Blogger: The Rocking Pony, Somerset

When we got home at the end of the long day, Micah asked for Woody. For crying out loud, he'd just brought him in from the van. He lost Woody that fast? We searched the house high and low, searched the van, and realized that Woody was missing. Apparently he never came home from town with us.

Because I'm a sharer, I posted on Facebook that we were retracing our steps from a day in town, trying to find a lost Woody. All my wonderful friends know that Woody means the world to Micah. It's his favorite toy slash comfort item slash best friend.

Read more about how a newspaper ad helped find Woody...

Karen is a mother of four, parenting teens, tweens, and Micah, who was blessed with Down syndrome. Her life is crazy busy, and she wouldn't change a bit of it even if she could. Her blog post about going back to work was previously featured on PlayGround.

Blogger: From Practice to Parenting, Upper St. Clair

Leo watches more TV than I care to admit. He watches between 40-60 minutes in the morning when I get dressed and feed Emilia, and about four days a week he ends up watching another 1.5 hours in the late afternoon when we are all tired out. He doesn’t nap, so this feels like the only way for both of us to get some much needed downtime.

I’ve noticed that on days when I try to skip the afternoon shows, we usually end up with a meltdown on our hands around 4 or 5 pm. I do think a little TV is better than a big fight, and clearly he is getting some rest from it if watching it in the afternoon helps him to keep it together until bedtime. But, still. I am relying on TV more than I would like. Enter: Operation Reduce TV Time.

Read more...

Elizabeth is a child clinical psychologist and mother to 3-year-old Leo and 6-month-old Emilia. She writes about her experiences as a parent through the eyes of a psychologist, weaving her personal stories with bits of psychological theory and research. She hopes this approach will help other parents learn something new, while being comforted that even the "experts" get stumped! This is her first post on PlayGround.

Blogger: A Passion for the Pen, Greensburg

I’ve come to the realization that my two-year old son is technically my best friend. No offense to my “big girl” best friends, I still love all of you, but for blog purposes, let’s just explore my title a bit further.

As a work at home mom, I spend more time with my son than any I do any other person on this Earth. That said, we are together through the ups and downs of every single day. That’s something I haven’t even experienced with my very best friends. We always had time when we were separated in the physical sense, it was never 100% interaction all the time.

Read more...

Tara Darazio is a freelance writer, social media strategist, wife, and mom to a vibrant little boy. She has a BA in Advertising and Public Relations and a BA in Mass Communication from Point Park University. Her post on motherhood and tattoos was previously featured on PlayGround.

Blogger: Tamara Reese, Squirrel Hill (for Kveller.com)

Nothing has ever made me feel more inadequate as a mother or as a woman than my nursing challenges.

After 11 weeks of shame and tears I called the health department as my final Hail Mary pass. They sent to my home, free of charge, a lactation consultant who just so happened to be a La Leche League leader.

She wasn’t afraid to look into my bloodshot eyes. She saw my desperation and how much being able to nurse my baby meant to me. The first thing out of her mouth, I will never forget, was:

You are a wonderful Mama and you’ve done a beautiful job with him.

I went on to nurse my firstborn for 25 months.

I successfully breastfed a toddler and yet I was terrified to nurse my second baby.

Read more...

Tamara Reese is a qualitative epidemiologist turned stay-at-home Mama turned consultant for Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and contributing editor at Kveller.com. She is the mother of two boys and her passions include child injury prevention, gentle parenting and breastfeeding advocacy. Her posts on baby name battles and the killing at the zoo have also been featured on PlayGround.