The Hardest Month of My Life

by Mandi on January 25, 2012

idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura

source: Mandi Ehman

I’ve been blogging in this space — first Organizing Your Way and then Life…Your Way — for over three years now, and there are some great posts in the archives that don’t get much attention anymore. This week, I’ll be sharing some of my favorites. Whether you’ve been around since the beginning or are a new reader, I think you’ll enjoy them!

December of 2008 was one of the hardest months of my life. The end of the month found me curled up on the couch on Christmas day, emotionally and physically exhausted in the wake of three weeks of the stomach flu (including an ER trip for Sean), the death of a family friend and then Sean’s grandmother, my third miscarriage and this crazy scary experience with our third daughter.

Reading these words I wrote just after she was diagnosed with ITP  brings all of the emotions I experienced flooding back, and I’m sure I will carry those with me for the rest of my life!

Yesterday morning, we spent several hours at Children’s Hospital in D.C. after what has been a stressful and scary 48 hours or so before that.

Let me start at the beginning.

Last Wednesday, Sweet Doodle (15 months old) conked her cheekbone on the picnic table bench in our kitchen. As you can imagine, she got a pretty good shiner, but I thought that was the extent of it.

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Listen, Learn and Love

January 23, 2012
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The following post is from Amanda of OhAmanda.com and Impress Your Kids: We start the New Year late around here. My daughter’s birthday is the 5th of January; so, with her birthday party sometime that first week or second weekend, I’m usually just sticking my head out of “the holidays” in the middle of January! [...]

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Valentine’s Day Treat Bag Toppers for Kids

January 18, 2012
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The following post is from Jason & Jennifer Bruce of New Season Design: Looking for a quick and easy Valentine’s Day treats for the classroom or neighborhood friends? Simply fill a sandwich or snack size bag with colorful candies, print and cut out the treat bag toppers below, fold them in half and staple them to [...]

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Staying in Touch Through Technology

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Nine months after we got married, Sean and I sold our condo and drove to Utah — where we knew no one — and bought a house. We found a church and jobs and started to make friends, but we’d left behind all of our family and the friends we’d grown up with. Neither of [...]

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Upcoming Webinar: Is Time Out a Waste of Time?

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A couple of months ago, I partnered with Amy McCready, founder of Positive Parenting Solutions, to offer a Get Kids to Listen Without Nagging, Reminding or Yelling webinar to Life…Your Way readers. We had an amazing time at our two sessions, and I think we all walked away with some very concrete tools to use [...]

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I’m a Perfect Mom…In My Head

January 12, 2012
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Do you ever feel like you’d be the perfect mother, if only you didn’t have kids? In my head, I feed the kids healthy meals and snacks without fail. They’re colorful, balanced and so delicious that no one turns up their nose at what I serve. In my head, I never yell or get frustrated, [...]

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Be A Great Mom in 2012: A Step by Step Guide

January 11, 2012
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The following post is from Kat of Inspired To Action: When I had my first daughter, I had the misconceived notion that all motherhood comes naturally. As if, a great shaft of light would shine down from the heavens and all the motherly wisdom of the ages would be bestowed upon me. Either I was [...]

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Daily Quiet Times for Kids: The Why & How

January 9, 2012
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Of all if our daily routines, the two most important are undoubtedly our evening clean up and our daily quiet time. As a work-at-home mom since our oldest was born, daily quiet times started out as a necessity so that I could have a block of time to work (almost) uninterrupted. Even today, though, with [...]

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The Busy Mom’s Guide to Finding Time to Read

January 6, 2012
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One of the most common questions that friends and readers alike ask me is, “How do you find time to read so much?” Despite the fact that I work full-time and homeschool our girls, I still read 8-10 books per month. It sounds like a lot — and I think it’s important that you remember [...]

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