Raising Mary
Stay at home mom Tracy Cooper keeps a diary on the ups and downs of a full-time parenting career.
What to do for 68 days?
Posted Jun 10, 2011
Before I had a child, I was incredulous when I heard parents talking with trepidation about their kids being home all summer. Why would you have kids, I thought in my childless naiveté, if you don’t like having them around?
Read More >>
Cheques and Balances
Posted May 8, 2011
I’ve been a stay-at-home mother for more than five years. From a dollars-and-cents perspective, I know I’m blessed. My husband has a decent job that’s relatively secure – something we don’t take for granted at any time, and especially in the tough times in which we currently live.
Read More >>
So much for Supermom
Posted Mar 11, 2011
Looking back at five years of Mommy Diaries and I wish I spent less time making homemade baby food and more time on myself.
Read More >>
Play Dates - Love 'Em or Hate 'Em?
Posted Oct 18, 2010
Playdates for my kids almost always mean playdates for me, too. Being home with a four- and a two-year-old often leaves me with an adult-time deficit, and playdates have provided me a much needed respite.
Read More >>
Undivided Attention
Posted Sep 28, 2010
Mary is closing in on five years old, and I’m still at home, now with two girls. It’s always been demanding, but it’s harder lately. Maybe it’s the ages ...
Read More >>
Junk Food - Avoiding It
Posted Jul 21, 2010
Chocolate chip cookies, chicken fingers, pizza. Sigh... Hamburgers, french fries, cake. Swoon.... Yes, although it makes me feel bad – literally and figuratively – when I eat it, I like junk food....
Read More >>
Privacy
Posted May 31, 2010
I don’t bother locking the bathroom door very often when I’m at home alone with my girls. When I do, my two-year-old dissolves into a tantrum, throwing herself against the door and speaking in tongues. She’s only tiny, but holy bleep, she’s loud....
Read More >>
Birthday Parties Can Be Simple
Posted May 6, 2010
In preschool, Mary received several birthday party invitations. Without exception, the parties were held at indoor play facilities. I thought this was neat, but wondered if it was worth spending
big bucks on a two- or three-year-old...
Read More >>
Dealing with 'Momnesia'
Posted Feb 25, 2010
Whether it really is related to new motherhood or just to a busier life than ever, I suspect this 'condition' is not going to go away. So I have resolved not to rely on my memory.
Read More >>
Activities Without Mom
Posted Feb 25, 2010
In her black bodysuit, pink tights and ballet slippers, Mary ran to me from the lineup of other girls. “One more hug,” her teacher said, then led my daughter into the dance studio. She looked back with huge, worried eyes, wanting to cry but proud enough not to.
Read More >>
How Green is Green?
Posted Feb 25, 2010
I went to an Earth Day rally as a teen in the early 1990s.Looking back, I have to be honest. I was more into the wannabe 60s vibe of the event than really connecting with the fact that we hum...
Read More >>
Separation Anxiety
Posted May 3, 2009
If you're a mother, your baby is only completely yours when she is in the womb. She is born. The cord is cut and suddenly there's space between the two of you and an inevitable series of separation begins.
Read More >>
Dealing with Holiday Greed
Posted Nov 13, 2008
City streets are plastered with billboards extolling the virtues of every product – new and improved, of course. The stores are decked out, bursting with colour, lights, slogans and posters. It’s Christmas, and the masses trek dutifully, to the modern-day cathedral: the mall.
Read More >>
Who is Influencing Your Child?
Posted Aug 6, 2008
I do believe it, though. There’s no doubt my husband and I influence Mary more than anyone or anything else, but it’s clear from what she says and does every day that I impact her the most.
Read More >>
Parenting Like Their Parents Did
Posted May 5, 2008
I’m holding my three-week-old second child, Adelaide. I can’t stop planting little kisses on her face and squeezing her to me many times throughout the day. I’m the same with 28-month-old Mary. Every day, I tell her I love her and hug her prolifically. This is a positive, important way my mother parented that I have emulated.
Read More >>
Comparatively Speaking
Posted Mar 11, 2008
I’d just met a woman at the park, and here she was, gesturing with a pinched expression toward my 14-month-old daughter, who was sucking her thumb. It’s been her one comfort habi...
Read More >>
Thoughts on Housework
Posted Nov 19, 2007
My mother likes housework. In her retirement, she cleans the homes of my cousins for spare change and scrubs pots at my house when she isn’t...
Read More >>
Budget Glance
Posted May 04, 2007
Here's the short answer to what it costs for me to stay home with 16-month-old Mary: my entire salary of $47,000 per year (from which I took home, after taxes and deductions, about $34,000)....
Read More >>
Thoughts from a Stay-at-Home Mom
Posted Mar 22, 2007
It was late in the afternoon and with the sunlight already bleeding from the sky, I knew I had to get out of the house. My fourteen-month-old and I were sick of each other. There were a fe...
Read More >>
Posted Jun 10, 2011
Before I had a child, I was incredulous when I heard parents talking with trepidation about their kids being home all summer. Why would you have kids, I thought in my childless naiveté, if you don’t like having them around?
Read More >>
Cheques and Balances
Posted May 8, 2011
I’ve been a stay-at-home mother for more than five years. From a dollars-and-cents perspective, I know I’m blessed. My husband has a decent job that’s relatively secure – something we don’t take for granted at any time, and especially in the tough times in which we currently live.
Read More >>
So much for Supermom
Posted Mar 11, 2011
Looking back at five years of Mommy Diaries and I wish I spent less time making homemade baby food and more time on myself.
Read More >>
Play Dates - Love 'Em or Hate 'Em?
Posted Oct 18, 2010
Playdates for my kids almost always mean playdates for me, too. Being home with a four- and a two-year-old often leaves me with an adult-time deficit, and playdates have provided me a much needed respite.
Read More >>
Undivided Attention
Posted Sep 28, 2010
Mary is closing in on five years old, and I’m still at home, now with two girls. It’s always been demanding, but it’s harder lately. Maybe it’s the ages ...
Read More >>
Junk Food - Avoiding It
Posted Jul 21, 2010
Chocolate chip cookies, chicken fingers, pizza. Sigh... Hamburgers, french fries, cake. Swoon.... Yes, although it makes me feel bad – literally and figuratively – when I eat it, I like junk food....
Read More >>
Privacy
Posted May 31, 2010
I don’t bother locking the bathroom door very often when I’m at home alone with my girls. When I do, my two-year-old dissolves into a tantrum, throwing herself against the door and speaking in tongues. She’s only tiny, but holy bleep, she’s loud....
Read More >>
Birthday Parties Can Be Simple
Posted May 6, 2010
In preschool, Mary received several birthday party invitations. Without exception, the parties were held at indoor play facilities. I thought this was neat, but wondered if it was worth spending
big bucks on a two- or three-year-old...
Read More >>
Dealing with 'Momnesia'
Posted Feb 25, 2010
Whether it really is related to new motherhood or just to a busier life than ever, I suspect this 'condition' is not going to go away. So I have resolved not to rely on my memory.
Read More >>
Activities Without Mom
Posted Feb 25, 2010
In her black bodysuit, pink tights and ballet slippers, Mary ran to me from the lineup of other girls. “One more hug,” her teacher said, then led my daughter into the dance studio. She looked back with huge, worried eyes, wanting to cry but proud enough not to.
Read More >>
How Green is Green?
Posted Feb 25, 2010
I went to an Earth Day rally as a teen in the early 1990s.Looking back, I have to be honest. I was more into the wannabe 60s vibe of the event than really connecting with the fact that we hum...
Read More >>
Separation Anxiety
Posted May 3, 2009
If you're a mother, your baby is only completely yours when she is in the womb. She is born. The cord is cut and suddenly there's space between the two of you and an inevitable series of separation begins.
Read More >>
Dealing with Holiday Greed
Posted Nov 13, 2008
City streets are plastered with billboards extolling the virtues of every product – new and improved, of course. The stores are decked out, bursting with colour, lights, slogans and posters. It’s Christmas, and the masses trek dutifully, to the modern-day cathedral: the mall.
Read More >>
Who is Influencing Your Child?
Posted Aug 6, 2008
I do believe it, though. There’s no doubt my husband and I influence Mary more than anyone or anything else, but it’s clear from what she says and does every day that I impact her the most.
Read More >>
Parenting Like Their Parents Did
Posted May 5, 2008
I’m holding my three-week-old second child, Adelaide. I can’t stop planting little kisses on her face and squeezing her to me many times throughout the day. I’m the same with 28-month-old Mary. Every day, I tell her I love her and hug her prolifically. This is a positive, important way my mother parented that I have emulated.
Read More >>
Comparatively Speaking
Posted Mar 11, 2008
I’d just met a woman at the park, and here she was, gesturing with a pinched expression toward my 14-month-old daughter, who was sucking her thumb. It’s been her one comfort habi...
Read More >>
Thoughts on Housework
Posted Nov 19, 2007
My mother likes housework. In her retirement, she cleans the homes of my cousins for spare change and scrubs pots at my house when she isn’t...
Read More >>
Budget Glance
Posted May 04, 2007
Here's the short answer to what it costs for me to stay home with 16-month-old Mary: my entire salary of $47,000 per year (from which I took home, after taxes and deductions, about $34,000)....
Read More >>
Thoughts from a Stay-at-Home Mom
Posted Mar 22, 2007
It was late in the afternoon and with the sunlight already bleeding from the sky, I knew I had to get out of the house. My fourteen-month-old and I were sick of each other. There were a fe...
Read More >>
