Meredith Magee Donnelly's Page

Over the course of the 13 months of being a parent I have learned two very important lessons: 1) Parenting is the hardest, scariest job in the world. 2) Excluding the few monster moms flashed across Fox News (if it bleeds, it leads), most parents are doing their best so try not to be such a critic of others‘ parenting styles.



With these lessons in mind I was disheartened by a recent article in Parents magazine, Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Baby?, that centered on the theme “Get over… Continue

Back in my teaching days, whenever my kindergarten children were having a crummy day we always pulled out Viorst’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Through story and illustrations Viorst and Cruz perfectly portray the emotions felt on those days when nothing goes right. Yesterday was that day for me. So here it is, my own Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.



My kid woke up at 5am screaming and wouldn’t go back to bed.



I could… Continue

Board books were originally created with a specific purpose in mind. Unfortunately, in recent years this purpose has been lost and publishing companies are cashing in by printing books intended for older children into board book form. I find this incredibly frustrating.



So here is my plea: let’s refocus our attention on the original intentions of board books. Let’s start with what board books are not. Board books are not miniature versions of other children’s literature. Kevin… Continue

Looking at the list of ingredients on a box of Gerber Graduates Cereal Bars I was surprised to see high fructose corn syrup listed as one of the first ingredients in both the crust and the filling. On the back cover of Nutrition Action Healthletter, one of my favorite sources for nutritional information, there is a section called “Food Porn” which highlights some of the worst foods you can eat. If I was to create a list entitled “Baby Food Porn” Gerber Graduates Cereal Bars would be high on my… Continue