Marisa Frymire 

Marisa Frymire is thrilled to be a stay-at-home mom to a beautiful, active young daughter. 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 daughter, searching the internet for new recipes, and watching Lost on Wednesday nights 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 with their precious daughter.

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• Learning Contentment

  published: 8/31/2010 8:00:00 AM

  As of today, I am still pregnant and waiting to meet our 2nd child and first son. Our doctor thought last Monday that he would probably make his appearance this past weekend. So we cleaned the house, did the laundry, double checked the hospital bag, and really tried to make sure we were “ready” (really, can you ever be “ready”?).  And here it is, Tuesday of next week, and he is still nice and snug ...

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• Creating Successful Drop-Offs

  published: 8/24/2010 7:00:00 AM

  Depending on the age of your children, either you are in the stage where dropping them off can be a challenge, or you have successfully made it through and are glad to see those days behind you! Knowing the right things to do to make a drop-off (whether at grandma’s house, daycare, or a friend) a success is only half the battle; actually choosing to do those things and not be swayed by your emotion ...

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• Different Anxieties

  published: 8/17/2010 8:00:00 AM

  My husband and I are just 3 short weeks (really, maybe a little sooner than that) away from the birth of our second child. My doctor is anticipating end of August/first of September for this little guy to make his debut, so we are in serious "nesting and get as organized as you can" mode.

  We were talking this past weekend about what we were anxious about. As a stay-at-home mom who is fairly type ...

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• Parenthood Connects Us

  published: 8/10/2010 8:00:00 AM

  Parenthood. It's one of the most challenging, humbling, and absolutely rewarding journeys to travel through. And one beauty of parenthood is realizing that you're not alone.

  My husband and I were out at The Legends this past weekend to catch the Wizards soccer game. As we were walking around the shops, we saw a mom carrying a squirmy, hot toddler, who was clearly unhappy with something. Mom was red in the face and hot and ...

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• How Many Children Should You Have?

  published: 8/3/2010 7:00:00 AM

       With nearly 1 month left to go until our second child arrives, we are busy preparing for life with two. Getting his room ready, talking to the soon-to-be big sister (who just turned 2) about what all this means for her, discussing how our lives and marriage will be affected with the addition of another one, dreaming big, etc. My mother recently read an article in TIME Magazine entitled, The Only Child: Debunking the ...

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• Adapting To The Unexpected

  published: 7/27/2010 7:13:09 AM

  It should go without saying that parenting is anything but predictable. Since I'm in the stage of having young children, I can really only speak from that vantage point. From routines to likes and dislikes, our kids are constantly evolving, and our challenge is to keep up with that and not lose our minds in the process.

  My daughter has always been a great night-time sleeper. Napper, not so much, but nighttime, excellent. Minimal if ...

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• The Value of an Allowance

  published: 7/20/2010 7:00:00 AM

  Recently I was talking with a mom of 4 about how she and her husband were teaching their children the value of money. She had commented that her kids were fairly "money savvy", and I wondered what they did to foster that. Among simply talking to them about money (which still can be vague), each child received an allowance contingent upon chores, behavior, etc for the week. They were given one quarter per age (5 years ...

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• The New Kansas Texting Law

  published: 7/6/2010 7:00:00 AM

  Have you heard about the new Senate Bill 300 that Governor Parkinson signed into law? The new law "prohibits the reading, writing and sending of Text messages while driving," and teen drivers in Kansas will be required to wear protective equipment while operating a motorcycle. This blog post is focusing on the first part of the law, as I think it effects more of us than the 2nd part.

  This law will come into effect on January 1, 2011, ...

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• Seeing Our Parents As People

  published: 6/29/2010 7:44:43 AM

  Somewhere between the teen years and becoming a young adult, my view of who my parents were changed. It wasn't necessarily drastic, and I'm not implying that all these years they were somehow different than who I now knew them to be. However, when young adulthood came to me, something in how I saw my parents changed. They were no longer just my parents; they were really just people.

  As a young woman, I now ...

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• Title...

  published: 6/22/2010 7:00:00 AM

  I've decided I'm not near as confident as my 2 year old daughter is.

  That might sound funny to say. Does that really make any sense? How could a 2 year old be "more confident" than adult?

  The young at heart truly have an innocence about them that cannot be matched by any self-help book you might find at the local library.  As adults, we have too many insecurities and spend too much time thinking about ...

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• Get Crafting for Father's Day!

  published: 6/15/2010 8:00:00 AM

  Father's Day is right around the corner, and unless you are the type of person who is organized and knows exactly what you want to give Dad, there is a good chance that you're wondering what kind of gifts to give.  For some reason, these days are always more challenging for me. I want to give something creative and special, but also feel no need to break the bank in doing so. After all, it's ...

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• Making Play Dates Work

  published: 6/8/2010 8:00:00 AM

  Most parents would agree that getting their child in on a few play dates with other kids is a socially beneficial experience.  I, too, would share this thought.  Especially since my child is our only right now, the exposure with other children, different personalities, new experiences, and even experiencing a little conflict is actually a great thing developmentally for her.  But, like all things, nothing is full proof, and there are still other issues that ...

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• Getting Your "Only" Ready to Become the "Oldest"

  published: 6/1/2010 8:00:00 AM

  Much to my surprise, there is still more to prepare for with the arrival of a second baby than I might have once given credit to.  Sure, we have the infant car seat, the play gym, teethers, rattles, bottles, and blankets.  But with our “only” turning two just 3 months before baby brother arrives, there are still many things to consider. Whether or not to keep her in a crib or move her now to ...

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  by: Marisa Frymire

• Getting Your "Only" Ready to Become the "Oldest"

  published: 6/1/2010 8:00:00 AM

  Much to my surprise, there is still more to prepare for with the arrival of a second baby than I might have once given credit to.  Sure, we have the infant car seat, the play gym, teethers, rattles, bottles, and blankets.  But with our “only” turning two just 3 months before baby brother arrives, there are still many things to consider. Whether or not to keep her in a crib or move her now to ...

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  by: Marisa Frymire

• Making Your House a Home

  published: 5/25/2010 7:00:00 AM

  While we've heard this phrase 100 times, I have a suggestion on how to make your house begin feeling like a home. Take time to actually clean it! I've decided that unless I actually have a designate schedule of what to clean on which day, it is highly unlikely that I will get anything finished at all.  Creating a schedule that tells when you will clean the floor, change the sheets, and wash those nasty ...

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  by: Marisa Frymire