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Special Post: Congratulations to Shelly, Kevin & Baby Julia

Hello Awake Parent Readers,

Just wanted to let you know…

Baby Julia was born on August 2, 2010 at around 3 PM coming in at 7 lb 13 oz. Both mom and baby are doing well. Pictures to come….

Jill and I sent out a message last week asking for your warm pre-congratulations. Thank you to everyone that responded. We’ve posted your warm and gracious letters below.

Sincerely,
Jill & Colin

P.S. Please feel free to add to the love by expressing yourself in the comments box below.

P.P.S. If you ever wondered what Shelly looked like as a baby… her mom pulled out a baby pic of her. 🙂 It’s the second to last letter we got below. read more

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Guest Blog: “Vacationing” family style

happy family portrait having funThis week’s guest blog is by Mindy:

After I had my first baby my neighbor told me that I can no longer call it “going on vacation” if kids are involved, and that she refers to it as traveling or taking a trip.  It took me a couple years and many attempts at vacationing with kids to fully grasp what she meant.

A vacation implies a break, and traveling with young kids, especially more than one, is anything but that.  In fact, in nearly every way it is more difficult, more work, and more exhausting than staying home .  Labeling the trip as a vacation is really just setting yourself up for disappointment as it seems even more painful to be up in the middle of the night with a crying baby or time-zone-wacked toddler when you’re paying $200 a night for the “experience” in lodging alone. read more

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Guest Blog: So, Who’s Calling the Shots? And How?

brar01_kazdinThis week’s guest blog is by Kheyala:

I was a kid – a very good kid – who knew what it was like to be raised on a very short leash.  For this reason, when I had my own little one, I was more than committed to allowing her the freedom which I had been denied.  The trouble was, by the time she’d reached a year and a half, I found myself with a little tyrant running my house.  Or should I say her house!

I thought to myself, “Oh my gosh.  I cannot imagine what the ‘terrible twos’ will bring, let alone the teenage years, when this is what I’ve got to reckon with now!”  That was the moment this insight came to me; a beautiful, timeless insight that remains true to this day (she’s 12 now) and has proved since to be just as extraordinarily effective and beneficial for every other child who as fallen under my care. read more

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Having friends could save your life!

The New York Times published an article this week (July 2010) about the importance of having a social network http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/a-new-risk-factor-your-social-life/ Apparently, the study shows that having strong social ties decreases your risk of dying by 50%!  Researches concluded that not having a social network can be as dangerous to your health as smoking a pack a day or being an alcoholic.

In the study, strong family ties counted as a social network, but I suspect that the social experiences we get to have with our peers and elders are hugely important.  So, if your only family ties are with your partner and kids, take a moment this week to consider how you can expand your social network to include some fun peer connections.   According to this study, it really could be a matter of life and death. read more

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A Special Letter to My Soon to Be Born Baby

Lowres-4-croppedWhen I was a teenager I was flipping through my baby book and I saw a letter my mom had written to me before I was born.  It was sweet and heartfelt and at that moment I knew on a deeper level how very wanted I was and how special I was to my mom even before she met me for the first time.   It has always been important to me that I make a conscious choice to become a parent and that I wait until I’m really ready to take on the responsibilities of parenthood.  So here I am, just two weeks away from my “guess date” and I’ve decided to write a letter to my baby to welcome him or her. read more

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