Toddlers n' Tattoos: A little about me, my blog, and why I'm here...

        I have been debating on starting a blog for awhile now and so I have finally decided to give it a try! It still needs some work so bear with me. I want this to be an "all things attachment parenting" blog. I will be posting things concerning gentle parenting - including my shortcomings (there are many) because no one is perfect and I think we all need reminded of that occasionally. And lets face it - this parenting thing is a trial and error process...we live, we learn, and we do better next time! One part of AP I am particularly found of is babywearing and so I plan to post many things related to babywearing as well as my own personal reviews - in fact, my next post will be a review of the Manduca soft structure carrier and stretchy wrap so stay tuned for that!

       I think that covers what the content of this blog will be - now onto who I am! First up, the blog name: Toddlers n' Tattoos...it may change, I'm not sure yet. I wanted a name that reflects the content of the blog but also who I am as a person. I am in many parenting groups and I see a recurring element that saddens me - stereotypes. I see the stereotype that if you are tattooed, have weird hair, wear clothes other than "mom" clothes, etc. you couldn't possibly be a good parent - let alone a gentle parent. As many of you may already know this is completely absurd. I aim to help break this stereotype and I wanted the blog name to reflect that. If you have any ideas for a different name please let me know! I welcome opinions!

      Onto me personally; I grew up a country girl, helping out on my grandparents farm and helping my Pap repair anything that needed repair. I spent most of my life outdoors climbing, riding bikes, skateboards, scooters and a couple times a mountain board that sent me to the ER. I was a complete tomboy and wouldn't change that for anything. I played trumpet in the band and some of my fondest memories - as well as where I met my husband - are from marching band. It is also where I fell in love with the technical aspect of things...I found that, while I loved playing in the band, what I really loved was being backstage and helping with all of the technical aspects - especially lighting. With the help of an awesome teacher/mentor Mr. Jeremy Buhite I realized I wanted to go to school for Technical Theatre. In college I met some of the most amazing people and professors who helped me every step of the way and forged some great friendships with fellow techs and actors. I found I loved set design and painting and I focused on that throughout college. I've always had a passion for woodworking and I spent many hours in the scene shop building sets for the upcoming shows. I won an award for one of my scenic designs and I had the amazing opportunity of going to the Kennedy Center in DC to study with the very talented Skip Mercer for a week. I graduated Summa Cum Laude which brings me to my post-college self...

      My daughter Alaina was born towards the end of my senior year in college and the three of us lived in a tiny little one bedroom second floor apartment right across from campus. In the fall my then-fiance took a job back home and we moved to where we live currently...still a small apartment. We were married on St. Patrick's Day the following year, a week before our daughter turned one. Two years later we welcomed our son Liam to the family. My husband is a wonderful musician who's main love is piano and so my family is blessed with the presence of music every day of our lives. Because I still needed a creative outlet I started a small "business" - more like a hobby - doing custom painting and sewing...I paint mainly gDiapers and baby shirts and sew baby toys/teethers/lovies/blankets - whatever I am in the mood to do at the time! You can actually check me out on Facebook if you want - Paint Spatter Designs is my shop name. As you may have guessed we feel very strongly for the arts in our home and believe it is a vital part of education. As much as I love the theatre and want to be apart of that again I can't imagine not being home with my kids. I love watching them learn new things everyday and I can't imagine missing any moment of it - even on the most challenging parenting days. I try to live naturally - I like to make a lot of our household products and I keep adding to the list of store bought things I want to replace with natural safe alternatives. I believe in gentle parenting and teaching children through love and empathy and I do my best to lead them by example. We are a bed-sharing, breast feeding, baby wearing, anti-vax, anti-circ, try-to-be-green family and love it!

     Thank you for stopping by! And stay tuned for my review of the Manduca soft structured carrier as well as their stretchy wrap!