I am very excited to announce the third iteration of my original “Monday Mornings” series, which highlighted the daily morning routines of parents across the country to show them (and everyone reading) that there are beautiful moments even in the rush and the chaos as we get our kids and ourselves out the door.
Last year, we shifted to “Wednesday Evenings” and proved that there are beautiful family moments amidst the dinner time and bedtime struggles too.
This year, Allstate has signed on again to help me feature the daily routines of real families to show how their extraordinary stories play out from sun up until sun down. It is because of Allstate that we are able to document a diverse selection of families from all across the country that I would never find if I stuck to my own hometown of New York City.
Every time I do this series, there is a lot of talk about families that people wish we had included— like families who are dealing with medical issues, special needs or military families to name a few. I would love to feature families dealing with unique challenges so please, if you are a family with extraordinary circumstances or you know a family whose story should be told, please share this post and encourage them to enter.
My goal is always to feature as broad a range of families as possible (single parent households, family run businesses, parents with multiples, blended families, extended family that lives in one home, etc.) so just tell us what makes your family unique in the comments below. I would love to show that even with big issues and specific hardships, there will always be things that are universal to which every parent can relate.
To that end, we will not necessarily be grouping families together by city like we have in the past. Instead we are willing to go wherever your story takes us. This way we can also include small towns instead of just major cities.
This new series will also be different than previous years because instead of dedicating our time to the morning or the evening, we will follow selected families for an entire day, from sun up to sundown, showing a complete day in the life. Another exciting evolution is that we will be featuring photo stories of some families, while others will be documented on video. I am really excited to see these families come to life and speak in their own words about their day, their routine and their challenges.
All the featured families will be documented in either August or September so please keep your availability in mind if you enter below.
I can tell you that beyond having beautiful photographs and video taken of your family that represents this time in your life, the positive response and show of support that each family receives from my readers is the biggest reward for participating.
Thank you all for making this series special and thank you Allstate for making it possible.
To enter, please answer the following questions in the comments below:
1) What city are you from?
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages?
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family?
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging?
We will be selecting families based on the comments during the month of July.
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This post is part of a campaign series sponsored by Allstate. This series aims to show what life is like, sun up to sun down, for families facing (and overcoming!) unique and challenging circumstances. As the nation’s largest publicly held insurance company, Allstate is dedicated to protecting what matters most.
All photos were taken by Raquel Langworthy.
Hi! I’m Tammy, and I live in Gainesville, FL with my precious, darlin’, almost-6-year-old, Millie. Milliebug is an only, and her dad and I share her; we’ve been separated for a little over a year and our divorce was final last October. During the week, my Wasband has her Monday and Tuesday nights, and I get her back on Wednesdays when I pick her up from school.
For the longest time after our separation, these Wednesday nights were the WORST. I am in grad school, and I work fulltime in student affairs; I always have my phone or my Ipad nearby, replying to emails from students or trying to do schoolwork, or trying to do one of the trillion tasks that working-mamas-in-grad-school are charged with. When I wasn’t trying to get work done, I was scrambling around making dinner, unpacking her backpack, re-packing her lunchbox for the next day, getting bathtime ready, feeding the cat, folding laundry…. So much housework would go to the wayside on the evenings I didn’t have her because I would have class after work on those days. And my precious child, she just needed Mama and would spend most Wednesdays falling apart amidst my chaos. We were both miserable. One time I picked her up, and she just asked me if I could stay off my phone that night and not do any work. She didn’t look hopeful, she looked grumpy and weary and sad, as no 5 year old should. And Work Free Wednesdays was born. Every Wednesday, we go on adventures and play and spend time together reconnecting after 2 nights apart- we go to the farmers’ market and get popsicles, we play, we make treats, we go get pedicures. No phones (except for the occasional cute pic!) and as little house work as possible- we’ve gotta have dinner, and a bath, and get lunches and snacks ready for the next day, but we keep it to those essentials- no dishes, no laundry, etc. She has come to treasure Work Free Wednesdays, and once when I suggested we invite friends over for dinner on a Wednesday (including one of her favorite playmates) she said no, because those were our special nights for doing things together. Her dad has shared with me that when she gets upset at his house, or in trouble, she says she wishes every day was Wednesday.
I wish I could say that I had the creativity and thoughtfulness to implement this tradition on my own, that I understood without her saying so, that what she needed on those evenings after two days away from each other was connection, but this tradition stemmed from her bravely speaking up and asking for things to be different. I’m so grateful that I took the time to listen to her and hear her out.
Thank you for your time and consideration! With love- Tammy Herchel
1) What city are you from?
Carver, MN
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages?
5 kiddos: (6, 3, and 2-month old triplets!)
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family?
We recently went from 2 to 5 kiddos two months ago. Our days consist of round-the-clock feedings, diaper changes, and cuddles. My oldest is on the autism spectrum, so we structure our days very differently than the normal family. We are homeschooling our kiddos and embracing this new big family that we have been blessed with.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? I was recently diagnosed with severe endometriosis. Some of the endometriosis was wrapped around a tube that connects to my kidney which caused severe kidney stone-like pain for over 3 years. I have since had the endometriosis removed, but it has returned. Wanting to get pregnant quickly so we could treat the endometriosis more effectively, we found out we were having triplets. The constant pressure of thinking ahead of my high-functioning ASD son, keeping up with my very independent 3-year-old and the constant demands of the triplets, I am ready to establish my new life as an active mom and loving wife to my hard-working husband. We are moving into a new community in about two weeks. We look forward to this new start for our growing family.
We live in Morgantown, WV home of the Mountaineer!
I have 2 little boys. Branden is 6.5 years old and Ethan is 3.5-will be 4 in July.
What makes my day a little different than others is my husband is in the military and although he is primarily home he is sometimes gone for training and goes to work fairly early. I work full time and have 3 animals and some fish. We are chaotic but we are loving.
I am raising 2 boys! I have no family in WV and depend a great deal on myself and some friends I have met over the past 11 years in WV. My husband is full time military and can always be called up at the drop of the hat so we are always hoping it doesn’t happen. My boys keep me on my toes and I am certain our lives would provide some entertainment!
My husband and I love this series and would love to be a part of it. I find it fascinating!
1) We live in Reamstown, PA, but that’s too small to have it’s own mailing address so our address is Stevens, PA in beautiful Lancaster County.
2) One son, age 3
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? We live in an intentional multi-generational home. We renovated my parent’s home so that there would be two separate living spaces, but so that we could share our lives and expenses to try to build a better life for all of us. My mother, stepfather, and youngest sister (who just graduated from high school) live in the downstairs portion of the home, and my husband, son, and I live in the upstairs. There were significant family discussions and joint counseling as we decided on this living situation and we try to have regular family meetings to discuss how it is going and concerns and issues. Life can still be overwhelming at times, but it is nice to know we are all here to support each other. My husband is a teacher, and I work part-time in higher education advancement. Most of the time, my husband is already gone by the time my son and I wake up to get ready for the day. Luckily, most days I can just get myself ready and out the door and my mom comes up to watch my son while I am at work. Once a week, we do send him to a babysitter’s home so he has an opportunity to interact with other kids and get a break from all of us. During the summer though, our schedule is always varying.
My husband and I love this series and would love to be a part of it. I find it fascinating!
1) We live in Reamstown, PA, but that’s too small to have it’s own mailing address so our address is Stevens, PA in beautiful Lancaster County.
2) One son, age 3
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? We live in an intentional multi-generational home. We renovated my parent’s home so that there would be two separate living spaces, but so that we could share our lives and expenses to try to build a better life for all of us. My mother, stepfather, and youngest sister (who just graduated from high school) live in the downstairs portion of the home, and my husband, son, and I live in the upstairs. There were significant family discussions and joint counseling as we decided on this living situation and we try to have regular family meetings to discuss how it is going and concerns and issues. Life can still be overwhelming at times, but it is nice to know we are all here to support each other. My husband is a teacher, and I work part-time in higher education advancement. Most of the time, my husband is already gone by the time my son and I wake up to get ready for the day. Luckily, most days I can just get myself ready and out the door and my mom comes up to watch my son while I am at work. Once a week, we do send him to a babysitter’s home so he has an opportunity to interact with other kids and get a break from all of us. During the summer though, our schedule is always varying.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? After a difficult birth and less than desired communication and care in the hospital while our son was briefly in the NICU, I had a very difficult time with postpartum PTSD. It took me almost two years of challenges and therapy to really understand what was going on and to have the courage to try medication for anxiety and depression. I’ve been on medication for 8 months, but still struggle sometimes and try to limit exposure to trauma that will trigger symptoms. We have decided not to have additional children due to this. We never intended for our son to be an only child and are adjusting to this. While our son certainly benefits overall from sharing a home with his grandparents and aunt, we are having to work on teaching him to respect boundaries and privacy as he gets older so he can’t just wonder down at any time.
No idea what happened with my previous post. Here is my full entry:
1) We live in Reamstown, PA, but that’s too small to have it’s own mailing address so our address is Stevens, PA in beautiful Lancaster County.
2) One son, age 3
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? We live in an intentional multi-generational home. We renovated my parent’s home so that there would be two separate living spaces, but so that we could share our lives and expenses to try to build a better life for all of us. My mother, stepfather, and youngest sister (who just graduated from high school) live in the downstairs portion of the home, and my husband, son, and I live in the upstairs. There were significant family discussions and joint counseling as we decided on this living situation and we try to have regular family meetings to discuss how it is going and concerns and issues. Life can still be overwhelming at times, but it is nice to know we are all here to support each other. My husband is a teacher, and I work part-time in higher education advancement. Most of the time, my husband is already gone by the time my son and I wake up to get ready for the day. Luckily, most days I can just get myself ready and out the door and my mom comes up to watch my son while I am at work. Once a week, we do send him to a babysitter’s home so he has an opportunity to interact with other kids and get a break from all of us. During the summer though, our schedule is always varying.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? After a difficult birth and less than desired communication and care in the hospital while our son was briefly in the NICU, I had a very difficult time with postpartum PTSD. It took me almost two years of challenges and therapy to really understand what was going on and to have the courage to try medication for anxiety and depression. I’ve been on medication for 8 months, but still struggle sometimes and try to limit exposure to trauma that will trigger symptoms. We have decided not to have additional children due to this. We never intended for our son to be an only child and are adjusting to this. While our son certainly benefits overall from sharing a home with his grandparents and aunt, we are having to work on teaching him to respect boundaries and privacy as he gets older so he can’t just wonder down at any time. Additionally, my mother and i are involved advocates for my other adult sister, who has severe developmental disabilities and lives in her own home with 24 hour care, just a few minutes away. We recently had to let an agency go as they were endangering her by providing untrained care so our family is currently providing, coordinating, and funding her care until we an get a new agency and services set up, which has been quite a challenge and steep learning curve for us.
We live in Princeton, NJ.
We are newly a family of six–four kids, boys ages 5, 2, and 1-mo twins girls.
In addition to the new arrival of baby twins, which we are definitely still adjusting to, our 5-yo has cerebral palsy as well as many medical needs, including several previous surgeries. He uses a wheelchair and and other medical equipment. Unusual pieces of our daily rhythm include assembling and blending his special tube-fed “smoothies”, welcoming the nurse who rides the wheelchair-accessible bus with him to school M-F, and practicing with his ipad communication system. My husband is completing a Ph.D. currently and I am a faculty member at a local community college, so we are an academic family with a seasonal schedule. In addition to work, we share parenting and home responsibilities and our rhythm changes dramatically during the school year. At the moment, I’d say our biggest challenges involve the fact that our kids’ needs are so different–they all eat differently (g-tube, picky toddler, and breastfed infants) and have very different abilities and ways of communicating their needs. The twins are so little that we are still very much in the process figuring out a sustainable schedule for our little tribe, but they are a sweet, happy bunch!
1. McGuire AFB, NJ
2. We have 7 munchkins. 2 of our girls are in Heaven now. Our lovebugs here are 9 – boy, 7- boy, 4 – girl, 3 – girl, and 8 months – girl. Our girls in Heaven would be 6 and 2.
3. Our days are a bit different because this season of life is a little insane. Our 3 year old is very medically fragile with many different diagnoses. She is not medically cleared to leave our home except for specialists and appointments. Only my husband, myself, or an RN can care for her and her constant needs. She gets school at home 5 days a week and 10 therapies in home a week. She gets medication through her gtube every 2 hours, 24 hours a day. She’s on continuous supplemental o2. Has blood sugars checked every 2 to 3 hours, rectal temps every 2 to 3, and so much more. I spend countless hours on the phone with insurance, pharmacies (4 different ones to meet her 31 medications), DME, interal, school, specialists, etc. Our front door never closes between nurses, clinicians, therapists, teachers, DME (durable medical equipment delivery), fed ex and UPS. And did I mention we have 4 other amazing munchkins who have a lot going on?! 🙂 We just got a Service Dog for our daughter and she’s a 13 week old German Shepherd puppy. We’re in full training as this puppy has a HUGE job ahead of her. My husband is Active Duty in the AF and, like most AD, is gone quite a bit. Trying to juggle everything often leaves me feeling frazzled but we are so.incredibly.blessed!
4. While we have 5 munchkins here, we’ve lost 2 of our daughters. One had a rare form of Potters Syndrome and the other had Trisomy 9. They FOUGHT and are SUCH gifts! We know the agony of holding our daughter in our arms as she gasped for her last breath in this life and it’s something we NEVER, EVER want to endure again. Our medically fragile daughter here has Prader-Willi Syndrome (among many other diagnoses) and she fights with every breath in her. She is an absolute miracle and teaches us more about life than we could possibly teach her in a lifetime. We travel the country for her care (23 specialists) and it can be a little overwhelming at times. Our other munchkins are AMAZING and SO, SO, SO loving of their sister. While they can’t do all the “Extras” they would like (and that we would love to give them) they continue to smile and are appreciative of the small things … the things that are really the biggest.
We’re the Jossi’s, from Great Falls, MT. We have two redheaded boys…five months and two and a half years. Our day is a little different (and a little more challenging…I suppose this kind of combines #3&4) than many because we are constantly keeping track of the baby’s overall health. He was diagnosed with a complex congenital heart defect at birth back in January, and is now in the early stages of heart failure. He had his second open heart surgery in May. Our daily routine includes medications four times a day, weight check in the morning, intermittent checks with a pulse-oximeter to make sure his oxygen levels haven’t dropped too far…and let’s not forget the frequent doctor visits! He looks like a perfectly healthy child, but each time he starts turning blue from too much exertion, it’s hard to forget that he actually has a life threatening illness. Big brother absolutely adores him…it’s fun to watch them interact as brothers!
Hello! My name is Chandra.
1) What city are you from? Corona, California
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? We have three year old triplets! Two girls and one boy.
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? The adults are out numbered, but the enjoyment that we get from watching the kids grow each day makes it all worth while. I am a stay at home mom and my husband is an attorney. We live in Sunny Southern California and frequent Disneyland, the grocery store and the park. The kids love to be out and about as often as possible.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? My son is on the spectrum, so he attends a special preschool four days a week (for 2.5 hours in the morning). Now that he attends that school and takes the bus, I have two groups of kids that are on different schedules. It’s a balancing act … But necessary for his development.
The other thing that is unique about our situation is being a mother of multiples. People stop me and ask “how do you do it?”. The reaction that we receive, while out in public, from strangers is either full acceptance or sometimes negativity. This would be a great way to show them that we multiple moms really aren’t that different than other moms. 🙂
I hope you consider us for entry. Thank you!
1. Wasilla, Alaska
2. 1 girl, Harper 3.5 and 1 boy, Gentry 3 months
3. Our day to day doesn’t differ too much from other families except that it changes every 3 weeks. I am a SAHM and my husband works a rotating scheduleHarper is in preschool and will be starting 3 days a week this fall which keeps us busy and on the go a lot.
4. Our unique situation is that my husband works 3 weeks on the North Slope oil field and is home for 3 weeks at a time. During his time gone I am pretty much a single parent to our two kids. It can be a struggle as we get set into our own routine and schedule and then 3 weeks goes by and daddy comes home. Sometimes it’s hard for him to fit into our routine and I find myself being a single parent even with him home. This work schedule is all our children know and for right now we wouldn’t change it. The 3 weeks straight at home is a great time for us to spend time together. I would love to have the opportunity to show people how we make our unique situation work. Thank you!
1) suburb outside of Washington, DC
2) 3 kids: soon-to-be 4 year old b/g twins, 10 month old girl
3) My husband passed away suddenly at the end of January. I’m a stay-at-home mom to 3 kids currently all 3 and under as well as two rescue dogs (one of whom is diabetic and has liver issues). We have also been wrapping up construction on a back addition and deck. We’ve gotten pretty good about the four of us going to the grocery store, Homegoods, and Target with minimal meltdowns.
4) We are slowly adjusting to our new “normal” without him. The kids have been handling things incredibly well, and I’ve gotten tremendous support from family, friends, our local MOMS Club, and the kids’ preschool. My retired parents have spent a lot of time taking turns coming down from Philadelphia to stay with us, but it can be tough to develop a good routine and consistent discipline when receiving the much-appreciated help. When alone, bedtime is frequently tough when the baby wants to nurse, dogs want to be fed, and the twins want a bonus bedtime book and snuggles (and I just want a few minutes by myself to catch my breath and pee in the bathroom).
1) Verona, WI (hopefully moving down the road to Fitchburg, WI in the next month or so)
2) Our daughter Annabelle just turned 1 in May!
3) Our day is a little different than the typical family for a few reasons. First of all, our daughter was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, Pitt Hopkins Syndrome, in February. Pitt Hopkins Syndrome is characterized by developmental delay, possible breathing problems of episodic hyperventilation and/or breath-holding while awake, recurrent seizures, gastrointestinal issues, lack of speech, and distinctive facial features. There is a wide spectrum of severity with the disorder, we do not yet experience breathing problems or seizures, but we are always on the look out. So on top of being first time parents and figuring out the whole parenting thing, we are continuously learning about this genetic disorder that is not very well known by doctors and therapists, have an ever evolving schedule of therapies and appointments, to try and help Annabelle the best we can with her development, and doing our best to support her development every opportunity we can through the day.
Second, my husband and I both work outside the home, 20-40 minutes away from our home. Trying to balance a schedule with doctor and therapy appointments, while getting a full days work in, and coming up with something for meals can be tricky.
Third, my husband is a volunteer fireman, which includes weekly evening meetings and always being on call.
4) Our biggest challenge currently is Annabelle’s developmental delay, not to mention the general coming to terms that Annabelle is not a “typical” child. We are constantly looking for new ways and things to help her development along, from sitting up, to feeding herself, holding onto toys, rolling over, and communication. We are constantly learning from every little new thing she figures out and does, which just brings us so much joy to see her figure something out and succeed, if it is something we have been working on for a day or for a month or more.
1) What city are you from? Louisville, KY
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? A son who is 1.5, pregnant with boy/girl twins
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? Currently coordinating care for my son and myself with my husband and parents as I’m on bed rest in the hospital.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? I’m on hospital bed rest until our babies arrive. My husband and parents are taking turns each night keeping our son so that my husband can stay with me sometimes, but also keep our son in a routine at home. My parents watch him while we work, so they keep him and take him to parents day out programs while I do some work from the hospital, they bring him to visit each day and we wait for our babies to hopefully stay put until August. Then we face the challenge of what happens when they are born, depending on how early they arrive.
1) What city are you from? – Massapequa NY (on Long Island)
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? 2 boys. Elliot age 1 and Hunter age 4.
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? We put our 2 kids in 2 different day cares for various reasons. Juggling the daily routine is tough, all the while struggling to maintain bills and normal day to day things like 2 parents working and one parent about to inherit his family’s business and needing to learn how to step up and run a company on his own. It’s a very scary thought to put your life in the hands of someone who owns the company because if the company fails.. you fail too.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? Where to start. First off.. we’ve been struggling as married parents for a few years. Kids do not make marriage easier so there is lots of tension and fighting. We probably need counseling, but that costs money. Money is short because we were Hurricane Sandy victims and that depleted our savings and we have been struggling to rebuild our savings and have money monthly for 4 years. That causes other tension. We need alone time but again – sitters cost money. Going out costs money. Our kids go to bed by 7 and 8, but we are so tired by the time that hits that we basically spend the time alone, one parent upstairs one downstairs, and barely awake. My husband is about to inherit his father’s company so he has huge stress on his shoulders and pressure. So he sleeps awfully and is up at 4:30 daily trying to get it all done and make sure we are provided for. Long Island is a very expensive place but moving away from the little family we have and the few friends we have is scary too! We try our best daily for our boys, and we just hope they turn out okay!
1) Castle Rock, CO
2) Two kids – Oliver is 3 and Aveline is 3 months (will be 5 months in August)
3) I am a part-time work away from home, part-time work at home mom, and my husband works about an hour away in the heart of Denver. We also have plans to start a coffee business on the side in the next few months – with hopes of getting our first bits of business going in September! We have family closeby which is amazing, and we share a lot of the parenting duties equally during the week.
4) Oliver has some pretty noticeable anxiety, and has since he was at least 12 months old. We are now working on helping him manage his big feelings and also trying to give him tools so that he can help himself. My husband also has anxiety and depression, so this is something we are hyper-cognizant of and want to help with as much as possible, without making it something that can be used as an excuse.
I hope I get picked, I am always telling my husband that we need to enjoy this time that they are little but he can never see the beauty of our day to day!
1) What city are you from? St. Louis, MO
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? 2 kids (daughter, 4.5 and son 1.5)
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? I work part time so our schedule is crazy. Mondays and Fridays I am home with them, Tuesdays and Thursdays they go to school/daycare and Wednesdays my mother in law watches them. So M/F we can’t wait for dad to get home even though he is exhausted from work, T/Th are rushed in the am & pm and the kids are extra tired/hungry, and W are the wild card because you never know how the day will go.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? Right now our daughter is in a super sensitive phase she can say something funny but if you laugh too hard she will end up in tears. Our daughter is also very petite and gentle while our son we have nicknamed the wrecking ball. They are only about 3 lbs different in weight and he can tackle her, pull her hair, knock over her towers – so developing and dealing with their relationship is very challenging. Our son is definitely in the ‘do it my way or not at all’ phase which of course sends my equally stubborn husband into hysterics. There is a lot of love in our house and a lot of frustration as well. It would be nice to have proof that our lives (in the current phase) is beautiful!
1) What city are you from? Falls Church, VA
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? Two boys, ages 5 and 1
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? We have very flexible work situations, which means each day can look slightly different. My husband works in government consulting and I am currently taking a break from work as a professor and professional counselor, trying to start my own private practice, working on scholarship, and mentoring other counselors. Our boys were both adopted domestically and the bond they share is amazing. In the chaos of every day life we love to stop and witness the boys’ beautiful smiles and precious laughs together.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? A unique situation our family has is incorporating our children’s birth cultures in our lives. Additionally our challenges mainly come from the fact that we do not have family nearby that can readily assist us. We value our family time so we often have to spend nights catching up on our work, which means like most parents of young children, we are frequently sleep deprived.
1. Washington, D.C.
2. Two boys; ages 3 ½ and 1
3. My husband works really long hours and has a long commute. So, many days we don’t see him for the first time until 8 PM. I work 3 days a week for a nonprofit that provides maternity support services to low income women. My kids come to work with me and unlike other jobs that allow that, there is no dedicated childcare. Most of the moms homeschool their kids. So, we all try to get as much work done as possible while simultaneously taking care of the kids. It’s interesting to say the least, but our clients love it. On the other two days, I work from home. I also organize a toddler coop at the local recreation center. It meets every day from 10-1 and each parent serves a duty day. I am seriously considering allowing my three year old to start pre-K3 in September. I will be taking some classes in the fall so that I can go apply to grad school.
4. Dad’s hours are really long and we want the kids to get some time with him. So, that usually means our kids go to bed super late. Many times they aren’t in bed until 11 PM. We don’t have any family close and recently bought a house in a completely different part of town. My family lives in Texas and my husband’s family is in Nigeria. All of our friends live at least 30 minutes away. So, we don’t have much support. My coworkers are spread out throughout the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area. My older son remembers the community we had at our old neighborhood (where we rented for 10 years) and definitely misses it. It’s been hard for us to build new relationships with people nearby.
1) From Florence, Montana (near Missoula)
2) One child, female, 7
3) Both my husband and I are cops.
4) I investigate sexual crimes against children, and have started a prevention team to help stop this crime in our community. I have also have a recently registered Therapy Dog who I volunteer on my days off to use with children who have to be interviewed by attorneys in preparation for court, and also for use in the courtroom. This is the first program like this in our community and I’m just breaking ground.
We also have horses, cows, goats, dogs, and a cat that need to be cared for on top of long days, police work, and commuting to town, and your run of the mill activities like swimming lessons, yoga, figure skating, and gymnastics. Thank goodness yoga pants double as ranch pants- I don’t have time for a costume change. They don’t however support a holstered gun, so a costume change to pants with belt loops is required for my paying job.
I’m trying my damnedest to not lose my mind, and I’m thankful for the ladies who take care of my child while my husband and I take care of the those in their times of crisis.
1. Medina, OH
2. 2yo (Liam) and 5yo (Amelia)
3. The day to day is a little different because of my husband’s job as a firefighter. His standard shift is 24 hours, so he leaves at 6:30 am and returns the following day around 8am. I work full time as well so it’s generally all on me to get the two up and out the door in the morning and fed and to bed at night. Sometimes because of administrative things, union meetings, or scheduling/manpower issues, my husband is gone for several days in a row.
4. The challenges we face are mainly with schedule. I can work for four days to get the kids on a great bedtime schedule with dinner, playtime, dance party, bath, show and bed…only to have a day where my husband IS home and the whole thing goes out the window. Also, there are often days in a row where he is home and somehow manages to completely destroy the place! (You would not believe how many dishes I washed last night!!) But he is lucky to have the job that he does that, even though he is gone a lot, he is home a lot as well. We both have our own way of doing things and we’ve really only started now talking about why we do things the way we do. I suffered from a little bit of postpartum anxiety (exacerbated by my son not sleeping for the first 18 months of his life) and I still have some trouble letting go sometimes and just relaxing and going with the flow.
1) What city are you from? Ocala, FL
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? We have one 3.5 year old and we are 6 months pregnant!
3) & 4) currently I am having issues with this pregnancy so I have been put on bedrest until my due date of 10/3/16! Our family dynamic has drastically switched and we are learning to deal with it one day at a time. Not being able to be the mom I was before the pregnancy issues has hurt everyone so we are trying to learn a new way of doing things until baby #2 can be here safe and sound!
1. I am from California, but currently live in Cheyenne, WY
2. I have 3 girls, ages 6, 4, and 2
3. Our day-to-day is a little different from the average family because we are a military family. Our schedules are constantly changing since my husband’s job here requires him to be gone for anywhere from 2 to 5 days at a time. We are always adding and taking things away from our routines, and with daddy coming home and leaving so often, it disrupts everything quite a bit.
4. I would say that my husband’s job requiring him to constantly come and go from the home makes our family situation very unique, but also that we are in the process of seeing doctors to have my middle child evaluated and possibly diagnosed with ASD, SPD, and ADD/ADHD. While those disorders in children are fairly common now, the constant changes in our schedule post quite a few issues for our child who is dependent on consistency and familiarity. Things always get interesting when daddy leaves and when he comes home. His schedule is never the same(ever lol) and living thousands of miles from family does not afford us being able to ask for help whenever we need it. Between school, doctor appointments, occupational therapy, nap time, and everything in between, I always wish I had a second pair of hands to help sort through the madness. We do live on base, though, so we have access to a different type of support system which is really nice. I think it would be really nice to be able to show other families (military or not) that the struggles we face are just like everyone else’s. This whole idea that you have is great and I think it’s a great way to really encourage parents to be themselves and that what they are doing is right 🙂
1) We live in Vista, CA.
2) We have one child, Dean, and he’s 1 year old.
3) Our day to day is a little different than the average family because we live with my husband’s parents. My father-in-law is an optometrist and my mother-in-law is a retired nurse battling breast cancer.
4) Our unique situation is that my husband is a Marine Veteran that got out of the military after 4 years because we had a baby on the way he wanted to see grow up. We were living in North Carolina during his enlistment, once out we decided to move back closer to our families. Living in Southern California is too expensive for us to live on our own. We can’t afford childcare so I stay home with our son, I also help my mother-in-law when needed because of chemo and radiation. My husband goes to school full time on the GI Bill so we live of the living money the VA gives us, and the money my husband gets for being disabled from the Marines. While it is hard living with other people, our day to day is filled with so much love. Our son Dean gets to give his Mimi and Grandpa good morning and goodnight kisses. He lights up when grandpa walks in the house, and grandpa is thrilled to see that after a hard day at the office.
1. My name is Amanda and my wife is Jen and we live in Cleveland Ohio.
2. We have a 15 month old daughter, Maya.
3. Our day to day is different than some because we are living on the third floor of my parents house. We moved in with a plan to save for a down payment and purchase a home but no plan goes as planned and within a month and a half we had purchased my grandmothers home – it needs lots of renovating! Maya has gotten to spend so much time during the last two months with her family and I just love how close they’ve gotten, but it can disrupt our routine.
4. Starting on Tuesday my father will be renovating our new home. Jen works a 9-5, Maya and I will be learning to balance naps, play time and stopping in to help papa and choose colors and tiles, etc. Our once laid back days are about to take a turn for the very busy! 15 months is already an interesting age, im ready to take on this challenge.
I am from Hanover, Va currently living in Prince George, Va because this is where my husband is from. There is an 18 yr age difference between us (he is 42 I am 25) and he was previously married. We have one daughter together (13 months old) and he has 3 children from his previous marriage (8, 12, and 16.) We’ve been married a year and a half now and I still struggle with finding my place in all of this. We have all the children full time because their mother is not involved. She struggles with drug addiction and only sporadically calls them. Because their mother is not involved, I have a hard time deciphering how much to discipline, how much to love on them. I don’t want them to feel like I’m trying to take her place. It’s been the hardest thing in the world to be a first time mom of my own and a step mom to children that have major emotional issues and all at the age of 25. I’ve barely had enough life experience myself to handle all of this so I rely a LOT on advice from my mother (a licensed Christian counselor) and God. I stay home full time and am trying to get my home business off the ground so life is always hectic. And to add to it, my husband is a shift worker so, I am the one that’s always here! Trying to keep everyone on a schedule with little to no help from him but, despite the setbacks and struggles, we seem to be getting by pretty well! Life is beautiful ? Would love to have encouragement and advice while also possibly helping someone else is the same situation to find balance.
1. Fleming Island, FL aka suburbia land with perfect families – which we are not!
2. 2 kiddos – Emery (daughter, age 5) and Cade (son, almost 15 months)
3 & 4. I suppose I can combine 3&4 together to describe our situation. I debated wether or not to put this out here world the mommy world to see, only close friends and family know our situation. But what the heck?! Maybe there’s more like me than I know. Although my husband (and the father of my children) have been married for 6 years, I’ve been a single mom for the majority of that time. You see, my husband is an addict. And he has battled his disease our entire marriage and for years prior to me. I’ve done everything for my family, I take care of the kids, I work full time, I pay the bills, I cook, I clean, I do it all. And for the most part he hasn’t helped. Recently we made the decision it would best for our daughter and my sanity if he moves out. So now, it’s really all on me. My mom helps me out a lot, I couldn’t do it without her! My daughter is 70% angel and 30% hell on earth! I’m praying it’s “just a phase” and my son is so inquisitive and would prefer to eat cat food over his dinner. Our life is a hot mess, but I wouldn’t change a thing because my children are the best thing to ever happen to me and have made me the woman I am. I’m able to do it all, handle what comes my way, adapt to the fact that I’ve been handed the shitty end of some sticks, all because of their sweet souls! We make it work, with our faith in the Lord and Chardonnay for mommy! It’s real, it’s raw, it’s sometimes Cheetos for dinner, and more iPad time than I’d like to admit, but it’s us 🙂
1. We are living at Fort Drum, NY, my husband’s current Army duty station. Our hearts are at home in Marblehead, MA.
2. We have a four-month old baby boy and an eight-year old boy. Our eight-year old is my stepson and unfortunately does not live with us or near us. We see him as often as we can and FaceTime regularly.
3. Our day to day is a little different because my husband is an active duty combat medic in the US Army. We get up VERY early when Dad leaves for PT (physical training) but we’re lucky to get him home for breakfast and lunch most days! There is zero predictability in our day to day life. Sometimes my husband will have a surprise Friday off, other times he’s out at the range or in the field for training exercises that can last up to two weeks. Army life is fluid and ever-changing. It is a great challenge to maintain a family schedule and a sense of normalcy. We keep a very loose routine for our baby and fill our days with a heavy dose of humor and patience. Before I was a stay-at-home mom and Army wife, I worked full-time as a speech-language pathologist and Early Intervention specialist. Adjusting to my new day to day has been a personal work in progress as I develop this identity that is so drastically different from my former notion of me.
4. My husband was deployed to Iraq for the majority of my pregnancy. He left when I was 12 weeks along and returned home six days prior to our baby’s birth. We were exceptionally lucky that he was granted leave for our birth and was able to stay home with us. I was also in the “unique situation” of living with my in-laws during that time. We stayed with my in-laws for 3 weeks following the birth and then had to report to Ft. Drum per Army orders. Moving 300 miles from home with a newborn baby was an incredible parenting challenge that I feel daily, as I live without the support of my mother, my sister, and my dear female friends–I desperately miss my village. In being the resilient Army wife I strive to be, I created a social media networking group for moms of new babies here at Ft. Drum, and I also facilitate a weekly moms meet up in our community center. I’m building my village from scratch here.
1. I have one daughter who is 3 but she has the vocabulary of a 30 year old.
2. Our situation is a little different bc my partner who lives w us is not her bio-dad but he’s been parenting Roma w me since she was about 1. They have a very special bond and it’s heartwarming to see. I remember being alone and pregnant and a single mom wishing I had someone who would love Roma as much as I did and dating at first was weird and awkward it seemed so impossible. My family is very conservative old school Italian and Catholic, so is my partners. We never imagined ourselves in this situation but here we are, living a life that’s filled w laughter and love! Also, our house is so loud. So loud. I’m pretty sure our neighbors moved bc we are so loud. We both come from really big families and we hope to get married and expand ours soon.
3. What makes our house different especially in the fall…. Is football. Kyle is a football coach at a prestigious prep school. We are both teachers. I am starting at a new school this year that starts a little later so I will drop Roma off at school and then she will go w Kyle to football practice in the afternoon until I come and get her. We live in Orlando so sometimes traffic and everything being so spread out makes logistics really hard so we rely on kyles brothers to help us with pick up and drop off. They are all very large bearded hairy Italian men and they are super macho but my daughter basically bosses them around and it’s pretty cute. We take football super serious and the whole team loves my daughter the school is like our extended family and we have practice each day plus games Thursday and Friday then Saturday… Well that’s for Notre Dame games. We watch the game and it basically dictates kyles mood for the week. So we always hope for a win!!!! Navigating a blended family can be tough but we are never short on love and laughs!
What City are you from? Cape Coral, FL
Kiddos: 2 girls, 2yrs old and 8 months old
Day to day: I work full time Monday thru Friday, my husband is a Fireman so he works 24hr shifts from 7-7, then is home for 48 hours. On his 2 days off, he’s also a full time fishing guide and full time student finishing up his bachelors degree.
Challenges: Being a fire-family comes with its own set of unique challenges, being a fishing-family also comes with its own challenges. The days that my husband fishes, he’ll leave anywhere between 3am-5am and the days that he’s at he fire station, he is out the door by 6am. Our sweet little sleep-haters are currently in two different daycares so our drop offs take about an hour each morning and afternoon. I’ve got morning routines down with getting the three of us up, cleaned, and ready for the day and that’s probably the only predictable part of our day. It’s a pretty big scramble but we seem to make it work. The afternoons are a little different everyday so there’s no set schedules to rely on. Some days are duty days, some days are fishing days and some days my husband is able to pick up one or both kids before I get off so everyone’s home by the time I get home which is a beautiful rarity. Family time with all 4 of us is hard to come by and it’s usually in the form of 1 weekend day and 2 hours each night between the time we get home and the time the bedtime process starts. Usually at least 1 of the 4 of us is having some sort of tantrum and life gets messy for us sometimes but we’ve made it work so far and learned to laugh at the little things along the way. I know our challenges aren’t much different than an average family and so far we’ve all been blessed with good health. I’m just so proud of us as a family and how we manage to keep everyone, including ourselves, healthy and happy while balancing work and life and maximizing the time we get to spend together.
1) Clemson, SC
2) one child (2 years old)
3) Our little family is in an interesting situation, because due to my husband’s job, we had to move away from all of our family. I know many people have experienced this as well, but the reality of missing your support system can be a huge blow! We deal with the usual day to day chores and clean up, but because I teach school and have to be at work before daycare opens, my husband is left to take care of business in the mornings. The internal struggle of being a working mom and not being able to feed our little guy breakfast in the mornings, dress him for school pictures, or drop him off is so tough!
4) One thing that makes us different than most, is that my husband works in collegiate athletics. He has an amazing job and works with so many amazing people, but the reality is that during college football season, work has to take precedence. The week leading up to a home game, seeing him is a rarity, and on game days, he works 20 hours at a time. I am so thankful for this experience because it allows me to fully appreciate all of the single moms and dads out there! Raising babies is no joke!
1 – Escondido, CA
2 – One son, will be 3 this month
3 – My husband has been in the Marine Corps for 16 years, and I’m a stay at home mom. He is originally from SC, while I’m from IN. Our families still live in our respective home states, so we are 100% on our own in CA. His hours are wonky, and although he hasn’t deployed in many years, he still gets sent on trips often that range anywhere from one to several weeks. The most recent was a six week excursion to Norway. We cope by spending a lot of time at the children’s museum, zoo, and park.
4 – Being 2500+ miles away from anything familiar is hard. I’ve always been really dependent on my parents, and now my husband and my support system is solely each other. I love being a stay at home mom, but I also want to work. Unfortunately, the cost of childcare here is so high that it’s more logical for me to stay home with our son. But since I stay home, my son doesn’t have much of a support system outside of us either. The only social interaction he currently gets is when we are out playing at the park or museum, so we’re looking forward to him starting preschool two days a week (if he’s potty trained in time).
Thanks for your consideration!
1) What city are you from? Bryan, TX
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? 2 kids – 3 yo boy, 2.5 mo girl
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? My husband usually leaves around 7 am and is gone until 6 pm or later. I am a stay at home mom, but my mom lives with us and is aable to help with day to day life. Our days are probably equal parts routine and spontaneous activities. I think having my mom in the mix makes our days different than most people I know. We are in our early to mid thirties and don’t know anyone else with a parent living with them (yet)!
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? Parenting in a house with 3 adults can be crazy….and I’m sure our 3 yo would agree! I’m guessing it feels like he has 3 bosses sometimes. We’ve also been dealing with some difficult breastfeeding/food sensitivity/discomfort issues with the baby that has added a whole new level of stress to our lives. Then, on top of that, we live in a home built in 1897 which is an adventure, too!
Every day is an adventure for us….and I feel like we’re finally getting back into our groove. I think our household just forgot what it’s like to have a baby around;-)
1.) My family lives in Arvada,CO a western suburb of Denver
2.) We have two girls- Meila 4 years (this month) and Ava 2.5 years
3.) What makes our day-to-day different is we are a bi-racial family. We moved from my husbands home country, South Korea, last year and have been living with my parents as we work towards buying our own house – this year hopefully! We’re currently living in the house where I grew up.
4.) My job as a parent is a little more challenging because my husband is a truck driver, which means he is on the roads most of the time and only home for a few days out of the month. I am essentially a single mom. My parents help to watch the girls in the morning, while I work a part time job for 4hrs M-F. Otherwise, I am the sole caretaker for our children. This position has its ups and downs. I have the freedom to plan activities and dinners as I want but we miss my husband while he is gone and I am overwhelmed at times raising our girls on my own. We are hopeful this situation is only temporary, yet I am limited to our activities when I don’t have my husband and their dad to help out.
1) What city are you from? Vauxhall, NJ
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? Zoe will be 4 in August, and Ethan turns two today.
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? On the surface, we’re a fairly typical family. Two kids, dad at work, mom at home, but if you look closer, you start to see things like a basket of medical supplies, a pulse oximeter machine and a pacemaker manual, a medication schedule on the fridge and boxes of syringes in the cupboards. With one ‘typical’ child (if such a word could ever come close to describing the bright light that is my daughter) and one who’s medically fragile (he’s still recovering from his third and fourth heart surgeries in May), it’s a constant balancing act to figure out how best to parent both my children, each quite demanding in their own ways, and still keep my own sanity while we juggle appointments and surgeries.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? My son, Ethan, was diagnosed with heterotaxy syndrome and multiple, critical congenital heart defects at his anatomy ultrasound during what was supposed to be a routine maternity leave from our lives living and serving on board the world’s largest NGO hospital ship off the coast of West Africa. Almost all of his internal organs are either multiplied, malformed or misplaced; he had his first open heart surgery at 6 days old, his second at 4 and a half months, and is still very much working on recovering from spending the month of May in the hospital.
Ethan’s diagnosis changed everything, and so for the past two years we have been finding our feet on land, learning not only to navigate the difficult waters of life with a medically complex child, but also trying to figure out how to even be a family anywhere other than the ship, which is where I met my husband and where our daughter lived for the first 18 months of her life. In some ways I’m still trying to adjust to the fact that it’s just me and the kids most days, and that we’re not surrounded by the vibrant, international community in which I was planning on soldiering through these impossible toddler years. This is all compounded by the fact that we just can’t let Ethan get sick (his compromised immune system means that even a common cold could be deadly), so I spend a good six months of the year holed up on ‘flu season lockdown;’ after nearly six years of living in a steel box within 500 feet of 400 people, the isolation can feel overwhelming sometimes.
1) What city are you from? Menlo Park, CA
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? 3 kids, ages 7, 10 and 12
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? Our day is very different than the average family but it is also our normal and so I have to step back to explain the differences. Our youngest daughter, Lucy, has a neuromuscular degenerative disease, Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1 (it is very similar to the more well-known ALS). Our days are spent taking care of her and helping her access this wonderful world. Our home is what they call a ‘medical home’. We have a lot of medical equipment, nurses, supplies, non-medical equipment to help Lucy. Lucy is what we call ‘high maintenance’ but we love that she is part of our family and we love taking care of her.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging?
Having three children is challenging. Having a child who is very medically fragile and who is dependent on us for everything, even itching her eyebrow but who’s mind is just like any typical child her age, while taking care of her siblings and working is very challenging (for me anyway, I know lots of people who could do a much better job!).
An instagram follower suggested that I check out your blog and comment on this post. You can see more of Lucy at @chertlunt She is really easy to love:)
1. Indianapolis, IN
2. 19 month old (Harlan)
3. Oh boy….well, everyday is totally different. We are venturing through the world of a high needs toddler/sensory processing disorder/a child that NEVER sleeps. So our days change based on our little guys needs! Speech, occupational therapy and horse therapy once a week….and then we spend the rest of the days trying to figure out how to not overstimulate our kiddo so maybe we can get a little sleep 🙂 mom has to stay home since Harlan is tough….so dad works two jobs to make sure we are taken care of!
4. We are dealing with a toddler with sensory processing disorder and some other difficulties! Harlan has been HARD since day one. He never sleeps….literally the longest he’s EVER slept in a row in 2 hours…..and he’s almost two. We run this house on coffee and laughter…because that’s all that’s keeping us sane at this point! We are constantly dealing with doctors and therapists to try to figure out how to help Harlan. And the constant struggle of wanting to expand our family, but knowing that it’s impossible with such a tricky kiddo! We are frequently awake for 24 hours, so when I say we are tired…it takes on a whole new meaning!
1.) Fort Wayne, IN
2.) 4 year old (5 in August), 17 month old, and 8 week old.
3.) Our day is different because my husband leaves fairly early and then I am with our kids until I go to work. Then I pick them up and get them home. My husbands long work hours means I take care of the household, finances, and kids almost all by myself.
4.) We have 2 children under the age of 2. Our youngest are only 15 months apart, which means they are both very dependent on us. Our daughter is also getting ready to start kindergarten, which we had to fight for because she will be the youngest in her grade.
We live in Raleigh, NC. My children are Layla (5) and Eli (3). Our unique challenge is that Eli has childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). CAS is a neurological and motor planning disorder. Essentially, Eli knows what he wants to say, but the message from his brain to his mouth/jaw/lips/tongue is disrupted, so he can’t coordinate the muscles of his speech organs to form the words. Eli understands everything you say, but CAS requires intense and frequent speech therapy. At 3 years old, Eli has very few words and primarily communicates through sign language, word approximations and gestures. He has never said “mama” to me, let alone any two word phrases or a sentence. Our day looks different because I work part-time, my husband works full-time 10-12 hour days Monday-Thursday, Eli splits days between preschool and a nanny (who we are losing in August and he will go full-time to preschool) and gets speech therapy several times a week. I spend many hours each week advocating for Eli. For example, we’ve been fighting for insurance coverage as their policy doesn’t cover the therapy he clearly needs. I had never heard of apraxia before, but I have quickly educated myself to do what I need to do to help him find his voice!
1) Portland,ME
2) I have a little boy who is almost 2 months old
3) I stay at home with my little guy and my husband goes to work at a brewery early in the morning. We are big believers in getting outside and even at a young age, letting out little one experience the world. Everyday I take our dog and our little one out for a hike somewhere nearby. On the weekends we go as a family. On top of just taking care of our little guy, I also work from home and am trying to finish graduate school.
4) Being a parent is a little bit more challenging because I am also a research assistant and a graduate student. While I mostly get to work from home, it is a challenge trying to get work and schoolwork done. My husband is extremely supportive and fully takes over a couple nights a week so I can work. I thought being pregnant and being a graduate student was hard, boy was I wrong!
1) What city are you from?
We are from Cumberland, RI
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages?
We have two daughters, ages 6 (7 in August) and 3 (4 in October)
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family?
Our day to day is a bit different because my husband and I both work full-time out of the home. My husband usually leaves for work around 5:30 AM, that leaves me to get the girls breakfast, dressed, lunches and snacks packed and off to school or to their grandmother’s house for the day. My husband usually gets home around 5:30 PM and I normally get home around 6 PM with the girls in tow. From January-April I usually work longer hours because of Tax Season. From April-June my husband usually works 6 days a week because of inventory. We also have the usual school functions we have to work into our schedules, along with dance and Therapy on the weekends.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging?
Our 6 year old daughter was diagnosed in 2015 with Tourette’s syndrome, Anxiety, and OCD. Which is considered a neurological disorder. We have been trying to educate ourselves, our families, her school, and our community about TS. There is a lack of knowledge and understanding regarding this disorder and the public often views these kids as having behavioral issues. Our 6 year old has been attending therapy on the weekends and we recently adopted a puppy which has helped with her anxiety.
1. Friendswood, TX
2. Daughter, 4
3. What makes our day to day different….I am a single mom raising my daughter and working full time. I struggle with debilitating anxiety.
4. Being a parent is a little more challenging for me because I am single mom, working full time. My ex husband lives 8 hours away from us, so we work hard to make sure our relationship is strong for our daughter. We have a unique custody arrangement, she spends 6 weeks with me and 3 weeks with her father. It can be difficult not having him close but we make it work.
1) What city are you from? — Windham, NY
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? — Two boys, ages 7 and 3 (4 in the fall)
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? — My husband is a police officer who works overnights on a three-on-two-off, two-on-three-off schedule. Think gone at night, sleeping during the day (while I try to keep the boys quiet!) I own a handmade business making children’s decor that is constantly growing, which is awesome! It keeps me very busy during the day while I’m also caring for our three year old, then when the kids go to bed, I work some more until around midnight/1am. Then back up around 6am to do it all again! Keep in mind many of these nights homework, dinner, bath, bed etc are on my own while my husband is at work. When he is home it’s wonderful and the boys love getting to spend time with him – we are both just SO worn out from never getting enough sleep! 😉 We rent a small house from a friend of our family right now and are trying desperately to save up for a down payment for our own home. My husband got intonlaw enforcement as a career change just a couple years ago and in a way, we’re starting over in our early thirties, with the little guys along for the ride.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? — As stated above – very odd schedules, challenging career, growing business, active little boys!
My name is Vanessa. I have 2 kids and a husband so 3 technically. We live in Gilbert, AZ! My oldest little is 2.5 years old and he was born 8 weeks premature. We both almost died during the pregnancy due to severe pre-eclampsia, HELLP syndrome, IUGR, and cord flow issues. It was very scary at first but he has surpassed expectations from the beginning. Today he is very much a normal kid for his age. We do deal with anger issues and night terrors,plus asthma but we don’t keep those things in the fore front of his life. We try to stay positive and calm for his success but boy does he yess the boundaries!
We also have a sweet 14 week old little girl. She was born full term thankfully and get only issue is not being held enough hehe.
Both of us currently work full time but even so we still can barely afford child care. Weve had to make some interesting accommodations to their schedule in order to make sure we can afford it. My in laws actually come to our house for a few hours every morning to watch the kids before my mother in law had to go to work herself. Then she drops them off at our sitters house until I pick them up by 530. Dad is of at 530 so he comessage home, cooks dinner and then we split up bed time, we let my son choose who he wants to put him down.
Currently, we’ve been seeing more and more jealousy out of my son, Bradyn towards his sister, Kelly Ann. He can be pretty physically aggressive so we have to be careful of how we handle that so she doesn’t get hurt. We also have to deal with the fact that its summertime in Arizona with an infant and a toddler. That is probably the hardest part since bradyn loves to play outside and he’s such an active boy, he needs to run around each day but someday we can’t because of the heat. Arizona living had a lot of challenges. While we have my in laws helping us, we recently had to say goodbye to my parents who moved from being 10 min away, to over 3 hours away. I hope you’ll pick us to see what desert life is like!
1. We are from a blue collar town, central New Jersey.
2. We have 5 children. Two are married ages 30 & 27, a 17 year old a 9 and an 8 year old.
3. Our days are either incredibly ordinary or ridiculously busy. As a homeschool family living in suburbia, we have 3 dogs, 2 cats and 8 chickens. Throw grandchildren dropping by into the mix and life gets even better.
4. I don’t think our family is extraordinary but we are certainly different. My husband is Irish descent and I am Hispanic. We’ve been married for 31+ years. Our oldest 3 are our biological, the 9 year old is adopted from China and the 8 year old from DRCongo. I keep forgetting we are different until people look at us for stretches of time. I am always about the idea that though many people don’t think adoption is for them, it’s not about can you… But more about will you. Being parents of adult married children, a teen, elementary school age children and grandparents to 4 grandsons keeps us busy, but oh so full of life. Yes times are hard, but life is good.
1) What city are you from?
I live in Clarksville, TN
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages?
I have two kids, a daughter who is 4 and a son who is 2
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family?
My day to day life varies. Sometimes we have very normal days and everything goes smoothly. Others my son will wake and struggle with me over every little thing as we try to communicate and get past his delayed speech. And my daughter will be extra sensitive to the fact that the one man she adores is gone for yet another exciting event in her life and she can’t understand why everyone else’s dads are there and hers can’t just come home to see her do whatever it is she is doing.
I also serve as our Family Readiness Group Leader which involves me helping families of our units company, with whatever needs they may have. Occasionally I have meetings, or I have to send out emails, or make sure families are taken care of.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging?
My husband is in the army and has been deployed 3 times in the last 4 years. The first was 10 months, second 9 months, and this current one we are 2 months into our 9 month deployment. I’ve had to learn how to be a new mother to my 2 month old while being separated from my family up in Alaska for our first deployment. I faced giving birth the my second child while he was on his second deployment. This time I’m learning how to be and give everything I can to two children , one who has no idea where his father has gone, and another who misses her second half more than everything in the world.
1) Bristol, CT
2) 2 girls, age 3 and 1.5
3) My husband works second shift 5 days a week, and third shift 2 nights at his second job, which means our schedule can be all over the place. On 2nd days, we spend time together as a family in the mornings, have dinner at lunch time, and then hubby is off to work. We have one car in a city with limited public transportation, and not many sidewalks in our neighborhood, so while hubby is gone it’s me and the girls at home. On 3rd days hubby sleeps in the mornings and early afternoon, then we have the rest of the day together. Our apartment doesn’t have a good place to play outside, but luckily my mom lives 5 minutes away in a quieter neighborhood and has a fenced in back yard. The girls and I do lots of arts and crafts together, as a family we like to do a lot of outdoor activities; walks, playing at the park, fishing, etc..
4) My husbands work schedule is challenging, and my youngest has several food allergies. We lost our son almost 2 years ago, and it has been hard on us as parents. My oldest remembers him well and asks to see him, she doesn’t understand why he’s gone. (Condensed story, hubby was raising his son from another relationship on his own, mother was absent by her own choice. Hubby and I raised his son together from age 2-6, right before his 6th birthday bio mom had us served papers looking for full custody and looking to move him to TX. We thought “yeah right” until it was found out in trial that hubby wasn’t his father, another man was. There was nothing we could do, bio mom got full custody, we have had no contact since he left.) We are still healing. The daily sadness is gone, but now unexpected memories seem to catch us off guard, like hearing a song on the radio or seeing a toy in Target that he would just love. Those moments really smack you in the face, and can reduce you to a puddle of tears in an instant.
1) What city are you from? Peterborough, NH
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? 1 child who is 5.5 years old
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? Nothing really, having one child leads people to believe are mornings are not hectic. It is certainly hectic. My husband and I stagger our day, so the morning time is when I can connect with my son. He tends to be an early riser, so instead of fighting that, I use that time to be together. We play, watch silly things on youtube, eat breakfast together etc. It is my favorite time of the day. I love this series and often think about how many other families are having mornings/days/evenings like me and it makes me feel united in a way. So nothing about my day is really different than most.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? I feel guilty at night when I don’t see him for as long. Our son experiences severe anxiety at times and when anxious has epic meltdowns. My challenge is the pause I take before entering our house, there is a moment when I listen for the screams and cries and mentally prepare. I wish I didn’t have to do that.
1) We live in Omaha NE.
2) One girl- 13 months
3) I wish we had an average night that might distinguish us. My husband is a pilot in the military and our life is generally some form of organized chaos. Our evenings are spent either with me pulling single parent duty or having his help. His help always makes it better but otherwise we are just trying to make it!
4) As mentioned above my husband is in the military. I am a part time CPA at a Fortune 500. Our lives are in constant flux. If he isn’t deployed or on the road then he’s often calling to tell me he is flying and might not be home. Or that is flight got cancelled and now he’s home. Day to day I’m often unsure what I can plan on for the weekend. It’s stressful but worth it. We love this country and we love serving it in this capacity. This last trip he took was supposed to last two weeks- and we are now thinking it’ll be a month or more. I love my family (dog included) and our crazy life. But man it can give me a run for my money sometimes!
We live in a small town called Yacolt, WA.
My husband and I have 3 boys.
Luke is 7.5
Austin is 5
Cruz is 1 (13 months).
Our day to day is a little different than others because of our commute. We don’t live close to our jobs, September through June I teach preschoolers for ECEAP, and I have the pleasure of staying home with the boys in the summer. During the working months for me, I have to get myself up, the baby up so he can go to daycare and make sure everything is ready for the boys at school. During the summer I am home with the boys while dad works long days. Which postpones dinner in the evenings.
Unique situations include being young parents to a lot of kiddos (my husband and I are 25). My oldest plays sports 9 months out of the year. My husband currently enrolled in college full time while working full time.
1. Austin, TX
2. Eddy, 4; Rocky, 2; Baby #3 due December
3. Our oldest son, Eddy, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at 22 months which included a month of scratching our heads followed by a 4 day crash course in the hospital on how to keep our child alive. Care includes constant monitoring of possible changes in blood sugar based on mood, demeanor, and energy along with testing blood sugar every 3-4 hours (more frequently on sick days), and dosing insulin via a syringe 5-6 times a day. Care feels manageable on good days but never easy. Each day is work but we feel so fortunate to be able to care for him and troubleshoot at home.
4. My husband, Tim, takes each overnight shift of blood sugar monitoring which includes 2 checks on a good night and hourly checks on a hard night. Sleep is hard to come by for him but he insists that I have to be “on” all day. In the morning, Tim has often left for work before I’m up with the kids but has left the first dose of insulin drawn up and stovetop espresso ready to fire up. The first dose of the day is often met with resistance from Eddy and rather than eating as soon as he’s up, we have to wait 20-30 minutes for insulin to kick in. As of August 22, Eddy will be starting school for the first time which will add a whole new element to the timing of our mornings. It’s going to be work! And I’m going to be huge.
1) What city are you from? Stationed in San Diego, born and raised in Texas
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? 2 – 6 y/o and 1.5 y/o
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? Our oldest is autistic and started kindergarten last fall. Daily behavioral therapy is a blessing, we have good/bad days, but therapy has done so much for us as a family.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? Husband is currently deployed… he works a lot, doesn’t get to come home some days, then his deployment crept up on us. Special needs children require a bit more help, as do toddlers, so keeping in the right mindset alone can be hard.
This is a great way to show others how fortunate they are, it’s easy to take for granted what we already have.
Hello! We are from Westerville, Ohio. I am the proud mom of two boys who were born 15 years and 2 days apart. They are 4 and 19. CJ is my oldest and Liam is the youngest. Recently we addeda new family member when CJ’s girlfriend needed a safe place to live.There has been some adjusting but she is a great girl. In the fall CJ will go for his sophomore year at Ohio State University and Liam will start preschool. We are a family who loves to have fun and we bond over games. Mostly card and board games but video games are great fun too. Our biggest challenge as parents is learning to shift gars to deal with the 15 year age difference.
1. We are from Tampa, FL
2. We have 2 children, Grayson and Greer, both 2.5 years old!
3. What makes our family situation a little bit different is that we are raising two kids (toddlers) that are the same age. The terrible twos times 2!
4. What makes my job as a parenting a little more challenging is that my husband works for a NHL team. Their season runs Setember- June, so there are a lot of nights (every home hockey game) where I don’t get the help of a second parent come 6pm. And on some away trips, he’s gone for a few days at a time, which makes it extremely challenging with two toddlers both going through the exact same stages at the exact same time. That break/help I live for during the day, during season, isn’t always there.
1) We live in a northern suburb of Boston
2) We have one 18-month old son
3) Our day-to-day is different from the average family because my husband is self-employed and works long hours on his business. He runs a restaurant and gets up in the wee hours of the morning to bake bread and prepare food for the day.
4) Our unique situation is that our family revolves around my husband’s restaurant and also our job of being parents. I eat at the restaurant every day for lunch so we can feel connected to the work he does and we enjoy when he can take a break and visit with us. The employees there are our second family. We try to use the afternoons and evenings to spend time together to remind us why we are working so hard, for our future to share with our family.
1) Chesapeake, VA
2) 2 kids, Olivia (4) & Landon (2 1/2)
3) I own my own business which makes our day-to-day a little different than others. Amongst the chaos of meals, getting dressed, activities, bath time, and everything in between (by myself), I try to make, fulfill, and ship orders for my growing small business.
4) Our unique situation is that my husband is a helicopter pilot for the Navy and on his 2nd deployment. In the past year and a half, he’s been gone over 200 days. We’re fortunate enough to be able to FaceTime with him daily while he’s in the ME but it doesn’t make things any easier. Olivia’s older and understanding more and constantly asking when daddy’s coming home. When 5 o’clock hits I don’t get a “break” I have to do what I have to do and put my emotions to the side to get through the day. It’s hard, much harder this time around, because I lost a baby 1/2 way through my pregnancy back in April. I thought we were “safe” from the scary stuff because it was the second trimester. Everyday is filled with more emotional struggles than I’d like to admit.
Hi there, my name is Courtnay and we are from the beautiful Bend Oregon. I currently have 5 kids ages 6.5, 6, 5.5, 3.5 & 3. But if you had asked last week, we also had a 20 month & 8 month old. We are foster parents and have an ever changing amount of babes 🙂 though 3 of them are permanent kiddos. Two bio kids and one sweet adopted bug. We live in a 3 bedroom house and certainly don’t have room for all the chaos, but there are so many hurting people out there that need hope, so we are doing our best to give what we have and be a bit of positive in the world. There are a lot of challenges that come with foster care that make each day look drastically different. The day to day is hard, but to see the light come back into these kids eyes makes it SO worth !!
1) Shakopee, Minnesota (a southern suburb of Minneapolis)
2) Three kids. Two girls (almost 6, almost 4) and a boy (20)
3) Our days are chaotic, just like every other family. But interspersed in the chaos are medical breaks for our oldest. Our daughter was born with spina bifida. She is completely amazing and is doing so well. She is quite mobile, which was a blessed surprise. The downside for her is that it is easy for people to forget how hard she has to work for everything. She gets up an hour before her siblings every day so we can hook an IV up to her colon and “flush” her out so she can wear underwear. And then she has to catheterize 4-5 times a day. To us, it’s routine, but it’s something sometimes even our closest friends don’t understand.
4) We don’t have our family close by (other than my sister). So my husband and I have united as a team. Even our kids ascribe to the motto “we’re a team” and we help each other out. We are also completely dedicated to ensuring our daughter doesn’t ever feel like her medical needs held her back or held us back as a family. And we love watching how compassionate her siblings are to her – and others – because special needs is not so “special” to them.
HI, I am submitting on behalf on my cousin, Romina as she claims she has no time to do this!
1) What city are you from? She lives in Westbury, LI (NY)
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? 2 kids, 10years old (girl), 6 yr old boy
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? Juliet is a soccer star and has a million practices and games all year long so the family schedule is usually based around that.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? Juliet also has a very severe nut allergy, which means that her mom is constantly monitoring what, where and with whom Juliet eats. She has also become an advocate for allergy issues and promotes awareness. Romina recently took a job at a school cafeteria in her district and assisting in developing policies for allergy awareness in school cafeterias(food labeling, epi pen policy, etc).
HI, I am submitting this for my cousin who says she is too busy to do it!
1) What city are you from? she lives in Westbury,LI (NY)
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? She has a 10yr old girl and a 6 yr old boy
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? Juliet is a soccer star so the day normally revolves around her soccer schedule. all week. All year!
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? Juliet also has a very severe nut allergy. So Romina spends her day monitoring what, where and with whom she eats. She tends to bake a lot to ensure there is no cross contamination or risks. She has also become involved as an allergy advocate and is dedicate to promoting awareness in the community at large. Recently, she has taken a job in the local school cafeteria and is assisting in developing policy in regards to food labeling, ingredients, emergency epi pen administration, self carriers, etc…
She has yet to visit me in Rome as traveling is difficult and stressful and not everyone is educated in the dangers of food allergies.
I hope she is featured – if not her, at least another family who has similar issues – we need more awareness on the subject, and children need to be educated to respect children that have allergies. (some kids taunt the kids who sit at the allergy table with dangerous foods – freaks me out to think of it)…
1) What city are you from? New Orleans, Louisiana
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages?
Two kids, 6 and 3 years old.
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family?
I’m entering as the full-time live in nanny. We are a little different because I’m more than the average nanny who comes to work and leaves at the end of the day. I stay. We also co-parent, meaning as the nanny, I also get say so in the children’s lives. Our unique dynamic is also complexed by the diagnosis of our 6 year old: autism. Although he is high-functioning, it makes our day to day very challenging and we have to be creative! With mom being a doctor doing her third residency and dad being an engineer, the children and I spend a lot of time together.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging?
Although I am not the parent, I do a lot of the parenting as well! Since I am a live in, we are more closely considered a family rather than employee/employer. Parenting is challenging because there are three opinions/ideas.
1. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
2. Two year old boy, and we’re expecting our second this December (Woof. Pregnant with a toddler is no joke.) We also have two dogs that are very much my children. 🙂
3. My husband’s work requires him out of the house before the sun comes up. So, from the time we’re up in the morning until dinner time, I fly solo. I also work part time as a non profit communications manager. So, in my opinion I have the best of both worlds: Three days during the week I’m a SAHM, and two days during the week I’m in the office. I also think my life is a little different because of the community I’m raising my son in. Our neighborhood is beyond awesome. There are kiddos everywhere and every single mom is willing to help out another mom at the drop of a hat. Many evenings are spent on front porches with kids running back and forth. We joke around that we all live in a commune. But, it really is the greatest. I feel so lucky to be living in such a tight-knit community.
4. Currently, being pregnant while also having a two year old has been my biggest challenge. I’m so tired all the time! I’ve been doing my best to soak in every single moment I have left as a mom of one child, but sometimes I’m just ready to throw in the towel and spend the afternoon watching Thomas the Tank. But, then I end up with a load of mommy guilt. Can’t win either way. My husband’s work schedule also makes life a little more challenging. He’s gone when we all wake up, and goes to sleep pretty early. So, there’s lots of time I parent solo.
Can’t wait to see these next series! I loved the last two.
1. Dublin, Ohio
2. Girl-3 and Boy-19 months
3. I am a mostly SAHM who will occasionally go to work at a childcare center (my kids come with). My husband works nights for the state (lots of extra hours he has to put in during the day sometimes) so during the day he is sleeping and it’s just me at my two kids. He is in the military so we deal with that. My husband also goes to school full time so his time is really taken up with all of the things he has to do. Most of the time it’s just the kids and I trying to make the day not so crazy lol
4. Dealing with my husbands busy schedule due to all of his commitments (work, school, military) and trying not to go crazy doing it all myself most of the time.
1) What city are you from?
I am from a small town called Lincoln city in oregon
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages?
I have one beautiful daughter named Juliette 🙂
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family?
I am a single mother, working full time and trying to go back to school in the process. I work at a casino so my hours are crazy, i have to balance everything as best as i can 🙂
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging?
I guess having such a random work schedule all the time, my sleep schedule is always messed up so me and mu daughter have interesting day’s:) from making smores at 2 am to waking up super early on some days and taking beach walks before i have to go work?
Adjusting to being a single parent is also a big challenge, some days i feel like I’m failing when i have other people telling me i shouldn’t work so much but i remember im trying the hardest i can to make everything work 🙂
1) What city are you from? That’s a weird one, we’ve lived all over, right now it’s Washington D.C.
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages?
Three, two are my step children and I have one son, desperately hoping for number four.
Corinne – 16 (almost)
Samuel – 14
Jacob – 2
3) What makes your day to day a little different?
My hubby is a restaurant manager and I’m a lawyer in the military, I’ve got two teenagers, a toddler and we’re trying for a new baby. My teenagers act like teenagers, but they just came to live with us (under fairly dramatic circumstances) a little over a year ago. My husband and I work opposite schedules and our kids are busy with a hundred different things, life is never the same day to day. I never thought I would be raising teens and toddlers at the same time, the challenges are immense, but add in one parent 90% of the time and our military lifestyle of uncertainty and I honestly can’t predict life from day to day, so we aren’t very average.
4) Unique situation as a parent? I gained two teens in the last eighteen months all while learning to be a mom to my toddler. We are military and my husband’s job is constantly in flux. I don’t know where I’ll be working in 6 months, but I’m desperately trying to provide stability for two stepchildren who’ve been in 7 schools in 7 years and 9 schools in 9 years respectively. My husband and I hardly see each other and we’ve lost two babies due to miscarriage in the last two years. One was late term, our baby had Down’s syndrome and a serious heart condition, we don’t know exactly what happened, but we lost purse cons baby. We just recently lost another baby and have been trying without success to get pregnant again – all while working opposite schedules. My teenagers fully understand what it takes to make a baby, which makes making one awkward, and my toddler is jumping from terrible twos to a threenager before our eyes. We have faced more struggles in the last two years than I care to recount, but somehow we make it work. Chore charts, menu planning, teaching one kid to drive, juggling this camp or that extra-curricular or convincing my step-son his ADD diagnosis is a real thing. At some point I think I just realized this is life, but I fight a constant battle at work for being a working mother. For having to balance work – in a legal career and the military – and my family, with its many challenges is harder than I ever imagined. I never felt like being female made me different until I became a mom.
1) What city are you from? Guam (it’s technically the US, so I’m rolling the dice here.
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? 1 child – 18 months
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? My husband is a military physician, so his days are ever-changing, 12 hour shifts or deployments. I am a SAHM.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? Our son had several complication early on, including a stroke. For the most part he appears “normal”, but we’ve decided to teach him ASL since that is the side of the brain that was impacted.
1. City?
Pensacola, FL
2. How many kids?
3, but 1 lives with me full-time. Ages: 11, 8, & 2
3. What makes your day-to-day different from an average family?
I live with my parents (mom and step-dad) after a divorce. Everyone pitches in, which I’m sure is common, but certainly different for me.
4. Unique situation?
First, I have a thyroid disease. My step-dad, who I live with who has cancer and is undergoing treatment. He is currently in partial remission, but had to leave to get experimental treatment every couple of months. I have a job and will be going to school soon, but am also here to help to take him to appointments and what not.
1.) We live in a small town named Rock Sorings, Wyoming.
2.) I have two children aged three and three months.
3.) What makes our days a little different than most families is that we have a VERY strong will three year old getting used to being a big sister. Thankfully, all of the negative behavior is focused on the parents and not at her little sister, but some days are a challenge. Our three year is very sweet and very smart (which translates into very manipulative sometimes), but life definitely changed for her, and all of us when little sister came. I recently went back to work after maternity leave, so that is one more adjustment we are currently making. Even though having our second daughter has come with its challenges, I could not be any happier than I am right now.
4.) My family has some struggles with our health. Thankfully, no life ending diagnosises but definitely some life changing ones. When my oldest was two weeks old she was diagnosed with bilateral congenital cataracts. This meant surgeries at five and seven weeks and now she is contact or glasses dependent. She mostly wears contacts now. We take them out and clean them one night a week. Inserting and removing has gotten easier with time, but is still definitely a challenge. And then we she was five months old my husband was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. How and if MS affects our lives varies from day to day. One thing that is definite is that we have to be careful not to be in the heat too much. And just make sure we don’t over do. Depending on what day someone is in our house there may be no struggles or their may be many. Either way, my family is amazing.
1. We’re from Virginia Beach, Virginia
2. Two kids: 3 year girl and 8 month old boy
3. My husband works as an Executive Director at the YMCA and I work full time as an administrative assistant at a financial firm. There’s no such thing as an “average” family. We work outside the home and my kids go to preschool and daycare. He takes the kids in the morning and I’ll pick them up and take them to his Y so I can workout. Then home for dinner, playtime and bed. It’s crazy at times but it’s out life.
4. I don’t think we’re unique honestly. We live in Virginia Beach, two blocks from the ocean. We live in a small 2 bedroom apartment with a 9 year old boxer. Our kids share a room. We’re probably really boring compared to other families! But I thought I’d give it a shot!
1. Currently living in Yorkville, Illinois
2. I have (2) daughters ages 25 and 5. (Yes, you read that right!)
3. Day to day parenting is not an easy task. I am a single mom working full time, trying to work on independent sales with Pampered Chef and do side work for a co worker’s son. All to bring money in the house. The little one is starting kindergarten in the Fall and the older one is engaged and dragging her feet on wedding planning! I recently was diagnosed with severe depression bordering on bi-polar, health insurance is expiring so I can’t see a doctor and I have learned to deal with it. I love spending time with my daughters – although I don’t get a lot with the older one lately. ALL my family aside from my daughters are back East and I have no help here at all. We manage though…and my daughter lives a pretty damn well rounded life…..while my life is far from perfect and we have LOTS of hiccups along the way, my little apartment is full of love, adventure and learning daily….and I’d love to show other single moms out there that are struggling that it IS possible!!!!!
1) What city are you from?
Eden Prairie, MN (Minneapolis)
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages?
1! Almost 11 months!
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family?
I go to work in the morning while my husband stays home and gets Vigo (our son) ready for the day! We have a part-time nanny, but my husband currently stays at home while going to school full-time. His goal is to get into med school by 2017. My husband drops our son off at my work at 4 so he can then race to school. Vigo & I head home for fun, snuggles & food! He’s usually asleep by the time my husband gets home from class. It’s a bit of a give & take and lots of attempting to be organized and keep a clean schedule!
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging?
We found out that our son has Macrocephaly, but thankfully it’s not as big of an issue. He’s just got a bigger head for a bigger brain! Where it gets tricky is when I have to take off work for appointments or my husband has to get out of school. It also gets tricky with my husband in school full time. Weekends are for me to relax but for him to study. We can’t always get out and have the fun we would like, so it’s an effort to do that and make it all work!
1) What city are you from? San Antonio, TX
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? 1 and in the process of adopting number 2 (fingers crossed it is 2 soon!) 2 years old and (hopefully) 6 months
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? I’m a single mom living a couple thousand miles away from my family and most of my friends. It’s all me all the time.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? I fostered to adopt my son and am in the process of trying to get his biological sister. To provide for them I work a full time job as a professor and three part time jobs. My time is packed to the gills so I try to make my time with my son as meaningful as possible. I feel like I only get to be with him a few hours a day and want those hours to be as stress free as possible but I feel like I am constantly battling the clock! I need to get him down to bed by a certain time in order to be able to get to work on my part time jobs. Although I feel like I am burning the candle at both ends, I wouldn’t have it any other way. He is everything I never knew I needed and has brought more joy to my life than I could ever have anticipated.
1) What city are you from? Roscoe, Illinois
2) How many kids do you have and what are their ages? Livia Grace, 9 and Finley Faith, 7
3) What makes your day to day a little different than the average family? Our days are a little different than the average in the fact that we wake every day praying to have another 24 as a family of 4. They are different when I’m doing dishes and I have syringes and extension tubing mixed with the silverware and plates. They are different in that my once plant shelf in the dining room is now the home to extra medical supplies, diapers, wipes, and “Real Food Blends.” They are different in that when I take my 7 year old to softball, I must also take my 9 year old’s wheelchair because she is unable to walk anymore. They are different in that we survive on the intense love that we have for one another and other’s. The realization in just how each and every day is a true gift.
4) What unique situation are you dealing with that makes your job as a parent a little more challenging? Our 9 year old sweet, loving, beautiful, hand holding daughter has a terminal genetic condition called Sanfilippo Syndrome (MPSIIIA)
I’m so sad I missed this. I have two boys, a 5 year old and a 3 year old. We live in Tucson, AZ. My youngest son has a muscle disease. His room looks like a mini hospital. We do breathing treatments, use a feeding tube and a bipap. He lays flat at all times and involves constant monitoring. But through all of this, it has made our family closer and has taught us so much. We would love to share what living with a special needs, medically fragile child looks like and how there is so much joy in our home through it all.