When my daughter turned about two years old, I started to look for local activities for young children to put her in. I wanted her to have socialization with other kids and get some playtime outside of our house! It didn’t take long before I found a few favorites! Here are five local places I’ve enjoyed taking both of my kids to from about the age of two to five. Goldfish Swim School – This was one of the first activities I put my daughter in! At two years old kids can have lessons without parents getting in the water and I was sold! Both of my children have now taken lessons here, on and off ..read more

Make Volunteering Your New Year’s Resolution! Now that we are a few months into 2024, have you thought about your New Year’s Resolution? Fitness, nutrition, reading, self-care, and spending less are commonly at the center of these resolutions. If you’re like me, you might have a goal or two in mind but you’re careful not to raise your expectations too much to avoid setting yourself up for failure. Sometimes we struggle with which goals we want to work toward, as it can be overwhelming to focus on just a handful of areas. If you haven’t landed on a goal for 2024, or if you have room on your pl ..read more

Thank you to Columbus College of Art & Design for partnering with us on this post to share about the wide range of classes available for kids, teens and adults this summer! 5 art classes your kids will love this summer Columbus College of Art & Design’s Creative Summer Workshops will have your kids learning, creating, and having fun this summer—no sunblock or bug repellant required. The college’s weeklong, half-day workshops, led by art and education professionals, provide children and teens with hands-on projects that will keep them engaged and excited. In the workshops, students will ..read more

My kids are always more inclined to eat the food I make them when it looks fun! Is this the case with your kids, too? With winter here (and snow sticking around until spring sometimes!), I’ve compiled some of the fun snow-themed foods and snowman-themed foods I’ve made over the past few years. My kids have enjoyed all of these recipes, and I hope yours do too! Snowman Oatmeal This snowman oatmeal is the perfect breakfast to warm you up on those cold, snowy mornings! Use any oatmeal recipe you want and then top with shredded coconut, a mandarin orange nose and chocolate chip eyes and mouth. Vo ..read more

Let’s be honest. When it comes to buying a gift for a kid’s birthday party (or for my own kids), I usually make a quick trip to Target. The typical gifts we shop for include: Legos and monster trucks, water balloons and games. For all you moms like me that run out to Target last minute…cheers! We make it work. However, if you ever get the itch to look into something different, here are some unique birthday and holiday gift ideas. Art Box: A great gift for all the artists in your life. This comes with a carrying case full of all the art supplies that kids will need to make beautiful creations ..read more

Most of us remember the August 2017 partial solar eclipse in Ohio. Fortunately, we are now living in a time that allows Central Ohioians to experience a FULL solar eclipse. As stated through the Ohio EMA’s website: “The total solar eclipse visits Ohio on April 8, 2024 beginning at 3:08 pm EDT with the final exit of the Moon’s shadow from the state at 3:19 pm EDT.” Meaning, on Monday April 8, 2024, Central Ohio will be in the path of totality! In 2017, I was blessed to take a mother-daughter trip to the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site in Kentucky, to experience full totality. While it was w ..read more

Remember the days of the pandemic when uncertainty seemed like the only constant? The term New Normal seemed to be a key in life and finding stability was like unlocking a door. As a Mom and support parent for three children of very different ages, while working with people full-time, I find negative stress is real. Every phase of parenting has its needs and its strengths. But, when Mom enters the house to see the dishes piling up, rushes to help the preteen pack suppers to-go with multiple bags on her shoulders, drives to archery lessons with a tired baby, and the eight-year-old mentions miss ..read more

We are excited to partner with Freestyle and share about a recent experience trying out their Bamboo-Tek diapers and wipes. All opinions expressed are those of the author. As a mom of five who has been in the diaper game for almost a decade, when I was asked if I could try out a brand that promised to be better for the environment and to perform 55% better in absorbency than our usual store-bought big brand name diapers, I needed zero convincing. The timing was perfect to put Freestyle to the test as we happened to be traveling to my parent’s house to celebrate Thanksgiving. Not only would we ..read more

Christmas is a magical time for little ones. There are so many Christmas activities going on and sometimes it can be hard to pick which ones to do! The following 10 activities have been my favorite to do since my kids have been little and we usually do most of them during the holiday season. Some of these will start in November and go until the new year, so you have around 6 weeks to spread them out. Zoo Lights – I remember going to Zoo Lights when I was little and now I’m happy to share it with my own children. Here’s my tip, get to the Zoo before the light show starts, walk around a little ..read more

We are excited to welcome Clean Day Housekeeping as a new business to Columbus! We've partnered with them to share about a recent cleaning experience. All opinions expressed are those of the author. I looked up “a clean house” in my mom dictionary today. I found no actual definition but the synonyms listed were “mythical unicorn” and “fake news”. I GET IT. I am going to miss spraining my ankles on LOL Surprise Dolls miniature sunglasses, I don’t disagree. But I’m a mom of a 5 and 3 year old, I have a demanding full time job and I prioritize family time and a social life over plucking hard ..read more