a new mom and the lifestyle of caring for a newborn was so hard for me. My husband & I had a life where we cared for our selves and that was it. So, to suddenly have to take care of a newborn was such a different level. I remember chatting with a mom friend about how I couldn't possibly get used to taking care of this baby, not getting any sleep, having to breastfeed every two hours. Her response, "you'll get used to it." It sounds so simple and yet it made so much sense. Throughout my years as a mom there is so many times that this mantra has held true. I've said it to many mothers over the years about many situations. You'll get used to it. I never thought I would get used to the lack of sleep in my life. I needed a full eight hours before I had my children. Sometimes even 10 hours was needed. It took awhile but eventually I did get used to waking up every 3 hours and I could still function. sleeping in spurts became my new nor

Since moving to the Carmel/Westfield area I've falllen in love . . . . with roundabouts! Being the mom that I am who is always running late, I love every extra minute I save on my way to take my kids to practice or home from the grocery store. Even if I only save 30 seconds, I am still excited. I love that I can travel down Springmill Road from 161st Street to 96th Street without stopping.  I love every opportunity not to stop and look around at all of the others at the four-way intersection and see who is going to go first. I love that at a roundabout  I don't have to worry about the courtesy wave, or annoyed flip of the wrist that has to occur for some of us to go again after we've had to stop.  But as in every love relationship, not everything is perfect. Here is the only problem with my current love. When giving other east side, south or west side mamas directions to my house, I cannot figure out how to tell them to 'turn left' at a roundabout. If I do expl

It's true there is a big distinction between mothers and fathers. Be it good or bad, we are wired differently and are going to be different parents for that reason. There are many parenting situations that a mothers will handle differently than a father. Here are a few: Bed Time: It is late and mother decides she is going to go to bed. She first picks up toys in the living room, folds the blanket and places it neatly on the couch, goes into the kitchen and starts the dishwasher, sets the coffee pot to brew in the morning, wipes the counter off, puts the laundry into the dryer and puts out the kids clothes to wear in the morning. She finally makes it to her own bathroom where she spends 15 minutes on her pre-bedtime routine before finally lying down. A dad decides that he is going to go to bed. He gets up, brushes his teeth and goes to bed. Going to the Park: Moms pack some sweet snacks, some salty snacks, some healthy snacks, water, sunscreen and a jacket. Before leaving, th

I recently checked my email for some updates on some projects that I'm working on. I needed some money info, some scheduling info & some responses from my counterparts. You might think these emails had to do with my job, however they did not. They were for a committee & sports team that I am volunteering for. You see, I have 3 kids who are all in school and are a part of sports teams or clubs. These clubs don't organize & run themselves, you know. These extracurricular activities & extra school functions are typically afloat because of wonderful volunteers. If you have kids too then you know that you've been asked to volunteer a million times. To be snack mom, room mom or even the ever-frightening committee chair. While I know that most of us don't love to do this, I'm here to tell you that volunteers are necessary to make our kiddos have these wonderful experiences. So, bite the bullet and volunteer. Can't because you're busy? News f

Everyone has advice for you when you have a baby.Breast feed, bottle feed, co-sleep, cry it out, stay-at-home, work part time - the list goes on and on. Some advice is good, some not so great for a new mom. But I'm here to tell you to ignore it all and just take this one piece of all important advice when you become a mom. It's very important so read closely. Start a moms group. Yes, you heard me - a moms group. A group of ladies with babies or kids around the same age as yours. A group that gets together on the regular like once a week or at the very least monthly. With the kids around or not, does not matter. But the moms have to be able to chat. Why is this so important? We all have many people to talk to. Our husbands/boyfriends/significant are often ready to listen to us talk about our pregnancy, but can the male species really understand what labor feels like? Do they really understand how you can love being a mother so much but suffer from overwhelming post-par t