by Jessica Towns I was five months pregnant when I waddled into my first poetry class on the heels of a gifted poet friend. There, with the help of a dedicated teacher, I saw another side of the thing I’d hated most in high school English. I found an outlet for my feelings as I transitioned into parenthood, and then…
Recently we reached out to families with young children in our area who are primarily using bikes for transportation. Families are using bikes for a variety of reasons, including cost, traffic, active lifestyles, environmental reasons and a passion for biking. Amanda Wanner is birth and postpartum doula at Cygnet Doula Services. Amanda uses her bike as a parent, and also…
by Kimberly Chan This post was originally published at https://www.oktobeimperfect.com/preparing-baby-emotional-changes-challenges/. Emotional changes and challenges should be expected with the arrival of a new baby. As I prepare to lead a PEPS Newborn group discussion on Emotional Changes and Challenges and prepare for the arrival of our second child, I want to share my approach with other new and expecting parents…
by Cassie McKeown, Bright Horizons Early Education and Preschool Cleo, a 4-year-old preschooler, excitedly told her Mom, “…and then we drank purple milk that came from a purple cow.” Webster defines imagination as “the ability to form a picture in your mind of something that you have not seen or experienced; the ability to think of new things.” Every child is…
by Laurie Ganberg, LICSW “I love my baby but I feel trapped.” “Maybe having a baby was a mistake.” “Every part of my life has changed. I miss my old life.” I often hear these statements hesitantly shared by women experiencing ambivalence and regret after a new baby—along with, “I can’t talk about this in the new moms group.” But it is…
We all know we need playdates. They give our little ones a chance to socialize with a peer and for us — actually, the benefit is exactly the same for us. But we’ve all had playdates that fizzle or leave us with more stress than we started with. What went wrong? This handy little primer will help you iron out…
Julia Calkins is a new PEPS Group leader! She and her husband Jeremy have been married for 4 years this summer. “Our little guy is 19 months old. We were in an evening group starting when Gus was about 8 weeks old and it was so helpful in so many ways!” she said. Like many PEPS parents, they didn’t have…
by Jessica Towns Well, it happened. The strange and scary thing we thought would never happen. My husband and I swore we’d never fall victim to cliché. But it happened anyway: we bought a house in the suburbs. I always imagined we’d put down roots in Seattle, where we lived for the entirety of our twenties. I’d gotten to know…
by Megan Gebhardt, Gebhardt Law Office Typically, I write articles about naming guardians and having wills or estate plans for new parents and growing families. But new parents also have questions about their parents. This article is about what you can do to start the conversation about how your parents want financial and health care decisions handled as they age.…
by Anjelica Malone As we head into each new season of life—the start of a new school year, the first day of a job, or the initial weeks home with our new baby, we are told that routines are the best way to keep all the balls in the air and keep from missing a beat. But oftentimes we realize…
