Parenting

Childish Reads: Planning

| Patti Webb

I’ve always been a planner. I remember wanting a date planner for homework…in elementary school…to go with my very adult Trapper Keeper. To-do lists, brainstorming, habit tracking: these are all my jams.

So after A&Z came home from the hospital, we used the BabyTracker app to get them on a concrete, fool-proof schedule. After six weeks, when Troy and I both had to go back to work, we had to find a way to adapt our daily schedule to theirs without having things fall through the cracks.

This scenario goes hand-in-hand with the first day of school, new jobs, or any big life change, like virtual schooling in a pandemic, maybe.

How can you best allocate your time without feeling exhausted?
How can you juggle everything without dropping anything?

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The Non-Traditional Classroom: Your Virtual Learning Setup

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

School is back in session, and it’s something we’ve been anxious about all summer. Thanks to COVID, we’ve seen a ton of different back-to-school plans and after this past month, we’re starting to see which schools are working and which schools are back to the Zoom drawing board.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends in-person schooling for children as it provides social interaction, physical activity, and emotional aptitude. Face-to-face school also offers access to a variety of learning supports otherwise limited with online classrooms.

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My Personal Parenting Life

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Everybody knows how to raise children, except the people who have them. – P.J. O’Rourke

When my son was born, I had many expectations on how I was going to raise him. Being a pediatric Occupational Therapist, I felt like I had an advantage. I assumed that the troubles and turmoil parents face could easily be solved with follow-through and consistency. I would often hear fellow colleagues tell me, “Wait until you have kids.”

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Child(ish) Reads: Pregnancy Edition

| Patti Webb

Hey Everyone,

Since starting Child(ish) Advice, our mission has been to share Occupational Therapy and child development resources with parents. While Mary covers the therapy side of our mission, I’m contributing for the parenting side.

Together, we’re starting a new monthly series called Child(ish) Reads. Each month, we will talk about popular parenting books, podcasts, and articles and give you the rundown on the ones we enjoyed and recommend.

Since this month has been pregnancy-focused, our first series post will be on the ever-popular subject of Pregnancy Books.

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Our New Addition

| Patti Webb

We’re excited to introduce part of our Child(ish) Advice family. Patti is our Social Media and Web Manager, and now a monthly blog contributor. Here’s a little bit about her:

Growing up, I was not part of a stable household. My parents had multiple divorces between them, and I never lived in one place for more than a couple years. From high school to college to young adulthood, I could see the positive and negative repercussions of my upbringing and I still grapple with it from time to time. I think we all make mental notes at some point or another, “I won’t be like that when I have a kid…”.

My husband and I went through 18 months of infertility before becoming pregnant with twins via IUI. In that time, I did a lot of self-reflection on the roles of my parents and step-parents. Then, I made a command decision that changed everything.

I read books, searched blogs, went to therapy, and finally decided that I was going to build my own style of parenting. A complete start-from-scratch. I don’t have to abide by rules or schedules or gender roles that don’t work for my family. I don’t have to do what my mom and dad did. I can try new and different parenting suggestions/styles/tips and if they work, great! If they don’t, I can move along.

I am a Millennial, and I have so many tools and outlets available to me. Google, parenting blogs and forums, scientific reports, podcasts; just think of how much more we know about parenting and raising great kids compared to 10, 15, 35 years ago. In addition, we have advances in neuroscience, learning development, and mental health. Not to mention, modern dads are more active than any previous generation. The parenting game will always be a challenge, but it helps knowing you’ve got resources.

I’m grateful to Mary for letting me partner with her, to help marry Occupational Therapy science to Modern Parenting. It’s my hope we can provide useful information that is not only accessible, but also easily adaptable for you and your family.

Thank you and stay childish,