Stepping up to the plate isn’t always easy when it comes to volunteering your time for anything. Most moms are busier than ever nowadays and are professional jugglers. The fear of dropping the ball or taking a misstep at any time can be worrisome to most moms. Have no fear, you can do it.

Recently, my three-year-old daughter began having night terrors.   I hope this is something you haven’t experienced, but after doing some research, it is a relatively common phenomenon in mostly younger children.  One study I read said that up to as high as 40% of children have experienced them.  

I think I do it all. I say I do in petty arguments about whose turn it is to change the stinky diaper.  I may even vent about it to my girlfriends on a girls’ night out.  But it’s a boldfaced lie. I don’t do it all.

We recently asked our pediatrician to get in the battle, asking him to very clearly point out how important fruits and vegetables are to eat.  While his recommendation helped, ultimately it is still up to me and my husband to get our four-year-old, Elsie, to eat well.  So, I have enlisted some of my favorite kitchen gadgets to make fruits and vegetables more appealing.

Do you have a good relationship with your in-laws, any relationship? There are many reasons why pursuing a positive relationship with your in-laws is a good thing, especially if you have children.

What do you do to take care of yourself, or how do you choose to spend your quiet moments? Wishing you plenty of quiet moments to yourself that make you thankful for your noise.

I love story time.  Story time was one of the first activities I brought my girls to when I became a stay-at-home mom.  I have only had the opportunity to attend the story time at the Weyers Hilliard Library in Howard. But, there are many different story times offered throughout the Brown County Library System.

Parenting is hard and requires a sense of humor.  It also doesn’t hurt to ask for a little divine intervention once in a while.  Thus, we pray as a family before dinner, and the adorable prayers of my twin three-year-olds are both entertaining and impressive.

Perhaps I’m not the only one, but I often think about how things were different when I was a child. It might be because I’m in the midst of raising my own children. It might be because I miss simpler times. The world may have undergone a drastic change. Whatever the reason, one thing I reflect on often is the difference in babysitting now versus twenty years ago.

I went into the final days of my 42-week pregnancy armed with hopes and plans of what my experience as a new mom would be like. I arrived at the hospital on my induction date with a nervous smile and the naive expectations only first-time moms possess.