✨The 6pm-6am shift✨

Hi Friends!

Big changes are happening in my family: We’ve left the city after 10 years in Downtown Crossing!  We have settled into our forever home in Hingham and we couldn’t be happier!

I absolutely love my job as a doula and although I have drastically reduced my hours since having my second baby (that “baby” is 4 in a few weeks!), I still want to keep my practice alive!

My new offerings are long weekend shifts:

Friday 6pm-6am
Saturday 6pm-6am

This shift has been super popular with my city clients.  It allows for plenty of hours to spend time together with the parents to brainstorm and collaborate on tasks, followed by a more restful night of sleep for mom & dad!  I’ve also incorporated my love of cooking into my practice in order to further support the family as a whole!  Here’s a quick recap on what I can offer my clients:

🔹Anything related to the baby 

🔹Breastfeeding support / Bottle feeding support 

🔹Helpful advice: soothing, feeding, bathing, creating healthy sleep habits

🔹COOKING!  can include: grocery shopping/prep/cook/serve or store in fridge

🔹Sibling care for the second time mom/dad - happy to help with older siblings while you are with the baby OR care for the baby while you do the dinner/bath/bed routine with the big kids!

🔹Rate: $40/hour 

I’m a mom, I get it! I promise to bring a positive and kind energy into your home and support you & your family during this exciting time in your life!  Below is a pic of my whole entire heart: my babies Ollie & Alice!

RORY EARLEY

617-834-7727

RWEARLEY@GMAIL.COM

EVENING CARE 6PM-11PM

Hey Friends!

I'M BACK!! WOO HOO!

I've been a doula for about six years now and I truly love my job!  I had a thriving practicing in Boston for several years up until my second baby was born.  That baby girl is now almost three (insert hysterical sobbing here.  Stop growing please!!). I've decided to make a comeback and here are all the details below!

Reach out anytime - I promise to bring a kind, respectful and happy energy into your home.

I'm a mom, I get it!

*Postpartum Doula Available for Evening Hours*

Fellow Boston mom & postpartum doula available to lend a helping hand to support the whole family!  My goal is to be a second set of hands to help you get through the evening and ready for a restful night of sleep!  

6PM-11PM 

*occasional overnights 10pm-6am*

A few things I can offer Boston families:

*Anything related to the baby 

*Breastfeeding support / Bottle feeding support 

*Helpful advice: soothing, feeding, bathing, creating healthy sleep habits

*COOKING!  can include: grocery shopping/prep/cook/serve or store in fridge

*Sibling care for the second time mom/dad - happy to help with older siblings while you are with the baby OR care for the baby while you do the dinner/bath/bed routine with the big kids!

*$40/hour 

RORY EARLEY

617-834-7727

RWEARLEY@GMAIL.COM


My Kids Alice & Ollie:

Today I climbed Everest... I mean I emptied the dishwasher.

You know some days when you walk into your kitchen and the sink is piled high with dishes (perhaps from the 7 meals you whipped up until your finicky toddler actually ate) AND the dishwasher is full with clean dishes?? Honestly that's like the worst combo ever!  It means you have to do work in order to start doing work. Ughh.  Unless there is a small chance you can shove the dirty stuff in with the clean stuff and rerun the whole thing, pretending you weren't sure if it was clean- "wait, did you run the dishwasher? Is this clean? Welllllll, better safe than sorry, let's run her again."

It's so funny how some days are just torturous to get through - like never ending craziness of exhaustion, toys on the floor, no food in the house and a toddler demanding "Mickey show! Mickey show! Mickeeeeeeyyyy shoooooowwwww!!!" And then you just forget the pact you made with your husband last night about less TV and no iPhones in the house and turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and pull out your phone for a few minutes (or 30) of Facebook, Instagram, weather.com annnnd maybe some boston.com for the important news.

These winter days upon us don't make it easy -- that no mans land between 4:30pm and 8pm in the cold months is rough!  Remember the summer when you'd all just frolick in your flip flops and grab a slice of pizza for dinner after the sprinklers?   Nope!  Now it's socks, shoes, coat, hat and zipped into the stroller blanket (7AM Enfant is my life!  Obsessed!).  Oh and god forbid you threw on your own puffer jacket first... Cause now your sweating.  YAY!  Let's walk to Whole Foods for a fun adventure!!

Tomorrow!  Tomorrow we will be better!  We'll have green juice for breakfast, no screen time and we will intently study the molecule and atom exhibit at the science museum (instead of just going to see the baby chicks hatch from their eggs).  You know, we'll do like smart, healthy people things. Yes def, right after I really quickly catch up on my DVR'd housewives episodes and chug this mocha latte.  

I'll never be that mom...

I've come to terms with a few things in my life as Ollie's mom over the past 29 months (don't you hate when people still use months to describe their child's age when they are toddlers?) For instance I've literally heard someone say "my son is 36 months".... Ummm, we're not talking about the life of your car loan, he is a human - just say 3.  Thanks.

Anyway,  summer is here and Ollie is fully ready with his stunning summer wardrobe filled with Jcrew polos and Hanna Andersson board shorts and rash guards.  He literally looks like a mini college kid and I love it.  I, on the other hand, am struggling.  In an attempt to put together a cute summer look, I wore a new v-neck tissue tee and lululemons (aka: my uniform).  However today, was different- I was freshly showered, had earrings & perfume on and was determined to look cute.  Soooo how do you achieve this?  Throw a scarf into the mix!  So, I put on a lightweight pink chevron print scarf and I felt good. 

Cut to the walk down the main drag on the way to the playground where there happens to be quite a nice breeze.  The scarf is not staying on and wrapping awkwardly around my neck, then flying halfway off, which is creating quite the disheveled look.  Hashtag Fail.  This scarf is representative of my life!! It's at this point that I realize: I'm just never gonna be that mom.  And so a blog post was born:

*I'll never be that mom that looks effortlessly put together in white jeans, a tank & Toms.  Stained, wrinkled & yoga pants are more my jam.

*I'll never be the mom that calmly works their way through crazy temper tantrums with a gentle parenting methodology.  I'm more of a death look, threaten to take away Sesame Street time kinda mom....or give in entirely and hand him a cookie! Ha!

*I'm probably never going to to be that mom that knows the library story hour times and makes a habit of going to them.  I pretty much fly by the seat of my pants each morning with a "what are we gonna do today to tire you out for nap... So I can get to what I really want to do today, which is watch Real Housewives on DVR and eat my sandwich in peace."

*I'm probably never gonna be that mom that has sensory bins in her house - where you have boxes of dry beans for the child to dig around in or hide puzzle pieces in for a mentally stimulating game.... Or a water table for that matter.  Not that I don't think these things are great.  I do!  I think about acquiring these things often and then the effort is just too much -- like how many pounds of legumes is sufficient to build said sensory box?? Let's just play trucks.

*potty training?  No.  

But for all the things I'm not, I:

*am definitely a fun mom that laughs and sings and dances in her living room to the delight of a squealing Ollie.

*disregard the rules of when dinner time and bedtime should be on a summer evening so that we can frolic throughout the sprinklers till it is dark.

*am an Ollie art curator, who has hung every single piece of art Ollie has brought home from school in my foyer, so that we have a legit construction paper gallery in our apartment.

*always let Ollie get something in the gift shop. 

*alter my social life (wait, what's that?) and work life so that I am always present at bedtime.

*will very often forgo sleep after working an overnight so that Ollie can enjoy a full day of playing, running, splashing around the city!

*ride the carousel 3-4 times every single day, as this is Ollie's absolute favorite thing.

*fight to the death to make sure he has EVERYTHING he needs to be the best & brightest kid he can be!

And for that, I am proud.  My kid may not be potty trained or eat kale chips... But he is happy and funny and smart, and that is all I need in this life.  

You know you are a boy mom.....

When:

*your son is always sticky, dirty, wet or involved in some activity to promote these states of non-cleanliness.

*you genuinely get excited when a fire truck or a "digger" comes within sight... Even if your son is not with you.  

*you never ever ever can go out to dinner and sit for more than 90 seconds before you or your partner have to walk around the restaurant, while the other *shovels* in their dinner.  Which usually ends with you sitting at the end of the meal waiting for the check looking like a weirdo with three plates of food in front of you, all alone.  This is always when some hot 25 year old boy walks by and looks at you in disgust.  Just wait, you hottie.  Just wait!  This shitshow is you in no time!!

*even when you get "dressed up" by throwing on clean yoga pants and go out solo with your big girl handbag (instead of a diaper bag), you still have several die-cast dump trucks, half eaten granola bars and a binky in your bag... And usually in your pocket too.

*your son legit subsists on air. He eats nothing. Ever.  Until one night he gobbles up the entire meal you have slaved over and you do many fist pumps in the air, in the kitchen by yourself, excited that he actually ate something!!  You repeat the next night thinking you've really turned a corner..... And he immediately sweeps entire contents of tray onto the floor with a quick flip of the wrist, with a 'nope, not happening again' look that makes you want to jump off the balcony.

*wherever your child goes he is usually hoarding 6-10 trucks in his hands at all times.  God forbid you ask him to put one down or use a hand to drink, eat or put a jacket on his body.

*you are constantly running, racing, up & down and all around.  Chasing this wild animal all over town!   Yet, you're not yet a size 2- WHY is that?  I feel like I should be the slimmest person on earth!!! 

*you really have no need for a stroller.  It is merely a jungle gym apparatus to climb in and out of, especially when you are trying to get somewhere.

*you always have a selection of balls in aforementioned stroller- usually tennis or small brightly colored plastic balls for the spontaneous playground scrimmage.

*your living room is always a disaster area- as in one step away from being condemned by the board of health for an abundance of trains, trucks and wayward puzzle pieces everywhere.  Your decorating style has gone from "shabby chic" to "Thomas-Bruder-Melissa & Doug Chic".

*your son loves to snuggle with you, is hysterically excited to see you, and you are the *only* person in the entire galaxy that can make everything ok.  

*you have a boy that thinks you are the most beautiful and magnificent supermodel on the planet.

*life is good.  Thank goodness for little boys

.

Birthday Party Madness

I have never been one that is into anything too "girly".  I don't enjoy pinterest or interior design magazines and I don't even wear makeup.  Perhaps I am just lazy, but I just don't care.  I mean, I think I have good taste and I know what I like but poring over fabric samples or shopping the MAC counter is something you'll never see me doing.  Because of this, I am utterly shocked at my recent odd (slightly obsessive) behavior over Ollie's second birthday party.

I have always thought that over the top big birthday parties for babies were a waste and all about the parents showing off.  That is why for Ollie's first birthday party, we just had immediate family with pizza and cupcakes.  It was sheer perfection and I love that I didn't do a big thing, where he probably would have melted down 7 minutes into the party.  Despite the fact that I felt a tinge of guilt every time we went to one of our friend's fabulous baby birthday parties!!

This year, something is different.  My little ginger has a personality - he is full-on crazily obsessed with trucks, namely firetrucks.  Also, he has best friends he plays with - his little group of cute toddlers that he really truly loves.  So this year, I am morphing into "that mom" that is planning a themed party.  A fire truck themed party no less. It started with the invitations I found on Minted.com - which rivaled the cost of my wedding invites.  Thank god Chris isn't fully versed on things like custom printing and card stock, or the fact that for $4.99 we could have had very nice invitations from CVS that would have handwritten info.  This invitation has now become the template for all my decorating!  Last night after a few cocktails on our date night, I forced Chris to go to our local bakery on the walk home, invitation in hand, to get the ball rolling on the cake discussions.  Ridiculous.

This blog post comes after a night of insomnia starting at 3am. I was on my iPhone searching Etsy for "fire truck party decor" as I attempted to not wake Chris with the bright light shining from my phone.  I think this post is somewhat of a self-intervention, as I almost just pulled the trigger on a $52 party package of fire truck birthday monogrammed banners and cupcake toppers. WHO AM I?

Despite the decorating compulsion & overspending, I am honestly soooo excited for his big day! My little goose will be the star of the show and all his cute little friends will be together to play.....with firetrucks.

Cliche Mama

As I get deeper into the role as Ollie's mom, I'm amazed at how much of a big fat cliche I actually have become.  Case in point -- day one of ollie's toddler preschool program.  I was so very excited when we made the decision to send Ollie to an amazing program twice a week.  I am constantly thinking of what I can do to make this kid the happiest, most social, polite, sweetest and smartest boy on the block --- art class, swimming, soccer, music, playground, museums, playdates (I'm actually kinda impressing myself as I type this)..... and because he is a 21 month old boy, most of these classes and activities involve him clawing at the door to get out, climbing on the nearest table to dance like Paris Hilton, and trying to hack into the fire extinguisher in the room.  Obviously money well spent!

Soo the allure of a drop off program that included structure, gym class and socialization was perfect!  Despite the few hiccups at drop off time when he acts like I am giving him up for adoption, things are going well (or so they tell me at pick up.....yet my gut tells me they are just being nice to the crazy mom with the disheveled hair).

The problem is mostly with me.  First problem -- what am I supposed to do with two hours of free time?  I literally dont even know what to do with myself.  Who says that?!?!?  Me!   So, what I do is sit in the cafe in the building where his school is, shoveling pumpkin bread and Vitamin water zero, so that I can try to catch a glimpse of his face for 15 seconds as he heads into the basketball area of the gym for his sports time.  Let me digress for one moment -- this cafe is filled with very serious healthy worker outer people who order kale and amino acids and chia seed meals.  I overhear their convos with words like vinyasa and barre and quinoa.  The cafe has a small stash of things like pumpkin bread when riffraff like me happens to stumble into the joint.  

I hear the elevators open (the school is two floors away from the gym part) and hear the quiet murmur of a gaggle of toddlers in a wagon........ I literally jumped out of my seat and ran as close as I could get and HID BEHIND A POLE, so I could see him but he wouldn't be able to see me.   Seeing your whole entire heart, siting there in a wagon with his friends, under the direction of his teachers is a feeling I've never experienced -- sooo weird.  I seriously had to stop myself from yelling "WAIT! STOP! THAT'S MY BABY, GIVE HIM BACK!"

Buuut I didnt.  As the wagons went out of sight and into the basketball court area, I retreated back to my seat, realizing how ridiculous all these fabulous kale eating people must think I am...but I didnt care, because I saw my Ollie and he wasn't crying.  He was happy.  That's everything.  As I type this, I am crying - this absolutely excruciating privilege of  raising this beautiful boy is just so much!  I sometimes don't think I can even keep going, it is so so hard.  As with all moms, the guilt, the worry, the fear that I've messed him up, the terror in my bones of the thought of him ever being hurt or bullied or scared, that he could fall into the wrong crowd and do drugs, or my absolute worst nightmare --> that he could rebel against the sporty prep style I have created for his wardrobe and start wearing black eye makeup or the like. HA!

My little ginger on his first day of class...and a monogrammed lunch tote!