Mommy-Guilt is weighing heavy on me this week.  We attended our first swim lesson of the summer on Tuesday, or should I say “kind-of” attended…as Luke (almost 2 yrs) screamed at the top of his lungs for the first 20 minutes of our 30 minute lesson.  With me holding him.  Hugging...

Your kids want to get in on the pumpkin decorating fun, but handling carving tools is a no-go.  So, what are your options?  Here are a few ideas. FIRST STEP - no matter what decorating option you use, clean the pumpkin using a baby wipe – NOT getting the pumpkin really wet or it is more likely...

We’ve all seen it.  The excited announcement that your 3-year-old will “Do it myself”….followed by a temper tantrum caused by frustration of not being able to. I don’t know that instilling independence now will keep you from getting a drink or making sandwiches for your...

I do not have children, but I have had the privilege of being welcomed into several families as Miss Leanne, nanny and babysitter extraordinaire. My most recent adventure had me living for a month in Puerto Rico with friends who recently moved from Frisco to the San Juan area. During my time here,...

My husband and I are prolific list-makers. Take our to-do lists, for example. His is a 200-line Excel spreadsheet color-coded by “type” of to-do and ordered by priority and updated daily, meaning some items stay on there for a year or longer (case in point: “sell jet ski’s”...

MOL hit the streets this week and while we were out this week in our cute new shirts, we took notice of products we were admiring from afar. We then asked unsuspecting moms and women around Frisco and Plano about these awesome and useful products. Here’s what we found: We spotted a fashionable...

I recently read a fascinating article in one of my favorite magazines, Wondertime (which, by the way, is unfortunately also owned by Disney – who, like Wal-Mart, will own the world one day – if they don’t already), that a mom wrote about her life with a gifted son. In the sidebar,...

This was a B.W. (Big Weekend) in the Cooksey household. Finally, after over a year, Jack started sleeping in his big-boy bed. Yes, it took over a year. From the battlefield, here are some lessons learned the hard way on the transition process. These actually apply to any difficult transition, I’ve...

Child development experts have different theories about the best way to encourage learning in your children. Some believe that you shouldn’t constantly correct children, because that can lower their self-esteem and make them less motivated to learn and explore on their own. Others believe that...

Barney, the Purple Dinosaur, is not the first example that comes to mind when thinks of intelligence. Einstein? For sure. Ben Franklin? Yep. Bill Gates? Absolutely. All would come to mind before the big, fluffy green-spotted reptile. Even among children’s characters, he would not be the first...