Brenda Steffen
I spent my twenties and a good chunk of my thirties living and working in various countries. I met and married a South African sailor and I was quite content to keep traveling without kids. We landed in Chattanooga in 2013 and our son arrived over the summer of 2014. We haven’t really slept since. Sometimes jet-lag gets the blame. Or Daylight Savings, or even a good book. Usually though, it’s the Peanut.
You can often find me charged up on caffeine, chasing after my son at Coolidge Park, the zoo or the library. You can also find me online on my blog.
Life Lessons Learned from Traveling
I’ve always had a strange affinity for maps — as a child I stared at them in wide-eyed wonder. I desperately wanted to go somewhere. Anywhere. My family didn’t have a lot of money,...
Night Owl Routines to Help the Non-Morning Person
I paid my way through college by working 20 hours a week, in addition to a full course load. My Freshman year, I was assigned the kitchen. At the time, food service appeared to...
Holiday FOMO
I never knew what FOMO actually stood for until I moved to Chattanooga. Fear of Missing Out is a real thing here — there’s a LOT to do in this town.
It’s nearly impossible to...
True Grit: How To Help Your Kids Fare In Fair Weather
A funny thing happened when I moved south. Schools closed at the very threat of snow. Recess was cancelled when the weather got below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. And moms around the Chattanooga valley started...
Gluten-Free Vegan, with a Side of Bacon
When I discovered over a year ago that I was intolerant to seemingly every good food known to man, I asked a nutritionist friend for recommendations on where to find recipes to accommodate my...
The Boyhood of the Traveling Pajamas
‘I’m getting taller and taller to reach the shower head!’ my son used to excitedly declare this quirky phrase, each night at bath time. He’s always been tall for his age, but the shower...
In Support of the Girls: Bra Basics
I have always been well-endowed. I have a line of Sicilian women and their genes to thank for my ample bosom. It seemingly appeared overnight sometime between the ages of nine and 10. I...
No Comments, Please
Long before I became a mother, I was writer and blogger. I was also a sanctimommy. (I realize this is rich, coming from me, a mommy blogger.) I had a LOT of preconceived notions...
Hotel Tips for Tots
The first time we took our son to a hotel, it wasn’t exactly peaceful. He nursed around the clock and he never seemed to actually sleep. Neither did we. I remember carting him into...
The ABCs of Motherhood
Kindergarten has changed a lot over the years. The year I started school, we only did a flannel board about the weather, played dress-up, had show and tell, milk and cookies and then we’d...