Meltdowns of a Mommy

When I graduated college I went to work for the same company my father worked for. It was a large national company so, while living on two different sides of the US, I hardly ever ran into my father but I often ran into other employees he had worked with. These employees all had comments about how hard it was to work with and for my father and wondered what it was like to grow up with him. As they told their Joe Cipolla work stories I just smiled and said “It was just like that, but I was used to it.” You see, my father is not what you would call a warm and fuzzy guy. He does not soften or sweeten you up before telling you how it is. If you have a report card with 5 A’s and 1 B, he asks about the B and how you can improve it. He does not just give you credit for showing up, he wants you to take responsibility for your actions. Now, he also does not yell, like ever. He simply explains how disappointed in you he is which has an even bigger impact then yelling. Growing up in this...

People often ask me about the twin bond the girls have. Now, most of these questions center around them feeling each other’s emotions like a sixth sense or if they have developed their own language. Really! They can hardly wipe their own butt after going to the bathroom and you think they are developing their own language or a powerful extra twin sense? So, based on this line of questioning it is really simple to say “no” smile and go along my way. Now to be honest my girls have bonded with each other, as sisters, and have shared almost every life experience with each other out side of a few ER or Urgent Care visits. They spend all day, every day together and are simply best friends. I often wonder when this bond and sister love will vanish and they will simply want time alone or time with their “own” friends. I know the day will come…….it has to…….they are girls after all. But, until then I love that they have a friend to play with who just happens to like the same exact things...

Let me begin by saying “I hate guns”. It is a personal thing and not a political stand. When I am around guns I break into a cold sweat and feel very uneasy. If it were not for my husband’s job I would be hard pressed to ever let a gun into my home. I want to be clear that what I am about to say is not from the “right” or the “left” of the topic it is from the ….well….the uterus. What I mean is not matter what your beliefs are about gun control/laws as a parent you have to look at things from a different point of view. As a parent you have to set a good example and make choices that you feel will keep your family safe. I don’t have the time to look into the numbers of kids who injury themselves with a gun they find within their own home or a home of a friend, but I can say that even 1 injury is too many. How does this happen? Poor choices by the gun owner. A few years ago as a gift my husband got me a gun handling class at a local range and while I learned everything I never ...

I have been thinking about social media and blogging a lot lately. I have been trying to figure out how I really feel about it all. When I first thought about starting a blog I was going to do it under a pen name or anonymously because in truth I wanted to bash people and say anything I wanted without having any consequences. Shallow and hurtful, I know. After thinking more about it I realized two things; 1 there is already enough hate in the world that I do not need to add to it and 2 I am a grown adult who needs to be responsible for what I say regardless of the good or bad that might come from it. So, here I am being honest and standing behind what I write. I do comment on other people I come across within my mommy world and I explain how I see the scenario. Could this hurt the other people, of course but I do try to be respectful in relaying my side of the story. Then there is face book. I told my husband the other day that if he were not my husband (because you know I have ...

In the climate of the world we live in today all parents worry about what kind of self-esteem and value of self-worth their little girls will grow up and have. I am in that group of parents. I know that my girls will encounter mean kids who judge them on their looks, clothes, interest, and well everything under the sun because that is what we do, kids and adults alike. Do I think that as society girls get over criticized and over sexualized at too young of an age, yes. But, do I think this is anything new, no. As a young girl I wanted to be like Madonna or Sandy from Grease. Neither seem like a wise choice in retrospect but I turned out just fine, I think….   Could the issue here really be the hypersensitive way in which the adults of today parent or more importantly judge the parenting of others? Today was the last day of Princess Camp for my girls. They had a great time wearing their princess gear to camp each day and learning about different kinds of princesses, dragons, ...

It can be really hard when you are the parent of just an average kid, or in my case two average kids. I am surrounded by mommies of above average and super smart kids on a regular basis it seems and I can’t help but feel like I should already be setting aside money for the tutors my girls will need for the rest of their lives. I wonder if the organic approach to learning that I have taken is actually setting us behind. See I have a theory that the girls will learn all things as they are needed as they naturally occur in life. Sounds very granola I know but I am not a pintrest flashcard or work book mommy. I am a” this is real life” mommy. The result of this is that we are 3 ½ years old and can only identify about 5 letters correctly, we can say our numbers but counting actual items goes badly after 4. In short I feel we are a little behind our friends. When I have those moments of feeling really left out as others are talking about their kids discussing advanced theories of calc...

Before I became a mommy I remember traveling for work and watching an episode of Real House Wives of New York and seeing these women go crazy about what preschool their kid was going to go to. In my DINK life I laughed at how dumb these women looked and sounded. I kept thinking it is just preschool…preschool….and how does she chase around kids in those heels? Fast forward to my current life as a stay at home mom and I HATE preschool and still do not see how some mommies do it in heels. Now please do not misunderstand, I LOVE the preschool my girls attend. Why do I love it? It is easy, it is a good fit for me, and my girls. I can have face time with the teachers at drop off or pick-up every day, I can look through the window in the door prior to pick-up to see what my little ladies are up to, I get a printout everyday so I can talk with the girls about what they did, I know the other moms and kids in the class thanks to drop off and pick-up, the teachers are wonderful, the rooms ...