Happy Healthy Hip Parents

I've been a Mom for just under five years. There should be a celebration for parents when we reach that milestone.

Among family, friends, colleagues and clients, I know some pretty amazing Moms and Dads. Many of us don't get the recognition that we deserve for our sleepless nights, endless worries and countless miles of carpooling our drooling, crying, adorable kids from doctor's appointments to soccer practice, play dates to birthday parties.

Most parents may not think of themselves worthy of a Parent of the Year award, but they're definitely Happy Healthy Hip Parents 24/7.

High school friends I've been reacquainted with online, parents who blog while their kids are at school (or sleeping), and friends who I've met at play dates and Mommy's groups, will be highlighted here over the next few weeks.

I look forward to sharing their stories and giving props to parents who raise happy, healthy, hip kids - one of the most rewarding jobs you could ever have.

Vote for Me

No, I'm not running for President and I'm not asking for you to select me for Parent of the Year. What I am asking is that you please vote for my blog which is included in the Parenting category of this year's Love This Site Awards presented by Divine Caroline.

You do need to register in order to vote, so I understand if submitting your email address to yet another site is not on your list of priorities, but if you are into blogging, whether it's reading them or writing your own, I would greatly appreciate a vote to put my parenting blog on the map.

My site is included amongst many amazing writers - many of whom I have voted for already - but if you enjoy this site, why not practice your voting skills for the upcoming election. I'm not going to ask you to wear an "I Voted," sticker, but if you ask nicely, I may just create one!

Mom of the Year Award

I can't wait to hear about the winners of this contest, put together by Today's Mama:

This May, in honor of Mother’s Day, we’re giving away a bundle of great prizes with “The 2008 TodaysMama Award” and we’re taking nominations now! Email us at info@todaysmama.com and tell us what makes you or the mama in your life unique, amazing and fabulous for a chance to win a HUGE prize package that includes:

• An On-The-Go Organizer from Family Facts
• Read, Remember, Recommend by Rachelle Knight
• Puzzle Shirt and Clipboard from ProMom Couture
• Momspit Gift Package in assorted scents
• A Shopping Cart Cover & $50.00 Gift Certificate from Kangaroodle
• A Metro Mama Wrap from Baby Bloomers (831-423-BABY)
• A MomAgenda Kitchen Folio, Set of 25 Notecards & $50.00 Gift Certificate from Couture Invito
• Custom Calling Cards ($55.00 Value) from BusyNest Cards
• Motherhood Necklace from Blue Poppy Jewelry
• A six-pack of Straplettes

We’ll select 5 finalists and post them right here on May 11th and then TodaysMama.com readers will be able to vote for their favorite. Send your nomination to info@todaysmama.com today! Please put “Award” in the subject line of your email. Good Luck Mamas!

It Takes a Village

I am not the first one in my circle to have a baby (OK, my son is technically not a baby - he turns 4 at the end of the month), but I am the first among us - that I'm aware of - to become a Certified Parent Educator.

In no way does that mean that I am certified to actually be a parent. Anyone can do that. That's the easy part: creating a child, bringing him or her into the world. The challenge comes afterwards and the more verbal and active the little beings become, the bigger the challenge.

One of my best girlfriends contacted me recently for some helpful words of wisdom. You see, with my son (and high-conflict divorce) I've pretty much dealt with every possible parenting issue under the sun. The fact that my sister (whose son is 18 months younger than mine) and my friend who is ten years older than me (give or take) come to me with questions regarding their little ones and the ages and stages that they're in gives me strength and encouragement that I hope I am able to reflect back to them.

That I've been there, done that, proves nothing except for the fact that we all - as parents - must go through the same things, exactly the same things. Whether our kids hit, bite, talk back, or repeat something we've said, our children will still continue look to us for advice, guidance and for our unconditional love and support.

Now, I can't speak for all parents, but I know that there are certainly days when I feel exhausted, overwhelmed, and wonder how on earth I could possibly survive another day with the energetic bundle of bones that is jumping on me, screaming and crying loud enough to wake the neighbors (and still somehow manage to make me smile through it all).

Those are the days - and nights - when I wonder how I will possibly get to work (and function) on little or no sleep. Then there are the times when I wish I could play hooky, when I wish I could just sit up all night and watch my little guy sleep (and listen to what he says while he's dreaming).

Having a child is the most rewarding, life-altering and life-enhancing experience. I only have one (so far) and while there are those who struggle to bring a baby into this world, and those who simply choose not to even try, I must admit that having a child was not my choice.

What I mean is that, for a brief period of time, I thought I would never have kids. Then I got pregnant, unexpectedly, in college, and lost the baby just a few months later. I lost more than my unborn child that day and it took me a long time - years, in fact - to finally come to the realization that life does what it will with us.

I ended up moving to San Diego after the miscarriage, meeting my son's father, getting married, and creating our beautiful child together before moving on and separating our lives and dividing our time.

I could dwell on the negative aspects of all of this, like the fact that my son cries himself to sleep quite often, always missing the other parent, but instead, I choose to look at the positive things that my son is getting from this experience of moving back and forth between two worlds.

He is loved. He is challenged. He is learning to adjust, learning to live under different sets of rules, habits and climates. He is growing to love each of us for our strengths and despite our weaknesses. Our ability to apologize (profusely) and ask for forgiveness enables our son to see the ups and downs of life, the best and worst of people.

Life leads us in many different directions. Some may seem predictable, some come to us as a complete surprise. Parenthood is like that too. We should all be so lucky. And we should all be lucky to have friends and family to turn to - for advice, a shoulder to cry on, or to brag about our little one's achievements.

I feel honored that my girlfriends come to me for any number of these things. I love sharing the horror stories of parenthood with them - along with the mommy moments that make us proud. I am proud of all the Mommies in my life - especially my own - for teaching me to be a better parent.

Ouch and Oh No!

My son cut me with a razor blade last night. I know. It sounds painful, which it was, but it was more devastating to me that I wasn't paying attention to the fact that the razor blade was within his reach.

To make a short story long, my son wanted very badly to help me hang up a new wall fixture. I took out the tool box and grabbed the hammer. He climbed up on the stool with me and was helping me pound in the first few nails but he got pretty bored and decided to climb back down the ladder while I finished the project.

So, there I am, two steps up the ladder, pounding the nail into the wall with one hand while trying to hold on to the fixture with the other and I suddenly feel this painful and somewhat familiar feeling on my leg and before I even look down, I know what's happening.

Sure enough, there is my son, holding a bright yellow razor blade which he pulled out of the tool box and dragged down my ankle towards my foot. I took a deep breath - stopped myself from screaming at him like I wanted to do - and stepped slowly down the ladder and asked him to hand the razor blade to me.

I pointed to my leg and the blood dripping down my foot and asked, "Did you see what just happened?" His face went white as he realized that it was blood and that he was responsible.

I had one of two options here. I chose to focus on the blood first so I insisted that he help me clean it up and put bandages on. Since it was a nice, straight line down my foot, and since I did not want band-aids with Winnie the Pooh characters highlighting my new boo-boo, it took 4 standard size band-aids to cover it up.

He knew that he did something wrong but seeing as how he was merely experimenting with this new tool, I really couldn't punish him. After all, he has never seen a razor blade before and had no idea what would happen when he used it the way he did.

We had "the talk" where I pointed out to him that Mommy made a big mistake in having the tool box out and not paying attention to what he was doing. I told him how important it is to not touch tools unless an adult says it's alright.

If I had to do it over again, I would've put the tool box back in the cabinet where it's usually kept - above the refrigerator - where even I have to get out a step stool to retrieve it.

If I had to do it over again, I'd take the razor blade out of the tool box and replace it with this awesome Klever Kutter that I recently discovered through one of my favorite sites, PreschoolRock.com.


My son is now at that stage where I need to take home safety issues more seriously. After all, he's his father's son, which means he is curious, confident, and especially comfortable with tools so it's no surprise that he would pick something up and test it out.

Luckily, he was not hurt. And I have learned a valuable lesson. And, while I should know better, I have to wonder if single parents end up in the emergency room with their children more often than those with a co-parent in the same home?

I'll have a scar, no doubt, from this little experiment, but I am going to be much more diligent about home safety and keeping tabs on him.

Yep, another reason to vote for me for the Parent of the Year award. Have you heard of it? Do you have your own parenting stories to share? I sure hope so because I'm feeling pretty down about the situation and could use other people's stories to help me focus on the fact that there are other parents out there who may have regrets about what they've said or done. I can't even keep track these days...