Post by Jessica R.

On occasion I crack my eyes open early in the morning and I’m ready to roll out of bed and get the day going, but most often, I crack my eyes open and then shut them tight again. When you’ve been up three or more times during the night an extra five minutes of shut-eye are nothing to sneeze at.

This morning was one of those mornings. My husband got up at ten to seven and I figured I had a good twenty more minutes before I absolutely had to get up. I got good and cozy and shut my eyes. Next thing I knew it was twenty five minutes later and a little girl was saying rather loudly “Daddy! I go see mama? OK?”

I was still trying to figure out if I still had enough time to shower before my husband would be leaving for work when she scampered into our room, head a mass of crazy curly bedhead, massive grin and shining eyes lighting up her face. She made a beeline for the bed and started to clamber up the side. I took pity on her and reached out a hand for her to grab.

I was rewarded with a big sloppy kiss that still smelled faintly of the yogurt she had just had for breakfast.

“I snuggle with mama!” she said, lifting up the covers to slide herself beside me.

She settled herself with a sigh and I pulled her close to banish the cold she had just let in. She rested her head on the pillow while I took advantage of the moment to let my eyes slide shut again. I should have known better. There’s no such thing as sleeping in when your two-year-old wants to cuddle. She chattered about her morning while I nodded and every time I cracked open an eye to peer at her she’d beam at me and chirp a cheery “Good morning Mommy!” But when it comes to sleep I’m not easily deterred; I didn’t completely give up until she started to explore the inside of my ears with her little fingers.

“What’s inside dere Mommy?” She asked and I opened my eyes again and turned my attention to her. I’ll sleep when she’s in college. For now I have a little girl to enjoy.

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Gone are the days of white, stained burped clothes. Now your cloths can be as stylish as you are with simple designs from sites like Etsy and more.

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If you are a parent or you know a parent odds are you’ve heard the joke “kids don’t come with manuals” at least once, maybe even many times. Only it’s not really a joke. It’s the truth. There are no rules, no trouble-shooting guides, no quick fix solutions for dealing with children. All you get are you, what you’ve learned from books, TV, Internet, other parents, and your child.

Good luck.

OK. That’s not entirely true. There’s something else that can help you along your parenting journey. Your gut. Your instinct. Your intuition. Whatever you want to call that little voice inside your head that says “Hey, wait. Something’s not right here.”

We’re in the middle of trying to figure out where our oldest daughter is going to go to Kindergarten. We’ve found a school which on paper is picture perfect – great class size, neat education philosophy, lovely campus, great after school program. I should love it, but my gut hates the place.

My husband thought I was joking when I turned to him after we toured the school and I told him I wasn’t even considering it as an option for our daughter. There was just something off about the place. But I couldn’t articulate what I didn’t like about it, so we went ahead and put in an application. After all, on paper it’s the ideal school.

That was weeks ago and I still feel strongly that this isn’t the right school for our daughter. We’re almost all the way through the application process and I’m sure that she’ll get in, but with every interaction with someone at that school I feel more and more strongly that I don’t want her there.

Yesterday I finally gave in to my gut feeling and started doing some very last minute research for possible alternatives. I had been fighting a growing unease about the place and it didn’t go away until I remembered that the gut sometimes ’sees’ things the eyes miss.

A mother’s gut tells her when a fever is just a fever or when it’s something serious. A mother’s gut tells her if she should worry when the kids are being quiet. A mother’s gut tells her when something is not right. And a mother should always listen to that gut. No matter what everyone around her says.

I did and I feel better already.