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Home » Parenting » Mama Knows Best: for Mothers from Mothers [MaryAnne from Mama Smiles]

Mama Knows Best: for Mothers from Mothers [MaryAnne from Mama Smiles]

By Krissy of B-Inspired Mama 2 Comments

Disclosure: This site contains affiliate links; as an affiliate and Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my full disclosure policy for more information.

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Mama Knows Best ButtonOne thing I’ve learned from the popular From the Mouths of Moms parenting tips series is that every mom, child, and family is different.  And each mom assesses their own unique experiences, values, and circumstances to make the best parenting decisions possible for their own child and family.  Each mother knows best and tries to do her best for her child. 

So why not share and learn from one another; moms helping moms.  Every Tuesday, I spotlight one mama and her “best” tips for mothers on parenting advice, resources, and products.  This week I’m thrilled to introduce you to a wonderful blogger and even better mama: MaryAnne from Mama Smiles.

Mama Knows Best

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MaryAnne from Mama Smiles

Best Pregnancy or Birth Advice
Relax, and take things as they come. I have four kids, and each pregnancy and birth has been very unique. 

Best Parenting Website
BabyCenter is probably the parenting website I visit most frequently, and the UK version was my go-to reference when I was pregnant with my first baby (living in Scotland).

Best Blog for Moms
I adore blissful-e’s focus on the beauty of everyday life and gentle parenting.

Best Baby Product
I’m passionate about high-quality baby gear that makes it easier to be out and about with a baby. If I had to choose a single item, it would have to be my ergo baby carrier.

Best Parenting Advice
Read the research, talk to friends and family, and then do what feels right for you and your family.

Best Parenting Book
I don’t have a favorite – I read several every year, take what I like from each one, and set the rest aside.

Best Children’s Book
Press Here by Herve Tullet. My kids love it, and it was by far the favorite of the books I read to my son’s preschool class last year!

Best Kids’ Toy
A backyard. And, for rainy days, paper, tape, and scissors. But LEGO DUPLO bricks are one commercial toy I’m willing to pay for, especially if I can find them secondhand at yard sales!
And never underestimate the entertainment potential of a simple cardboard box!

Best Kids’ Game
I’ve never seen my kids turn down a game of hide and seek!

Best Kids’ Craft
My kids always get excited about seasonal crafts – leaf rubbings in the fall, icicle “painting” in the winter, fairy villages in the spring, and sun-upcycled crayons in the summer! Inside, they love experimenting with no-mess color mixing, making temporary wall art, and drawing for hours on end.

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Best Outdoor Play Idea
Get outside and follow the kids’ lead! Last week it was warm and raining, and the kids put on their swimsuits and had a wonderful time dancing and drawing in the rain!

Best Way to Stay Organized
Don’t own too much stuff, and standardize storage options. Most of the kids’ toys are stored in clear shoebox-size containers. They can see what is in each container, and when it’s time to clean up they just grab the closest bin.

Best Way to Keep a Happy Relationship or Marriage
Make time to talk and hang out together. We try to fit several mini-dates into each week, in the evenings after the kids are in bed.

Best Family Outing or Vacation
Geocaching is always a hit – the kids don’t seem to care if we find a cache; they just enjoy the adventure of looking for one!

Best Kid-Friendly Restaurant
I love Chipotle’s laid-back atmosphere and healthy menu options!


Best Family Meal or Recipe
My kids always enjoy making pizza from scratch.

Best Behavior Management or Discipline Tip
Unless life or limb is in danger, WAIT before acting! Often the problem resolves itself, and if it doesn’t I find the extra thinking time to be very helpful.

mama smiles parenting advice

Best Way to Spend a Mommy Moment
Right now, it would be napping. But when I’m less sleep-deprived I have a several hobbies I enjoy – sewing, crochet, playing piano, and singing all rank high on the list.

MaryAnne is the Boston suburb-dwelling mother of young, playful, curious, craft-loving children. She is passionate about parenting, hands-on learning, good children’s literature, and encouraging and building childhood creativity.  She has a PhD in Medicine, a Masters degree in Education, and a BA in Music. She now uses all three degrees on a daily basis (albeit in somewhat unusual ways) as the stay-at-home mother of four sweet children. 

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Do you have any clever parenting tips or fun kids’ activities?  I’d love to share them with my readers by having you guest post.  Just contact me for more information!

If you like this, get lots more by signing up for B-Inspired Mama’s Newsletter. And follow B-Inspired Mama on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest!

I love to link up with: Thrift Share Monday, Made by Little Hands Monday, Learning Laboratory Monday, Tasty Tuesdays, Tip Toe Through Tuesday, Tuesday Tots, Tip Me Tuesday, Get Your Craft on Tuesday, Made by Me Wednesday, Sugar & Spice Wednesday, Kids Get Crafty Wednesday, The Mommy Club Wednesdays, Happy Lil Hearts Are Baking, It’s Playtime Thursday, What Are Little Boys Made of Thursday, The Weekly Kids Co-op, Read Explore Learn Friday, For the Kids Friday, Kitchen Fun and Craft Friday, Show & Share Saturday, and Link & Learn Sunday.

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Filed Under: Parenting

About Krissy of B-Inspired Mama

Former M.Ed Art Teacher. Current Blogger & Social Media Influencer. Always Crazy & Creative Mama of 3.

Previous Post: « Fun Lunch Foods [Kids Co-Op]
Next Post: Children and Autism [Chicken Boy Book Review & Giveaway] »

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  1. Christy says

    September 6, 2012 at 12:51 AM

    I LOVE that behavior or discipline tip! I have three kiddos under the age of 9 and I live by it. 🙂 Thanks so much for linking up to tip-toe thru tuesday. We hope to see you next week.

    Reply

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Mama Knows Best: Tips for Mothers from Mothers [Chrissy from The Outlaw Mom]

By Krissy of B-Inspired Mama 4 Comments

Disclosure: This site contains affiliate links; as an affiliate and Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my full disclosure policy for more information.

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Mama Knows Best ButtonOne thing I’ve learned from the popular From the Mouths of Moms parenting tips series is that every mom, child, and family is different.  And each mom assesses their own unique experiences, values, and circumstances to make the best parenting decisions possible for their own child and family.  Each mother knows best and tries to do her best for her child. 

So why not share and learn from one another; moms helping moms.  Every Tuesday, I will spotlight one mama and her “best” tips for mothers on parenting advice, resources, and products.  This week I’m thrilled to introduce you to one of my favorite mama bloggers, Chrissy from The Outlaw Mom…

Mama Knows Best

Chrissy from The Outlaw Mom

Mama Knows Best with Chrissy from The Outlaw Mom

Best Pregnancy or Birth Advice
Don’t expect that your birth will go according to your birth plan, what parenting books say will happen, or what your friends or mother or sisters tell you will happen. Every birth is different, even between each of your own children. I had a traumatic experience the first time around and we were all singing along to the movie “Grease” the second time!

Best Parenting Website
I tend to catch the headlines from all the big parenting websites, but what I love reading the most is blogs written by moms who are either coping with the same things I’m dealing with or making light of their situations and finding the positive in parenting trials and tribulations.

Best Blog for Moms
I love the humor of Parenting Illustrated With Crappy Pictures, but when I first started reading blogs, The Meanest Mom was the one I checked the most. She hasn’t updated her blog in a while, but scrolling through her archives is worth it. She’s funny, without being crude, and manages to make everyday parenting seem hilarious.

Best Baby Product
An infant tub was an absolute must for us. Babies are slippery little suckers and the tub is so helpful especially when they can’t hold their necks up yet. They’re inexpensive and definitely not a waste of money. Our diaper pail on the other hand …


Mama Knows Best Outlaw Mom Parenting Quote 2

Best Parenting Advice
Do what’s best for you and your family, not what’s trending now or what someone else tells you you should be doing. Even your pediatrician or books written by medical professionals or so-called parenting gurus. They don’t know you or your baby, so there’s no way they can possibly know what would work for you. At least not every time.

Best Parenting Book
I actually haven’t read a parenting book yet. (My kids are still alive and happy, so I think it’s okay!)

Best Children’s Book
Old school: definitely Richard Scarry’s Best Storybook Ever. New school: The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson (get the board book if you can).

Best Kids’ Toy
Plain and simple plastic stacking and nesting cups have provided endless hours of entertainment for both my kids – and still do. As they’ve gotten older, LEGO Duplo and Magna-Tiles are at the top of the list.

Best Kids’ Game
My kids love building their own fort out of sofa cushions. Sometimes the cushions turn into islands and they’re escaping hungry sharks as they hop from pillow to pillow on the ground.

Best Kids’ Craft
Anytime my kids get their hands on a toilet paper or paper towel roll tube, they see an instant telescope or pair of binoculars. Sometimes we dress them up like we did here, but we tend to just use the plain ones more. They also make great finger puppets!

Best Outdoor Play Idea
Water Painting is the all-time favorite hit at our house. Any water play gets the kids excited any day.

Best Way to Stay Organized
I constantly struggle with keeping everything organized. We recently re-organized all of our art and craft supplies into open buckets and bins so the kids could access everything easily and also know where to put everything away. For toys, we’ve started using clear drawer bins with picture labels for the same reason. It was time-consuming to set up, but worth it now!

Best Way to Keep a Happy Relationship or Marriage
Try to talk to each other or spend at least a few minutes a day just the two of you. I say a few minutes instead of an evening or afternoon because I find that even a two hour date night is impossible with two busy parents and a toddler and preschooler in the house.

Best Family Outing or Vacation
The beach! It’s free, it’s fun, and it’s just the ultimate outing in my book. The kids never want to leave and once they’re home, everyone’s glowing from the ocean air and running around. (And they go to bed in two seconds flat with no arguments).

Best Kid-Friendly Restaurant
There’s a cool new play cafe called Bumble in our neck of the woods where the kids have tableside access to awesome toys and books, or you can check them into the play room while you enjoy a quiet meal sans kiddos.

Best Family Meal or Recipe
It’s no secret that I’m not the cook in the family. My husband makes lovely Crepes with extra protein that the kids gobble up every weekend. You can stuff them with fruit, veggies, meat, or eggs and eat them for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. They’re perfect for my picky eater.

Mama Knows Best Outlaw Mom Parenting Quote

Best Behavior Management or Discipline Tip
Treat your child like an adult, meaning respect her feelings and her level of intelligence instead of giving her commands on the assumption that she doesn’t understand what she should be doing or isn’t capable of it. A little patience in explaining the reasons behind why you are asking her to be quiet or brush her teeth goes a long way in establishing a good relationship between parent and child.

Best Way to Spend a Mommy Moment
Taking a nap!

Chrissy is a lawyer mom who recently experimented with the stay-at-home life since July of last year and is back in the part-time work/part-time mom rodeo.  She’s been in the law game for over ten years and joined the ranks of Motherhood 3.25 years ago.  Not one to wait around for those good things that come in small packages, She had her two babies, Jane and Sam more or less back to back.  On any given day, you can find her “Discovering the Laws of Motherhood … and Breaking Them.”

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If you like this, get lots more by signing up for B-Inspired Mama’s Newsletter. And follow B-Inspired Mama on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest!

I love to link up with: Thrift Share Monday, Made by Little Hands Monday, Learning Laboratory Monday, Tasty Tuesdays, Tip Toe Through Tuesday, Tuesday Tots, Tip Me Tuesday, Get Your Craft on Tuesday, Made by Me Wednesday, Sugar & Spice Wednesday, Kids Get Crafty Wednesday, The Mommy Club Wednesdays, Happy Lil Hearts Are Baking, It’s Playtime Thursday, What Are Little Boys Made of Thursday, The Weekly Kids Co-op, Read Explore Learn Friday, For the Kids Friday, Kitchen Fun and Craft Friday, Show & Share Saturday, and Link & Learn Sunday.

Sharing is caring!

5.3K shares
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Filed Under: Parenting

About Krissy of B-Inspired Mama

Former M.Ed Art Teacher. Current Blogger & Social Media Influencer. Always Crazy & Creative Mama of 3.

Previous Post: « Make Reading Fun with Reading Kingdom
Next Post: 20 Memory Keeping Ideas [From the Mouths of Moms] »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. andie jaye says

    August 23, 2012 at 4:20 PM

    this is such a cute series! i find it so interesting to get different mama's takes on parenting. excited for my turn! thanks for linking this up!

    Reply
    • Krissy Sherman Bonning says

      August 23, 2012 at 6:52 PM

      Can't wait for your turn, too, Andie!

      Reply
  2. Chrissy says

    August 21, 2012 at 7:30 PM

    Thanks for including me in this wonderful series, Krissy. It's been great to have been getting advice and a sneak peek into other mom's lives and parenting, so I'm honored to share here, too!

    Reply
    • Krissy Sherman Bonning says

      August 22, 2012 at 12:50 PM

      Oh – I'm so glad to have you here. What wonderful advice you've shared!

      Reply

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