Parenting Sites 411

I don’t think it matters if you are alone in a strange city where you have no acquaintences or if you are surrounded by friends and family. There is something about motherhood that inherently lonely. This is especially true if you are a stay at home mother and spend your days at home surrounded by children (some of who might not even be able to form sentences yet). There was a great article at ParentDish recently by Kristin Darguzas that talked about this very subject. She highlighted another great post from Girls Gone Child that included some great insights on the loneliness of motherhood. For instance, there was this great nugget:

And no matter how much I love my life and the people who are in it, I usually feel completely alone. And sometimes it’s too much to bear without telling somebody or something other than paper.

It’s sad we have to feel this way.  It’s sad that motherhood has to be such an isolating experience.  I will admit that I feel extremely alone most days.  It’s as if life is passing me by and I’m helpless to do much more than just watch.  I love my children, I love them desperately.  But sometimes I am left wondering if there is more to life than this.

Saturday night we were in a hotel but we dutifully changed the clocks in the room so we wouldn’t miss breakfast with the grandparents in the hotel restaurant. I mean, they were paying, how could we miss out?

But since we sprang forward our lives have been operating on a hour difference. Last week we got up at 7:30. This week we are getting up at 8:30. Last week I went to bed at 11, this week I actually get to see Jay Leno’s monologue. And Fuller goes to bed at 8:30 instead of 8.

Then Fuller got the allergies, I got the allergies, and it all seemed really messed up.

I got a comment in my family blog that setting a lamp with an automatic timer would help the kids adjust. That seemed like such a simple idea. Her kid knows that his mommy won’t come into the room until the light comes on. Since we haven’t been beyond our yard since Monday (we go to the doctor today), I haven’t had the opportunity to pick up a timer for his lamp. But I think I am going to give that a try.

This is where segue to other great ideas that parents have and point out the fun site ParentHacks.com

If you haven’t seen this website yet, and you are a parent, then you really need to get over there. They have great parent to parent advice on how to meet the challenges of parenting.

Need a cheap bedrail? Try a swim noodle.
Missing instructions to some of your kids’ toys? I found toy instructions wiki through Parent Hacks.
Are you resisting potty training because it is scary and have no idea how to approach it? Um… not me? Well, this ping pong ball idea seems like a good hack to strive toward. I mean, for someone to strive for.
And since we aren’t talking about me, maybe I could have passed this glow stick during bathtime idea to someone who’s two year old screams like he is being abused whenever he touched the water.

If you have a hack, tip, or product recommendation, contact them and let them know.

Have a great weekend. We will be recovering from the attack of the allergies and maybe getting to visit with Cookie Monster. Really!

daylight savings, parent hacks, parenting tips

I don’t know what happened, but I know I tried to post something earlier, but it got eaten by a timeout on the network. Grrrrr…

Well, we still have sickness in the house and it has infected me, the mom, the one who should be holding this household together. Yesterday I lost track of the number of times my son threw up. It wasn’t pretty and I have the need for a carpet cleaner.

I didn’t do anything on the computer yesterday, I was just to woozy to sit upright.

We missed celebrating Valentine’s Day, because of all the fun with vomit we were having. It was a bummer, but hey it’s only a made up Hallmark holiday anyway. I tell my husband I love him every day! I still have some valentine’s to mail out, but that requires a trip to the store to pick up pictures, and with Fuller’s state of being right now, a car ride isn’t in our future.
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