Parenting

2. Searching for an anti-allergen birthday cake. Back in the day, there was only one birthday cake (usually homemade). All the kids would eat it problem-free, and the only emergency would be little Jack vomiting on a chair. But with today’s abundance of nut, gluten, wheat, egg and you-name-it allergies, vomiting is the least of your worries. Now, your mission is to find a cake (or several) that will not require antihistamines afterwards.

I've been doing this a long time. If you think I'm doing something wrong, well, keep it to yourself. We all walk a different path. Mine may look beaten, but I can assure you that my kid isn't calling Mrs. Smith a b*tch online. If he did, he'd be grounded, lose all his stuff, and apologize.

Instead of asking these questions, here's what you can do: Bring that new mommy a lasagna (or ask her what she has a craving for). Tell her the baby is beautiful. Tell her that she's doing a wonderful job. Ask her how she's doing, how she's feeling. Ask her what she needs.

Who is wearing heels or even wedge booties to the bus stop in the morning? Not I! And not to mention that a heel is typically way to dressy for anything I plan to wear to the bus stop. Hit up your local Target with $50 to spend and you will return home with 2-3 pairs of simple flats that you can mix and match for comfort in the morning and a little pop of color.

Anxiety is a word that is used quite often in adulthood, but what happens when it’s a child dealing with it? Many times it’s brushed off as fear, leaving parents questioning: When is fear just fear, or time to talk to a doctor?

Before I went to therapy, I married a lot of men, had a lot of children, and worked myself to the bone to achieve career success. If I wasn't happy, it was easy to blame that on my alcoholic, cheating husband or raising a tribe of kids or even working too damn much.

Here's the thing, though. Seattle teachers didn't want to strike. What they wanted were reasonable class sizes, less focus on teaching to the test, and livable wages. These are fair and reasonable demands, and that is why parents throughout Seattle have rushed to the picket lines to support our teachers.

These days parenting has been the biggest subject in my life. I’m living it, breathing it and recently started going to therapy because of it. Since having my daughter, two-years-ago, I’ve been at odds with my own parents, who, I’ve come to realize parented me in a much different way than how I’m parenting my daughter.