miscellaneous

The Art of Self-Care

GUEST POST by Jessica Curtis In the first few years of parenthood, I made the mistake of equating who I was with the roles I played: mother, spouse, household manager. I worked hard to be the best mom and the best partner that I could. And how did I measure my success? I measured my success (read: worth) by how happy my family was, by how well I was meeting their needs.   I was putting one foot… Read more

Mother's Day: a Time for Peace and Pride

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem I often wonder, as I hear all the ads on my local NPR station encouraging us to purchase flowers to be sent to our mothers for Mother’s Day, why flowers are involved. They don’t last very long. Why not potted trees…the symbolism is stronger there: the apple not falling far from the tree or how we are rooted in our families but yet branch out?   We send cards and… Read more

Taking Shots at Each Another

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem Slight corrections made to this article on 3/29/15 Shots. A topic that is getting a lot of attention right now. Many parents feel strongly about shots, one way or another. Others aren't as passionate about the subject. But a rise in measles cases in the US has sparked an outbreak of anti-anti-vaxxers fever, if you will, in news and social media. On Facebook, some just… Read more

7 Ways to Make Travel Easier with a Little One

GUEST POST by Laura Clark, mother of Nora (age 2) When I was pregnant, it seemed that everyone who looked at my belly told me that my traveling days were over.  The prospect of spending the next eighteen years cooped up in my house after spending the majority of my adulthood traveling was simply depressing.  That, coupled with the fact that my husband’s job requires 50% travel, made us even… Read more

The Year in Review

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem It’s been a year since the last BinC blog post. That's sad. I kept meaning to write and did write down a bunch of blog topics (some of the titles were inspired by things said by moms and dads at BinC).   There has been so much else happening this year and it appears that blogging wasn't a priority. In 2015, however, it's a new year and I hope thoughtful musings… Read more

New Year, New Goals...for Parents?

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem It’s almost a new year. Everyone is thinking about what their goals for the new year are going to be. Are you? Maybe. Or maybe you have decided that new year’s goals are lame since most people drop them within the first 30 days. Then again, there’s something rather alluring about having Father Time telling us it’s a new phase of life and a good time to rethink… Read more

How Do You Get Ready in the Morning?

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem So two things happened in the last week that made me think about how moms get ready in the morning. One was a conference session at the MA Conference for Women  about finding balance as a mother.  Ten thousand women in one place with lots of speakers and vendors and breakout sessions (and the highlight of the day was hearing the founder of TOMS shoes speak…what a… Read more

Holiday Photo Challenge: Moms & Their Children

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem I just read a fabulous article by a photographer about how she never wanted to be photographed because she felt she was too fat to be in pictures.  After a near-death accident, she realized that her family and friends wouldn’t have had any photographs of her to reflect on and she vowed to be in more photos.  She also realized that no one that loves her would look… Read more

Finding Confidence

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem She was sitting on the couch during school vacation week and complaining that she was bored. My husband went through a list of things she could do (besides watch TV or play video games). She wasn’t interested. He said something like, “so you’re just going to sit there like a lump?” In a split second, as if she had known all along what she was going to say, she… Read more

Dads Whining on the Riki Lake Show

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem I just got a text that the topic of today’s Ricki Lake show today is dads. So I turned it on right away (I happened to be home). Ricki is interviewing a bunch of dads about about their Daddy Guilt, how hard it is to be a dad, how they miss life before they became dads, how they feel so alone, how they don’t love their kids all the time and how they find themselves… Read more

They Really Do Grow So Fast

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem Someone once said, “kids grow…that’s what they do!”  It’s so true.  You literally wake up one morning and they are different. Sometimes it honestly looks like they’ve grown an inch during their 2-hour nap.  They add fat to their adorable little cheeks.  Their diapers suddenly don’t fit (ahem, the blow-out is a sign!). Their eyes open wider.  Their… Read more

Finding the Simple Joys

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem   Ah, what a simple joy that is, being at the beach.  Allow that photo to be a teaser for the change of seasons that is coming. Even though it's winter and your little ones may not even be quite old enough to enjoy winter sports (although building forts or making snow angels may be more their speed), how do you find the simple joys in every day although pregnancy and… Read more

Learning How to Parent Your Child

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem How did you learn how to be a parent? Did you take a class? Did you read a book (or more than one)? Did you go to a conference or some workshops? Did you even take a class BEFORE you became a parent? It's fascinating to me, really, when it comes down to my honest thoughts, that one must become educated in order to become anything professional but there's no required… Read more

It Takes a Village

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem We have heard the expression, “it takes a village to raise a child”.  It’s beyond true.  It’s more than true.  It’s perfectly true. Today was another demonstration of how a village works.  A few weeks ago, after quietly supporting the family of a little 2-year-old boy named Kai, who was fighting a brain tumor, Kai’s Village rallied out loud.  Kai’s… Read more

Agatha Christie Travels the World

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem I was listening to NPR while driving today (safer than texting while driving, right?) and the guest was Agatha Christie’s grandson.  He recently published a book with letters she wrote while she was traveling around the world with her husband.  He pointed out that she did this while she had a 3-year-old daughter that she left at home.  For months.  With a nanny… Read more

The View Today

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem It’s December.  And it’s time for a new start.  As the earth goes into hibernation I’ll get out of my head.  And let it flow on the pages of the blog.  I’ve wanted to do a daily blog for a long time.  I have been inspired by other bloggers.  Most recently, my dear friend Kimberly Amato finished 30 days of blogging with her blog, Love Light Laughter and… Read more

What Kai's Story Can Teach Us

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem There’s a little boy in our proverbial village, who I want to bring to your attention.  There’s a mom and a dad, too, and grandparents and many other family members and many, many friends who are thinking of little Kai every day, so I thought it might be good for you to think of him, too. Kai and Kerri, his mom, used to come to Mothers and Company and I hired them… Read more

That's What Makes You Boob-i-ful

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem So, my family were randomly singing with One Direction that other day and came up with an alternative word in the chorus…instead of “that’s what makes you beautiful,” they said, “that’s what makes you boob-i-ful”.  So, that kicked off a little fun in creating a new song…imagine a baby singing it to his or her mother: Here’s you go (if you don’t… Read more