But during that time when I felt like I couldn’t take anymore of the kids by myself and I thought I’d go crazy, he would come home at night and then we had our time together. I could unload on him and relax and I had his company. I wasn’t alone.

Well, now my husband is away for the first time without me and for the past 4 days, I’ve gotten a dose of single-momdom, and it’s not easy at all.  If I was a single mom, I’d have to go to work on top of solely taking care of my kids and that is a big difference. A huge difference. I don’t know how you single moms do it. When my husband comes home tomorrow, I think I might just say hi and then go running for the hills. All the single mommies, you are seriously Rock Stars!

So then I decided to make this an informational site and I posted a giant list of questions to ask your care provider, the controversies of drinking alcohol during pregnancy, planning your baby’s first birthday party,  top 10 maternity style essentials, and the embarrassing situation of asking a non pregnant woman when she’s due. Oh, let’s not forget the top 5 things pregnant women hate to hear.

Not quite sure why my focus was so set on pregnancy, but maybe I was going through a bout of baby fever at that time. It happens sometimes. It comes, it goes. I think it’s hard to imagine being completely done having kids forever, especially as my “babies” keep getting bigger. As they get bigger, things get easier in a way, but they also bring on a new set of challenges.

This year has been a challenge and I am glad to see it end. I welcome 2012 with open arms and know that it will be a much better year. Happy New Year to all of you! I wish you all a wonderful year ahead full of health, happiness and success in all that you do!

My promise to myself is to take better care of me. I will go to doctor’s appointments as recommended, continue to exercise as often as possible, eat and cook healthy for my family, go to sleep earlier and not waste time. If something is not beneficial to me or my family, I won’t do it. I will make this year successful in every way possible. I will be a more patient mother, a more encouraging wife, a better friend and a more positive person. Cheers!

Does anyone know where I can go to get my infant car seat turned around? My son is only 13 months, but he is so long that his legs are going up the back seat! I’m afraid if G-d forbid I had an accident, his legs would be broken!!!

Car seat safety is a huge issue that for some crazy reason, a lot of mothers seem to disregard. There is a reason the minimum age for forward facing car seats was changed to 2 years old. I hear so many mothers worrying about their children being too tall and their legs are bent. Really???

There is a great saying, “Rear facing, cast it; forward facing, casket”. You decide! Broken legs can be fixed, a broken neck cannot.

Here are the recommendations and safety information from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Really, your baby is the best. I want you to know this because it’s true. She is smart and beautiful and just the greatest thing since sliced bread….to you (and the grandparents, of course), that is! But really, your baby is awesome! All babies are awesome. Every new parent thinks their child is the best thing in the world. Everyone thinks their baby is extremely smart. Everyone thinks their baby is the absolute cutest baby on earth. Everyone thinks they love their baby the most. This is great and this is normal, but please realize that you are most likely the only one that feels this way about your own baby. Everyone else feels this way about theirs. The sooner you understand this, the better off you’ll be. Other mommies don’t like to hear you brag about how Einstein(ish) your baby is. He knows how to use the iPhone? Awesome. I bet their kid does too. If not, I guarantee he does something equally amazing that yours can’t do yet. It’s ok to talk about the cool things your kiddo does, but try not to go overboard to your other mommy friends. They will be rolling their eyes and commenting behind your back. Which brings me to my next point.

Mommies are Judgmental

You probably already know this if you are a mommy because you catch yourself doing it, don’t you? You see a mom feeding her kid Doritos and think to yourself “ugh, I will NEVER feed my child that garbage!”

(I just learned an interesting tidbit about Doritos – they have MSG in them. Children have a really hard time digesting MSG. Therefore I actually will try my very hardest to never feed them to my kids (notice how I didn’t say NEVER? I just said I’ll try. That’s another thing I’ll get to later) .

So back to the judgmental thing. How about that mom totally ignoring her screaming child at the playground? Are you wondering when she is going to notice and what is she going to do about it? Or how about the mom that is still breast feeding at a point that you find to be too late? Or the mom who never breastfed at all and gives her baby formula? Or the parents who co-sleep? Or the braggers? Or the…..you get the idea. My point is, be prepared to be judged about pretty much everything you do as a mom.

You will get a TON of unsolicited advice. You will feel insecure about some of your choices. Please try to remember, though, that YOU are the mommy and YOU make the final decisions. You know your child best and no one else can tell you what the right thing to do is. It’s wonderful to get advice and opinions from your well-meaning friends and family and I definitely encourage you to do so. Ask for help, ask for advice, do your research, but when it comes down to it, you have to be confident in your decisions and realize that no matter what you do, there will always be some people who think it should be done differently.

Never Say Never

We all idealize motherhood and how we will be as mothers….before we actually enter this realm. More than we know what we actually WILL do, we seem to have a big list of things we will NEVER do. I’ll tell you right now, you can throw out the list. Just kidding…sorta. It’s great to have an idea of the way you’d like to raise your child(ren) and the important values you plan to utilize in your parenting. The truth of the matter is that you can’t plan it out. Things happen, your knowledge expands, your experiences widen, and sometimes you change your mind. This is ok. This is good. It’s called growth! The reason I’m telling you this is so that you can keep an open mind and not be disappointed in yourself if you end up doing some of those things you said you’d never do. I’ve been there, done that (and I’m sure you’ll judge me on it). It’s not so bad.

What are some other things all you seasoned moms out there would like to tell the newbies? Please share!

One day I was browsing the internet and came across exactly what I was in need of. Something to organize all of the papers. Something to keep my table clear and the papers in order. It was The Homework Caddy! This thing is SO smart! It has a dry erase board to write down important events or notes, storage for pens, pencils, scissors, ruler, glue sticks, paper clips, basically everything you would possibly need to complete any school assignment! There are large pockets for papers, library books, art projects, and whatever else you need to put in there.

It hangs behind a door or on a wall, which is very convenient, but I actually had a really hard time finding a good spot for it. It’s big, but considering everything it encompasses, it needs to be. The problem for me is that we have a 2-story house and all homework assignments are done downstairs. I wanted to put The Homework Caddy downstairs, but just couldn’t find a spot. I did find a perfect space upstairs, though, right between my 2 sons’ rooms. My boy who actually gets homework is only in 1st grade so I’m sure as he gets older and more independent with school work, it will work even better up there.

If you are having a problem with clutter and not sure what to do with all of those papers that come home from school in your child’s backpack, I definitely recommend The Homework Caddy. It’s a great product and comes in 4 different styles. Special discount for BabyTalkers readers:

For an extra 15% off, use code: BHC1011 between October 20-27!

Enter this beauty, The PeaPod Plus Travel Bed:

I wish I had this when my kids were younger. I bet it would have saved us all a lot of sleep, not to mention space in the trunk of our car! This puppy folds up compactly and weighs less than 7 pounds. Apparently it is super comfortable as well. According to one of my friends who has it,

You can use it with the little blow up air mattress that comes with it, if you are going to put it on the floor, or, if you have an extra bed or mattress from a fold out couch, you can put the tent right on there and you won’t need to use the blow up mattress. It is soooo great, love it..

It’s very spacious. My friend and her son both fit in there, although not enough room for them both to sleep. The manufacturer claims that it can fit up to a 6 year old comfortably. Aside from bedtime sleep, this is perfect for long day trips to the beach or park when your little one needs a nap or even just to hang out in the shade for a while.

When I got married, I was very much looking forward to starting a family with my husband and starting our life together. We waited 5 years to have children and I don’t regret that at all. However, when I did become a mother, my entire world changed. I had finally grown up and achieved what I had always dreamed about.

The amount of time that your children are young and need your full attention is such a short span of time in the scheme of life. I just can’t understand why anyone would look down upon a woman who takes on the enormous responsibility and privilege of raising her own children. I had children, I want to be the one who takes care of them. Simple as that!

My job will never be done, but as my children get older, they don’t need my time as much as they did when they were younger. The older they get, the time they need me around will get smaller and smaller. Why would I want to waste that precious time by being away from them when they are young and need me the most? It is the only time in our lives that we will have together like this. The bond you form with your kids in childhood is the basis for the bond you will have for the rest of your lives.

I can start working at any time, but I can never get that time back with my children. I’m so thankful that I have been able to spend it with them, growing with them, sharing with them, teaching them, loving them, and forming an immeasurable connection that can never be taken away.

Last year, Tide aired a commercial that showed a teenage girl asking her mother if she has seen her green blouse. The Mom flashbacks to wearing the blouse while out partying and had spilled something on it that left a stain. The Mom then lies to her daughter and says she has not seen it. The commercial goes on to show the Mom wash that bad stain out of the nice green blouse with the great TIDE detergent. The ending has the daughter being asked by the Mom “oh, I see you found your top” Daughter “Yes, must have been hiding in my closet somewhere”. So basically they are saying it’s O.k. to lie to your children yet you raise your children not to lie to you? The message is ridiculous and totally misguided.

I think whoever came up with the idea for these Tide commercials had a really horrible mother/daughter experience.