This is the time of year when families begin making plans for summer travel. I come from a tradition of horrendous family vacations. There was the trip where my brother got his head stuck between the railings at a hotel and we had to call the fire department to free him. Another time, my sister and I became violently ill after playing in a bidet while on a trip to the Poconos. The worst trip, however, was when my parents decided it would be fun to take a train to visit my uncle in Texas. My parents made reservations to leave Erie, PA on Christmas morning, which was also the during the worst snowstorm of the year. The entire city was buried under snow, and our train was leaving at 4:30AM. My parents woke us up at 2AM. We quickly opened our Christmas presents and then piled into the family station wagon. My siblings and I began arguing in the backseat. My mother started fussing at us, and my father started yelling that he couldn't see anything in the blinding snow. Before we knew it, we had skidded off the road and landed in our neighbor's ditch. We didn't even make it off our street! 
We began the hike back home. At some point, my father had to carry me. He tripped and we both landed in the snow! I began crying as tears froze to my face. My parents had to buy new tickets but could not change the return date. The trip ended up costing my parents over $2,000. We spent 36 hours on the train ride to get there, 1 day in Texas, and another 36 hours back. To this day, they don't regret it because looking back, the trip was a laugh a minute and created memories that we will never forget.

Last week, Charlotte was in the path of Hurricane Florence. The whole city was in a panic, preparing to be without electricity for several days or even weeks! I stocked up on non-perishables, made sure we had flashlights and batteries. Then I took a trip to our local library. If we were going to be cooped up without WiFi, I wanted to make sure we had plenty of reading material!
One of the books I picked up was Lady Day and Mister by Amy Novesky. It was an unexpected look at the life of Billie Holiday. My 9-year-old was already familiar with Lady Day and had even dressed up as her during her school's celebration of Black History Month last year. We had only known her as a singer. We did not know about the special relationships she had with her dogs and how they traveled with her. It was fun to get a glimpse of this Hollywood Star and her personal life. It brought Billie Holiday to life and made her relatable.

School is back in session for my kids. It's a pretty low-key event around here, no Facebook pictures or special outfits. We have very normal days now. That's in high contrast to how our days used to be. 
Facebook recently reminded me of a disastrous morning we had getting to school a few years ago. We were rushing out the door, as usual. The kids had their breakfast in hand as they piled into the minivan. When we got about 2 miles from our house, my daughter started screaming about a spider crawling on the window. I rolled down the window, hoping it would go out, but it didn't. Fortunately, I had an empty coffee mug in the cup holder from the pervious day. I handed the cup to my daughter so she could smash the spider, but instead, she threw my cup at it! The spider and my mug flew out of the window!
I pulled over and ran to retrieve my mug from the side of the road. When I got back into the car, I told my kids to finish eating their breakfasts. That's when my daughter realized that she had been sitting in her toast and jelly while battling the spider. I handed her a roll of paper towels and kept on pushing, onward to school!
That was a horrendous morning. I don't know when the shift occurred, but we no longer have mornings like that. Those JACK'd up experiences are blurry memories that we can laugh at now, and I share them to let parents know that there is another side. The days are long and hard, but the years really do pass quickly.

One of your very first parenting tasks might be selecting a doctor for your unborn child. I suggest you interview at least 2, and choose the one that you feel most comfortable with. Below is a list of interview questions to ask.
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What are your hours? What happens if my baby is sick after hours/weekend? Is there a 24-hour nurse's line?
Are you open on weekends?
Do you offer same-day sick appointments?
Do you have hospital privileges? If so, which hospitals?
What are your views on antibiotic use? Vaccinations? Breastfeeding beyond 1 year? Co-sleeping?
Do you have a lactation consultant on staff?


Questions to ask yourself:
Are there separate waiting rooms for sick and well children?
How did the staff treat you?
Were they receptive to doing an interview?
Did the doctor roll his/her eyes at any of your interview questions? 
Were you rushed?

This is the time of year when we hear the ringing of bells among the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping. As I have discussed before, shopping with the kids in tow can be an adventure. I think it's that way for most parents. My mother, however, was a master at getting her kids to behave while out in public. 

​Every year, I am reminded of my mother's greatness when it came to getting her kids to shape up. It was a cold, December evening, and my mother needed to stop by the store on the way home. My sister and I bickered about everything: who got to sit in the front seat, who got to walk next to Mom, what treat we wanted to buy, etc. Then we heard the ringing of bells and saw the red kettle. Curious, I asked my mother what the bells were about. Without hesitation and with a straight face, she said, "That's where you drop off kids who are misbehaving."

​My eyes widened and I tightened my grip on mother's arm. My sister and I didn't make a peep. My mother had no issues from either of us and was able to shop in heavenly peace.

Last night, my son and I read Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt​ by Kate Messner. It's a picture book about a child exploring the garden in her backyard through the changing seasons. It describes the types of creepy crawlies found in the dirt such as grubs, crickets and earthworms. It also talks about the changing seasons and what the bugs and plants do as winter approaches.

​My active 4-year-old sat intently the whole time, pointing out and naming bugs that he recognized. He made many connections between the book and his life, and remembered seeing and touching many of the insects and flowers described in the book. Now he's on a mission to find the bugs again and match them to the pictures in the book. His excitement about a book brings such joy to me! I love seeing my child excited about learning and engrossed in a book. If your child enjoys outdoor play, this book will be a hit and can be found in Charlotte Mecklenburg Libraries.

My track record for back-to-school is riddled with epic failures like the time I accidentally sent my daughter to her first day of school wearing pajamas. The worst may have been Back-To-School 2014. My kids were starting at a new school, and all of us were a little nervous. We had missed the open house and didn't have an opportunity to meet the teachers or see the classrooms. I dropped my children off in the morning car line and watched them walk into their beautiful new school, full of possibilities.

​At the end of the day, I picked them up and listened excitedly as they recounted their days. They loved it! I breathed a sigh of relief. When we got home, I began sorting through the mountains of back-to-school papers to be filled out and signed. One of them stood out above all the rest.

​As a way for the teacher to get to know her students, my daughter's 4th grade teacher had her students write about their families, favorite foods, favorite colors, and what they wanted to be when they grew up. I smiled as I read about my daughter's favorite food being sushi and her favorite color being yellow. But my jaw hit the ground when I read about her aspiration to dance on a pole! On the back of the paper, in red marker, her teacher wrote a note to me. She said she asked my daughter more about her desire to live in the mountains and to work as a pole dancer. She explained that my daughter meant the Cirque Du Soleil type of pole dancing and not the Club Nikki kind of pole dancing. What a first impression!