Kristy Pepping

Yes, I am letting my 11-year-old daughter wear makeup to school Let me rewind and start from the beginning. My daughter is entering sixth grade, and a lot has changed from the second half of fifth grade to today. She used to wear dresses every day to school, and now she is sporting jean shorts and t-shirts. While she still plays with dolls, she is also getting into more junior high-type activities, like bracelet making and texting with her friends. Over the summer, she approached me about anot

I was at the bus stop waiting for my three elementary school kids to come strolling off the bus. While waiting, I was scrolling aimlessly through my Facebook feed. I suddenly stopped on a post with a comment about working from home, where the mom was lamenting that her family didn’t understand her working remotely, and didn’t think she needed a babysitter for her kids during her work hours if she was at home. As a parent who works from home, this really struck a chord with me. I have received s

Have you seen that commercial for State Farm Insurance about life before children and after children? If not, check out the commercial here. Basically it talks about life before kids and lists things like, I'll never move to the suburbs, I'll never get a minivan and I'll never have a second child. Then, the couple have children and the things they thought they would never do, they do. This got me thinking about what type of parent I thought I would be and what type of parent I am now. Here is my list of, "I'm not going to do x, when I'm a parent before and after having kids:

In a recent Parenting.com article, "Is It OK for Parents to Sell Girl Scout Cookies for Their Kids?" writer Hollee Actman Becker asked readers to give their opinion on parents doing the cookie selling for their daughters.

My husband and I often turn to each other and ask, "do families with all boys deal with this?" We have three girls and we are a household of high emotion, large quantities of toilet paper and several baths in one weekend because well, baths are more fun than toys.

I’ve seen so many stories lately about how to overcome, how to limit and how not to feel guilty. The bottom line is, if you’re a parent, you probably feel guilty on a daily basis and that’s just a normal symptom of parenting.

When I wanted to try for a baby I was super excited. I thought just toss out the birth control pills and next month I'd be pregnant. Almost two years later, after getting off birth control, I was pregnant. Like so many others, it wasn't that easy for me to get pregnant and it took going to an infertility doctor and trying several rounds of Clomid, IUIs and injectables before achieving my baby goal.

Let's face it, many of us focus on how "not to get pregnant" and when you are actually, "trying" to get pregnant, you think it will come easily and the process will be seamless. No matter what anyone tells you, when you are pregnant for the first time, it's like nothing else you have experienced. Here are a 10 tips I wish I heard before I actually became pregnant:

Part of my job was to do research so when I found out I was pregnant for the first time, I went into overdrive. I read every parenting book I could find, did research online and even made my husband read a book written for expecting fathers. When I came home for the hospital with my baby, I felt the preparations I had made went out the door and I was thrown into survival mode. Here are the things I learned after having a first baby that made me more comfortable with our number two and three:

Having a new baby, especially the first, you receive a lot of gifts. After going through the process of a new baby, there are gifts you wish people would have bought and some gifts people did buy, that you were so glad they did. Here is a list of the top 10 best gifts you can give new parents:

You know those calls you get late at night after you’ve had a long day of work or when you finally have a moment to yourself? You reluctantly pick up the phone even though you know what is waiting for you on the other end. Someone persistently asking you over and over again if you want something and every time you say no, you are met with asking you again if you want the service the person is selling? ,

I currently have an 8-year-old daughter who is going through some behavioral changes. She is a second-grader who is starting to exert her authority, question adult comments and ignore adults when asked to do something. On the positive side, she is taking more responsibility for herself and others around her. Sounds like pre-teen behavior to me, but she is not.

It was three years ago around this time that my youngest daughter, then a little over three months old, came down with a common head cold. Since she was my third child, I thought nothing of the runny nose and congestion. At her age, as you know, there is really little you can do for the common cold other than suction their nose, use a humidifier or give your baby infant Tylenol if they are running a fever.

There has been a lot of talk lately about different ways to parent your children. Each way of parenting has been assigned a name. Here are the most popular styles with an example of each one:

There has been a lot of debating over the years about breastfeeding versus formula feeding. Each side lists their reasons for choosing the option they did. Talking to several first-time mothers about their experience with breast feeding, it was rarely what they thought it was going to be and several young mothers gave up because it was too hard in the beginning especially being sleep deprived. I was about to give up as well until I discovered a third option, exclusively pumping and then bottle feeding my children.

Soon the kids will be on summer break and off their normal routines. Even though summer is a time to unwind, put away the backpacks and enjoy the nice weather, it's also better to keep yourself and kids on a schedule. How do you maintain a routine, but also enjoy the break? Here are some helpful tips:

I was recently out to dinner with some of my friends without our children. As much as we try not to bring up kids during these dinners, some how the conversation always turns to kids.

Are you traveling soon with your children either for spring break or planning a summer vacation? Often times close quarters on airplanes and squirmy children, don't go hand in hand. Here are some helpful tips for traveling with babies, toddlers and older children through the airport and on the plane:

Whether you have a child in a toddler program or one in pre-K, there are several ways you can help your child prepare for kindergarten. We have recently had two children go through three years of pre-school and felt neither one of them were fully prepared for elementary school. Here are some helpful tips to prepare your child now so they won't be playing catch-up once in their kindergarten classroom:

You're pregnant and now a friend or relative wants to throw you a baby shower, but what do you register for? There are so many baby products out there and different variations of each product that it can be a bit overwhelming. I strongly recommend bringing a friend with you to help in the registering process. Make sure you pick someone with a similar personality to yours. With that said, what you think will work for you when you are pregnant versus what actually works for you once the baby arrives, may be two different products. And, what works best for another parent may not be what works best for you. Here is my list of baby items to register for, but keep the receipts in case you need to exchange them for products that better suit your baby needs: