The Remembering: Reflections on My Pregnancy Loss
by Ellen Mecholsky on
It starts the first week of December, the remembering. I had felt her move for the first time in the car driving home from a Thanksgiving trip to Florida, which is why I suspect my anniversary grief stress begins so early. I subsequently gave birth t... Read full article
Play! Create! Imagine! (and then Clean. It. Up.)
by Ellen Mecholsky on
I walk a very fine line between wanting my children to play and create and imagine...and wanting/NEEDING a tidy house to function at my best. I need order around me to feel relaxed and productive. If I wake up in the morning and I am greeted by a tra... Read full article
Pandemic Parenting, Amirite?
by Ellen Mecholsky on
I’m sitting here in front of my computer trying to think of something to write to all of you–something to lift up and inspire during this time of uncharted territory and endless new decision-making.... Read full article
The Motivation Struggle
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I think back on my own life and all of the things I thought I wanted to do…and you know what? The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. So, how in the world do I motivate my kid to stick to something when I’m not sure I can do that for myself?... Read full article
Rolling with the Good Times: Navigating Baton Rouge’s Mardi Gras with Kids
by Ellen Mecholsky on
When my husband and I moved to Baton Rouge, we had absolutely no idea about Mardi Gras. I mean, sure, we had heard of “Fat Tuesday” and had the vague sense that beads were involved, but the Louisiana Mardi Gras EXPERIENCE was a complete unknown. That... Read full article
I Smell Crawfish!
by Amy Delaney on
You never realize just how quiet winter is until the birds start chirping and squawking on the first days of spring. Recently, I had a similar experience when I smelled a familiar aroma floating over the fence in my neighborhood. Someone was boiling ... Read full article
Mommy, I Don’t Quit
by Kelly Carmena on
It’s been almost five years now since I jumped on the fitness train. Six weeks postpartum from a very emotional pregnancy and delivery, I took to walking daily with my newborn daughter in tow.... Read full article
Eureka Springs, Arkansas
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After word had spread about the “healing” waters in the local springs, Eureka Springs, Arkansas was founded on July 4, 1879. Thousands soon flocked to the town in order to build shanties for the expected guests, and now, there are many places to visi... Read full article
Parenting Through Grief
by Kelly G. Carmena on
Like most parents, 2020 presented my family with change beyond measure. In early March, just one week before COVID hit the United States and shut the entire world down, my mother unexpectedly left our physical world... Read full article
Tri’ing to Mom
by Kelly Carmena on
Whoever said the infant/toddler stage was the hardest stage LIED! Rewind four years, 2015, picture it. I was…well, four years younger (we’ll leave it at that), and a mother to a not yet one-year-old daughter and three-year-old son.... Read full article