We’re a diverse group of Arizona moms and dads navigating our way through life & parenthood. We share our experiences, stories, recommendations and insights to save you time and hopefully, to assure you that you are not alone in this journey. We hope our posts make you laugh, help you learn and keep you coming back for more!
MEET OUR CONTRIBUTORS
Allison Small
I’m a self-proclaimed mom in overdrive. I’m sure many of you can relate to my constant state of motion and my habit of adding tasks and activities to my already full schedule. I run my own business, volunteer in the community, shuttle my kids from activity to activity, help with homework, clean my house, cook, run errands, attend birthday parties and events and much more. I’m also a light sleeper (I’ll chalk that up to my experiences with three colicky babies and a puppy.) so at some level, I believe I’ve mastered the art of multi-tasking around the clock.
Please visit my MomIndex website. After several years of searching for the ideal means to offer practical, fun and personal parenting solutions, I launched MomIndex with the goal of inspiring other parents to connect and share in a single online community.
Why “MomIndex”? Because I want parents to have a place to catalog their favorite and most essential parenting information without filling up their desk drawers, closets and filing cabinets with magazine clippings, sticky notes, business brochures, children’s activity directories and books. We should use those spaces for storing arts and crafts and homemade cards from our kids.
Since I won’t be kicking-up my feet anytime soon, I hope to see you at upcoming activities, birthday parties and community events.
Emily Mann
Hello! Hello! My name is Emily Mann – I am a wife, mother & attorney. Notice how that “attorney” part finds itself in last place? Back in the day, I was a career driven, single, childless woman, who was determined to find success, fortune & eternal happiness as an attorney. The only dependants I ever imagined having were two dogs. It’s amazing how naïve you can be before you meet that special someone – that special someone who throws your hormones into overdrive & your common sense out the window! Well, I met my special someone in the summer of 2000, while I was still in law school and clerking at a Phoenix law firm. At the ripe old age of 24, I fell in love with a handsome, 36 year old, commercial litigator and co-worker. We were married in 2002, had our first daughter, Angelina, in 2003 & our second daughter, Caroline, in 2005. So, what happened to my career as an attorney? Well, it’s on the backburner – the burner isn’t off, it’s just set to warm for now. AND while my career is simmering, I spend my time cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and basically making sure that everyone leaves the house on time & wearing clean clothes. Does it take a law degree to do such things? Of course not – BUT it does take a lot of love, sweat & Pinot Noir.
So now you know what I do, but here’s who I am. I am a native Texan – I have big hair and I am extremely loud and quite animated. Yes, the Texas stereotypes are true. In contrast, my dear husband is from Iowa – he is very calm and loves corn. My children? Well, Angelina is an extremely studious, blonde haired, blue-eyed, 9 year old beauty. My little Caroline is a 7 year old, brown-haired, brown-eyed cutie, who loves shocking and inappropriate humor. They couldn’t be more different, however, they are both little stars in the making. When I’m not shuffling the kids to school, I am shuffling them to Los Angeles to audition for TV and film projects. While I’m definitely not one of those mothers from “Toddlers & Tiaras”, I have been known to tweeze a burgeoning uni-brow and apply cover-stick to dark under-eye circles prior to auditions. Are my daughters eventually going to write a tell-all about how I forced them to work as children? ABSOLUTELY – But I am pretty confident that my kids are going to write a tell-all book about me regardless of the circumstances. I figure the “tell-all book” is just a potential hazard of being a parent, whether you’re a soccer mom, dance mom, etc. So, when you read my blog, just know that I KNOW I am not a perfect parent, but I am a parent trying my best!
Kristen Carter
Hi there! I’m Kristen. My friends call me “Sis”, my husband says “Honey”, and 3 sweet little monsters call me “Mommy”. I grew up in a small farm town in California, met a cute boy the first day of 7th grade who made me laugh and somehow I knew life was never going to be the same. We eloped a few years after high school graduation, then added a couple furry kids of the Shepherd variety and some not-so-furry kids of the human variety just to mix it up and add more spontaneity to our crazy adventure together. Going on 15 years together
and we haven’t looked back since!
In addition to playing chauffeur/playdate director for 3 beautiful children, I photograph others children and families for a living through Kristen Carter Photography. I really enjoy the process, the art and the pure joy that children possess and try to capture it all. Its great fun to chase and play, while assisting my clients in preserving their memories. My love of photography is equally matched by a love of art and papercrafting. Like every other parent out there, my “me” time is limited. But I love to take 15-20 minutes to sit down and create something; Usually utilizing photos in my projects, I encourage others to do the same!
Often my children enjoy “assisting” in these projects (and sometimes that help is actually appreciated). Most often, the 7 year old Amber is sitting next to her, chattering away/gossiping about all of the other 2nd graders; my 5 year old Chloe is leaning over a sheet of blank paper, with a few crayons and quietly drawing an entire scene complete with flying dogs and rainbows. And Dean, well, Dean is only 9 months, so most often, craft projects are interrupted by Dean getting into things he’s not supposed to.
Such is my life. Busy, hectic and so very enjoyable!
Mary McDowell
Mary currently spends her time as a freelance writer, helping small companies develop web content, articles and blogs. Before launching her own business, Mary worked as a corporate training and communications professional for more than 15 years. Her last 15 years were spent working her way up the corporate ladder at Accenture. During that time, she managed a global internal call center, implemented large scale Learning Management Training systems, and most recently developed, managed, and implemented global communications and training materials for the company’s Learning Management system. Mary’s success and leadership received an acknowledgement in the recent book – “Return on Learning: Training for High Performance at Accenture”. Mary attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst as Journalism and Communications Major.
A child of Polish immigrants, Mary was born in Rome, Italy, grew up in S. Orange, New Jersey, and spent too many years in the snowy suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. Mary, her husband, 5 year old twins, and Siamese cat named Flash now call Scottsdale, Arizona home. When she’s not working, she enjoys traveling, 80’s pop culture, shopping for bargains, and spending time with family and friends.
