The last three times I've run into a school mom, my two year old is doing something with a lollipop. 

The first time, this mom saw us at the paper store in town and kindly peeled the white sticky stick off of my daughter's bottom and brought it to me letting me know what she had found. She promised no judgement and said with a giggle that she could totally relate. 
Thank you, new friend. Classy. 

The second time, we were at CVS buying some (a very large bag) of lollipops to survive an upcoming airplane flight. My friend helped me find the econo size bag because apparently she makes pre-flight CVS stops, too. We had just enough to last the final leg of our trip.
Thank you, friend, sugar and CVS. 

Just last week, we bumped into each other at CVS (AGAIN) and my daughter was working two lollipops in her mouth even before we got to the checkout line. My friend and I laughed about our repeated lollipop adventures. This time I needed the lollipops...

There was a small room in our old house that we never used in the three years we lived there.

I had every intention of a nightly, weekly or even a monthly steam, but that basement sauna didn't get used once. I'm taking zero, zilch, nada enchilada. I shouldn't be surprised because despite the couple that sold us the house ooohing and aahing about their fabulous sauna, it was clearly untouched. I thought for sure the distinct spicy warm cedarwood smell would lure me in for the best in at-home detoxification, improved circulation and relaxation, but not so much. 

Maybe I didn't want to slap on a swim suit or was too lazy to go downstairs even in the buck with a towel, but for whatever reason, I never made it happen. Maybe it was the fact that I almost passed out during a hot yoga class (yup, I'm a yoga teacher and don't love hot yoga) so even the thought of doing something remotely similar wasn't motivating. 

Lately, the sauna world is all a twitter about the weight loss...

The soccer sidelines are a great place to be a voyeur. 

I was sitting near a mom who was offering her kid snacks out of her purse. No judgement on giving snacks of any kind much less the cheerio dust and goldfish lining purse bottoms, because- hello- mom life. 

This little girl was happily munching away when her friend wanted to get in on the snack action. 

The mom happily handed over some goods to the friend and her daughter was, well, less than pleased. 

The mom looked her daughter straight in the eyes with that tone and said you've had two of these, three of that and I think you've had enough while continuing to pass the crunchy treasure onto their friend. 

The message here was pretty clear.

I know better than you. Not a good idea to trust yourself. 

And just like that, her ability to trust herself starts eroding away one (not so) innocent comment at a time. 

How do we know what's best for other people when it...

To this day, I refuse to buy a Kindle. It would be ridiculously convenient to use that fancy little e-reader while traveling with six kids, but its never happening.

There’s something special, even magical, about holding and reading a real book. Whether turning the page feels like a fresh start or the weight of the book just feels like a small treasure that was written just for me, books are powerful.

I’ve always loved books and am excited to tell you that I’m writing a book that you’ll be able to hold in your hot little hands very soon! 

In this book I’ll be sharing all my tips, strategies, coaching exercises and ideas that will help you handle everything from trips to the doctor’s office, to school lunch monitors to body image. The book is full of additional resources and is the guide I wish I had when my kids were born about how to handle and what to say about all things food and body.

What should you say and not say...

My son ran towards me with an enormous, squirmy frog dangling from his hand. 

“Finally!” he shouted. It had been over an hour of searching before he caught this elusive Spring Peeper. 

I ran towards him to see the evidence because minutes earlier I had given up the search and started walking home. 

We live near a wooded area with several small ponds (aka vernal pools) which are a hot magnet for Spring Peepers. The sound of these nocturnal creatures rivals a gorgeous orchestra and makes you feel like you're in the middle of the rainforest. It’s a true sign of New England Spring when this evening melody fills the air. 

We'd been listening to this critter chorus for a few nights and our draw to hunt for these frogs felt like following a siren song. We simply had to go!

Yesterday late afternoon when the orchestra started tuning up, we donned our rain boots and jackets and headed toward the music. 

We searched the pond edges, nothing. 

We...

Saturday morning basketball set the scene that would change my life forever. 

Let me first back up a little bit though. 

With six kids, I spend a LOT of time in my car. Two different schools, baby/toddler classes, soccer, dance, basketball, ninja class, playdates, birthday parties, and the list goes on and on. Needless to say, my car is a mess. Not just like a few things here and there mess, more like unidentified and moldy objects (don't judge) mess. Broken masks, granola bar pieces, broken barrettes, goldfish, empty water bottles, pacifiers, scattered toys, and lots of wrappers to name just a few offenders. 

As I sat next to my friend talking about my Saturday plans, I casually suggested I was going to get the kids to help me clean out the car. Spring is here and I was feeling the need to clean out the cobwebs stat. The kids were less than thrilled, but the idea of a clean car had me excited. 

She grabbed my arm with wide eyes and said, "Wait, don't do it....

Fresh off the island yesterday, we ended up with a 52 count on turtles we saw last week. 

While vacuuming way too much sand out of empty suitcases this morning, I was thinking about these turtles. 

Slow. 

Not rushed. 

Not afraid to hide when startled.  

Especially like to emerge after the rain. 

Love to eat fresh flowers. 

I wonder if we double counted some turtles, because, these babies are slow. But they do get places, because we never saw a turtle in the same spot every day. 

As you welcome Spring today, maybe you want to be more like the turtle, slow and on island time. No rush. Or maybe the last two years of the pandemic have felt like turtle time and you’re ready to toss your shell. 

Either way, know that you’re moving places, even if it feels like you’re standing still on turtle/island time. 

Rest assured things are happening inside your shell. 

If you need help emerging from...

I sat cuddled up with my daughter reading the ear worm of a book, Dr. Seuss's ABC's. Every page begins with Big A, little a (going through each letter of the alphabet) what begins with A? This question is followed by some ridiculous string of things that start with that particular letter. When we got to Big T, little t, what begins with T? Ten tired turtles on a tuttle tuttle tree, I started thinking about another meaning for Big T, little t which is the T that stands for trauma. 

Trauma is hard to ignore these days. The unspoken, and sometimes spoken, traumas that we all carry and have experienced over the last two years are very real and seem to be growing. The unthinkable trauma that the people of Ukraine are facing, the trauma related to an ongoing pandemic, the trauma from our past and even the trauma that years of dieting does to your body are just a handful of the traumas you and I have endured. 

What do we do with our Big and little T’s? Do we ignore...

Two weeks ago I stood twenty yards away from my flat-on-his back toddler having a massive meltdown. Hollering out in agony, legs kicking, and tears sliding down his face, my son was done with skiing at 8:59am. I wasn't right next to him because I was hovering over our other toddler who was trying desperately to get her three-sizes-too-big ski boot back on her foot so her sock stayed off the wet snow. 

Two pandemic years was all it took to forget about the horrors of first time skiing. I grew up skiing, so I'm used to the pain required to get to the pleasure of skis slicing through snow on a gorgeous sunny day and the wind gently whipping at your tail. This foray into beginner territory with our toddlers reminded me of an important lesson: sometimes things start off hard, but they really do get easier. If I was trying to convince someone that ending diets gets easier over time (which is the opposite of every new diet that inevitably gets harder...