Thursday, October 15, 2015

Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day

I've talked a bit about my many miscarriages, but after seeing a lot of posts about today being Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day, I wanted to bring the topic up again.  


I remember being at a doctor appointment and mentioning the fact that we'd like to start trying to get pregnant.  The doctor rambled through some information about prenatal vitamins and then finished the conversation with a comment about 25% of pregnancies ending in miscarriage, and to not be surprised if that happened at some point.  He was really matter of fact, and it seemed really strange to me at the time.  I was one of the first of my friends to start having kids, so this wasn't a topic that I'd ever heard anyone discuss.  I brushed it off with a "that will never happen to me" kind of attitude and didn't think about it again.  Fast forward a few months to my first pregnancy, where I thought everything was going as planned.  I was 15 weeks along, in my second trimester, and we'd told people that I was pregnant.  I woke up one morning to find that I was bleeding and went in the next day for an ultrasound. By then the bleeding had pretty much stopped, so my doctor and I were still thinking everything was fine.  My doctor sent me in for an ultrasound anyway, and the next few days are really blurry.  I knew at the ultrasound that something was wrong because they told me to go out and wait for the doctor to call me in.  My doctor wasn't in, so I waited for someone I'd never met.  I left the office knowing little more than that the baby was no longer alive and that I was having a miscarriage.  That doctor didn't tell me anything other than "it happens" and that I should call my regular doctor the next day to schedule a D&C (I had no idea what that even meant).  I had the D&C procedure a couple days later, was still given almost no information (and at the time I didn't even know what to ask), and was told to wait three months and then try again.  I was 24 years old, healthy, and in good shape, so I really just wanted some sort of explanation.  It wasn't until years later that I requested my medical records and upon reading them, was able to get a little bit more information about what had happened.

I took a week off of work after that, and upon returning found that no one had told anyone why I was gone.  As if losing the baby wasn't bad enough, I then had explain to people over and over, that I'd lost the baby and was not pregnant anymore.  This was my first experience with just how little this subject is spoken about.  I kept a lot to myself over the next few years, until one day I couldn't take it anymore.  I had a different blog back then and just suddenly sat down and wrote out my story.  The huge amount of relief that I felt after getting that all out to everyone I knew was incredible.  I had no idea just how much I was suffering by not talking about anything.  I started to talk a lot with other girls who'd gone through the same thing, with people who hadn't and wanted to know how to handle the situation when it happened to someone they knew, etc.  Eventually I found even more healing when I started volunteering for a non profit organization called Kids For Kyla, which gives grants to people trying to adopt or going through infertility treatments.  The founders are friends of mine who went through their own difficult journey and then went on to help others.  

I had the one miscarriage before having my son J, and then had four more before finally having my daughter R a month shy of J's 5th birthday.   I know I've mentioned it before, but we had every kind of test done that the doctors could think of and everything always came back perfectly normal.  Genetic testing, a few minor procedures, all sorts of things, but we never got any answers.  They just kept telling us "you should be able to have another baby."  In the beginning I got pregnant relatively quickly, but after awhile it started taking much longer.  Emotionally, the hardest miscarriage I had was the fourth one I had after having J.  It had taken me a year to get pregnant that time, and I was really hopeful because I'd made it to 9 weeks (which was farther than I had the few times before that).  I think it was after that one that I finally started telling people what was going on.  I couldn't take the comments from people about "you guys need to hurry up and have another one!" and "don't you think J needs a brother or sister?"  After all of my experiences with that, I would never dream of asking someone if they are going to have a baby, or to tell them they should have more.  You have no idea what people are going through, and there is nothing worse than hearing those things when you are struggling.

After years of telling my story, and talking to others about their experiences, I backtracked and stopped talking again.  A few years ago we decided that we'd like to have another baby, but again that proved to be easier said than done.  Due to my history, from the day I found out I was pregnant, they'd had me come in for blood work every 48 hours.  At first things looked good, but then the numbers wouldn't go up the way they were supposed to, and then they would, and then they wouldn't.  This dragged on for weeks, and the whole time I knew that things weren't ok.  I had been through so many losses, and I started having a gut feeling on how things were going to go each time I got a positive pregnancy test .  I can't really explain it, other than that when I found out I was pregnant with R, I just knew she was eventually going to be mine.  I'd had the same feeling with J, and I've never had that with any other pregnancy.  That was my sixth miscarriage and I went on with life without telling anyone other than my mom.  A year or so later we tried again and had a similar situation, but I didn't tell people anything.  After the seventh miscarriage I was emotionally and physically done.  It was the first time I'd really ever felt that finality, but I knew I couldn't do it anymore.  The relief I felt from that decision was remarkable.  

Long story long right?  I keep thinking I'll get to my point, but I keep thinking of more points. :) Miscarriages are unbelievably hard.  They are hard to talk about, especially if you haven't even told people you are pregnant to begin with.  I never could come up with how to start that conversation, so I just didn't.  You don't just suffer through that one period in time.  You see new babies born all the time, you pass due dates, things that you expected to be milestones for the baby, etc.  It is all just hard, and awful, and it kills me when I hear of someone going through something I know all too well. This has been talked about a lot lately in social media, but I don't think it can be said enough.  Mind your own business when it comes to other people and the fact that they haven't had kids at the "normal" time or frequency.  If you know someone who has suffered a miscarriage, just give them a hug, tell them that you love them, and just be there for them.  Do not, and I repeat, do not say "everything happens for a reason" or "it is probably for the best" or "you can try again!"  If you say these things, don't be surprised if someone eventually punches you in the face.  I had to hold myself back too many times to count.  

While it was incredibly difficult, looking back, I can't say that I'd change my situation.  My family wouldn't be what it is now, if I didn't go through everything I did.  I have a son and a daughter who fill up my life, and they are here because the others weren't able to be here with me.  I will always remember and hold a special place in my heart for those babies, but it is because of them that I have my babies here to hug every day.


Friday, August 7, 2015

Wrapping Up Summer


For many weeks leading up to the end of the school year, and thus the start of summer vacation, we count down the days with great anticipation.  The last day of school is an amazing and joyful day, and our thoughts are consumed with all of the relaxing and fun summer activities are upon us.  Birds are chirping, butterflies are flitting, and beautiful flowers are blooming.  It seems like it doesn't take long before reality sinks in, you start feeling like banging your head against the wall, and you realize you are secretly counting down the days until the kids go back to school.  Oh, is that just me?  I can't imagine that I'm in the minority here am I?

I've become quite the creature of habit in my adult years, and as much as it pains me, I need some structure that summer just doesn't provide.  I used to think I was a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of girl, but I guess I'm just not.  As it turns out, my kids really aren't either.  My younger self surely is shaking her head at all of my lists, calendars (yes multiple), and ability to plan things months and years in advance.  I just like to know what's coming, OK?  

Christmas vacation is great.  It is just the right amount of time to relax, get some stuff done, and then send the kids back to school right around the time they start fighting with each other non stop.  I'm not one to entertain my kids at all times (see this post for more of an explanation), but unless you plan at least few things here and there, everyone seems to lose their minds mid summer.  We keep pretty busy with some vacations and also with sports stuff over the summer, but in between that, things get a little crazy.  My son would be perfectly happy if he could just hang out at home doing whatever he wants at all times.  My daughter wants to be around people all the time and has a never ending need to "go do something."  This leads to lots of disagreements and bickering between the kids, and leads me to that banging my head against the wall place I mentioned earlier.  I'd be happy with a nice mixture, of some days with nothing to do mixed in with some busy days in between.  I'd also love to just go run errands or do things that I want to do without opposition from the kids.  I think these are things only found in fairy tales though.

I felt like I was doing pretty well for most of the summer, but as I write this, I realize that it is because the first half of our summer was very full of scheduled plans.  I had lots of things I could put on a calendar and be able to stick to a pretty solid routine.  I keep a calendar on my phone that is linked to my husband's calendar, and I also keep a dry erase calendar on the refrigerator.  At the end of each month, I erase everything and write in all of our daily happenings for the next month.  I look at it multiple times a day and like to think I always know what's going on.  From the end of the school year, until the first week of July, our calendar was very full.  Dance classes, dance recital, baseball, a couple vacations, races my husband was running, etc.  Every day had something written on it.  When I did the July calendar, we hardly had anything.  Literally nothing other than baseball practice and games.  It made me feel uneasy, and I'll admit to several moments of panic because I kept feeling like I was forgetting to be somewhere.  I guess I work better if I have a solid routine to follow, even though I always thought I could just wing it and be fine. 

Carefully planned schedules and "To Do" Lists make me happy.  


The last part of July and this first part of August I've been a hot mess.  The lack of  things on the calendar apparently turned me into a complete idiot and I have (hopefully temporarily) lost my ability to handle any sort of scheduling.  In the last week or so, I've managed to over book too many things to count.  I'm not sure if that nearly blank July calendar sent me into the mindset of "oh we have nothing going on, that works great!" or what my problem is, but I've made some ridiculous scheduling errors.  I signed my daughter up for a two week session of swimming lessons (the last session available, because I forgot to sign her up for the previous session), and they asked me "Would you like to sign her up for a half session or the full session?"  What that turned into was "Here take my full session payment, but she'll really only come the first week because I don't remember that I already have her signed up for a mandatory dance camp during the second week."  After that I ended up having to cancel a hotel reservation for this weekend.   My son has a three day soccer tournament out of town and I somehow booked two things, in two different cities on Saturday.  It isn't easy to be two places at once, so I'll have to drive back and forth a couple times instead of getting to stay overnight. Oh, and the Friday night we were supposed to stay at the hotel, I also realized I was going to have to skip my Bunco group (which has been on my calendar since May, and is also my rare night out alone) because we'll be at the soccer tournament.  After figuring out everything for this weekend, I thought I had my shit together.  That was until a day this week at 5:20pm, where my husband called and said something along the lines of "Did J get to soccer ok today?" in reference to his practice that starts at 5:00pm.  My answer to this was a flustered "Shit, no, I forgot to take him.  We are leaving right now."  He thought I was joking, but I was totally serious.  No big deal, only 30 minutes late to practice.  My mind is on vacation, and I really need it back.

I find it so funny how many things we look forward to, and then by the time we actually there, we count down the days until it is over.  In the winter we are too cold and can't wait for warmer weather, in the summer we are just too hot and can't wait for fall.  At this point, I don't care about the temperature, I just want to be able to use my brain again.  Hopefully it coincides with the kids going back to school.  In the meantime, I hope my friends and family have some patience with me.  12 more days till school starts!

Monday, July 13, 2015

Traveling With My Kids


We didn't do a lot of traveling when I was a kid.  We would take road trips to to see my grandparents,  sometimes to go see my cousins (but usually they came to us), and we went on a few little family vacations, but we didn't go to a lot of new places.  A lot of our vacation time was spent camping on some land my family owns up in the mountains, which was incredible and now I get to take my kids there.  The only times I really ever flew anywhere was to go to gymnastics meets (more about my gymnastics here) that were out of state.  As an adult, I've made long lists of all the places I want to travel to and am slowly checking things off.  It has been really amazing to be able to take the kids on trips with us, and I love that by the time they are my age, they'll already have an incredible list of places they've visited.

Early on in our marriage we talked about how important it is for us to be able to "go do stuff." We love to go on little adventures like camping at the lake in Wyoming or Nebraska, but we also love to take big trips too.  When we bought our house almost 12 years ago, we thought we'd stay a few years and then buy something bigger.  Along the way, we realized that we are totally fine with our house, and we'd much rather stay here and be able to take a lot of family trips, than buy a bigger house and be limited in the adventures we can have.  We've been able to travel a lot and I wouldn't trade those experiences with my family for anything.  My son is 11 and he's been to 14 states and three countries.  He's traveled by car, by air, by train, and by boat.  My daughter is 6 and has been to 12 states and three countries, but hasn't gotten to travel by train yet.  Our trip in December/January will take them to Texas, St. Thomas, Tortola, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, so they can add some more places to their list.  Being able to travel like that never even crossed my mind as a kid.  For them to be able to not only learn about new places, but experience them first hand is pretty remarkable.



I have a few things I try to always do when we travel.  I'm sure we'd be fine if I did things differently, but I'm of the opinion that you stick with what works, so I don't try to mess with things.  Also, I get major travel anxiety and have some pretty super OCD tendencies, so changing things up isn't really an option for me. :)
- 99.9% of the time I take the very earliest flight possible when leaving for a trip.  This often means waking up at 2:00am, but it is worth it to me.  I pull the kids out of bed, they get dressed, get in the car, and go back to sleep for the hour long drive to the airport.  Once we are there, we check in, go through security, and then eat breakfast.  By the time we are done it is time to get on the plane, where the kids often go back to sleep again.
- I let the kids pack their carry on bags.  They grab a backpack and put whatever they want in it.  I used to pack the bag for them, but I never have to hear "I'm bored, I don't have anything to do" now that they are responsible for what is in their bag.  I actually get a kick out of seeing the things they opt to take.
- We always pack a treat.  We don't do a ton of candy at our house, but we always take some when we travel.  When I was growing up, my mom would keep a bag of gummy candy and we'd get a piece every hour of the road trip if we had made it through that time without fighting.  It is something I always loved, and so I do it with my kids too.  Plus, I personally require gummy bears to fly and I don't like to share.  The kids can pick out their own treat and I get to keep mine to myself.
- We get to the gate and hang out there.  My husband likes to stress me out and wander around the terminal while we are waiting to board.  I like to have eaten, and taken the kids to the bathroom prior to stopping at our gate so that we are ready to board when it is time.  He knows this drives me crazy, but wanders around anyway and upping my anxiety level every time we travel.
- I prefer to fly Southwest for a variety of reasons, but my biggest one is that I like to be able to pick my seats (without paying extra for them) because I want to sit in an even numbered row.  I have a major aversion to odd numbers, and I like to be able to choose to sit in a row that doesn't end in 1,3,5,7, or 9. Some of my friends have suggested that this makes me look a little nuts.  I, however, find this to be totally rational. :)

We just got back from a trip to Nashville, and I realized what great travelers my kids are.  The kids and I took a flight a few days ahead of my husband and I was a little nervous about flying with both kids by myself.  I flew a few times with just my daughter when she was a toddler, but that was easy in my opinion.  I'd just strap her on my back in the Ergo carrier and cruise through the airport.  Now at six years old, she has a habit of lagging behind, and it doesn't bother her a bit if she can't see me.  I on they other hand, panic if I lose sight of her for two seconds.  When the four of us travel together, it seems like my husband and I just naturally take responsibility for one of the kids, so I am just not really used to having to keep track of both of them in an airport.  They were champs though and we sailed through checking our bag and car seat (you know, because I'm the Car Seat Nazi), through the giant security line, and to our gate.  The flight home went the same way, despite being delayed and late in the evening.  We have a big trip coming up again in January, which will involve almost 9 hours of travel flying home from San Juan, Puerto Rico.  I'm hoping they can manage to continue their streak of being awesome little travelers through that trip!

Friday, July 3, 2015

Fashion Friday - Kid Edition

We are on vacation this week and while packing, I realized my daughter had enough red, white, and blue outfits to last the whole holiday week.  It is ridiculous how excited I was over this, and as a result, Fashion Friday is all about kids 4th of July outfits.  

My kids tend to be pretty rough on clothes, so quality is important to me.  I also love unique stuff and don't like to spend a lot of money, which makes it tricky to find what I want.  Just like with my own clothes, when I find things that I really like for the kids, I tend to stick to that brand and style.  I was recently added to an online boutique page on Facebook and have been buying a ton of R's stuff from there.  They are local to me, which is great because I can just go pick the items I order up, but she ships all over so you don't have to be near us to buy.  She sells super cute boutique style clothes at really great prices.  I always prefer to buy stuff from mom based businesses, so Sparklers is a great choice for me.  I get a tremendous amount of compliments any time R wears one of her Sparklers Children's Boutique outfits.  Ordering from there is really easy.  She posts pictures of items that are available for order, what sizes they come in, when the delivery date is, etc., and you just leave your email address and size needed in the comments.  Once the order is ready to fill she emails you an invoice, orders the item, and then either lets you know that it is ready to pick up or ships it out to you.  Love it!

We love our Red, White, and Blue!

Left Outfit
Headband - Trendy Turtle
Shoes (both outfits)- Target (similar) from last summer 

Right Outfit
T-Shirt - Made by me
Close up picture of the shirt...
Shorts - Target
Hair Bow - Pink Bug Boutique

Left Outfit
Shoes - Walmart
Hair Bow - Pink Bug Boutique

Right Outfit
Dress & Matching Doll Dress - Lilli Lovebird from Zulily
Shoes - Target (similar) from last summer
Hair Bow - Old from Crazy 8 

Shoes - Target (similar) from last summer
Headband - Trendy Turtle

Left Outfit
Dress - Screaming Owl
Leggings - From our local Kroger grocery store
Shoes - Target (similar) from last summer
Hair Bow - Pink Bug Boutique

Right Outfit
Shirt - Screaming Owl
Shorts - Target
Shoes - Walmart

Monday, June 29, 2015

Raising Independent Kids


I've had people tell me that I'm lucky that my kids can entertain themselves.  This has always struck me as an odd statement, because I feel like it is something that should be a really normal thing.  My son has always been great at playing on his own and I really think he prefers it to playing with others.  My daughter does really love to play with friends, but she is can also play by herself for hours at a time.  They are both really creative kids, and I love seeing them play by themselves.

I mentioned in my post last week (found here) that I hate the need today's society has to constantly entertain our kids and provide them with structured activities.  I feel that in the long run, the only thing this does is hinder their ability to be creative and learn to entertain themselves.  I'll admit that with my first child, I was quick to sign up for library story hour, and a couple other mom and me classes, but I skipped every single one of those with my second child.  I spent those story time classes trying to corral an 18 month old into sitting and listening to a book, while all the other moms did the same thing.  Did it teach him to sit and listen?  No.  Did it socialize him with kids his age?  No.  Did he learn anything while we were there?  Again, no.  What it did do was drive me crazy and make me feel like a bad mom for not having a kid that would sit quietly and listen to story time.  Really though, none of the kids sat quietly and listened, because kids that age just don't do that.  Needless to say, my daughter never went to one and she's still managed to become a very social little girl who does great in school.  In my opinion, all of these classes mean a lot more to the parents than they do to the tiny kids that are being dragged to them.

Pinterest is one of my favorite things to waste time on, but it is also something that represents so many problems with parenting these days.  The whole philosophy of needing to plan out things for kids to do all day, every day just doesn't sit well with me.  Do I do some projects with my kids sometimes?  Sure I do, but 9 times out of 10, I let me kids do whatever they want to do.  We have a box full of paper, scissors, markers, crayons, paints, and other craft stuff and I don't typically dictate what they do.  My daughter makes projects almost every day, and I love seeing what she comes up with.  She cuts, pastes, colors, and designs, all sorts of little treasures all on her own.  That is what I think is beneficial to a child's development, not putting something that you partially made in front of them, and helping them or telling them how to assemble the rest of it.  Yes it is great for them to learn how to follow directions and put things in order, but it is also great for them to just be creative.  Also, my OCD tendencies always get in the way and I have a really hard time not helping them do things the way I think they should be done.  I learned several years ago that they have a lot more fun, and they are really proud of their stuff when I just back off and let them create.

I have watched so many people who are just exhausted at the end of the day because their kids need constant attention and don't know how to entertain themselves.  The parents move the kids from one activity to the next and dictate every playtime activity.  As soon as the kid has lost their attention span on one thing, then they are asking their mom or dad for something else to do.  I get it, kids attention spans aren't always great, but they really should be able to play on their own.  I've always loved listening to my kids play.  They are the voice of all the toys they play with, and their little conversations with themselves are hilarious.  My son would play for hours with cars, blocks, trains, anything a typical boy likes.  My daughter will set up elaborate Barbie or stuffed animal scenarios and play forever with no need for me to help her.  (Well, other than the occasional dress change on those tiny little Disney Princesses that wear rubber dresses.  What is the deal with making those impossible for kids to maneuver??)  This is something I love because they are perfectly happy and I get a little time to get my things done.  I have a friend who mentioned not having a free second in the day, and after being at her house one day I understood why.  Her son had no idea how to play by himself because she'd never let him try.  I think this happens a lot now and I really don't think it will be beneficial to the kids long term.

We've never had super structured days at our house.  Even when the kids were babies, we were kind of a fly by the seat of our pants family.  We had a time frame that I tried to stay around for naps and stuff, but the world didn't end if I had stuff to do and we skipped something.  I tried to stay with a similar schedule, but life doesn't always work that way and I think my kids are better off because of that.  They have always been able to adapt to schedule changes pretty well, which works out great when we go on vacation or have random things come up.  The thought of having to plan something out for them to do all day every day makes me crazy.

When I was growing up, we lived out in the country and didn't have other kids (just me and my two younger brothers) to play with.  We became really independent kids and went outside all summer long and just played.  We built forts, and made up our own games, played in our little creek, and ran around the pasture.  I can't imagine doing things any other way and I think it helped me grow into an independent person.  I have never relied on others to entertain me or give me things to do, and I'd love for my kids to continue on that same path.

People are moving so quickly towards the "Pinterest Parenting" way of raising kids, and it really scares me what all those kids are going to be like as adults.  What happens when kids grow up and move out on their own after being accustomed to someone providing them with something to do at all times?  Will they be able to complete a day of work when they are responsible for scheduling their day out and getting tasks done with no assistance?  I really hate that there are new moms out there who think they are doing the wrong thing if they haven't completed all of the things on the "100 Things to do With Your Kids This Summer" list they found on Pinterest, or that they haven't taken their baby to multiple "mommy and me" classes throughout the week.  Parents, it is ok to not plan out a full day of activities for your kids.  Further more, it is more than ok to just let your kids be kids and figure out on their own what to play with or what craft project to do.  Let them grow their independence and creativity.  I'm thankful to my mom for sending us out to come up with our own fun, and I'm sure that someday your kids will be too.    

Monday, June 22, 2015

Kids and Sports


I was a gymnast from the time I could walk, until I was 16 years old.  The only other sport I really ever did was dance, and that was because it was something that went hand in hand with gymnastics.  It was serious business and I was in the gym for around 25 hours a week for as many years as I can remember.  I truly did love the sport, so don't let this post make you think otherwise, but my heavy involvement and lack of being able to ever do anything else, is definitely something that influences the way I look at sports for my kids.  

The way kids were involved with most sports was a lot different when I was a kid, than it is for my kids now.  I say this with the exclusion of my gymnastics career, because that is a lot like the expectations of kids and sports today.  I feel like when I was growing up, that recreation sports were just that.  Recreation.  Today everything is a million times more competitive, and everyone starts involving their kids at much younger ages.  I know there was little league baseball, and soccer when I was little, but it wasn't a big deal and was mostly for fun.  Now, if you don't start your kid in soccer, t-ball, flag football, volleyball, or whatever other available activity made available from the time they are preschool aged, then you've done something wrong.  How will they ever get a college scholarship if they haven't been on the soccer field since the time they learned to run???  I have no doubt that there are people out there who truly believe that is the case.  People hand select their rosters for 7 year old baseball, softball, soccer, you name it.  Is it really necessary to dominate the rec league?  I'm sorry, but I'm also not going to pay any amount of money to send a five year old to a volleyball "skills" camp or whatever other nonsense there is for kids that age.  Plenty of people see value in things like this, but I am not one of them. The constant need to have kids involved in a structured activity makes me crazy, and I want no part of it. Send your kids out to the yard to play and kick a ball around, that's what they really need to be doing at that age.  I'll save my thoughts on the need to constantly entertain our kids for another post.  I'm sure this one will already be long enough.

I really started thinking about the insanity of all of this sports stuff last summer.  My son J was 10 years old, and completely obsessed with all things hockey.  For the record, depending on the time of year, he was already playing competitive club soccer, basketball, and baseball.  He talked to us about wanting to learn to play hockey and I actually had the thought "It might be too late for him to start, he's already 10."  What the??  10 is now too old to start a sport?  When I was a kid you tried new sports when you got to 7th grade and had school teams you could participate in.  Now, your kid joining a middle school team without ever having played the sport would blow everyone's minds.  Back to hockey... We'd gone ice skating a few months before my son asked about playing hockey, and to say he couldn't skate doesn't even cover it.  The kid couldn't go three feet without falling.  I'm not talking minor falls either, I mean he was full on wiping out every few steps.  He had a hockey stick and puck that he'd play with in the basement, but skating was not a skill he was even close to having down.  We decided that we weren't going to tell him no, and signed him up to start a skating skills class at our local ice haus.  He was twice the age and size of all the other kids in his class, but it didn't phase him.  He is an athletic and competitive kid, and he had his mind set on passing the three skating levels necessary to be able to play with a stick and puck.   I'm getting off track, but my point is, what in the hell is wrong with our society that I had to think twice about letting my son play a sport because age 10 is "too old to start".  We just hit the one year mark of him starting hockey, and the kid has absolutely blown my mind.  He is a goal scoring machine, dominates the games, has complete love for the sport, and is going to start competitive hockey (along with soccer, because they'll overlap a bit) this fall.  When I watch him play, I just know that this is his sport.  It fits his personality, he is really great at it, and he gets so pumped up for games.  What if I'd never let him give it a try?  By all other standards in this day and age, I shouldn't have because he hadn't followed the timeline of starting when he was in preschool.  I'm so proud of him for not paying attention to the fact that he was learning with kids half his age when he started, and that he just worked hard at something he loved.  None of those kids have advanced with him over the last year, and he now has joined the ranks of kids his own age.  He's a pretty kick ass kid, and to think that I hesitated before letting him give hockey a try because of his age makes me want to kick my own ass. 

I spent my entire youth in the same sport.  My mom let me try volleyball in 7th grade (after much begging and pleading), and I actually really liked it.  I ended up being way too tall for a gymnast, so volleyball would have probably been a pretty great sport for me, but I didn't get to keep at it.  I loved gymnastics, I really did, but as a kid I wanted to do all the things my friends were doing.  I feel like I missed out on so much because I was in such a specialized sport.  Gymnastics takes a huge commitment, and there just isn't time for anything else.  I practiced every day from 4-8pm and also on Saturday mornings, which doesn't leave any availability for other activities. Not only that, but I can't even count how many times I was told that other sports weren't a good idea because I could hurt myself, and if that were the case, my gymnastics would suffer.  I hated P.E. in school because I didn't know how to play softball, or soccer, or any of the things we did in class.  I always felt out of place and wished that I had gotten a chance to be on the fun teams with my friends. It is because of this, that I've always let my kids try whatever sports they want to.  With the exception of gymnastics, because let's be honest, I can barely get out of bed in the morning because my body thinks I'm 85 years old as a result of all my years in the gym.  I was so over committed to gymnastics, that I really have to think hard about my kids and what they do.  My husband on the other hand, grew up wanting to do a lot more, but getting really involved in sports wasn't something his parents were in to, so he didn't participate in much.  Don't worry about him though, he's making up for it as an adult who runs every race he can and is sponsored on a racing team.  We come from very different situations, and now we have to figure out how to balance me not wanting the kids too involved, and him wanting them to be involved in everything.  I'm trying to stick with the thought process of just letting them do whatever they want so long as I can manage the schedule.

Soccer season and baseball season always overlap for about 2-3 weeks each year, so my son misses a couple baseball practices while he wraps up his competitive soccer season. A couple of summers ago J had a baseball coach (mind you, this is in a recreational little league) who griped at him for missing a practice and said "You need to pick a sport, son."  I'm sorry, but at what point did we decide that at age 9, a child needs to determine what the only sport they are going to play from there on will be?  We never played on that guy's team again, and we've yet to "pick a sport."  J loves baseball, but wants to play other things, so we don't play year round competitive baseball like a lot of his friends do.  He does play competitive soccer for a couple of reasons.  One, he is really good at it, and two, there aren't really 11/12 year old recreation teams anymore because so many kids have "picked a sport."  If he wanted to stop, that would be his decision, and I'd have an extra chunk of money in my pocket each year, but he really loves to play.  I really don't see the value in limiting a young kid to one sport.  Physically, it is great for them to develop strengths that different sports provide.  Mentally, each sport requires a different level of focus and determination and I think they need to learn how to prepare and compete in different situations.  My little brother B is one of the best examples I can think of for why kids shouldn't pick just one sport.  That kid (I say kid, but he's 20 now) worked his ass off at every sport he's ever played.  He went through high school not just playing, but dominating every sport he played.  He ran cross country for a couple years, was the quarterback of the football team, one of the leading scorers on the basketball team, and an absolutely incredible baseball player.  He went through high school knowing he'd play a college sport and that it would just depend on which one would pay his way through school.  He went to junior college on a full ride for baseball, and now next year will be doing the same thing to finish college at a four year school on baseball scholarship.  I truly believe that he is such an incredible athlete because he played all the sports.  The mentality of making a kid choose a specialty by the time they are 10 years old is totally nuts.  You risk completely burning those kids out in a few years, at which point they'll quit and not have anything else they are interested in.  The stress and pressure this puts on kids is not healthy, and there is really not a point.  Why can't we just let our kids play sports because they love them?  

I don't really know how all of this developed.  You would think that all of the people my age with kids, would remember how much fun they had playing rec sports when they were little and would want their kids to have the same fun.  Instead, we now have to have signs like this posted at games...

I mean come on people, we need reminders of this?  There was actually a fight between parents a couple of years ago at the baseball fields here.  We now have rules stating you can not speak to the umpires during the game, and if you have a certain amount of incidents then you will be banned from the fields.  I can't even believe rules like that need to be in place.  When I was in high school I went to watch my younger brothers play baseball games almost every day all summer long.  The games were fun to watch, the kids enjoyed playing, and there was no nonsense.  It is something I remember so fondly, and it kills me that summer ball games aren't like that anymore.  Is it really too much to ask that people start acting like grown ups, stop living vicariously through their kids, and just sit and enjoy watching them play sports?  I mean, really.  


Monday, June 15, 2015

Car Seat Safety - Protecting Your Kids


I've had plenty of friends and family members give me a hard time about my obsession with car seat safety. I've had eyes rolled at me and I've been referred to by some as "The Car Seat Nazi".  I've never understood this, and why keeping kids as absolutely safe as possible in the car, is not at the top of everyone's list of things to do.  I've heard all sorts of comments like "We feel comfortable with our decision", or "We made the same choice with their brother/sister and they were fine", when it comes to car seat decisions, and it all just boggles my mind.  The thought process that because another person did something and ended up fine, is really what some people feel comfortable as a basis for their child's safety?  This makes absolutely no sense to me.

There are a lot of things in this world that we can't control when it comes to the safety of our kids. The kind of car seat you use, the way you fasten your kids in their seat, which direction they face, how long they use a car seat, these are all thing you have control over.  Car accidents?  They happen when you least expect them, which is why being prepared and safe is so important.  I literally feel sick to my stomach every time I see a little one facing forward when they shouldn't be, a toddler in booster seat, or even worse, a small child not in a seat at all.  I see people post pictures of their kids buckled incorrectly, or sitting without a booster with the seat belt behind their back and I want to tell them to please buckle their kids in correctly.  The few times that I've mentioned it, people always say they are fine with what they are doing.  I've also seen people comment and say "Never post a picture of your kids in their seat because you'll end up with people telling you they aren't in there correctly."  I guess maybe it is just me, but if my kids aren't safe, I'd be happy to have someone point that out to me.  


Yes, I realize there didn't used to be car seats, and people are alive today to tell about it.  Yes, people get away with not using the correct seat, or not using a seat all the time.  My question is, if you know better, and you know that you really have no control over if and when someone might hit you while you are driving, wouldn't it be in your (and your child's) best interest to make sure they are secured properly?  Does insisting that my kids be in the proper car seat make me a "Car Seat Nazi"?  I really don't feel like I'm being unreasonable here.

There are age, height and weight requirements for seats, and there are laws (differing by state) for car seat requirements.  Those are not suggestions, and are often minimum requirements.  There has been a lot of research done about what happens to babies and toddlers in accidents, and other recommendations made in order to keep your child as safe as possible.  Is it easier to flip your baby around and forward face at 12 months?  Maybe, but I don't really believe it to be any easier or harder to strap a kid in regardless of the direction.  The fact is, that it isn't safe and the odds are much higher for injury if they are forward facing in an accident at that age. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that you rear face until a minimum of two years old, and it is even better to continue rear facing until 3-4 years of age.  Here is a detailed explanation... Why Rear Facing.

A friend of mine was kind enough to let me use some pictures of her kiddos for this post.  The older of her two girls shown, sat rear facing until her 4th birthday. The little one just turned two and will stay rear facing until her 4th birthday just like her sister.  Looking pretty happy and comfortable if you ask me!  Most importantly though, they are well protected.




My kids both rode in 5 point harness seats well past their 6th birthdays.  My son stayed in a regular booster seat until he was 10 years old and had reached the height requirement to ensure a seat belt would cross his chest in the right spot.  The requirement is height of 4'9" AND 8 years old.  Not one or the other, but both.  The age is because of when their bones have reached a certain stage of development, and the height is for how the chest strap sits on their chest.  My daughter is now in a high back booster, and will be there for quite awhile still.  I don't feel comfortable with her, at six and a half, to sit properly at all times in a regular booster seat.  When she was outgrowing her 5 point harness seat, I did a lot of research, talked with the people at Car Seats for The Littles to find the best type of booster for her and for our cars, and then made my purchase.  I can't imagine putting a child younger than her in a regular booster seat, knowing that there is no way they'll always be sitting correctly.  I see people post pictures of their little ones asleep and folded over in their seats and wish they'd do some research.  This article is such a heartbreaking example of what can happen.  I'd read that article months ago, and while trying to find it for this post, was stunned by how many other similar articles I found.  It is just so incredibly sad how many children have died or been seriously injured all because they weren't properly restrained.
Picture from The Car Seat Nerd

Picture from Super Car Seat Geek


Last winter there was a blogger who boasted about how she'd put let her kid wear his puffy coat in his car seat if she wanted to.  Why?  Because she was the parent and that was her choice to make.  I hate, hate, hate shit like this.  So, you aren't going to do what is safe for your child because "no one is going to tell you how to parent"?  This one really confuses me.  If your child gets seriously injured or dies in a car accident, then that will really show people, won't it!?  Do you win if that happens?   It was shortly after reading her absolute nonsense, that I read about a two year old getting killed in a car accident because he was wearing a coat, and therefore not properly restrained.  If you know better, why don't you do better?  I know I could never live with myself if my child died as a result of me not taking proper car seat precautions.  The whole "all of my kids survived without car seats" kind of comments I get from people make me unbelievably furious. That's only the case because they were lucky and never got into an accident.  People, we know better now.  We know more about the development of kids skeletal system, what kind of car seats are right for each size/age, what happens to their little bodies in an accident, and what the catastrophic results can be if children aren't restrained properly.

I don't care if your kid "hates sitting rear facing", or "doesn't like sitting in a car seat" or my least favorite "we aren't going very far, so we don't need a car seat."  You are the parent, and it is your responsibility to take care of your children.  Kids don't know that they like forward facing better if you never give them the option.  Moving kids to a "big kid" seat isn't an accomplishment, or a milestone to be posted on Facebook, especially if your kid has no business being in that kind of car seat.  My kids never complained about being in their 5 point harness seats until they were older and started seeing friends in different kinds of seats, or not in car seats at all.  When they asked me why their friend got to ride in booster and they didn't, I had no idea how to answer them.  I just said some people make different choices, and my choice is to keep you as safe as I possibly can.  Like I said earlier, there are so many things in this world that we can't control, but if an accident were to happen, I want to know that I've done everything in my power to keep my kids as safe as I can.  Do your research, know why recommendations are what they are.  After that read a few stories from parents who lost kids because they weren't in the seat they should have been in.  I know for me personally, no amount of convenience is worth that risk.  

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Stay At Home Mom Thoughts...

My kids are 11 and 6 (both "and a half", you know because that half year is super important to them), and I've been a stay at home mom for 99% of that time.  I went back to work 12 weeks after my oldest was born and quit my job six months later.  I've spent a lot of time over the past 11 years thinking about what I do, how to not screw it up, and most importantly how to maintain my sanity until both kids are adults and not living in my home anymore.

I'm not the person that when asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?" as a child, responded with "I want to be a mom."  I actually wanted to be a fashion designer for as long as I can remember.  I also remember saying many times, that I didn't want to have kids.  I have no idea when that switch flipped, but I grew up and knew I wanted to have kids. 

I feel like I need to share a little backstory here, so we'll start with that.  My son (we'll call him J) came to be relatively easily.  I say relatively because while I got pregnant with him within a couple months, it was our second time trying to have a baby.  I had a miscarriage at 15 weeks a few months before I got pregnant with J, and had a shitty group of doctors who did very little to explain to my 24 year old self what the hell was happening.   I got pregnant quickly after and the minute I held that baby in my arms, I knew that I was meant to be a mom.  He was a dream baby and I remember thinking "This is so easy and amazing, I want to have five kids."  When he was 18 months old, we decided we were ready for another baby.  I thought it would be easy, but I couldn't have been more wrong.  I spent the next three years desperately wanting another baby, but struggling with long bouts of not being able to get pregnant, followed by miscarriage after miscarriage.  I'd long since changed doctors, had every test in the book done (all normal), and had no answers.  I had declared that we'd see another specialist if I didn't get pregnant in the next month.  The universe must have known that I was at my breaking point, and I ended up pregnant with my daughter (we'll just call her R).  Two funny things about that... 1. I had said I wanted to be done having kids by the time I was 30, and she was born five days after my 30th birthday.  2.  I also said I'd never do to my kids what my parents did to me, and have their birthday be close to Christmas.  Her birthday is five days before Christmas (my son's is only three weeks after, so I ruined that plan times two).  We wanted to have one more baby, but after a couple more miscarriages, I felt myself slipping back into that dark place I'd been in between J and R.  When I felt that happening, we decided that we'd take permanent action and have definite knowledge about the size of our family.  Long story still a bit long, I went through a lot to have those little rascals, and to say I am thankful for them would be a giant understatement.

These two make happy and crazy all at the same time...



After putting myself through college, and working my way up in the business world, it was a pretty big switch to then stay home with the kids.  I have never felt comfortable answering the question of "What do you do?" with "I stay home with the kids."  Am I happy that's what I do?  Absolutely, but I guess I just don't like being defined by that.  As much as I love the kids, and love being a mom, I am not "just a mom."  Quite a few years ago I had someone act surprised when they learned that I had gone to college and had a Business degree.  That was a bit of a turning point for me, and sent me on a journey of finding ways to be both a mom and not lose myself in the process.  Bottom line, I learned to find things to do for me.  This blog, working as a health coach, crafting, reading,  refinishing furniture, sewing, making jewelry, that is my stuff.  Yes, I might make stuff for the kids, but it isn't because I feel like they need me to do it.  All of it is ultimately for me and because I like to do it.  Remember how I said I needed to find ways to keep my sanity?  This is cheaper than therapy...although, I haven't completely ruled that out. :)

My kids are changing, growing, and turning into different little versions of themselves on a regular basis.  The babies that I used to snuggle on my chest, are now made up almost entirely of long legs and don't fit on my lap anymore.  They are both full of personality and attitude, and I spend my time bouncing between loving the heck out of them and wanting to ship them off to live with their Nana.  I kid, I kid.  I want to keep them around, but there are days you guys.  There are days.   I love them to death, but seriously, they are always around!  As a stay at home mom, you really don't get many breaks from the kids.  In the last year, I've taken R with me to every hair appointment, dentist appointment, to physical therapy, to workouts, on shopping trips.  You name it, she's been there.  Such is the life when your kid only has half day (and who are they kidding with the term half day...depending on the day she was out either at 10:25 or 11:00) kindergarten.  I'd take her to school, either run workout really quick, or run teach dance class (yes I do that too!), and then go pick her up.  I laugh when people say "What do you do all day when your kids are at school?"  I tell myself often not to wish away time, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't ridiculously excited to have both kids in school all day next year.  

My biggest struggle as a stay at home mom has been finding time for myself.  That may sound selfish to some, but I fully believe that to be a good mom, wife, friend, whatever, that you have to have some time for yourself.  The few little bits of free time I do have, are often spent with me having little panic attacks thinking I've forgotten a kid somewhere.  For me personally, I start feeling a little crazy if I don't have any time to breathe and just be me for a bit.  I take barre classes (if you haven't done this kind of workout, you are missing out), and that is absolutely my happy place.  I can always tell when my husband senses that I'm about to lose my shit, because he says things like "Do you want to go to barre today?"  So, between barre and all of my crazy craft and sewing projects, I have time for me.  I'll say it again, staying home with my kids is an incredible opportunity and I am so thankful to do it.  That being said, I realized a few years ago that if I didn't learn to take "me time" that I wasn't going to look back at the opportunity with fondness and appreciation, but with bitterness and resentment.  My point is this, don't lose yourself.  You can be a mom, and still be you.  They aren't one in the same.  One other little tidbit of advice I have, came from a friend of mine before I had kids.  She was older, in fact I'd grown up being friends with her daughter, and it was the best marriage advice I've ever received.  She said something along the lines of "Don't focus everything on your kids.  You have to take time as just you and your husband too.  Otherwise, your kids grow up and move out, and you realize there is someone you have to live with now that you haven't gotten to know over the last 18-20 years."  She was speaking from experience, and I was hearing lots of stories about how she'd spent every minute focusing on her kids and when they moved out, she realized she didn't know her husband anymore.  I made a mental note and I've thought about it many, many times over the years.  We go out with no kids, we take trips with no kids, and we still genuinely love spending time together after almost 20 years.  I'll forever be thankful for that advice I was given.

My daughter and I were at Target today and I was constantly having to ask her to keep up with me and quit lagging behind.  I finally asked her what she was doing and she said "Screaming inside of my head."  I laughed, and assumed I'd exhausted her patience and needed to leave.  It turns out her mosquito bites were super itchy and she was struggling to not scratch her arm off, but what she said has stuck with me all day.  I feel like she described my thoughts about being a stay at home mom perfectly.  Would I trade being able to stay home for anything?  Not a chance, but have there been a million different times where I feel like I'm "screaming inside of my head"?  You bet your ass there have been.  It is just a big fat learning process on how to find balance, and I'm hopeful that I can master that before the kids turn into adults.  

Thursday, April 23, 2015

More Things to Know About Your Disney Cruise!

I wrote some blog posts after returning from our cruise on the Disney Magic a couple months ago (find them here, here, here, and here), but have had a lot of questions about other topics since then.  I thought I'd add another post with some more things to expect and plan for.



1. Online Check In - If this is your first cruise, you'll be able to do your online check in at 75 days out, when your cruise is paid in full.  It is a really easy process, and you should do it as soon as you are able to.  You'll be assigned your port arrival time once all your information has been entered, and you can also register your kids for the kids clubs, make reservations for the adults only restaurants, and reserve your Port Adventures.  Some of the Port Adventures are really popular and fill up quickly, so if you know which ones you'd really like to do, now is the time to register for them.  You don't get charged with Port Adventures until you are on the ship, and I believe you have until 3 days prior to the cruise to cancel them if you change your mind.

2. Gratuities - You have several options with gratuities for the cruise.  You can prepay them, they can add them to your onboard account total that you pay at the end of the cruise, and you can also add additional tips with cash on the last night.  Disney has a set formula that they use for gratuities and it ends up being about $12 per person, per day.  Considering the absolutely incredible service you'll receive on your trip, this is a bargain.  They divide that out between your Head Server, Server, Assistant Server, and Stateroom Attendant.  If you don't prepay, you can always adjust the amount that you'll be billed by going to Guest Services, but there was no way we would have changed ours to less than that.  On the last night, your Stateroom Attendant will leave envelopes in your room for each of the people I listed above.  You can add cash to those and hand them out to each person.  The amount you leave is up to you, but our service was incredible and it never crossed our mind to not give them additional money.  These people don't have days off, work for sometimes a year straight on the ship, and provide service like no other you'll ever find.  

3.  Navigator - You can download the Disney Navigator App on your phone, but you'll also receive a Navigator (piece of paper printed on both sides) in your stateroom each night.  This lists all of the things that will be taking place on the ship the following day.  We took highlighters and would go over the Navigator each night and decide what we wanted to do.  It lists the character appearance times/locations, classes you can take, movies that are playing in the movie theater, evening shows, movies that play on the screen at the pool, activities in the kids club, Bingo, port arrival times, etc.  I had the app on my phone, but really enjoyed having the physical Navigator to look at as well.  

Here is a the front and back of one of our Navigators...


4.  Getting Items Signed - UPDATE - You can no longer drop items off at Guest Services to be signed.  Check the FAQ section on the Disney Cruise Line website to find out what items you can take around to each character to have signed.
You can bring two items per stateroom to Guest Services to be signed by the characters on the ship.  I've seen people bring a huge variety of things, but I chose to do photo mats  so that I could frame pictures of the kids from the trip.  I put them in a ziplock bag along with different colored Sharpies for them to sign them with.  You can choose to have them signed by Mickey & Friends or by the Princesses.  You just drop them off at Guest Services, fill out a little form with your info, and then your Stateroom Attendant delivers them to your room when they are done.  Great little souvenir items!

Here are the items we had signed...


5.  Go to the Shows - There are shows in the Walt Disney Theater every night.  Depending on how long your cruise is, they are a mix of big musical productions and smaller acts.  We went to all of the big shows and they were fantastic.  My daughter is still talking about them!  They really are top notch, and I'm really glad we took the time to go.  They do two shows per night to accommodate both dinner seatings.  We had late seating for dinner, so we'd go to the early show around 6:00, and then have a little bit of time between it finishing and our dinner seating at 8:15.  You can do it in reverse if you have early seating for dinner.

6.  Dinner Seating Options - You'll either be assigned Main Seating or Second Seating for dinner. Main Seating is at 5:45pm and Second Seating is at 8:15pm.  You are assigned the same table number for dinner each night, so you'll never be waiting for a table to open.  People line up outside the restaurant and then they open the doors right at the scheduled time.  The line moves really fast for you to be seated, so there really isn't any point in lining up really early.  Your servers also travel with you to all of the dinner restaurants throughout the cruise, so they'll get to know your family and what your likes and dislikes are.  I asked for lemon with my water on the first night, and from there on out had a little bowl of lemons waiting for me when I arrived.  Little things like that were really great.  They also bring the kids food out first, and then will take them to the kids clubs when they are done if they don't want to hang out and wait for the adults to finish eating.  Our servers were so amazing, and it was really hard to say goodbye to them on the last day.  

Omar was from Jamaica and was our Server.  Jasna was from Montenegro, and was our Assistant Server.  Loved chatting with them each night!


7.  Pools - The pools and slides are different depending on the ship you are sailing on, but if you think you are going to find a giant swimming pool, you will certainly be disappointed.  We were on the Magic, so we had the Aqua Lab (smaller kids slide, pool, and splash pad), the Aqua Dunk (water slide with 48" height requirement), Goofy's Pool (very small 4' deep pool that is always full of kids) which has the giant movie screen, and then the pool in the Adults only area.  We camped out around Goofy's pool a lot because we loved lounging and watching movies while the kids went on the slides.  The actual pool though?  I never touched it.  It was packed with kids at all times, and wasn't appealing to me at all.  We enjoyed hanging out there so much, that we never went to the adults only pool. I've heard it is really quiet and enjoyable though!

8.  Kids Club - My kids absolutely loved the kids clubs.  At first I thought I wouldn't let them hang out there that much, because we should all be together, but I realized quickly that they really had a great time there.  It was fun for them to get to know other kids ("Mom!  These boys I hung out with were from England!") and have some independence.  My son was 11, so he was old enough to go to Edge (11-14 years old), and my daughter used the Oceaneer's Club and Lab.  In Edge, the kids can check themselves in and out, which my son thought was incredible.  He is really responsible, so he'd take the Wave Phone from our room so he could call us if he needed to, and we'd just set rules about being back to the room at a certain time.  Watching him enjoy that independence was great.  The counselors in the Oceaneer's Club were great and really interacted with all the kids.  Security is also top notch.  The kids wear a wristband that scans them when they enter and exit the club.  Upon exit, when their band is scanned it pulled up our pictures on the computer screen so they could verify that we were the people allowed to pick her up.  We also had a password we had to give them before they'd release her to us.  The wristband also tells their location in the club when you get there so you can know right where to look for them.  If you have kids that can go to the Oceaneer's Club, keep an eye on your Navigator and be sure they go to Pluto's Pajama Party.  They get to wear their pajamas, hang out with Pluto, and they get a pillow case to color.  The kids can't wait for our next cruise, and they are probably most excited about the clubs.  

9.  Movie Theater - There is a beautiful movie theater onboard that shows a lot of recently released movies.  It also shows any Disney movies that are released during the that sailing, which we loved.  We had been looking forward to the release of McFarland, USA and it happened to be released the week we were on the ship.  It was really fun to be able to watch it onboard.  The movie theater has a concessions stand outside, which they do charge for.  You can pack your own snacks or drinks though and bring them to the theater with you.  

10.  Book Another Cruise While Onboard! - We knew ahead of time that Disney offers some incentives for booking another cruise while you are onboard.  We'd never cruised before, but decided that if we liked the trip, that it would be worthwhile to go ahead and book another trip.  Disney offers a 10% discount, up to $200 Onboard Credit, and a deposit of only 10% (instead of 20%).  There are some blackout dates that aren't eligible for the discounts, but we didn't have trouble with the date we picked.  You can also book a "placeholder" cruise, pick the dates later on, and still receive the discounts.  I loved getting off the ship knowing we had another trip in our future!



Monday, April 6, 2015

How to Hem Jeans & Keep the Original Hem


I used to skip purchasing jeans if the length wasn't exactly right.  A few years ago I learned how to hem jeans and keep that original hem (keeping that nice stitching at the bottom so they don't look hemmed). and it really is super easy to do.  I bought a pair of jeans last week that were only available in one length, and while the store offered free hemming, I was going to have to wait almost a week to get them done.  I can do them myself in 15 minutes, so that is the route I chose to take.  Here is a quick tutorial to show you how to do it.

Start by washing and drying your jeans so that you won't have to worry about them shrinking afterwards.  Next, figure out how long you want them.  You can measure the inseam of a pair of jeans you love, or try them on and fold them to the length you'd like them to be.  Once you've done that, decide how many inches shorter you want the jeans to be.  I needed mine to be 2" shorter than what they were.

Next, fold the jeans and measure half of what the total amount of inches you'll be shortening from the edge of the original hem.  I wanted mine 2" shorter, so I only folded them 1".  

Iron the fold flat all the way around, measuring often to make sure you are staying even all the way around.  Pin the fold in place all the way around, being careful to match up the side and inner seams.  With your sewing machine, stitch as close to the original hem as possible all the way around.  Backstitch at the start and finish.  You'll have to go slow over the thicker seams on the side and inner part of the jeans.  

Fold the extra fabric back inside the jeans and press flat, stretching the seam tight as you iron.  

You can either leave the extra fabric in place, or cut it off, just make sure you have them the right length before cutting!  Sometimes I leave the extra in place so that I can change the length of the jeans if I ever want to.  I have a pair that I've adjusted a couple times for different shoes.  Totally up to you!  

Here is the finished seam.  You can't even tell that they are hemmed unless you look super close.

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