Parenting Wisdom

Editor's Note: Happy Friday! All week long we're talking about screens - from TV shows to tablets for kids and grownups of all ages. Love 'em or hate 'em, screens and screen time are a hot topic in parenting...

Editor's Note: Happy Thursday! All week long we're talking about screens - from TV shows to tablets for kids and grownups of all ages. Love 'em or hate 'em, screens and screen time are a hot topic in parenting...

The one thing that can be scary about giving my child my iPhone (or iPad) is that if I walk into another room while she’s enjoying something I’ve selected, I might walk back into the room and she’s hit a million buttons and is now watching something that’s not age appropriate. Can I get an Amen?

Editor's Note: Happy Monday! All week long we're talking about screens - from TV shows to tablets for kids and grownups of all ages. Love 'em or hate 'em, screens and screen time are a hot topic in parenting...

For over five years, I have been a member of an amazing book club. The women in my group all have different careers and back grounds. We are spread out all over the Valley. But we share a love...

Did you catch Part 1 of our Packing Kids for Vacation? What!? We GAVE you a free printable packing list! Check it out here.   I don't know about you, but my little opinionated three-year old has to be involved in ALL...

"We could fit 13 kids in this house!" my sweet hubby exclaimed upon deciding to buy our current house. It is by no means a large house. We have 4 bedrooms. If we are in one, he was thinking about...

As we approach the seemingly endless hot summer days, I thought this would be a great time to reflect on why I do love to live here and all the things I am grateful for about Arizona. 1)      The air...

With it being 105+ here in Scottsdale for who knows how long, I figured we should talk sunscreen. Allowing your kids and yourself to get some Vitamin D is great, allowing them to get a sunburn..not so much. I'll give...

I would not have chosen to begin my path to motherhood with a long season of complete loneliness. But, that’s exactly where my journey began. Alone.

I had a rough transition into motherhood.  Actually, I had a really rough transition into motherhood.  You see, my first born is allergic to milk and I was determined to breastfeed.  But I didn't know she was allergic to...

Please tell me I'm not the only one that wakes up each morning to an inbox of 20+ emails from various deal sites?!  Ok, maybe it's not exactly that many, but there are certainly a lot of deal sites...

If I were the sign-carrying, protesting type, I would totally protest summer. I'd stand sit in my lawn chair under an umbrella out on Scottsdale Road with a long sign that read, "Shame on you summer!" I would hang outside the library...

There's a strange paradox of time when you have children. On one hand, it feels like they were born yesterday, but on the other hand, you feel like you've been taking care of them FOREVER. I know that most of...

We all have those weird little quirks that exist far from social media in the quiet spaces of our homes. Here are a few of mine. Maybe at the end, you'll feel a bit more normal. 1) My sons wear...

First Lady Michelle Obama recently made a slip up on a TV interview and called herself a "busy single mother". She quickly made the correction and said she only feels like a single mom sometimes! Her slip of the tongue has started...

To my pre-child self: Well, hello there skinny. I know that you are wishing that you could lose those three pounds you gained over Christmas, but that’s nothing compared to the weight yo-yo you will enjoy in your child-bearing years. Find grace...

A big thank you to all the moms we met at our Potty Training 101 class last Sunday!  We truly hope that you enjoyed your time and learned A LOT about the great ways to approach potty training with...

If you read my last post then you'll know that summer, in my opinion, is here. Another reason why I think summer is here is because the school year is ending. And that means summer travel!  I love summer...

It was late October and still 104 degrees outside.  I walked through the aisles of my local Fry's Marketplace, pushing one of those ridiculous car carts- loaded down with my near seven-year old, three-year old and the infamous...

First off, where's my reward? Juusstt kidding! Its really my hubby who deserves a reward for handeling me with love and grace in those first few months of no sleep! But really, it is absolutely insane to me that my baby...

I don't feel like I have a big family. I find myself answering the question, 'how many children do you have?' with "just 5." I suppose I am surrounded by lots of much larger families so I feel average....

I will never forget the day when my daughter was about 8 months old and her pacifier dropped on the floor and my mother-in-law picked it up and "cleaned" it by sucking it and popped it back into my...

We have a lost library book problem at my house. My twins read about 20 books a month between the two of them.  Their interest and reading levels change constantly, so we go through a ton of books. Because...

Pregnancy Resource Well sweet SMB friends, I don’t think I’ve officially-officially posted it on here yet, but I’m happy to announce I’m pregnant with baby #3! I’m 24-weeks pregnant with our third girl and we are super excited (and a...

We've talked a lot about school and Preschool here on SMB. What makes our team of writers so great is the diversity of experiences and perspectives. I realized that I hadn't yet provided my perspective to the whole Preschool...

  Ah, sibling rivalry, famous for making family life tumultuous and for slowly chipping away at a mother’s sanity. Siblings seem to have the potential for being great comrades in addition to fierce foes. Experts say that your sibling relationships...

I don't know about you but I sure find it hard to always fit in a workout in the crazy life of being a mom. I know I am better not only physically but mentally when I get a...

I've been doing this parenting thing for nearly twelve years. Raising these three little people has been one of the greatest joys of my lifetime. From the moment they came home from the hospital, I've anticipated each milestone, celebrated...

I recently spent 5 days in the hospital with our son who was fighting RSV. I learned a few things about the hospital that I know will be useful to new moms delivering their babies there or families needing...