Guest blogger Janalee Card Chmel is co-owner of MA! motherhood with attitude and is a Denver-based freelance writer. She was shocked at the age of 40 to find out she was pregnant. Follow her journey each month.
I am just finishing Week 28 of my surprise pregnancy, which means I have about 11 weeks to go [...]

Dear Mama Drama:
I have three sons, ages 7, 4, and 2. Everyday after picking up my oldest son from school, within five minutes either the seven year old or four year old is crying. The struggles are often related to rude behavior and hitting. The oldest wants time to himself at this time of day [...]

Dear Mama Drama,

I recently took my 6 and 8 year old daughters to a pumpkin carving contest. It is a wonderful family event that focuses more on community than competition, but the pumpkins are judged and there are winners. My 6 year old won and my 8 year old did not.  At first, the [...]

Dear Mama Drama:
Every morning we struggle with my five-year-old son to get him ready for school and out of the house on time. He needs lots of one on one support to complete even the most basic tasks such as getting dressed. He can’t remember what to do next and often stops to play [...]

I had long struggled with the idea of adoption as a second choice — pregnancy being the default setting and thus the first choice.
Why the struggle? After all, I had ended up in exactly the right place. I wouldn’t want my family to be any different than what it is.
But how to explain this [...]

When I was a kid, I thought time moved at a snail’s pace. And the proof is in my offspring. This weekend, when we were cleaning, Declan said the poetic words that we *all* think of at one point of another. “I wish time felt slower when I am having fun and faster when I [...]

I’ve written before about how I used to suffer from Vehicular Tourette’s. I’ve come a long way. I purposely watch my word-choice when around my 3-year old, Claire, because she’ll repeat what I say and use it in a way that would point a huge “Yep, she totally got that from me” finger [...]

Dear Mama Drama: My 13-month-old daughter used to go to bed easily. Now she stands in her crib and screams. We have a consistent, calming bedtime routine, but it doesn’t seem to be working right now.
~Exasperated
Dear Exasperated:
Your daughter may be telling you it’s to change her sleep schedule. She may not be as tired at [...]

October marks my official 4-year anniversary in the blogosphere. On a whim, I started my personal blog Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck on MSN Spaces in October 2005. None of my friends of family understood what it was.
“A blob? Why would you want to start a blob?”
Or “don’t you think it’s a bit narcissistic to think [...]

Now that summer is officially over and October is here, we really have no excuses to not be into our “new” routine yet. Well, I have a confession to make: we’ve just now gotten into a smooth routine. What was the hold up? How hard can this be?
Part of the challenge [...]