In Case You Missed Them…Top Posts of 2016

Picking one's favorite post is never an easy task. Thankfully, posts aren't kids and no post is going to nurse a wounded ego should I not choose it for whatever reason. Then again, living with a toddler and an infant where your day is often spent in make believe conversations with talking cars, animals, and toys, I wouldn't

Multicultural Celebrations – Hanukkah and Christmas

I am prone to many anxious moments when time is of the essence and everything needs to get done just right. This is particularly the case during the holidays. I want everything to go well. As a multiracial, multicultural family, at every bend, starting October, there is a celebration a.k.a stressor, just waiting to get

In Disappointments, We See New Lessons

We are bursting at the seams. Cliché, yes. My reality, absolutely yes. A developed world/privileged life problem? Couldn't be truer. When Aaron and I first started living together, we rented a 2 bdr/2bath with a glorious view of Chicago's brilliant Lake Michigan. We watched fireworks from our balcony and living room from Memorial Day until Labor

ThePhdMama Logo

I have been thinking about a brand image for this blog for a while. I wanted it to represent the title, both, the PhD part as well as the Mama part. After a few weeks of trying different variations of designs, I finally created one with which I am content. I hope you like it. I am not

New Year. New Challenges. New Hopes.

After the balloons have descended, the ball dropped, the confetti cleaned up, and the champagne popped, what remains is just another year - A year that is ours to make what we can of it. 2017 is a year of promise. This year, my little boy turns 3 years old and my baby girl turns

My Favorite Moments of 2016

People love to reflect on the events of the year around this time. Somehow, being a little introspective while trying to connect the dots of how things worked out or didn't, in the otherwise mundane living of our dailies, seems to make the passing of a year, that much more significant. I have had a good

Baby Milestone: Sleeping Through the Night. Not Yet.

1:17 a.m. I open my eyes and turn around to check the time. Silence. The house is quiet and dark. I especially try to listen to any kind of sound coming from my daughter's room or, what used to be the parents' bedroom. Nothing. I check her video feed. She is asleep. I fall back asleep.

Just Me and My Son – Part II

Read Part I here. We held hands. He reached his hand out and said, "Hold hand, Mommy", he said with all his earnestness. It always pleases me when my little boy asks to hold my hand. I will always hold his hand just like I will always pick him up for as long as I

Just Me and My Son – Part 1

My headline reads like the title of a Little Critter book, doesn't it? On Monday last week, TJ and I got to spend some time together. Just us. Mother and son. Like we used to before Baby E was born. It was the last session of Music Together (MT) for this quarter. Upon my request,

Book Review: The Girl Who Saved Christmas

Imagine, if you will, that you are sitting in a comfy chair by a glowing fireplace, covered in a cozy blanket, and reading a Christmas story to a child perched lovingly on your lap. This is the story you want to be reading to them in that imagination.  The story begins on Christmas Eve when

The Affluence of Toys. Recycle. Reuse. Reduce

What is it about being a parent that makes us such suckers for toys for our kids? We know our kids have a lot of, no scratch that, a LOT of toys. I know, my kids, or at least my toddler, and therefore, by association, my baby, both, have a TON of toys. This is another

The Fragility of Lives

A few days ago, a former classmate of my husband's, died in a car accident along with one of his daughters, having fallen victim to a drunk driver. He leaves behind a wife and two daughters. This news upset both Aaron and me. It is terrible to know that the life of a little girl was