Blog Posts by Parentables

Toy doctor's kit.Before I even get started, I'll go ahead and admit that no one was diagnosed with an incurable or serious illness. Nothing was sticking out of anyone's nose and we left with only a prescription in hand. In fact, I admit that using the word "worst" in the title of this post is an utter exaggeration. Still, it was pretty nasty.

Read More: The Pediatrician Visit: An Annual Family Adventure

So, here's what happened: one of my children, who shall remain nameless to protect his privacy once he reaches the age when he can read these posts himself, recently began complaining of an itchy sensation around the, for lack of a better word, butthole. Of course, I could have said anus, but that's not nearly as fun. Anyway, the problem continued for a few days and became so uncomfortable that he actually woke up in the middle of the night to complain about it. So, I schlepped him to the doctor's office expecting to be sent off with no explanation other than, "your child needs to wipe better."

The Duggars tackling laundry.Most people's homes and lives are going to be different than what ours is like, but when it comes to spring cleaning, we have some items that everybody deals with and tries to check off their to-do list. Normally I make a master list of all the things that need to be done in our house and in our lives -- cars, yard, garage, you name it. And I write out this huge master list of all these things that need to be done.

Grab Your Calendar
I can go down that checklist and plan alongside my calendar and say, "Okay, well, we'll try to do this on this week, because we're going to have a little time here," and I'll assign some of the kids to work together as a team. Depending on the age of the kids I'll lead the effort, because if it's anything to do with organizing and cleaning out, the boys have to ask me anyway, and so I have to be there to supervise it. So we team up and we tackle big projects, either trying to get chunks of them done at a time or scheduling it as a full-day

The downside of technology.A lot of parents tend to have a love-hate relationship with technology. Yes, it can make our lives easier and more organized, it allows us to keep better track of our children, and for many of us it allows us to work at home instead of tied to an office. But there are downsides too such as always being connected, fighting with the kids to get outside and away from the computer, and your boss always being able to find you. We have to worry about how much "screen time" the kids are getting and who they're interacting with. However, none of those things are what bother me the most about technology. What bothers me the most is the instant gratification of it all.

Read More: Is Technology Controlling Your Family?

When we allow our children to watch television or play a game, they expect to be able to get exactly what they want immediately because technology now permits it. Whether it's their favorite movie on Netflix, a show on DVR or Apple TV, a game on your iPhone, or their

Kids on the move.We've all been there. Yes, every parent knows that point in the standoff with your child where it's either going to turn into a major meltdown or you're going to sit there for another 20 minutes waiting for the coat or shoes to be put on, the teeth to be brushed, or insert whatever it is that your child takes forever to accomplish. At this point, there is one simple phrase that I've found puts a huge smile on my kids' faces and gets them moving quickly. That phrase is "How fast can you ____?"

Read More: Kids Need Time "Off" from Their Best Behavior

This phrase has perhaps become the most important phrase in my parenting repertoire only behind "I love you." When I just want to scream in frustration, instead I now say, "How fast can you ____?" While it works magically in helping everyone in the house get ready in the morning and into the car, it also works wonders in changing my kids' moods when they're in a funk. Just last week I was at the park with my five-year-old who was

The Duggar family.We're often asked why all of our kids' names begin with the letter J. There's no quick answer, but it started with our first child. Emotionally, we loved the Bible name Joshua. So we named our first child Josh after him. At the time we thought if we ever had another boy somewhere down the road, it would be fun to name him Caleb because Joshua and Caleb hung out together in the Bible, and they were great guys.

Later, after Josh was born, I went back on the pill, and then I ended up getting pregnant while I was on it, and I ended up having a miscarriage. Not too long after that we became pregnant with twins (John-David and Jana) and we were so excited, and we loved the Bible name of John. My grandmother's name was Ana, and we put the J on the front, because we wanted to show honor, and we thought that Ana was a great person in the scriptures as well. She was a prophet that recognized Jesus when he was an infant brought into the synagogue.

When we had our fourth child, Jill, we

Kids growing up.My kids will grow up.

Try as I might, I cannot keep time from coming for them.

Their tender baby roundness continues to fall away as the chiseled faces and bodies of lengthening children emerge. Their silliness has given way to real humor...catchy, clever, wise. Their daytime is less about cuddling and direction, and more about freedom and independence. My daughter has begun to request privacy and would prefer to read her own story at bedtime. My son patiently explains the relationship between water and steam as I sit wondering: Who is this intelligent being?

Read More: 50 Awesome Things About Babies

For my part I try to navigate the bipolar relationship between my joy and terror as I venture into a different phase of the motherhood. I'm so happy to see them here, safe, happy, well adjusted, loving, and kind, and yet I simultaneously want to freeze these moments -- I am terrified of the day I'll long to bury my lips in a sweet-smelling neck as they stand waiting with

Have a productive winter break."Mom! I'm bored!" Oh, I wish I had a dollar every time my kids uttered those words. I don't hear it so much anymore since they're teenagers, intent on lying low. And that's how they think they're going to spend the next five days of winter break. I hate to be the one to break it to them but they won't be sleeping until noon everyday or waiting until 3 p.m. to change out of their jammies. Nope. We've got work to do. Here are the five things we have planned (well, I have planned for them).

Read More: 99 Ways to Use This Winter to Have a Blast, Comfort Yourself, or Take Control of Your Life

1. Spring Cleaning. I know it's still technically winter but since it's been a mild one, it feels like spring is right around the corner. That and I'm sick of looking at the scuffmarks all over the baseboards. So one of the projects we will undertake this week is a deep cleaning of every room in the house. Remember, if your kids have never done this before you'll have to show them how to do

After a loss
It helps my heart to talk about my miscarriage of Jubilee. I know it's difficult sometimes for people to really know what to say, and I know I felt that way at times in the past when I realized that someone had lost a baby that they were carrying and I wasn't sure how to best console them. But I think being able to acknowledge that there was a little one -- a precious life -- helps. It definitely helps me when someone will say that they're sorry to hear about our little Jubilee.

It does my heart good in that regard because we miss her, and I feel like she was such a joyful part of our lives for 18 weeks, and we were so looking forward to meeting her. And then all the sudden for us to realize that all of those dreams were not going to come true, it just really made us realize how precious and valuable life is and how short it is.

These last couple of months have just been very precious in the fact that I have been able to grieve over the loss of all those dreams that I was