Sometimes a new post is the best way to summarize all the events that happen in my life that you might miss, even though I post them on social media. I’m so excited that I’m approaching the second anniversary of owning Theresa’s Reviews in July. I’d like to think that at this point, some of my readers follow me for more than just my giveaways. Getting to share special parenting moments is one of my favorite parts of keeping up this website. I hope you enjoy some of these recent moments you may have missed.

The Best Parenting Moments In The Past Week

One of the biggest recent events was that Samantha was in her second play. I’m not sure if I was more nervous about how she would do, or if she was. She had two small parts as Woodstock and as Frieda in Charlie Brown. Three days before the play, I realized that we had only practiced the songs one or two times in the months leading up to the performance. I was worried that if she forgot the lines, she would never want to do anything on a stage again.

Samantha’s dedication showed in the last couple of days before the play. She woke up at 6 am and stayed awake until 9 pm just to learn the opening song. This was a big variance from her usual schedule. Even though I left for work at 6:35, she continued to study until she had to leave for school. Check out her practicing the day before her play. She finally got most of the words down, until Georgiana made a surprise appearance.

  The day of the play was super special. Samantha got to stay at school until 7 pm when the play started. Since I was at work all day, I didn’t get to see her until the performance. I kept myself busy in the afternoon by heading out with Georgiana to pick up a bouquet of flowers. From around the corner of the checkout line, I spotted one of Samantha’s friends’ moms picking out flowers too, but I assumed it was for their grandparent, or just to have at home. 

In a thoughtfully surprising gesture, Samantha’s friend came to the play and brought a bouquet of flowers too! Then Samantha’s grandmother came to watch and thoughtfully brought flowers too. Lucky Samantha ended up with three bouquets and a big crowd of supporters. I was really proud of her for enjoying being on stage and for working so hard to accomplish her goal. 

Speaking of accomplishing a goal, Georgiana had an excellent last day of her dance class. She doesn’t go to preschool, so being in a class without a parent has been a big adjustment for her. She still walks out of the classroom from time to time and asks that I come in to watch her, but she’s getting much more into the idea of being a dancer. I can tell because all through Samantha’s play, while the audience was silently and intently watching the play, Georgiana started an impromptu, quiet dance party with her friend at the side of the room. One day, I’m sure Georgiana will sit still through a play, but until that day, at least she was dancing instead of talking. When Samantha and Georgiana heard I signed them up for summer dance classes, they were both really excited.

Watching these girls grow up is incredible. Samantha lost her first tooth this past week. Ryan and I both saw Mommy Short’s post on her daughter losing her first tooth show up in our Facebook feed back in April, so we had already been thinking about what to do when this happened. I stocked up on some one dollar bills just in case. The tooth was getting really wiggly so I knew it could fall out at anytime.

I came home in the afternoon to find the tooth gone. Ryan had let Samantha know that the tooth fairy likes to splurge on the first tooth. Luckily, I had a $5 bill in my wallet. Before bedtime, I showed Samantha how to use her Tooth Fairies stuffed toy.

“But what if the tooth fairy can’t find it there?”

“She is the tooth fairy, Samantha.”

“But what if she expects it under the pillow?”

“Samantha, this tooth fairy is special. She flies away in the night and leaves the money under your pillow for you to keep.”

Phew, now I wouldn’t have to pull up her pillow and feel around for that tiny tooth in the night.

The next morning, when Samantha ran in my room at 6 am waving a $10 bill in the air, I knew Ryan was successful in not waking her, although I was pretty surprised that the price of a tooth seemed to go up overnight! She’s happy though, and getting a nice surprise every once in awhile is nice.

Samantha has probably earned it, after all. She took this photo of me a few weeks back for an article I was working on for Mother’s Day. The photo turned out really cute. Georgiana is this adorable age where I can still lift her up and cuddle her. I loved how Samantha captured this photo of motherhood with smiles so genuine and happy. I posted the photo to my Instagram account after seeing an article come up on my Flipboard phone app from InStyle magazine asking for entries in a photo contest with the prize being 7 pieces of Pandora jewelry. Next thing you know, I get a direct message to my Instagram account from Instyle Magazine explaining that Samantha’s photo won the contest! It’s incredible that Samantha did something so sweet for me for Mother’s Day. 

Turns out, according to Samantha’s latest worksheet home, she really does want to grow up to become an artist. Maybe she’ll grow up to be the next Annie Leibovitz or Georgia O’Keefe. Or maybe she’ll change her mind five different times by age 20. Or become a doctor, or lawyer, or veterinarian, or whatever else she can imagine for herself. Whatever she becomes, she’ll always make me proud. 

When I grow up, I want to be an artist because I’m good at drawing.

Now that you know a little more about me, the writer behind the blog posts, I hope you leave me a note in the comments section! If you want to catch all these moments as they happen, follow me on my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts.