Author Archives: Valerie Williams

10 Things I Am Not Looking Forward To In The New School Year

With only two years of grade school parenting under my belt, I am quite far from being an expert. One thing I have swiftly learned is that there is much to detest with the start of a new school year. I am a full-time outside-of-the-home working mom so most of our daily routine is unchanged as I still have to be out the door early in the morning and I still have tiny people to drop off at summer camp or daycare. However, summer life with grade school children is infinitely easier for me than school year life. More »

If You Think A C-Section Is The Easy Way Out, Think Again

Both of my children were born via planned c-section. It was obviously not what I had in mind when I first got pregnant and envisioned how it would all go down but it’s what happened and I had to accept it. I have heard many people suggest that a c-section is the easy way out and that is simply not the case. More »

Bringing Home Baby: Expectations Vs. Reality

When I was pregnant with my first child, I had sky-high expectations for how certain things would go once we brought her home from the hospital. Of course I had heard horror stories about sleepless nights, nursing difficulties, leaky boobs and a deflated post-partum stomach but obviously, it would all be different FOR ME. I would be the shining exception to every crappy bringing home baby rule. My house would be neat and tidy, my baby would be held for hours and doted on and I would bounce back to normal, lickity split. More »

The Movies From My Childhood That I Could Not Wait To Show My Kids

Everyone has favorite movies from when they were a kid. For me, they take me right back in time and make me feel happy and innocent with a bonus of entertaining me. I have a long list of movies from my childhood that I could not wait to show my kids because they hold such great memories of a simpler time in my life. These movies helped shape who I am today- much like books, they showed me glimpses into other cultures, other times and other ways of life. More »

My Daughter Is A Grade School Hoarder And I Love Her For It

I love throwing things away. For the most part, I do not get attached to material things very easily and have no problem at all parting with my “stuff”. I hate clutter and the less I have, the less I have to clean so I rarely hesitate to donate items or toss them out if they’ve exhausted their usefulness. More »

Miss England Pageant Entrant Was Kicked Out Because She Is A Mom And That’s Not The Worst Of It

In a news story guaranteed to make your blood boil, a 23-year old pageant entrant for the title of Miss England has been barred from participating in the competition simply because she has a child. Pissed off yet? Keep reading, it gets worse. More »

My Kids Do Not Play With Tablets And It’s Not For The Reason You Might Think

My children are close in age- only 20 months apart. They do most everything together and are jolly, little BFF’s the vast majority of the time, much to my delight. They are five and six years old now and usually, they are happy playing with the same toys and doing the same activities. It is basically the dream I had in mind when we decided to space our children so close together. More »

To The Sanctimonious Catholic Blogger Judging Girls For Buying Condoms: STFU

Before we get started, let me tell you all that I am Catholic. I am not a very active Catholic but I try to follow the rules and our kids are in religious education class. Both have been baptized and we plan for them to follow through as many of the sacraments as they are willing. Mine and my husband’s families are both devoutly Catholic and several are heavily involved in their churches as Eucharistic ministers, readers, choir members, etc. This post is NOT a Catholic bash. It is a bashing of a sanctimonious and judgmental person who just happens to be Catholic. More »

This Stay-At-Home Dad Wants To Ban Play-dates And It’s Just Not Possible

Chicago stay-at-home dad Chris Bernholdt is in the news today for stating that the play date should be abolished in favor of spontaneity for kids. I see where he is coming from, truly. I am definitely in favor of the way things “used to be” when we were kids with more unstructured play, more outdoor play and less parental intervention but in 2014, I just don’t think it is possible to ban play-dates. More »

What We're Reading:

It’s Never Ok To Leave Look-Alike Dolls On Kid’s Porches

When I was a kid, for whatever reason, my mother and grandmothers started giving me porcelain dolls as gifts for Christmas or my birthday. I was maybe five years old at the time and I remember being a little confused- it’s a doll, but I can’t play with it? Those creepy effing dolls numbered maybe seven or eight total by the time I was 10 years old and just stood atop my tall dresser on display. This dresser was right next to my bed so those unholy, deadened eyes were staring at me all night as I slept. More »

10 Things Pregnant Ladies Love To Hear

Pregnant ladies take a lot of crap and it’s awful because it’s during a time in life where a woman should only hear the good things. Your feet hurt, you’ve got crotch and boob sweat, you’re growing out of shirts left and right- this is a time where you need sunshine blown up your ass as much as possible, even if much if it is not true. You don’t want people asking if you are sure it’s not twins because you are so huge. You don’t want to hear from anyone that your face looks “different”. And you sure as hell don’t want to be stopped from rambling about all the fun baby stuff you have going on. More »

Open Thread: What Did Your Pregnant Boobs Look Like?

Ok, ya’ll- I am about to get very real with you about pregnant boobs. Namely, MY pregnant boobs, in the hopes that you will all share yours. I mean, I’m not going to flash you or anything but I am going to be very frank about what exactly they looked like toward the end of my pregnancies and I hope you will all do the same in this thread and we can all lol-cry at the sadness and hilarity of pregnant boobs. More »

10 Ways Working Moms Can Feel Closer To Their Kids

When I went back to work, I was very concerned about how my relationship with my children would change. Having stayed at home with them for a few years, I knew them like the back of my hand and had become quite adept in all ways of caring for them. Thinking about how it would go as a working mom made me worry about whether the closeness we had would fade away over time as I let Momma Daycare take over. More »

The 2014 Pottery Barn Kids Back-To-School Catalog Is Out And I Am Already Hating

Like most middle-class American parents, my husband and I are on a budget for the multitude of things we have to purchase every year for our kids. We splurge here and there but are careful about it and try not to do anything too crazy because, hello, they are just kids. More »

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