As a new mother, you are bombarded with information about babies and routines and sleep. You are told that you should put your baby down awake but sleepy at the same time of day so that they learn to get into a routine with their sleep. You are told that a routine is key for their development, and that without one, your baby won’t develop the way that you think they will. Routines are a good idea for older babies, and the best routine you could ever have is the one that your baby sets for themselves.
UPDATE: ANOTHER BLOW!! This was originally published just a couple weeks ago, TPS, our school district, just sent out another message that ALL kids will return to remote learning at home. We are currently working through some deep emotions, but this post holds truer now then it did just a few weeks ago. Would love to read your take and thoughts.
The BIG day was almost here, the day the kids have been looking forward to since March, going back to school in-person!! Our 7th and 9th grader were super stoked, after a decade in an elementary building they were going to finally have lockers. You would have thought they were finally receiving their driver’s license the way their eyes light up when talking about their locker, locker combinations, how they wanted to decorate their lockers, etc. As a parent it felt amazing seeing them getting so excited about school, and truth be told they weren’t the only ones. My plan after all three kiddos were finally in in-person, or the hybrid schedule, was to start substitute teaching. Yep, we were finally moving on from this quarantine lifestyle, back into the real world, back to reality, our lives outside the home, no longer on a screen daily, but actually in-person. We were so close we could taste it!! And then we received the crushing news.
It’s nearly that time of year where the festivities are upon us, and although this year hasn’t been quite the same as before, we can still make use of this festive time of year. Here are four ways to get festive with the family.
Do you worry about whether your parents are prepared for retirement? It’s natural to be concerned about whether they have adequate savings and investments and how they might need to adjust their lifestyle once they’re no longer working. You might also be thinking about where they’re going to live and what might happen if they need some extra support in the future. Parents often won’t talk to their adult children about their finances, which can leave you concerned about whether yours are prepared for retirement. If you want to help make sure your parents are ready, there are some things that you can do to help them prepare.
Waiting for that magical gift idea to just pop into your head? Hoping that in time it’ll just click and you’ll cross paths with the perfect gift for that loved one? And then what often inevitably occurs? 1-you wait too long and just grab a gift card, or, 2-you panic and grab whatever gift you can find knowing it’s a total gamble, but chances are disappoint is going to come over the recipient’s face when they open those kitten oven mitts. While gift-giving comes naturally to some people, for others of us choosing a gift for a birthday, Christmas or another celebration can be a stressful task. If you’re someone who struggles to choose gifts for your loved ones, don’t panic – it doesn’t have to be a nightmare, it’s just a case of learning what it takes to choose a truly great gift.
With more and more people staying home due to COVID-19, people are spending a lot more time on streaming services, watching TV and finding new shows to indulge in. With more time going towards electronics, it’s easy to get caught up in watching re-runs of shows you’ve seen 100 times and can quote every line to, but you don’t have to settle for something you’ve already seen. Stargirl, which was executively produced by Geoff Johns, was recently released on DC Universe. If you like superheroes and DC Comics, this show may be something to check out. Here are descriptions of three of the top characters in the series.
1. Stargirl
The main character is played by Brec Bassinger. Stargirl is the star of the show and starts out as a normal high school student from Los Angeles who’s just minding her own business and going through life until she finds the Cosmic Staff. After finding the staff, she transforms into Stargirl and prepares for her role to lead the Justice Society of America. She’s your typical girl next door who ends up stumbling into something supernatural. Before Bassinger becomes Stargirl, she’s commonly known as Courtney Whitmore.
2. Wildcat II
Yvette Monreal plays this character who starts out as a popular, well-liked student named Yolanda Montez. However, her luck changes and she ends up getting disgraced by her ultra-Catholic parents which makes her an outcast. After dealing with this trauma, she befriends Stargirl and becomes a member of the Justice Society of America, transforming into Wildcat II. One of her valuable skills throughout the series is boxing.
3. Hourman II
Before becoming Hourman II, Cameron Gellman plays Rick Tyler. He’s a troubled teen with a hard past. He has anger issues and is a high school delinquent. His parents were both killed when he was seven years old in a set-up car accident, so he’s dealt with a lot without much guidance. He befriends Stargirl and ends up transforming into Hourman II, following in the footsteps of his late father. He too joins the Justice Society of America.
With so many shows out there to choose from today, it can be hard to settle on a series without having a family fight or you not actually enjoying what you chose. Stargirl is an action-packed series that will satisfy any DC Comic lover’s fancy. Consider adding it to your list of shows to indulge in as you stay home more often.
With kiddos learning virtually, remotely, or a hybrid combination, participating in extracurriculars online, from dance classes on Zoom to music lessons on Facetime, and then finally being able to have some downtime and “play” with friends on Minecraft, Roblox, Among Us, etc. to say their use of screen time has skyrocketed would be an understatement. The use of screen time has officially reached a record high among kids this year. And though, as parents we try our best to balance screen free time and outdoor play there are still side effects to so much screen time including, headaches, eye fatigue and strain, and a disruption in sleeping habits. Thankfully there’s a solution to help put these irritating symptoms at bay, glasses, blue light glasses!
We might not agree on politics or the way things have been handled since the pandemic hit, or even who our next President will be, but one thing we can all agree upon is the fact that the pandemic has had all of us reassess our priorities. Suddenly that promotion at work, that fancy car we hoped to impress the neighbors with, and how much time we could spend at the pub with friends seemed insignificant. Lockdowns and quarantines have really driven home the fact that it’s quality time with the family that matters most in this world. That being said, many of us are working from home, children are schooling and participating in their extracurriculars from home, etc. Screens have literally become a necessity for our connection to not only the outside world but, our lives. As parents, it’s been ingrained in our heads since the time our children were born that we need to limit their screen time. This struggle has never been more apparent and real than now. Balancing required screen time for school, extracurriculars, and downtime with games on tablets has really proven to be a challenge for us parents. The narrative has really been flipped, we used to schedule screen time and now we must schedule time to unplug and spend screen-free quality time together as a family. Unplugging those screens has also been proven beneficial for their mental health, but how can quality time with the family compete with Disney+, Among Us, Roblox, and Minecraft? By coming up with some super-appealing activities and blocking out Family Time Fun sessions that will have their heads turned.
If 2020 were a relationship it’d be a toxic one! But I can’t hate it. For as much as I despise all the epic life events and celebrations that had to be cancelled I can’t help but wonder if maybe there’s a blessing in disguise. Bear with me here. As parents we want the best for our children, we want them to live full vibrant lives, be rich in faith, have solid friendships, be well educated, etc. And if we reflect on our own childhoods, WAY back in the 80s and 90s, some of our best memories might have been at school dances, gatherings with friends, etc. But this isn’t the 80s or 90s, and quite honestly, who knows how all those events that we wanted so badly for our children that had to be cancelled would have turned out, like the school dances, carnivals, parties, etc. I get that they should have at least had the opportunity to experience them, but it’s not fair for us parents to assume that the outcome, the memories they would have made would have been positive ones. So where is all this coming from? This thought popped into my head while dancing in my front yard last night with my husband, mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, my 10 year old daughter, 13 year old son, my Freshman daughter and two of her friends.
Raising a family is tough, raising a family during a pandemic is a full on challenge! Having kids at home learning virtually has brought about a sedentary lifestyle no parent has ever had to deal with before. Sitting in front of Chromebooks or Laptops for 6+ hour a day can not only strain children’s eyes, mess with their sleep schedule, but, it can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle. With no recess or gym and ample snacks literally feet away in their own kitchen the temptation to grab a sweet or salty snack is real. Thus, though there are many factors working against us as parents it is still possible to raise a healthy, wholesome family even during a pandemic – the key is to remain vigilant. Are you looking for ways to create and establish healthy habits in your family? The following tips should help.
Mom on the go in Holy Toledo 