As the applause fades and you walk through the doors of elementary school for the last time, please forgive me as I cry. I know that you are excited for summer and for middle school to start. But me, I am sad. This is your final day as a child. Once you walk across the […]
Author Archives: Tricia Sportsman
Drive anywhere in the Tampa Bay suburbs and you’ll see signs advertising free VPK at many daycare centers. If you’re new to Florida schools, you’ve probably noticed the signs and wondered, what’s that? Years ago before I had kids, these signs caught my eye and I was curious about this VPK thing. But it wasn’t […]
As you’re driving home from school with your kids, you overhear them talking about another child in their class. Your child calls this other student a bully. And says that “they are mean.” As a parent, you may find yourself asking several different questions. “Is that child a bully? Is my child being bullied? What […]
Grade-schoolers, Ages + Stages, Child Safety
The Day I Realized My Stranger Danger Message Hadn’t Hit Home
21
May
May
I always tell my children not to speak to strangers. I say it a lot and I say it loud. But apparently it’s like most of what I say—in one ear and out the other. I realized one quarantined day in May that my stranger danger message hadn’t hit home. My girls, who are six […]
I’m still considering if I should write this post, do I really not want to throw her a first birthday party? In between diapers, voice experimenting screams and milking on demand, no, I don’t want to plan a birthday party for a baby that won’t remember anything. I know the party is more for the adults, but I feel like […]
Ten days after my second child was born, I was sure my body had just about fully healed from childbirth. I felt like I was bouncing back. Caring for two kids was going pretty well. I was even keeping up with dishes and laundry. Postpartum rest never even crossed my mind. My husband helped with our […]
As a still new mom to a 16 month old, my husband and I often find ourselves wondering how to spend a Saturday afternoon. Where can we take our daughter to get her out of the house, stimulated, and having fun? She’s still too young for many places, but now that she’s walking, more options […]
Probably like most new moms, I went into my daughter’s first birthday party wide-eyed and excited (with a tinge of sadness that my baby is growing up so quickly). As a busy working mom without a lot of free time, I tried to keep it simple. Although not residents, we were able to reserve the clubhouse at The […]
Five years ago, I was living in a suburb of Richmond, Virginia. I was due with my first child on February 17. I was so happy to be pregnant during the wintertime because I definitely couldn’t handle being this pregnant during the hot summer months. As I entered February and my last month of pregnancy, […]
It was a weekday morning right after the mall had re-opened earlier this summer. We had spent a ridiculously long time in a store, first waiting to get in and then waiting to return something. My kids were antsy. Rightfully so. We had just gotten a snack when my son announced that he had to […]