heart to heart blog

Drum roll please… aaand here are our November Nod winners!:

Lindsay Lebresco - Philly Moms Blog – A New Perspective on Giving Thanks
Sometimes all we need is a little perspective for us to remember how good we have it. What better time to acknowledge all of that than Thanksgiving? Thanks for the reminder, Melissa.

Jon DeHart - Notes from the Trenches – Fourteen
In this post, Chris writes a letter to her 14 year old son. This hit particularly close to home for me as my son turns 14 at the end of November. When she says “fourteen years ago I had no idea what I was in for,” I can relate. I know I certainly didn’t. As my boy grew, so did I. She too, as her words indicate: “had no idea how much I would change. How much you would change me.” I felt it was a particularly poignant post.

Amy Trice - Mommy Lounge – Toys, Smoys, …and a new vacuum?!
I look forward to the day when Slick is able to create his own wish list for Santa. At the same time, I dread the day when that list includes the hot, new must-have-can’t-find toy. Just like Kalisha’s girls, Slick loves dirt. If Santa brought him a bag of dirt, he would be a very happy boy. If he received rocks and dead bugs with that bag of dirt, he would be busy for hours. However, it would be difficult to explain to our family why Slick has a bag of dirt, dead bugs and rocks under the tree. So, I guess I better get Slick’s wish list of toys and clothes ready to be mailed to the North Pole.

Erin McHugh - The Poop – “Are you turning into your parents?”
I chose this post because I am, in fact, my mother. (whether or not I am turning into her really isn’t even up for discussion) I’m not disappointed about this inevitable evolution because I think the world of my mom. Its just so funny- we are constantly saying the exact same thing at the same time, we have to call each before going to dinner or shopping because if we don’t speak beforehand chances are we will end up wearing the almost same outfit, we think the same way, we enjoy the same things and of course we both think the world of each other. If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would openly admit to being exactly like my mom I would have laughed and called you a liar, but the truth is I wouldn’t want to be like anybody else!

Melissa Parlaman - Silicon Valley Moms Blog – The Thanksgiving Turk-Off
When I read this post, I immediately thought of Kim Lefko! This post talks about some fun competition with your hubby to see who can make the best turkey (you will never see me competing with my husband, he would win hands down). Then, they have their family members judge to see who really did make the best turkey (Kim, don’t get any ideas…I think things could get rough in your house!).

Karen Hartzell - Total Mom Haircut – Blogher Scarred my Child (but really it was me)
I was glad to see a post about the same type of situation I was in the middle of trying to handle. It was also nice to see other parents input [in the comments] on how to ease the fears of their children relating to separation and the resulting anxiety. I hope to be better prepared next time we need to leave Baby with family members overnight.

Melissa Landis – Philly Moms Blog – My Wish for Grateful Children
I was struck by Mel’s personal insight and her honesty in being an “enabler.” I hope that I can learn from her experiences when my little ones are at that age.