Charlene Carr's Blog, page 4
December 9, 2019
Book Review: The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O’Neill
Check out The Lonely Hearts Hotel
Author’s Twitter: twitter.com/lethal_heroine
A sad and beautiful love story set in the immersive, somewhat magical, and devastating world of Montreal in the early 1900s . This book was rich with pain, artistry and characters who’ll enthrall.
Click the book cover below or PREVIEW to start reading a free sample of The Lonely Hearts Hotel right now.
The post Book Review: The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O’Neill appeared first on Charlene Carr.
October 7, 2019
Book Chat: The Things You Cannot See by Sam Vickery
Check out The Things You Cannot See
A compelling and terrifying read, full of compassion and the reality of a condition we’d rather believe didn’t exist. At times difficult to continue, due to the emotional intensity, The Things You Cannot See by Sam Vickery is an important read that promotes awareness of the possible consequences of new motherhood that no one wants to think of.
Be prepared for a roller coaster of emotions.
Author’s Website: samvickery.com
Click the book cover below or PREVIEW to start reading a free sample of The Things You Cannot See right now.
The post Book Chat: The Things You Cannot See by Sam Vickery appeared first on Charlene Carr.
September 13, 2019
Book Review: The Secrets We Keep by Kate Hewitt
Check out The Secrets We Keep
An intriguing novel of family and motherhood that questions the secrets we keep and the selves we present to the world.
This exploration of pain, grief, and the possible and sometimes tragic consequences of not speaking your truth to the ones you love was not the book I thought it would be from the opening chapters, but it was an entertaining and engaging read nonetheless!
Author’s Website: kate-hewitt.com
Click the book cover below or PREVIEW to start reading a free sample of The Secrets We Keep right now.
The post Book Review: The Secrets We Keep by Kate Hewitt appeared first on Charlene Carr.
August 23, 2019
Do what you gotta do … parenting win
[image error]Little Miss wanted nothing to do with the amazing Sesame Ginger Lentil Salad I made for dinner tonight (seriously, it was good, like $9/100gram at a high-end deli, good). Nor did she want any of the four other things I offered her.
She wanted yogurt. Just yogurt.
But of course the yogurt ran out this morning. And I was tired. So, I offered her what I hoped would look similar enough to do the trick.
Goat cheese.
[image error]That’s right.
And I couldn’t risk wasting any of such a pricey cheese, so instead of letting her feed herself, I spoon fed my baby girl about a half cup of goat cheese for dinner tonight.
Only goat cheese.
She loved it.
And she’s gone to bed with a full belly.
Some days, you do what you gotta do.
I call this a parenting win.
Honestly,
Charlene
[image error]P.S. I didn’t lie. I never told her it was yogurt. Just brought it out in a bowl with a smile.
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August 13, 2019
Book Review: Two by Two by Nicholas Sparks
Check out Two by Two
Two by Two by Nicholas Sparks is an enjoyable read about a man learning to be a full-time father while rebuilding his life. It has beautiful moments of family interaction and explores the delicate dynamics of families in crisis and in occasions of joy. It’s not a book I’ll be shouting about from the rooftops, but it was tender, funny at times, and a welcome break from some of the more intense, and sometimes quite upsetting fiction I’ve been reading lately!
Author’s Website: nicholassparks.com
Click the book cover below or PREVIEW to start reading a free sample of Two by Two right now.
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July 31, 2019
Book Review: A Fire Sparkling by Julianne Maclean
Check out A Fire Sparkling
An intricate tale of love, betrayal and long held secrets. Julianne Maclean draws the reader into dual timelines and multiple voices with impressive ease. If you’re looking to immerse yourself into the world as it was in WWII, look no further. This book kept me guessing, while endearing me to the women who people its pages – brave, fierce, and full of familial love.
I was completely enraptured with the unravelling of secrets and the author’s decision to not push the ‘romanticism’ too far but keep it in the realm of both believability – thereby honouring the lead character’s intelligence, practicality, and hard-earned wisdom. An odd statement, haha, but read the book and you’ll know what I mean. 
July 26, 2019
From sleep training to head banging
[image error]Despite oh so much sleep training, last week the string of horrible nights since Christmas travels (yeah, this post was written awhile ago) finally felt like it had come to an end.
After consistently waking three to four times in frenzied desperation a night, Little Miss’ screaming fits had eased.
She had two two-wake up nights.
Then one one-wake up night.
And I had my first five hours of uninterrupted sleep in seventeen months!
I was ecstatic. I was incredulous. I woke, feeling like I could take on the world.
I was rested.
And then everything changed.
Change is constant with babies. It’s the only constant. I get it.
But this was a change I definitely wasn’t expecting.
Four nights ago, Little Miss didn’t just wake. She didn’t just scream. She gripped the crib rails, pulled her head back, and started flinging her precious little forehead against the railing.
I heard the first few bangs before I knew what was happening. Moaning from exhaustion, I clicked on the video monitor and witnessed the horror.
I’m sure you veteran moms are shaking your heads and smiling right now. A quick search on Google the next morning told me this was a common occurrence; I shouldn’t be concerned at all.
But my daughter was violently flinging her head against a wooden rail!
I leapt out of bed and was out the door before my equally groggy husband had a chance to ask what was wrong.
I picked up my girl, cuddled, kissed, then examined.
She’d done damage.
I can’t remember exactly what transpired the rest of that night. There were both successful and failed attempts to put Little Miss back to sleep. I didn’t sleep much at all.
Despite babycenter’s recommendation not to, I VERY securely fashioned a bumper on that top rail.
Like so many things with Little Miss, it worked … until it didn’t.
My baby’s no fool.
There are many other places to bang. None afford quite the flinging leverage of that first location, but she knows how to get the job done.
In line with this new banging habit is about a 70% refusal rate to stay asleep when I nurse her into dreamland or go to sleep when I put her down awake.
[image error]Needless to say, this means we’re both beyond exhausted and my sweet little girl looks likes she’s been … banging her head against a crib-rail.
It’s enough to make me want to bang my head against the wall.
Seriously.
Only I’d want it to knock me out and let me spend some uninterrupted time in dreamland …
I’m not going to try it though.
Little Miss has made it evident that the whole getting whacked on the head and suddenly being rendered unconscious thing is a lot harder than it looks in the movies.
(Okay, I’m not being serious at all. Not only would I never do that, I don’t actually want to, but sometimes it feels like I want to.)
But, what’s a Mama to do?
My husband told me to follow the advice I found online and just leave her be.
I tried that.
Multiple times.
Once for as long as forty-five minutes, my whole body writhing to get her the entire time.
Last night I didn’t let the screaming and intermittent banging go on any longer than the time it took me to jump out of bed and throw on a robe.
As a result, for the second night in a row Little Miss spent the majority of the night in bed with me.
So long, the minimum improvements we’d seen from the tortuous days and nights of sleep training. Six weeks of it when the book ‘promised’ it shouldn’t take more than four, and that would be the extreme.
>>Sigh<< Who knows?
Maybe this is just a phase and my little sweetheart will stop the banging and go back to waking one or two times a night again soon.
Still not the ideal, but better than this torture.
Change is the only constant, right?
No moral of the story for today.
Merely, what’s a Mama to do?
Honestly,
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NOTE: The head banging completely stopped after a few weeks – seven months later and the one to two (sometimes three or four) wakings a night still persists …
The post From sleep training to head banging appeared first on Charlene Carr.
July 17, 2019
Book Chat: City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
Check out City of Girls
An absolute pleasure. The first half of the book is a fun and delightful romp. It brought me joy.
Filled with a cast of characters brimming with life, simplistic, yet poignant, and narrated by an old broad who’s sure to make you smile.
As the book went on the levity tapered off, but that made sense. We see the onset of the war, the onset of life and its consequences, and Gilbert gifts us with some great moments of contemplation.
Author’s Website: elizabethgilbert.com
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July 5, 2019
Mind Blown – the wonder of motherhood
[image error]Moms,
Do you ever look at your child and get floored by the fact that this person was literally made inside of you? That this individual with their own wants and fears and joys and loves and opinions was once a part of your very being?
And this next question is also for you moms who didn’t give birth to your children…
Do you ever marvel at the fear-inducing and awe-inspiring gift that of all the people this child will encounter in their entire lives, it is most likely you that will have the greatest impact on who this person becomes, whether they’re kind, or proud, or courageous, or confident, or happy?
Mind blown.
Nuff said.
Honestly,
[image error]
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June 21, 2019
Life is short. Kick back and enjoy the giggles.
Life is short, so yesterday I put work aside, kicked back, and watched The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. It’s a Coen brothers movie of western-themed vignettes, and every single one features a death.
It’s great.
No, really, it is. I loved it.
But during one of the many displays of death, it hit me. What am I doing?
What am I doing stressing about laundry and dishes and clean floors and matching outfits and preservative free, sprouted, organic food?
Not that those things aren’t important. They are. But they’re not worth stressing about.
They’re not worth getting tired and angry about. They’re not worth being distracted from the amazingness that is my daughter. And they’re not worth frustration and disappointment.
[image error]
Life is short. Really short. And each time we step outside the door, heck, each time we breathe, it could get shorter.
If you’ve been following my writing for a while, you know this is a theme I’ve talked about before, and I’m sure it’s one I’ll come back to.
Sometimes we need constant reminders.
In a previous post I talked about letting my mood – good and bad – be determined by a 13 month old. I determined to change that.
I think this is the trick >> Look at the big picture. Remember life is short.
And stop to take joy in giggle wars.
Time to go! My girl’s initiating one right now. Best kind of war. Both sides always win. 
