parenting

Celebrate The Small Things

Lessons in Parenthood: Week 16 “Olivia, did you pick up those clothes you left on the ground?” *silence* “Olivia?” I looked over to find her sitting in front of the dog’s crate carefully working on reattaching the door, which she had initially removed. Normally I would have gone over and told her to leave it […]

How To Discipline Without Punishing

Lessons in Parenthood: Week 15 I don’t believe in punishing children. I don’t believe in making them feel bad about themselves or what they’ve done. I believe in construction. I believe that punishment only serves as a way for me to vent my anger and frustration while I tamper with my child’s ability to use […]

My Child Owes Me Nothing

Lessons in Parenthood: Week 13 My husband, Luka, gets credit for this week’s topic of conversation. We are nearly adjusted to having a new baby and we’ve started to have some normal conversations again. One night last week, while having dinner, Olivia left the table, and quietly laid down next to Leia and gently cuddled […]

Knowing Where To Draw The Line

Lessons In Parenthood: Week 12 This is a big parenting question I’ve been asking myself: where do I draw the line? When do I say “yes” and when do I say “no” and when do I ignore it all? Are there certain things that should just always be non-negotiable? When do I cut her a […]

How To Find Balance In Parenthood

Lessons in Parenthood: Week 11 Just one of these days I would like to drink my tea while it’s still hot. Maybe 18 years from now that will happen. This week’s blog comes a little late because I was all caught up birthing a baby. Our newest family member, Leia Rosalia Dolenc, was born Thursday, […]

Falling In Love With Your Kid

Lessons in Parenthood: Week 5 I’ve always hated those bumper stickers, banners, posts, pictures, captions, which read something along the line of, “My kid is better than yours” or even worse, “My boyfriend/husband is better than yours.” I can’t help but think, “Do you really want that?” Do you really want me and everyone else to […]

Is It Just A Phase?

Lessons in Parenthood: Week 4 There’s been a pattern running through parenthood. My daughter is pretty flipping wonderful. It’s almost bizarre. 99% of the time she’s what I would call perfect. I’m sure as her parent I’m slightly biased when I say that. That 1% of the time when she is far from perfect, I […]

Forgiving A Toddler

Lessons in Parenthood: Week 3 After spending a full day of overhauling parts of our apartment, I was tired. Being 7 months pregnant only amplifies that exhaustion. The additional problem with the cleaning and organizing is that Olivia finds it extremely fun to play with everything I’ve just organized so she tears things apart just […]

Make Them Laugh

Lessons in Parenthood: Week 2 Well, I made it to the second week of this writing challenge, jet lag and all. When your mind is struggling between two time zones on opposite ends of the earth it’s a miracle if you get anything done. I haven’t been the only one struggling either. Olivia is awake at […]

Exchanging One Challenge For Another

Concluding my daily writing challenge In November, as many of you know, I set myself a goal to write a blog post every day until Christmas. I’ve had a few bumps and it wasn’t easy, but I wasn’t expecting it to be easy. The goal was really a way to challenge myself. Some days it […]

Mariah Dolenc