Blog

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

Credentials

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem During our Nurture Me group* we talk about many things, including how mothers often feel like we’re not good enough, strong enough, [insert adjective-of-your-choice here] enough.  There are stories of how moms feel unqualified to speak up or ask questions when medical professionals are talking (down) to them (or AT them).  Some talk of feeling challenged or judged… Read more

7 Tips for Getting "Cadillac Care" as a New Mom

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem You are standing in your living room, your baby is in her car seat on your living room floor and you and your partner are looking at each other with furrowed brows. “Now what?” you say to each other. You just got home from the hospital with your brand new baby. And they didn’t even send you home with instructions. You’ve never raised a human before but somehow… Read more

For the Duchess of Cambridge (and all expectant mums)

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem NOTE: this was originally posted when Kate was expecting George.  Dear Your Royal Highness, Duchess of Cambridge (or Kate, as the world used to call you before you married that hottie the Prince): I heard you are expecting a baby…yup, the news got out that a) you had sex, probably more than once and b) you have been puking a lot lately. Funny how such personal… Read more

Why, Oh Why? Media Representations of Birth

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem Turned on the TV this evening and Baby Mama was on. If you haven’t seen it (and I wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t), the plot is that a brunette hires a blonde to be her gestational carrier. I won’t ruin the whole movie by telling you much more, but instead talk about the birth class and the birth scene…both of which are so very typical to how the media… 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

5 Tips for Tough Days

author: Jeanette Mesite Frem Well, hello there!  In listening to so many new and experienced over the years, it got me thinking about challenging days–it’s a common theme in conversations.  We’ve all had them:  tough days.  Look at any commercial or parenting magazine and you’ll see scenes of smiling parents with their angelic children nearby.  There’s a certain pressure in the… 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