Spring Break Tips for Working Parents
I have fond memories of spring break trips as a child, usually spent at my grandparents’ house in Florida. They had a pool in the…
Articles Written By: Ryan Swanson
This author has written 17 articles
Holiday Travel with Little Ones: Tips, Tricks & Deep Breaths
It’s that time of year again: the Holiday Season. Thanks to a quick Google search, I’ve learned that last year 30% of Americans traveled during the holidays. And while I love a good trip just as much as the next traveler, I know how stressful holiday traveling can be when you add a few small children to the mix. Throw in inclement weather, unpredictable air traffic and all the stuff that children require for traveling, and a crippling anxiety sets…
Making Meaningful Weekends
The weekends take on new meaning when you have children. That free time is no longer dedicated to sleeping in, lazing around and dining out at trendy local restaurants. Once you have children, your weekends revolve around spending as much time with them as possible (to make up for the time spent away during the workweek, as my mom-guilt would have it). But weekends with little ones can also be very long (especially once your child stops napping)! If your…
The Second First Year
It’s hard to believe that I’ll soon be celebrating my second baby’s first birthday. The year has gone by so fast in many ways, yet some of the days (and many sleepless nights) seemed to stretch on forever. As the saying goes, “The days are long but the years are short,” and I’m amazed when I think back on where we were 365 days ago and how our little family has changed and grown. Just a year ago, I was…
Building a Support Network
A month ago, my husband and I sold our first home and, thanks to the booming Atlanta real estate market, we haven’t yet found a new house to call home. I know they say “you can’t go home again,” but it turns out you can – temporarily, anyway. Until we find our new home, we’re staying at Grandma’s house. Initially, I was a bit nervous about this move and worried how my boys would handle the transition. I was also…
Dividing Your Time Between Two Children
One of the skills I’m learning to master with my two boys is making the best use of my time and maximizing our time together. My baby is now 9 months old and my preschooler is 3 and a half, so they have different needs and capabilities. For instance, while they both need to eat dinner every night, feeding them isn’t as simple as cooking one meal, handing the boys their plates and sitting back to enjoy my culinary creation…
Imperfect Parenting
In my pre-baby life I had it together. I woke up at 5 a.m. to work out at the gym. I returned phone calls. I had supper club with girlfriends once a month. I folded my laundry. I was somewhat stylish. And then I had a child and suddenly none of these things mattered (which is good because I didn’t have time for them anyway!). I reevaluated what was important in my life and shifted my priorities. Eventually I hit…
Juggling Differences Between Siblings
As I mentioned in a blog post last month, being a mother of two is harder than I thought it would be. It shouldn’t be shocking that managing two children is more difficult than managing one; I know. I’m a late learner. One of the reasons this transition has been hard for me is because I went into it thinking that all the tips and tricks I’d learned with my first son, Lukas, would work with my second. I expected…
The Transition From One Child to Two
Everyone tells you that your life is going to change when you're expecting for the first time. I heard the exact phrase, "a child changes everything," on more than one occasion. I couldn't grasp in exactly what ways my life was changing, but I knew it was coming. I knew sleep was going to be a thing of the past. I knew last-minute trips were over. And I knew that I was no longer going to be the center of…