Category: Parenting

In the spirit of Big A turning three this month, I’d like to share some of the best toddler toys for autism we considered for his birthday. It’s not so much that a toddler diagnosed with autism can only have certain toys. Or that certain toys that will make symptoms

Growing up, one of my best friends lived down the street from me with her terribly abusive stepfather and mother. Susie (the mother) was outside, dragging one of her daughters by the arm down the street, throwing punches and screaming curses. My mother and I were on the porch swing

Jeez, when did back-to-school season become Pint-Sized Prom? All the supplies, accessories, new clothes and haircuts to procure. Frantically arranging one’s children in perfect formations for the perfect first-day-of-school photos. It’s stressful, amirite? And mine aren’t even in school yet! I get residual anxiety just seeing those cute pictures with

Little A is fast approaching his eighteenth month on this Earth. Which is crazy. It seems like he’s been a part of our family forever. The fourth Musketeer, always willing to go along with our hare-brained schemes with a smile. Little A remains a joy. He smiles and laughs and

We’ve been working for over a year (and counting) on teaching Big A to point to objects. Our two-year-old toddler is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and didn’t point in any situation: pictures in books, items of interest, or making choices. Now, after a year of hard work, he is

In my last article I wrote about the best parenting tip I’ve ever received. Catch up real quick and read it here. Nah? In a nutshell, the tip revolves around using non-reactive parenting techniques as tools for discipline and enforcing calm. Slightly controversial and unpopular opinion alert: this parenting advice

The best parenting advice I’ve ever received was delivered by one of my besties, Amanda. We’re both psychology nerds and love to talk about totally fun and not boring stuff like internalized vs. externalized anxiety and the role of perception. Somehow the subject turned to Big A (who was probably

April is Autism Awareness Month; in solidarity with my nonverbal autistic son, I will be going silent. No blog articles will be published in April here at Ish Mom. I will let the pictures I post speak for themselves, providing no captions, responding to no comments, commenting no where else

Happy birthday, little A! While Pinterest makes me yearn for a cupcake bar, with two toddlers we ain’t got the time or the budget for that. Read on to learn how we threw a cute first birthday party, serving good food to a large crowd, for less than $100. This

Tired of outrageously priced baby toys that will soon be broken and slobbery? Let’s “shop our house” for free baby toys! I’m a sucker for the infant and toddler toy that is brightly colored and marketed as educational. I positively shake if it promises to grow with the child through