PerryBuilt Family

The flu shot is something, as a mother of two, I debate about every year. However, I never remember getting the flu shot annually when I was a kid.  So has the flu gotten worse? Has the shot gotten better? Or, are the pharmaceutical companies distributing the shot playing off of our fears?  They even have the insurance companies offering free shots to limit medical expenses as a result of the virus. It is a very personal decision and I am not sure I have the answer. Nor do I criticize or condone the administration of it. I was pregnant with my second child when there was a big H1N1 scare a few years ago. I had to get through the peak of flu season right in my last trimester.  No one wants to put their child at risk or themselves when your body needs to be ready for labor.  And, boy did I get sick that second pregnancy. My daughter was in preschool and I worked there one day a week, so having us both involved there really increased our susceptibility. I was told aft...

I believe that socializing your child as early on as possible is the best gift you can give them. This means more than play dates and siblings. I chose to take my children to a co-op when they were only toddlers (before preschool age).  I don't know that most toddler parents know that this option exists.  My son started at 17 months. My daughter started at 24 months and most parents I feel don't look for preschools until their kids are closer to age 3.  This was great because it gave me parenting skills along with skills to manage interactions among other young children and strengthened my comfort level and confidence in being with other kids.  It gave my children the experience of what is acceptable play, encouraged independence and confidence in their abilities.  In short, they blossomed, or actually, we collectively blossomed. In this post, I am going to outline the expectations and rewards of being involved  in a co-op. It can be a little scary ...

We first started this harrowing process of buying a home  nestled in the Santa Cruz Mountains, over  a year ago.  Finally, with the wonderful help of our  realtor  and lender , w e found success two days after Christmas. What a wonderful gift.  Although, if you had asked me,  I wondered if we would ever close the deal. We  had been so close to closing before,  but  it had been  delayed  over and over again,  that I could  not believe it until the keys were placed in  my  hand! My husband was a champion at making all the hard decisions about sticking with it and not backing out, given all the disclosed problems that a house built in the forties would have. He is a gifted  contractor and has the knowledge to make these tough decisions, because he knows what the work is going to be like to fix them.  Not to mention, the house was bank owned and had been sitting vacant without any regular maint...