parenting | PulseonParenting

What to Expect When Your Son Starts Puberty

Apr 22 2015

I am in awe of the transformation. I am a little sad, too. My younger son, born breech at barely five pounds, is becoming a man. At age 12 he is hands-down taller than me, with a cracking voice, acne and, um, hair (more on that below…). It boggles my mind, a glimpse into what is in store for his twin brother, who has yet to join him in this journey. I decided to repost What to Expect When Your Son Starts Puberty from April, 2015, to help us Moms (and Dads, of course) navigate these changes, changes in our little boys that…

What to Expect When Your Daughter Starts Puberty

Apr 15 2015

My daughter is eight years old. She loves jigsaw puzzles, lip smackers, and American Girl everything. A little girl. So it’s hard to believe it’s time to have “The Talk.” Yes, the recommended age is eight. The thought of sitting down with my second grader to discuss birds-and-bees is, to say the least, unsettling. When I read this advice I was relieved that age eight was a long, long, year away. But time flies. My daughter just passed the halfway point to age nine. I guess I need to get a move-on. It was so much easier when I worked in family medicine….

I Love You…Quirks and All

Mar 31 2015

I knew from the moment I laid eyes on my younger son, a preemie with dusky, lanugo-covered skin, that he was unique. Others were scared to hold this fragile, funny-looking baby. But to me, he was beautiful. I could hold him and his twin brother for hours watching their tiny, newborn features. While his brother’s round, pink face relaxed into a smile as he slept, his contorted into mesmerizing expressions, eyes a-flutter, as we listened to classical music in the nursery. This little boy, whom we affectionately call “Bear,” has always been his own kid. As a toddler, he would…

Remind Me, Who is This For Again?

Mar 12 2015

Take a look at Pinterest, she said. There are some really cool ideas, she said. Boy, were there ever. I “pinned” five. I liked even more. That unsettling combo of excitement and stress started to bubble up from my stomach toward my chest and pulsed into my head, which began humming with white noise. Then, in a rare moment of clarity, a voice said: Stop. This is ridiculous. Who is this actually for??? It was time to plan the annual Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. My boys’ den leader, whom I greatly admire, approached me and asked if I would help…

Jenny McCarthy, Mouthpiece Mom

Feb 18 2015

Tired of all the vaccine talk? I kinda am. And I thought it was just receiving vaccines that caused sleepiness (my kids crashed big after boosters). But no, this time it is my brain that is tired. But to lay this issue to rest (at least for now) I need to get something off my mind. Actually, I need to get someone off my mind. Jenny McCarthy. Mom, famous-person, apparent anti-vaxx advocate. It says something when a well-known individual’s stint as Playmate of the Year gets upended by her staunch support of the vaccines-cause-autism movement (McCarthy even went so far as to…

Grocery Store “Gangstas”

Feb 11 2015

He was so proud. He loved bell peppers and tiny things in general (still does) and showed me the diminutive green pepper while we shopped the produce section of the grocery store. I turned away for just a few seconds (it’s always “just a few seconds,” right?) to select some lettuce and when I turned back to my son, his tongue was hanging out of his mouth and jalapeño seeds falling to the floor.

A Reason to Recharge

Jan 22 2015

The other morning I needed to recharge. I went to Friday Flow yoga and reconnected with some amazing people. I got my favorite Chai from my favorite local coffee place. “Me Time” at its best. Maybe it was the clarity that only yoga and a jolt of spicy tea can provide, but I got to thinking about this thing we call “Me Time.” The time we take for just ourselves. The time we rarely indulge in because we have responsibilities and commitments. A sense of obligation, and even guilt, makes “Me Time” sound too decadent and selfish. But “Me Time”…

Coffee Shop Time Warp

Jan 06 2015

Over winter break we took our three kids to a favorite coffee spot for hot chocolate. As we settled in, I found myself more interested in “people-watching” and couldn’t help but notice the family sitting across the room: parents and their four twenty-something kids. There was Dad, bespectacled and reading. Sitting beside him was his slightly-grunge son wearing Buddy Holly-style glasses and playing on his phone. Mom was sitting at the other end of the table, talking with her stylishly-dressed daughters. Another son, with All-American features was in seated in the middle, partaking of his coffee and alternating between conversation…

Farewell, My Friend

Dec 22 2014

Last week I travelled back to Iowa to celebrate the life of a childhood friend. She was kind and vivacious. A daughter, a mother of four. Why she was taken so soon from the many who loved and needed her, no one will understand. All I know is the acute pain of bidding farewell to someone I’ve known for decades, and my age as well. When I learned she was gone, I had been standing impatiently in a restaurant awaiting my overdue takeout order, making a mental inventory of everything I needed to do that night, the next day,…

My name is Heidi Black and I have it all... Maybe not in the traditional sense of the phrase but I do feel I have it all: three beautiful, healthy children, a devoted husband and father and the privilege of being a Domestic Engineer. (I used to call myself a SAHM but that just doesn’t fit when my day is filled with coordinating 5 schedules and preplanning their execution, all up to a week in advance.) And now, indulging in a not-so-secret desire to write, and following the advice “write what you know” I am ready to share what I have learned from this ironic life journey and along with you, discover answers to those many questions related to parenting.

Tag - parenting