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Archives for March 2018

Breast is Best, Except When It’s Not an Option

Tavia Smith and Baby Ellie

Tavia Smith and a healthy and happy Baby Ellie.

By Tavia Green Smith
Guest Post

Everything was supposed to go perfect.

I was supposed to have an easy induction and progressive labor. Then, I would show my strength as I pushed my baby out, with my husband looking on proudly and cheering me on. I’d hear her beautiful first cry and I’d cry from joy and relief.

Then, I’d cuddle and nestle her in my arms and breastfeed her with that magical milk made just for her. My perfect daughter and I would bond and fall in love as I healed.

None. Of. That. Happened.

[Read more…]

Simple Enrichment Activities for Toddlers

Teaching my children their ABCs, numbers, colors, and shapes is always at the top of my daily to-do list.

Learning Colors.jpg

Help your toddler match the colored blocks with the correct color on the cup.

But life always has other plans. There’s housework, and errands, laundry, and the poopy diapers that leave a trail of poop that I don’t see until an hour later, which requires a bath (sometimes for me and the toddler), disinfecting the trail of poop and any affected areas, snack time, lunch time, and nap time.

And no, we cannot interrupt nap time. [Read more…]

7 Things No One Told Me About Breastfeeding

Sweet sleeping baby

Breastfeeding nourished my baby and provided relaxing, quiet moments.  

It’s been a year since I stopped breastfeeding my two-year-old toddler. 

We nursed for 18 months, and although I look back now with nostalgia, I remember being so relieved when we finished. I had been nursing or pregnant for 3-and-a-half years (42 months) and frankly, I was ready to have control over my body again.

And breastfeeding a baby with food allergies means I was very limited in what I could eat.

Breastfeeding definitely had its challenges and there’s so much that no one ever tells you. [Read more…]

Another Parenting First: When your child hurts, you hurt too

Danielle and her toddler Leo

Danielle and her toddler, Leo.

By: Danielle Robinson Bell

This post is republished from Danielle’s Facebook page with her permission. Click here to read some of the responses to LegoEddie’s demise.

This morning, our almost 3-year-old son, Leo, was very excited to take his two Lego men to school with him. They are both named Eddie. One has a blue hat. The other has an orange hat. Before we left the house we could only find the one with the blue hat (!!!) but Leo was committed to a search: “Eddieeee, where are youuuu?” he kept saying in his wittle voice. After a few minutes of looking around we finally found the other Eddie, the one with the orange hat. He was chillin’ with the rest of the Legos under Leo’s table.

When we got to school, Leo saw one of his teachers as the elevator doors opened. In his excitement, Eddie with the orange hat fell down the elevator shaft. [Read more…]

Bestest Mommy Boss Cherri Dashields: Personal Vegan Chef

Welcome to Bestest Mommy Boss, a new section on the blog that will feature entrepreneurial moms who have turned their passions into lucrative side hustles and full-time businesses. 

Cherri Dashields, personal vegan chef

Cherri Dashields is a Philly-based personal chef who can make a mean vegan version of any meat dish.

Cherri Dashields, 45
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Business: Brown Veggie Mom,
plant-based personal chef
Profit: Between $500 and $1,500 a month
Reach her on Instagram @brownveggiemom

When Cherri Dashields tells people she’s vegan, the first question she gets asked is: “Oh wow, what do you eat?”

“Anything you can make with meat, I can make vegan,” she says, proudly. “Someone asked me about oxtails and I said, ‘come on over and I will make you some vegan oxtails.’”

Vegan oxtails huh? Cherri could sense I might be a skeptic. “If you lived closer, you could come over my house and I would feed you,” she promises.

And apparently, that’s how it starts. [Read more…]

Tired of Getting Sick? Try these 6 Essential Oils to Stay Well

Tired of Getting Sick?

When you’re a mommy, it feels like you’re the bull’s-eye of all the sneezes, snotty hands and runny noses your kids bring home.

So my nightstand is looking like a RiteAid nowadays; there’s multivitamins for women’s wellness, nasal spray and allergy meds, ibuprofen, kid’s Benadryl, DayQuil and NyQuil and zinc tablets for immune support.

Lately, I’ve been adding essential oils to my daily routine to stay well—with great results!

[Read more…]