Posted on

Today I’m Struggling With…Strollers: Keenz Stroller Wagon Review

Having a second child opened up a world of unknowns. Challenges we thought we had mastered as parents were new again, and we once again remembered how hard it was to do the simplest things. One of the first things we knew we would need was a double stroller. Our kids are three years apart, and while H can definitely walk for long stretches, we know that sometimes we would rather have him contained. We bought a Baby Trend Sit N Stand Ultra, and were pretty happy with it.

If you’re not new to the blog, you also know that we go to Disneyland a lot, and on one of our first trips with two kids, we saw a family with a Keenz Stroller Wagon. Curious, we looked it up and found that it was, as the name would suggest, a hybrid between a stroller and wagon. However, since we already had a double stroller, it seemed redundant, and we (stupidly) waited many months before coming back around and making a purchase that would end up being a total game-changer.

Continue reading “Today I’m Struggling With…Strollers: Keenz Stroller Wagon Review”

Posted on

Today I’m Struggling With…An Unfair Advantage

From the moment I had my first child. No wait, from the moment I got pregnant with my first child. No, from the moment I started trying to get pregnant with my first child (there we go!) I have changed my habits, choices, and thoughts to accommodate a new life. I stopped thinking about myself as an individual with singular wants or needs. I forced myself to set aside my personal desires to make room for someone else’s – someone who I had yet to meet, someone who didn’t even exist yet.

In many ways I’ve had the unfair advantage (let’s call it that, flatteringly) of being able to practice this parental empathy for months and years beyond my husband. I stopped drinking alcohol in August 2013, when we started “trying” for our first kid. It was the first time I had to put my own desires aside and say to myself, “this isn’t about you anymore, so buck up, buttercup!” It wasn’t “hard” per se, but it was a choice and I stuck to it even when it was inconveniently noticeable or just plain not fun.

I gave up more when I got pregnant. I gave up more when he was born – sleep being the most memorable and affecting. I continued having to think about the baby first, myself second (maybe). And around the time I felt like I was finally able to think about myself again, we thought another kid sounded like a good idea. And so the process started over. Continue reading “Today I’m Struggling With…An Unfair Advantage”

Posted on

Today I’m Struggling With…The Patriarchy

There isn’t enough time in the world for me to address all the issues I have with society and politics at the moment. If we’re being fair it’s not really “at the moment,” but “at every moment leading up to and including this one.” I am a strong, smart, educated woman, and I believe that gives me a responsibility to do what I can to make sure people who are not as privileged as I am have the same or more opportunities than I have.

The fact of the matter is, my future happiness depends on feminism smashing the patriarchy. I want to be independent. I want to have a job. I want to decide whether I become pregnant again. I want to vote. I want to control my money. I want to continue my education. I want my children, as well as every other man, woman, and child, to have the right to make these decisions for themselves as well.

Since I don’t think I could possibly catalog every systemic issue that patriarchy creates in society, I’ve decided to put on my parenting hat and focus on something that is a near-constant talking point in our house: consent.

Continue reading “Today I’m Struggling With…The Patriarchy”

Posted on

Today I’m Struggling With…Santa

Santa? How could you be “struggling with Santa”? I hear the question you’re asking, and I don’t think it’s weird you’re asking it. All parenting struggles are unique to a certain degree. Every child is different, after all. But if this one seems more unique than usual, I understand. We’re weird. I’m weird. So this struggle might be weird too.

Continue reading “Today I’m Struggling With…Santa”

Posted on

Today I’m Struggling With…Sappy Christmas Movies

Made-for-TV Christmas movies have a special place in my heart, because they were the proof that my mother had one. Don’t get me wrong, my mother is an incredibly caring and devoted person, but her Vulcan-like tendencies lead to me believe, falsely, that she was devoid of softer emotions. Then came the Hallmark Channel, and Lifetime, and ABC Family and the deluge of sappy movies that, surprisingly, my mom loved. As long as they were fairly free of Jesus propaganda, we watched them. ALL of them. And now that I’m a mom (with a lot of free time), I’ve been filling the days with hours of mushy Christmas joy.

Therefore, in the spirit of the season, I have taken it upon myself to review ten sappy Christmas movies currently available on either Netflix, Hulu, or Freeform (formerly ABC Family).

All of these movie were made for TV, revolve around the holidays (generally Christmas), and are the kind of mindless, emotional, feel-good shmaltz that we all need around the holidays. But viewer beware…not all sappy Christmas movies are created equal.  Continue reading “Today I’m Struggling With…Sappy Christmas Movies”

Posted on

Struggle Buddy: Today I’m Struggling With…Tantrums

I’m Alex, and today I’m struggling with tantrums. My daughter is in this super intense phase right now where she plays hard, laughs hard, snuggles hard, naps hard…and tantrums. Real hard. She’s the most delightful demogorgon you ever did meet. My sweet baby angel can go from zero to straight-up hell creature in the time it takes me to look at her the wrong way.

Watch it, Mother.

Tantrums are at once mind-bogglingly complex and infuriatingly simple. If you’re reading a mommy blog, you probably already know this, at least intellectually. Continue reading “Struggle Buddy: Today I’m Struggling With…Tantrums”

Posted on

Today I’m Struggling With…Passing On Bad Habits

As I sit here, writing this post, I’m eating Cheddar and Sour Cream Ruffles (should be a sponsor, but they aren’t) and peppermint bark, because isn’t that a classic and classy combination? I’m drinking water, but that’s only because I’m too lazy to make coffee and I don’t have any Cherry Coke in the house. I guess what I’m trying to say is: I’m a mess.

You know what? Fuck you, Ramsay.

To be fair, I know I’m not as messy as some people. I don’t do drugs. I drink, but I don’t get drunk (nursing, and all). I have a job. I’m actually pretty good at adulting. But at times, I’m pretty indistinguishable from the teenagers that I teach. My son is starting to get to the age where I worry about him adopting some of my bad habits and guilty pleasures.

Continue reading “Today I’m Struggling With…Passing On Bad Habits”

Posted on

Struggle Buddy: Today I’m Struggling With…The Fence

Hello! I’m Danielle. I married my high school sweetheart and have two amazing, wild young boys.

Today, I’m sitting on the fence. I’m blissfully kicking my legs back and forth, not making a decision to move forward or backward. I’m trying not to choose to even get off the fence on either side onto the green grass.

It’s a delicate process.

If you are a person in our society, at one point in time, you will be on this exact fence with me. It’s the “Should we have any/a/a second/a third/etc child(ren)?” fence. Continue reading “Struggle Buddy: Today I’m Struggling With…The Fence”