about me

Thank you to the Chinet® brand for sponsoring this post. Last month, my daughter’s school had multiple Spirit Days, Half-Way Day, the 100th Day of School, a Children’s Fair and all the fanfare associated with Valentine’s Day – each requiring special attire and more. My husband asked me how I…

Two years ago, my family was blessed with an incredible gift from a complete and total stranger. Someone just like you. Thanks to their registration with the Be The Match Registry® and selfless donation, my father-in-law found his perfect match – receiving a life saving stem cell transplant, sending his leukemia…

How often do you celebrate your mom friends? Let me guess – planning goes something like this… you start a group text and between kids’ activities, family obligations, travel plans and husbands’ softball or poker nights, you finally arrive at one night 3 months out that most of you can actually make it…

My mom once told me, “People will talk about your children in one of two ways: ‘Wow, your kids are so well behaved,’ or ‘Wow, please don’t ever bring your kids here again.’”  And while no one ever wants to be, we’ve all experienced moments of the latter. As parents, we…

The need for quality girl time doesn’t end when you get married and have a family.  If anything, I would argue you need it more at that point than ever before. The key is making time for girl time now that we all have our own families.  Here are my…

I remember it like it was yesterday. In the hospital after my first was born, they offered a session for newborn care, including how to give baby a bath.  I opted to sleep instead.  I had babysat and nannied for years – what was there to learn?  We came home…

It’s easy to lose yourself as a mother. It is especially easy to lose yourself as a stay at home mother.  So much of my life and who I was before kids revolved around my career.  Before kids, for all of my adult life, I had worked long hours, traveled,…

Confession.  I have a tendency to act like I have it all together, all the time… until I can’t anymore, and I have a mommy meltdown.  With 3 kids there is no more time for me anymore.  I have to make it for myself, and ask for breaks when I…

Here on the Playground Parkbench, I share everything I would talk about with my fellow parents sitting on the parkbench as our kids play on the playground.  That mostly fits into the broad categories of Parenting and Kids Activities. As my kids have gotten older, where we talk may vary – the…

How many of you are resolved to save money or dig out of debt this year?  Want to do even more than that?!? Join me each week for Financially Savvy Fridays where my fellow financially astute bloggers and I will explore everything from household budgets to student loan debt to smart shopping…

A year ago today, I published the first post on Playground Parkbench.  What began as an idea born out of a sleepless night of pregnancy insomnia was finally brought to fruition. As a celebration of our first birthday, I want to pause to reflect and thank all those who have supported, encouraged…

Confession.  I am not a big believer in birth plans.  There are certain things in life that are not entirely within our control, and childbirth is one of them.  My birth plan generally consists of avoiding induction, patiently waiting 41+ weeks for my baby to decide to make an appearance…

Before children, I often went about my life with the harried pace of the corporate world.  Commuting, bouncing between conference calls and meetings, late nights at the office, 4AM wake ups for early morning flights, eating meals at my desk.  However, nothing quite compares to life at home now with…

Before I was a Stay at Home Mom, I never thought I would be… what could those moms possibly be so busy doing all day long?  How hard could it really be?  These were the thoughts that ran through my head as I sat in the cool, relative quiet of…

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I am currently approaching the third trimester of my third pregnancy, expecting a baby boy, due this Fall.  We are already blessed with two beautiful girls, Big M (3.5) and Lil’ M (nearly 2), and while my husband adores his…

Today was the big day… we finally got to find out whether M3 is Team Blue or Team Pink! And something you first time moms might not be aware of, there’s also always an off-chance when you go for your 20-week anatomy scan that your little peanut may not cooperate,…

I know I am at risk of offending all my fellow mom out there – but if I am honest with myself and all of you, I have to confess, I am a much worse driver today than I ever was before I had kids.  And if you stop and…

This topic has been marinating in my head for a few months now.  I debated writing about it because it’s one of those taboo subjects: politics, religion and money.  You aren’t supposed to talk about those.  But let’s be honest – they all directly impact our daily lives, and therefore…