That’s right. I’m back in the saddle again. It’s been a long time coming, but I’m happy to announce the return of Montco Mommy. During the summer of 2012, I decided to take a break to enjoy more time with my children. They were off. We had many planned trips to the beach, to see family, camping. It was a whirlwind of a summer. It was a smart decision. My time is spread so thinly and the column seemed to be something I did largely for my own enjoyment. It hadn’t occurred to me that it would be missed. I, of course, aim to help other parents by venting my frustrations, offering my two cents and…

  With the temperatures climbing last week, our family has already started seeking relief. We have traditional Irish skin tones so we have a limited list of sunny-day activities. We can’t bask in the glorious sun all day long, even if we’d like to, as we only have two main skin tones: albino and burnt. Despite the needs for frequent shade, we are test "swimming" a new idea this summer. Our kids have been begging for a pool since, well since they could beg. Both have had swim lessons and can minimally swim enough not to lose their lives if they feel in. To be honest, we’d probably have to take…

I knew the day would come, and I’m not looking forward to it. I love my children so much I hate to see them go, but let’s face it – it is fairly likely someday they will move out. My son said this weekend he is ready for that day. He is going to propose to his girlfriend. They have been boyfriend and girlfriend for almost a year now, so he says it is time. May I remind you, he is now 6 years old. On his day off this holiday weekend, I took him for a special trip to Arnold’s Family Fun Center in Oaks. We had a great time playing laser tag, driving go-karts and playing arcade games. Afterwards…

My daughter is a diva. That isn’t news to anyone that knows her. At age 4, she is already far more "girly" than her mother. Somehow, this tomboy of a Montco Mommy birthed a princess of a little girl. As we often do, last week my husband and I decided to split the kids up for a little bit of one-on-one time. The boys decided they wanted to go see The Avengers. The two, comic- and video-game loving boys headed off to the Movie Tavern in Collegeville to enjoy dinner and the flick. We two girls were left to our own devices. I flat out asked what my little chick wanted to do for Girls’ Night Out, …

What do your children think of you? I don’t often think of what kind of “legacy” I’m leaving, but one of the most important things I know I leave behind in this world someday when I’m gone is what kind of people my children are. While I may not dwell on it daily, it is likely a motivating factor for much of the way I parent. What life skills do they need to have forever? What ways can I best benefit them? When I’m long gone, what will they remember me for? At ages 4 and 6, that is sometimes hard to gauge, but I have a fairly vocal and thoughtful son so I know what he thinks most of the time …

It has been half a decade. It doesn’t sound long, but it’s a wide variety of peaks and valleys. This past week, I celebrated my fifth wedding anniversary with my husband. When you have two young children, getting a date in at all is pretty tough. We aspire to get out at least every other week, but that ends up to be more like once a month, at best. Between nailing down a babysitter, timing our work schedules and the cost of going out, we seldom take the time to do it. But relationships take a lot of work. We try to remember, though it isn’t always easy, that time together can be the best way …

  Don’t get me wrong. I love capturing the rare moments of my children’s childhood on film. Er, should I say, on digital cards and websites. Regardless of the format, I realize that these young years are fleeting and pretty soon my husband and I will be sitting here with an empty nest wondering where all the good times have gone. While you’ve already heard my rants over the challenges of having professional portraits of your children taken, I have one more unique bit of photography frustration to vent about here – the quantity of photos a parent is bombarded with in the span of one school …

I feel like there are two extreme mommy views on summer. On the one hand, you have moms that are dreading the kids being off. They are worried about childcare costs and schedules. They fret them being home for long (read “boring” if a child) hours, with no set goals, homework or routines. On the other hand, I know moms that have been planning their summers for months. They have each minute excitedly planned out for the full season. They cannot wait for that bus to come on the last day of school, and joyfully anticipate spending warm, quality time with their children. I guess between those …

Somewhere around my daughter’s second birthday, her voice changed. No, it wasn’t a super early puberty. It was the addition of “the whine.” Since age 2, it has barely changed. Instead of speaking to her father or me in her typical toddler voice, she began to ask for everything in a droning, ultra-sad, pleading whine. I suppose you could say we are allowing it to go on too long, but really we don’t. “Mooommmmmmyyyyyy,” she whines. “I wannnnnttt a juuuuuuiiiice.” I hear it. I’ve heard it most of the day. I make her fix it. She has to request things again in a normal tone of voice in order to …

I should start by saying I have a job. I have healthcare. I pay my medical bills. But none of those things should matter anyhow – everyone should have access to medical care, no matter what. Regardless of my financial situation, when illness strikes, I sit there just like we all do. When real illness gets rough, we have no choice. I hate, hate, hate the ER. I understand some of the major issues with medical care. When it comes to emergency rooms, I feel there are two main problems. For one, we have a plethora of area residents that do not have solid insurance coverage. When they get sick, …

It is that scary time of year. It is a time of year I tend to try to ignore. But for some reason, they keep on coming every 365 days or so. This week is my birthday. Gross. I think somewhere after 21, the thrill is gone. I think that’s about when you stop looking forward and start dreading another digit adding to that immense total. Up until then, you are anxious to see another calendar year flip. You can’t wait until you are a whole hand. You are so excited to hit double digits. Then there are teen years, and you seem so much “cooler” with a “teen” in your age. Soon, you are counting the …

I’m not sure who decided that children should have as much energy as they do. More accurately, I’m not sure why parents have so much less. Perhaps this is more a case of cause and effect. Whatever the reason, I can tell you I don’t think I’m the only one. Last night, sitting in a Chick-fil-A (because quite frankly I was too tired to think about cooking dinner), I was pondering this question. I watched while behind sound-proof glass (God bless Chick-fil-A), my 4- and 6-year-old proceeded to run, jump, climb and chase around Playland. The time was about 6:30 p.m. The kids had not only come off …

I loved doing science projects. Despite my ultimate decision to focus a career on writing and editing, I was really good with, and enjoyed figuring out, science and math problems. I’m glad I enjoyed it oh so long ago, because it has come back into my house to "haunt" me. And here, I thought I was done with elementary school myself. Turns out, I was just getting started. Each year my son begs and begs to enter the science fair. As he is only in first grade, what he says is “Mom, can you help me do a project?” What I hear is, “Mom, you have a science project to get done!” This year’s big show …

My daughter has had a rough run of neighbors watching her. Or, maybe it was rough on the neighbors; I am not quite sure yet. What I can tell you is that I am pretty cautious about leaving her with another neighbor on our street. Let’s start in the neighbor’s defense. She is a handful (And that is putting it lightly.) Alora is a self-appointed princess. She can be difficult, and I know it is not an easy task to watch small children. They aren’t as perfectly behaved as we’d like to think. The last few times my daughter has asked to go play at a friend’s home, she has come back in all kinds of …

It is hard to live so far away from my parents. I miss them. I wish we lived closer. When I go to visit them, it is a five- to six-hour drive diagonally across Pennsylvania. I wish it didn’t take so long. I’ve never wished that harder than this weekend, driving home. Just a half-hour into a five-hour ride and my daughter, who had an unfortunate stomach bug that seems to be going around the area, projectile vomited all over the truck. In true Linda Blair-style, she was just a head rotation away from us calling a young and an old priest. She hadn’t eaten much all day, but somehow, for someone …

I’m told a children’s book by Jamie Lee Curtis called “Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born” is quite popular. I don’t know much about the book, but I do know my kids love to hear their own versions. Since it was just four years ago today that I was entering my 24th hour of labor, tonight will be one of those nights. A chubby, round face will look up at me with big, hazel eyes and say “mommy, do you remember when I was born?” Of course, I do remember. As she is my second child, I think we were calmer for her turn to enter the world. My son had attempted three times to arrive early for his…

I despise cleaning my house. I think I hate it most because it is a never-ending task. I like things I can cross off my list. I need that moment of satisfaction, knowing I did something. It’s done. But with housework, it is never done. You can catch up laundry, but unless your family is having a naked day or is foregoing the use of towels or showers, you are already at least a load behind as soon as you are "done." I can’t keep bathrooms clean in this house either. Again, unless you quit using them, you’re stuck cleaning those at least every other week, minimally. The kitchen? Ha, that’s …

I do it every year. I say, since we now have a 3- and 6-year-old, we should really stay home. We should not travel over the holidays. We should be snuggled into our own beds, awaiting the arrival of the Big Man himself. But, every year, by the time December rolls around, I am inching up our visit home as much as I possibly can, usually involving us driving on Christmas Day itself, if not sooner. It is a tough call for a mom. When, exactly, are you old enough that you should be home creating your own family traditions and stop going “home” for the holidays? Or is there an age that should …

I think I feel behind schedule on most holidays. Somehow, even though it is clearly marked on the calendar, those dates seem to sneak up on me. I may, today, just about be ready for Halloween. Sadly, I supposed to have everything in order for this family to celebrate Christmas. Too bad I’m only two months behind, huh? Setting the 2011 schedule even further into a tailspin, I thought it would be an ideal time to have pneumonia, as well. Now, instead of finding myself in need of a few last-minute stocking stuffers, I feel like I’m running out of time altogether. My favorite way to shop is …

We do it once a year. It is kind of a tradition. Since the kids are not yet both in fulltime school, we figure it is rather needed, and while I dread it each December, it is a necessary evil. Yesterday, we did just that. Yes, it was time for the yearly children’s portrait session. Over the years, I have tried my damnedest to find alternative ways around this. But, with such a large extensive family, if I even think to show up at holiday gatherings without new photo prints for the entire group of relatives, I should probably just not bother coming at all. I have taken the kids to a …