Marisa Frymire 

Marisa Frymire is thrilled to be a stay-at-home mom to two wonderful young children. Besides playing on the floor and reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, you can find Marisa enjoying Sunday dinners with family, jogging around the neighborhood, taking pictures of her son and daughter, searching the internet for new recipes, and watching a favorite TV show with her husband, Nathan. Marisa has lived in Kansas City all her life, and thinks this really is one of the greatest cities to raise a family. She and her husband love living life together and making a home in Overland Park.

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• How To Handle All That Mess!?!

  published: 1/24/2012 7:00:00 AM

       Kids are cute. Their laughter is like none other. They are quite forgiving. They are easy when it comes to dinner mayhem (as in, nothing is for dinner, how 'bout a sandwich?). They find delight in the littlest of little - sunshine, rain, puddles, cookie dough, a cheese stick, homemade play-do, tickling and laughing. Really, kids remind us that there is joy ALL around us!
  But sometimes that "joy all around us" gets ...

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  by: Marisa Frymire

• Things You Should Never Do For Your Child

  published: 1/17/2012 7:00:00 AM

       As a mom of a preschooler on the brink of kindergarten just one year away, I feel myself already tightening my grip. I'm not ready to let her go; to experience failure and hurt feelings; to be exposed to a wide array of value systems that are not our own; to feel embarrassment or defeat when math homework seems to difficult; to have her struggle without the swooping help of Mom to save ...

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• Why Hosting Playgroups Is Helpful For Your Kids

  published: 1/10/2012 7:00:00 AM

       Now that the holidays have passed and your kids have most likely opened and played with all of their "new" toys, this is a wonderful time to host a playgroup! Of course, every day of the year is a great day for a playgroup at your house, but especially post-holiday, in my opinion. What's the reason?

       Speaking from my own experience watching my child play with other children, it is much ...

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• Experience Mom Joy, not Mom Guilt

  published: 1/3/2012 8:00:00 AM

       You can never really understand the tug of time with multiple kids until you have multiple kids. Seems like a pretty obvious statement, but WOW is it true!

       As a past preschool teacher with a classroom of 24 budding personalities, I felt that I handled those demands with great poise. Some kids have to wait. Sometimes not every child gets to do an art project that day. If not today, then ...

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• Returning Gifts with Success!

  published: 12/27/2011 3:23:51 PM

       While Christmas has officially come and gone, the aftermath of it all seems to be here to stay. Our family has been running solid for the last several days with holiday hoopla, and it's time to figure out what to do with all the "stuff" that has infiltrated our home. Gifts, clothes, boxes and piles greet us morning and night. It's time we put together a game plan!
  Sound familiar to you? Like ...

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• To-Enjoy Rather Than To-Do

  published: 12/20/2011 8:00:00 AM

  With Christmas being just right around the corner (literally) our minds are consumed with Christmas dinners to make, gifts that still need to be wrapped (and possibly bought), cleaning up the house so it's ready for guests, and remembering to charge the camera for Christmas Day. Coordinating schedules for everyone can feel exhausting, but let me encourage you to still make time for memories this season!
  
  

  Memories don't come easily. It demands that we put ...

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• Get Crafty About The Birth of Jesus!

  published: 12/13/2011 3:00:00 PM

       As we lit our 3rd candle in our advent wreath this past Sunday, the reality that Christmas is right around the corner could not be more evident. The extra traffic on the roads, long lines in stores, and presents under the tree (or at least in a pile in a room somewhere waiting to be wrapped) can easily crowd out the real reason for the holiday in the first place: celebrating and remembering ...

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• Surviving Separation Anxiety and Stranger Danger

  published: 11/29/2011 7:00:00 AM

       My son has always had a big smile from ear to ear plastered on his face. He's been the happy, smiley kid who would go easily to everyone who wanted to hold him....until these last couple of months. Recently he has changed his tune in a BIG way, letting everyone know that he wants no one else to hold him but Mommy. This has presented some challenges without a doubt, and it's leaving ...

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• Kids Helping Kids

  published: 11/22/2011 7:00:00 AM

       Step out your front door, and there's no doubt that the holiday season is upon us. It seems that every person in America is out shopping. Traffic seems to have increased no matter what time of the day it is, people seem a bit more rushed and already a lot less happy, and all anyone can talk about is buying, giving, and getting.

       This past weekend, we focused on the giving ...

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• Stepping Back to Step Out

  published: 11/15/2011 7:00:00 AM

       Being a stay-at-home Mom (SAHM) is what I've always wanted to do with my life. Of course I have other goals unrelated to children, but there is something special and sacred about having children and spending your days with them. Even when I was in high school, I can recall having the desire to be a SAHM. Climbing the ladder with my kids up into their swing set has always seemed more appealing ...

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• Where Do You Live?

  published: 11/8/2011 7:00:00 AM

       After having just moved to a new house a few months ago, I'm finally feeling settled into our new place. With 2 little ones, sometimes things just take longer (you know how that can go). My daughter is approaching 3 1/2 in just a couple months and continues to impress me with all that she knows and has a desire to learn. Something that will be very valuable to her to learn now ...

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• The Privilege of Being A Mom

  published: 11/1/2011 7:00:00 AM

       All my life I can remember having a consistent dream: to one day be a Mom. Sometimes I have to do a double-take when I look in the back seat and see two faces looking at me - two children God has entrusted to me and given me the joy and privilege to be their Mom. For all the dirty, messy moments of motherhood filled with diapers, spills, stains, late-nights, and early mornings, ...

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• Let Them Be Kids!

  published: 10/25/2011 8:00:00 AM

       The other day, after I put my one-year-old down for his nap, I wanted to seize the moment with my 3-year-old and work on some skills. It's no secret that more than one child in the family divides your time, and there has been some "mommy guilt" that has accompanied my thoughts lately. The guilt goes something like this: I feel guilty that my 3-year-old has to wait sometimes because I am changing ...

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• Breathe

  published: 10/18/2011 7:00:00 AM

       Sunday nights usually consist of my husband and two children heading to my parent's house for dinner...along with my brothers, sister-in-law, 1 year old nephew, my six cousins, one fiancee', aunt, and anyone else who might be hungry for dinner.

       It's a great tradition that has held strong in our Italian family, but I won't lie: adding kids to the mix makes it a whole different experience.

       I've decided ...

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• Playing Referee

  published: 10/10/2011 8:34:42 PM

       When we were pregnant with our second child, our daughter Ava couldn't wait to meet him. She is often times found around our house lovingly pushing her stroller around with her baby, Georgia. Georgia always has a bottle and a blanket, and Ava has Georgia "pretend cry" just so she can shush and comfort her back to peace.

       Our daughter has been head over heels over her brother since he's arrived ...

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  by: Marisa Frymire