Yesterday, the girl who first made me a mama turned eight years old. Eight. There's something different about this age, isn't there? A feeling like something is ending. An edging towards something. Or is it away from something? It's like she's holding hands with me, but just my pinky, not ready to ...
Parenting
Stop Doing This When My Kid is Crying
When my four-year-old son Luke wants something, he wants it. He wants it and he wants it now. “No” is a hard word for him to hear. Anyone who’s ever witnessed Luke’s response to my answer no when he really wants something understands that he ranks up there with the best of the preschoolers. The boy ...
2 Weeks of Healthy School Lunch Ideas
When it comes to school lunches, my biggest concern is that my kids have nourishing food to eat while they are at school. I want them to have healthy school lunches, but I don't care if they are cute or packed in a clever way, and you better believe I'm not going to spend time turning their food ...
Take a Break, Mama
Let's face it. There's nothing easy about this job. This motherhood gig isn't always what we imagined, is it? There's nothing easy about getting up multiple times in the night with a scared child, dealing with tantrums, cleaning up vomit, or making sure your children are well fed every single day. ...
Kitchen Chores Chart for Kids by Age
Get your kids helping out in the kitchen with this Kitchen Chores Chart for Kids by Age!I think one of the greatest gifts we can give our children is enabling them to care for themselves. Teaching them the life skills they will carry with them after they leave our care will take them farther than ...
Is Your Child Ready to Stop Napping?
I really didn't think this would be happening already, but my son Luke, who just turned 4 in December, is dropping his nap. My 7 year old daughter, Meghan, who was never as big of a napper as Luke and dropped down to 2 and 1 nap earlier than him, didn't stop napping until 4 1/2. I thought for sure ...
Luke turns 4
Why does 4 sound so much older than 3? My baby boy turned 4 and I can feel a distinct shift in our lives as a result. We're being propelled out of the baby and toddler stage, even if I'm dragging my feet a bit, not quite ready. I love having these updates to read as my children grow. It's a ...
25 Ways to Spread Kindness
This is a sponsored post brought to you by Montessori Unlimited. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Happy Healthy Mama possible. It’s the season of kindness and what better time to teach our children about the importance of kindness and compassion than now? One of the best ways to teach ...
This Mom Life: 7 Things on my Mind
I'm not generally a stream of conscious kind of blogger. It must be the writer in me who thinks a published piece should be planned, revised, and edited before my readers get to see it. Eh. Sometimes you have to break the mold, jump out of your comfort zone, and go for it. Instead of radio ...
What I Learned from my 6 Year Old About Conquering Fear
My daughter Meghan was a late bloomer in the water. As a toddler, she stood on the sidelines watching the other children splash and play in the water fountains, but didn't let herself get wet. If we did convince her to get wet in some water feature at a park, it was usually followed with tears. As ...
The Giant List of Healthy School Lunch Ideas
Are you ready for the start of another school year? Whether you are ready or not, it's happening. Time to permanently wash the sand off of our feet, dust off our alarm clocks, and prepare ourselves for the early mornings, the after school snacks, the homework sessions, and the hectic dinners ...
Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles
We've got four kids this week. My two nieces are staying with us for the week, doubling our load from two to four. Can I just give a hats off to all moms with more than two kids? You are absolute heroes. I thought adding two more kids to the picture wouldn't make a difference. But whew! Life ...