 5 Important Conversations to Have While You’re Pregnant Editor’s Note: This article was written by Our Small Hours guest poster Amy Patterson.  Find out more about Amy below. As an expectant mother there seems to be a million and one...
It’s summertime and that means we’ll all be spending more time engaging and entertaining our children. When it’s time for a little quiet or a long road trip, we need some great Android apps to keep our little ones busy....
Friends, it’s been a rough week. Â On Monday we lost our sweet cat Ana who was only 6 years old. Â She was a special girl who I affectionately called “second mom” because of the way she could sense when the...
Editor’s Note: This article was written by Our Small Hours guest poster Amy Patterson.  Find out more about Amy below. Safety Reminders for Outside Play With the temperatures rising and the daylight hours extended, your kids are probably antsy to...
How to Stop Your Child From Whining There are few things more grating than a whining child, right? Â Sometimes around the age of 2.5-3, when a child as an arsenal of words to use, but can’t always seem to figure...
Editor’s Note: This article was written by Our Small Hours guest poster Amy Patterson. Amy Patterson is an avid reader on trending topics and a freelance writer in her spare time. On the beautiful coast of North Carolina you will usually find her catching...
My Five Biggest Parenting Regrets (and How I’m Moving Past Them) There’s no such thing as a perfect parent and we all  have regrets. I’ve hesitated to share my parenting regrets because, frankly, I don’t like thinking about them and...
Why I Allow My Children To Eat Junk Food Yes. You read that right.I allow my children to eat junk food. Yes, I write about real food and importance of avoiding processed foods and even some foods that people commonly...
My 10 Favorite YouTube Moms Have you ever wanted a peek into the lives of other moms?  Of course, you have.  That’s a big reason why we read parenting blogs.  I love blogging and sharing how I do motherhood with other...
How to Know When You’re Done Having Babies Are you done having babies? Â Do you know for sure or is this a question that’s difficult to answer? For me it wasn’t easy to answer until recently. Â (I’ll tell you my...
One Reason Why Other Moms Judge You (And Why It’s Okay) Why are moms so judgmental of other moms?  This was a question I asked myself often as a new mom.  It seemed that even before our babies were born, other...
How to Get Children to Eat Real Food So you’ve decided to follow a real food diet and you want your family on board. Â If you are like many former Standard American Diet (SAD) families, your children are likely protesting...
How to Discipline Without Using Punishment I have a long-standing disagreement with punishment. Â When I was a child I would think to myself when I was punished, “Geez! Â You don’t have to punish me. Â Just tell me what I did...
Editor’s Note:  This post was written by OSH contributor Mercedes Samudio, LCSW.  To find out more about Mercedes read her bio on the Current Contributors page. Visit Mercedes’s website The Parenting Skill and follow her on Twitter and Pinterest.  How to Get...
Editor’s Note: This article was written by Our Small Hours guest poster Amy Patterson. Amy Patterson is an avid reader on trending topics and a freelance writer in her spare time. On the beautiful coast of North Carolina you will usually find her catching...
Advocating For Our Children Most of the time I am a pretty mellow mama. Â I don’t enjoy causing a scene and would much prefer to not be noticed and allowed to reside in the background. Â Living life in the spotlight...
Can You Afford to be a Stay-at-Home Parent? When I was pregnant with my first child, I probably googled this question on a weekly basis looking for confirming information about how a single-income family could live comfortably. Â This question was...
How to Keep Your Toddler Busy While Caring for Your Baby So now you’re a mom of two and now you’re outnumbered. Â The logistics become a little tricky when you have two children who are very close in age. Â My...
The Best Games for Family Game Night After a long soccer season, my family is finally at home in the evenings more nights than we’re not. Â I look forward to these few months of each year when our activities and...
5 Things I Wish I’d Known as a New Mom Before I had children everyone told me the news: Â Babies are hard work! Â Who hasn’t heard that little news flash, right? Â But, what no one was able to tell me...
Indoor Rainy Day Play Ideas for Kids I live in the south and we have our fair share of rainy days. I remember one summer when my boys were little it rained nearly every single day. Â There was rarely enough...
Should Your Child Play Sports? The last post in the “Should Your Child Play Sports” series is a more emotional one. Â I want to talk about how to be a good sports parent if you and your child have decided...
How to Prepare Your Children for Pet Adoption The PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekend is coming up on November 13 through 15.  This is an exciting time for both families who want to adopt a pet and pets who are waiting...
Should Your Child Play Sports? In Part IV of the “Should Your Child Play Sports?” series, we’re considering whether or not your family will be able to make the time commitment for your child to play sports. Depending on the age...
Should Your Child Play Sports? So far we’ve talked about figuring out if your child truly wants to play sports and what type of sports, team or individual, might be right for your child.  Today I’d like to ask you to...
Is Your Child Ready for Contact Lenses? I was 11 years old when I began wearing glasses. Â While wearing glass was exciting at first, the novelty wore off pretty quickly. Â My glasses bothered me when I played sports with my...
Should My Child Play Sports? Sports are a great way for children to have fun while staying fit, but finding a sport that your child loves may not be easy for some. If you read Part 1 of this series,...
Should My Child Play Sports? Playing youth sports is an excellent way for children and teens to get physically fit, practice teamwork, gain self-confidence, learn life lessons and have fun, but team sports are not an ideal activity for every...
How to Stop Sibling Rivalry There isn’t much my children can do that will make me truly angry. My oldest has broken three separate windows, all of my children have made their marks on the walls with crayon or marker,...
How to Find Balance as a Mother Since becoming a mother I have been chasing the seemingly impossible dream of a balanced lifestyle. I’ve been a full-time working mom, a part-time working mom, a bring-your-child-to-part-time-work mom, a stay-at-home mom, a...