Family

Do you do STEM activities with your kids? I bet you do and you don’t even realize it. A lot of the activities we do with our kids naturally include science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), but we just don’t talk about it with them.

As a working mom, my weekends are when I get the most quality time with my kids. The rest of the week, I constantly feel like I’m managing their requests and time so strictly that I have to say no a lot. On the weekends, we can finally let go, just have fun and I can finally say YES!

I never expected my kids to love moving to Boston as quickly or as much as they do. Growing up in Wisconsin, I guess I forgot to consider just how much I loved the four seasons as a kid. I loved splashing in puddles, I love playing in the snow, and I spent every waking hour of the summer outside.

For Halloween this year, my kids asked to be dinosaurs. I really wanted to make their costumes this year because I didn’t have time to do it last year. It really bothered me that I wasn’t able to make them last year. I was determined to make them a DIY dinosaur costume this year.

I get anxious a lot. Since having kids, it’s gotten much worse. I think all of the jugglings of the daily tasks has turned me into a much tenser person. This increased anxiety is not good for me, my kids or my marriage. It makes all of us stressed and on edge.

It’s 5:00 am on Saturday morning. My eyes snap open as I sense someone is staring at me. It’s my two preschoolers, poking me, whispering in the softest voice, “is it time to get up mommy?” I want to scream at them, “go back to sleep!” but instead I roll out of bed, blurry-eyed and put on a morning cartoon to appease them until I’m awake. For the longest time, I was desperate to figure out how to keep early risers in bed longer.

This is the first time I have to pack my kids’ lunches for school. With a super picky eater on my hands, it can be challenging. Luckily, their preschool is willing to heat things up for them, so I’m not limited to sandwiches-only. Either way, it can still be hard to come up with kid-friendly lunch ideas for school.

Relocation is tough on everyone. Moving with kids is a particular challenge; both for you and for your children. Us grown-ups have our own hassles, but for kids, the process of moving across the country, leaving everything they’ve known, being thrown into a situation where have little control can be especially tough on kids.

There are so many different things you need to plan and think about when you’re planning a move. Our cross-country move to Boston could have been very overwhelming, but I found so many great resources online to help me organize for the move. If you’re moving, here are some of the best moving and packing hacks to prepare for the big move.