Blog Posts by Mommyish

Let's face it, there's a hierarchy of holidays. Any day that you get to miss work is definitely a holiday. Depending on the food served, the traditions honored and even the gifts given (don't act like it's not important, this is a safe place), we all have our favorites. My mother is a Christmas nut. She literally plans all year round for that single day of the year. So on Christmas, we have to see my mother. My mother-in-law, on the other hand, is attached to Easter. She has more bunnies in her house than Beatrix Potter. Because its her favorite, we make sure to see her on Easter. Thank goodness, these two wonderful ladies aren't devoted to the same day.

It's lot of fun to juggle holidays between my family and my in-laws. It's even more fun to throw in my daughter's father's schedule. Suddenly, there's a whole new set of favorites and preferences to consider. On any given holiday, here's the list of family obligations my three year old is supposed to honor: her immediate family,

Shy little girls who keep to the corners of classrooms are encouraged to go and socialize with their peers. Little boys who prefer to spend time alone on the playground are often deemed at risk for not making friends. Now it turns out that shy temperaments are also recurring in the animal kingdom with many evolutionary benefits.

Susan Cain writes that as many as 20% of animal species have demonstrated introvert or "sitter" tendencies, with the same percentage evident in humans. She oserves that such a disposition provides an evolutionary advantage in humans:

In theory, I think children's artwork is best left for the refrigerator. But what do you think about this woman who immortalized her child's drawing with this extensive replica tattoo on her shoulder? And there's more.

When Your Child Becomes The Entertainment

Via the discussion at Reddit where this original picture was posted, I found this gallery of other children's artwork that found its way onto parents' bodies.

Many of my friends have tattoos - and beautiful ones at that. I'm haunted by something an older friend told me when I first considered getting one: "It's like picking out a T-shirt when you're 19 and then having to wear it every day after that." In that sense, though, a child's loving piece of artwork beautifully interpreted by a tattoo artist might be one of the better options.

Horse Around, Hover or Text? What Your Playground Style Says About You

It's certainly better than some of the line drawings of children's actual photos that I see on various

Mornings in my house are difficult as my husband and I - quite possibly the world's two worst morning people - scramble to get the kids (and ourselves) dressed, fed and out the door. But that's all a walk in the park compared to the dinnertime rush, as we like to call it. It's when the kids are hungry for dinner, tired from the day's activities and in desperate need of a bath.

Work Life Balance No Longer A 'Woman's Problem'

Most households are in a similar state of disarray around this time. In fact, a team of researchers surveyed 2,000 moms to pinpoint the precise time of day that's most stressful. The study, commissioned byBetterbathrooms.com, found that exact moment to be 5:55 p.m. That's when most mothers are attempting to get dinner on the table and, in many instances, get their kids back out the door to after-school programs like soccer or dance. (Bath time, or 7:15 p.m., was the second most stressful time in a mom's day, while bedtime and the morning school run ranked

Scientists are rushing to understand the habits of female tamarin monkeys - creatures who in fact frequently kill their babies. From what researchers have gathered, tamarin mommies have their reasons for killing off some babies while raising others into adulthood. But what's most striking about these findings is that they may have something to tell us about postpartum depression (PPD).

Mommy tamarins have a lot to consider when bringing a baby into the world. The gestation is pretty long for monkeys (150 days), and they usually give birth to very large twins, according to TIME. What makes raising and providing for twins easier is when there are plenty of male tamarins around to protect the home and provide enough food. Scientists learned that the amount of males available in the "troop" ultimately had a huge impact on whether tamarin monkeys chose to kills their babes or not:

Welcome to Splitsville. This weekly column will focus on parenting after a divorce, break-up or one-night stand that didn't end like a Katherine Heigl movie.

One of the most frightening things about separated parenting is the thought of someone new entering the equation. When you split with your child's other parent, you don't normally think about their future relationships. You have other things on your mind. You, your ex and your children get into a routine. And then, months or years later, your ex starts dating again. Or you start dating again. Someone is dating and it messes up everything!

Splitsville: Losing Control

As parents, we guard our children from all kinds of things. We regulate their meals and their schedules, their sleep and their media exposure. We decide who will teach them, care for them and treat their boo-boos. When an ex starts dating, they introduce your child to a new influence that you don't get to choose. If things progress, this person who you

I make many mistakes as a parent, but I have one thing down better than most of my friends: I tell my children "no" all the time. I'm really good at it. It didn't even occur to me that this was something I was doing, much less doing well, until one of my friends asked for advice on how to say no to her children.

On the one hand, it is easy to say "no" to children. It's a simple word. On the other hand, a parent has to overcome a few obstacles. It's our natural inclination to want to make our children happy all the time. And telling them "no" won't make them happy. I mean, it might make them happier adults to not have had their every childhood whim catered to, but the short-term can be hellish. And because we're tired all the time (or is that just me?), we don't want to deal with those unhappy feelings. Saying "no" also means that we're making a decision. And while making decisions may not be hard, piling up decision after decision during the day can be dreadful. There are other

Ever wonder who exactly decided that girls should wear pink and boys should wear blue? It turns out baby boomers were the first to be raised with today's color dictate determined by advertisers and retailers, of course. Their parents and grandparents were dressed according to an exact opposite norm: boys wore pink and girls wore blue.

Prior to the 19th century, gender neutral clothing was the status quo. Just like little two and half year old FDR up there, boys and girls under the age of six wore white frilly clothes for practicality. All white garments, no matter what a tot did to them, could be bleached.

Fun Fact: The US Had Federalized Childcare In The 1940s

The notion that children's clothes could somehow shape their gender development did not come about until right before World War I. Pink was considered a stronger color than blue, and therefore more befitting for a boys. Girls wore blue because the color was deemed more dainty and feminine for its era.

Dr.