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Jul
24
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 Why do strangers try to scare parents with random, negative comments? I’m a new mom, and I’m already tired of unwanted parenting advice and snide remarks. It happened to me again this week while I was walking in the parking lot of the grocery store, my 10-month-old Olivia tucked against me in her Snugli. It was one of those moments I love as a parent, when your child is happy and content and you’re enjoying the peace and simple pleasure of that moment. In spite of this, while loading my bag of groceries into the car, an older gentleman commented that it looked like I had my hands full. I replied, “Not so bad,” which in turn elicited a response of “Just you wait!” The phrase seemed to transform into a curse when it was concluded with a sinister laugh. | |||
Archive for the ‘Motherhood / Fatherhood’ Category
Blog Posts by Tina Wakefield
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Jun
18
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If you’re constantly beating yourself up as a parent, it’s likely that you’re feeling powerless to change your child’s behavior — and ill-equipped for the job. But trust me, it’s normal to feel uneasy or uncomfortable with some of the choices you make as a parent. At some point, it’s important to move past those feelings of inadequacy and guilt and look for information and tools that will give you the sense that you’re taking charge and addressing the problem. Let’s face it, sometimes it’s just easier to blame ourselves, someone else, or something else as opposed to looking for solutions and then working to put them into play. | |||
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Jun
15
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I was recently interviewed by DETAILS Magazine about Father’s Day and Fatherhood. One of the questions was about the meaning of fatherhood and how fathers are portrayed on TV — and more importantly, in society as a whole. I was asked if there was a father figure from TV that I remembered or that stuck out in my mind. | |||
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Jun
05
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Octomom just signed a book deal, a documentary deal and finalized plans for a line of diapers while seeking to trademark the word “Octomom”. Sounds like she’s got it covered, right? ‘Cept Not! | |||
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May
04
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Here’s my confession: I’m an imperfect mom, and often an ineffective parent. Most of the time I feel like I’m flailing along, trying to “get it right”– and as soon as I do, my son hits a whole new phase and the process starts all over again. There’s nothing like being a parent to humble you! So Mother’s Day is a bittersweet time. Yes, I love the hugs and home made cards, the burnt pancakes and fresh-squeezed orange juice complete with seeds and bits of peel floating inside. But I also can’t help but do a little mental inventory of the past year. My mind jumps back to the moments “Mean Mommy” reared her ugly head (more times than I’d care to admit), and then, to how often I got it right. On my mental scoreboard, Mean Mommy is in the lead as of now, but I’m happy to report that there was one thing I did get right. In fact, this year, one sentence has changed my whole parenting style, and I think it’s helping to make me a better mom: | |||
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Apr
20
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I am a neat freak. My husband is not. You would think that we would have had at least a one in four chance of producing one child who took after me. Unfortunately, this is not the case. All four of my kids are, well, untidy, a kinder gentler way of saying “slobs.” They don’t care, but I do! I am alone in fighting this battle because my husband doesn’t even notice there is a problem. He is “untidy” also. Recently my younger daughter and I were away for ten days, leaving my older daughter and husband to fend for themselves. I am surprised the house wasn’t condemned while we were away. | |||
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Apr
06
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Last month, I received the invitation that all parents dread. I knew this day was coming: The Chuck E. Cheese Birthday Party. The worst part was, there was no way to get out of it — the birthday girl was one of my son’s best friends from pre-school, and his future bride, according to both of them. So I did what any good mom would do. I grit my teeth and emailed back my reply: “Of course we’ll be there! Alex is so excited.” As the day approached, I had flashbacks to two prior parties at this frenetic, migraine-inducing establishment. At the first, I lost my son in the habitrail tunnel for a good 30 minutes. (He was purposely blocking up the pipe like some kind of toddler hair clump.) And at the second, a random child vomited pizza on my feet. You know how when someone yawns, it makes everyone around them yawn? Uh huh. You get the picture. | |||
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Feb
20
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Bristol Palin announced this week that she wants to set the record straight on some of the media stories about her pregnancy. She has a healthy baby boy and is engaged to the baby’s father. The best option is abstinence, the teen said, but added that she didn’t think that was “realistic.” So what is a realistic expectation when it concerns teenagers and sex? In her interview Bristol mentions that being a mother is not glamorous. Don’t we know it, parents! How quickly images fade of cuddling a newborn in that crook between shoulder and ear. Soon a teen parent, heck any age parent, is faced with endless diapering and poop-filled hours. If Bristol Palin knew that motherhood would not be glamorous, would that have prevented her from having had sex? What if her fiancĂ© thought she would not be glamorous as a mom, would that have stopped them? | |||
