Posted on 08 November 2009.
CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER GELORMINE For me, one of the hardest parts about being a military family isn’t the constant moving, or the long separations from my husband, or even the lack of control over our very existence. Rather, it’s the fact that we live so far from our families. Growing up, I lived a mile [...]
Posted in Date Night, Military Life, Okinawa Getaways, Parenting Wisdom2 Comments
Posted on 25 October 2009.
CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER GELORMINE Car seats. Those of us with infants and toddlers know that they are a must. When I gave birth to my son two years ago I wasn’t allowed to leave the newborn ward with him until a nurse had inspected his infant car seat to be sure it was properly set [...]
Posted in Just in Japan, Parenting Wisdom20 Comments
Posted on 13 October 2009.
As some of you know, I was a bit shocked to give birth to a little girl in July. Along with the generalized panic of raising a princess after only having experienced loud, rambunctious boys, there were some practical problems as well. First and foremost: NO GIRL CLOTHES. My closets were filled with plastic bins [...]
Posted in Kids & Maternity Shopping, Parenting Wisdom, Volunteer Opportunities3 Comments
Posted on 27 September 2009.
CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER GELORMINE A few months ago, Heather N. contributed a post about how to take the next step when you’ve made a friend. Today, however, I’m going back a step: about how to make friends in the first place. As a parent, I’m continually concerned with helping my children learn and master basic [...]
Posted in Military Life, Parenting Wisdom5 Comments
Posted on 23 August 2009.
CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER GELORMINE OK, I’ll admit it. I’m not a perfect parent. Sometimes I let my kids stay up much longer than their usual bedtime. Sometimes I serve Cheerios for dinner, without even fruit as a vegetable. Sometimes I let them watch more DVDs during the day than I ever thought I would before [...]
Posted in Parenting Wisdom7 Comments
Posted on 22 August 2009.
CONTRIBUTED BY JANNINE MYERS Deployments are probably not at the top of the “must-read” list for most people, seeing as how there have already been several posts dedicated to this topic, but when I look back at previous discussions about deployments none of them address what I’m going to refer to as “out of sight, [...]
Posted in Military Life, Parenting Wisdom9 Comments
Posted on 02 August 2009.
CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER GELORMINE I love to cook at home for my family. I love the process of planning our meals for each week, making a list to bring to the commissary and farmer’s markets, then returning home and turning those ingredients into meals that I’ve made through my own effort and skills. As much [...]
Posted in Parenting Wisdom4 Comments
Posted on 12 July 2009.
CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER GELORMINE When I was pregnant with my daughter, I was given a magnet for my refrigerator. It was a list of ways to promote self-esteem in a military child, and at the time I thought, “Well, this is silly. I’m having a baby, not a child.” Those of you who are parents [...]
Posted in Military Life, Parenting Wisdom2 Comments
Posted on 05 July 2009.
CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER GELORMINE This is our first summer here on Okinawa. We moved here from Colorado Springs, and it seems as though in coming here, what we lost in altitude we more than gained in humidity. It’s getting hot… and it’s getting humid! It’s enough to make me want to park myself on a [...]
Posted in Beaches & Pools, Kids Activities: Indoors, Parenting Wisdom3 Comments
Posted on 28 June 2009.
CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER GELORMINE My daughter was born when we were stationed in Germany, and I always felt grateful that the society we lived in was not only accepting but encouraging of mothers who chose to breastfeed their babies. No matter where we went, it was easy to find special “Mother Rooms” in public locations, [...]
Posted in Just in Japan, Parenting Wisdom, Pregnancy & Childbirth14 Comments
