Moments of Musing

A Busy Back-to-School Fall Season

Filed Under: back to school 2020, motherhood //

 This post has been compensated by Acorn and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

This fall is unlike any time in our lives. As a work-from-home mom with a toddler and homeschooled preschooler, life at home is busy and can be chaotic. To get through it all as best as possible, I am embracing all of my different roles and titles with grace. 

I know this is a learning season and it might not be seamless. Luckily, my husband is also home full-time right now (though he is pursuing his MBA so he will also be busy) so he can help out with homeschooling and around the house. Teamwork goes a long way in our marriage and parenthood journeys. 



This year has been unlike any others during our journey together, though. If there is anything parenthood, especially during 2020 has taught me, it is that I can’t plan everything. Despite that, we are more than capable of being great parents as long as we try our best. Sometimes my best is three home-cooked meals a day. Sometimes, it is grabbing a quick bite, like Nathan’s Famous Hot & Ready Hot Dogs, while back-to-school shopping at Walmart. Quick and easy lunches like that have saved me time and sanity. 


As a Brooklyn-born and raised girl, Nathan’s Famous hot dogs have always been my favorite so I love that my boys enjoy them, too. You can grab some hot dogs for your family at your local Walmart Supercenter or Neighborhood Market in the Hot & Ready at the deli counter. Whether on-the-go or picking up to eat at home, take it from me: Nathan’s Famous Hot & Ready Hot Dogs will save you time, too! Heres the link to the Ibotta Offer to save .25$ : https://bit.ly/2ZYhRx6



Homeschooling Fun with AR

Filed Under: homeschooling //

This post is sponsored by Seek Education. All opinions are my own

We are off to a busy start of fall here! After going back and forth over what to do for our son’s schooling, we decided to homeschool him. While I was originally sad about him “missing out” on in-person school, I am now excited for an extra year together, to teach him ourselves, to be able to hear his inquisitive questions everyday, and to try our best to make this fun. 

One of my favorite parts about this decision is how involved we get to be in his learning. It is pretty neat to hear what his thinking is, personally see his day-to-day scholastic progress, and to learn from him, as well. 

We try to find new activities to make his learning more interesting and enjoyable.

“Learning is fun and school is cool,” I tell him. 


Enter Seek Education, a supplemental teaching resource designed to encourage interactive learning through augmented reality (AR). Subscribing to the platform provides access to over 1,000 AR, or 3D, models across six core subjects in today’s curriculum, including art, biology, history and physical science. Parents can easily add the QR codes into teaching materials to make learning more engaging. Students simply scan the code with their phone or tablet to bring the AR experience to life.

AR is the technology that expands our physical world – adding layers of digital information on top of it. Unlike Virtual Reality (VR), AR doesn’t create a completely artificial environment. Instead, it appears in direct view of an existing environment, like the playroom, and enhances it with 3D objects, animations and sounds.

Research has shown the benefits of AR-based learning – such as students’ improved long-term memory retention, as well as a 14% increase in motivation and 31% increase in attention.

With 81% of educators concerned about maintaining student engagement with distance learning, AR presents a promising future.

Seek Education recently added a new Virtual Field Trips feature, which includes pre-made templates of exciting trips, including the ancient Egyptian temples, outer space, and UNESCO world heritage sites.  It’s great while travel is limited and many attractions are still closed. Check out an example of a trip to explore ancient Egypt here.


My kids have loved learning and exploring via Seek Edu. It really does help to see the 3D model of something when speaking or teaching about it. Even our little one got in on the fun. He thought taking a photo with a T-Rex was cool! I think all of your kids would enjoy this, too.



This image allows you to try the 3D models out for yourself right away:


Watch this video for a brief overview of Seek Education and sign up today!


Me, My Mom & Our Mom Bellies

Filed Under: motherhood, postpartum body //

mother daughter, mom and me, mommy and me, mother daughter postpartum, mom body, mom belly, postpartum body, postpartum bellies

When I was younger, I’d look at my mom’s belly full of stretch marks — and wonder why it’d gotten like that. ⁣

𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦…⁣

All the time, sacrifice, and strength it must have taken to endure a healthy pregnancy, and a cancerous molar pregnancy, followed by a “miracle” pregnancy. ⁣

𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦…⁣

That, to her, those marks represented her kids, her two gifts. ⁣

It wasn’t until recently when I looked into the mirror and saw my own belly after birthing my own two babies that I realized:⁣

𝐌𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬. ⁣

⁣Full of stretch marks — that mark one of the most beautiful periods of my life. ⁣

⁣…More and more I see her when I look in the mirror…⁣

⁣And I am proud to have a belly like 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. ⁣

mother daughter, mom and me, mommy and me, mother daughter postpartum, mom body, mom belly, postpartum body, postpartum bellies

Oftentimes, older women-our moms and grandmas- get overlooked as their skin and bodies age. ⁣⁣⁣⁣

𝘞𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥. ⁣⁣

Women in my mom’s generation mostly covered up their pregnant bellies with baggy clothes and didn’t proudly expose their postpartum bellies. Instead, it was looked down upon to expose those parts of you. (Decades later, even I caught slack from my ‘Buela for wearing a bikini when pregnant.)⁣⁣

So, I am 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 she stood next to me for these photos.

Here she is—here we are:⁣⁣

𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 ⁣⁣

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 *𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬.* ⁣⁣

mother daughter, mom and me, mommy and me, mother daughter postpartum, mom body, mom belly, postpartum body, postpartum bellies

Remembering 9/11

Filed Under: Uncategorized //

And then, on September 11, the world fractured.” 
– President Obama

Credit: AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler

On September 11, 2001, when the school day took a hectic turn … when my mom picked me up and we walked home as ashes fell from the sky… when I learned my NYPD dad had rushed out of our house that morning to get to Ground Zero … when we went to my aunt’s roof and watched the smoke rising from where the Twin Towers once stood… when I listened as it was declared a terrorist attack… I just hoped and prayed my dad would come home safely to us that night. 

I thank God that he did, and I think of those family members who weren’t as lucky.

This year, as the country and world feels fractured in different ways, I hope we can all remember what happened after the tragedy of 9/11. Heroes, both first responders and regular people, ran in to rescue strangers. We came together. We lifted each other up. We wanted to move forward, united, to be stronger and better. All of our pain was valid, all of our hopes and prayers important. 


May we always remember and never forget to come together to care about each other, and about humanity in those ways again…

Credit: AP Photo/Dan Loh

An Ode to Summer 2020

Filed Under: motherhood //

Well, hello, September, the unofficial end of summer…

As the temps dip and fall creeps in, I am hoping summertime lingers a little longer. Though I am excited about the year moving forward into fall + the holiday season, I’m sad to bid farewell to a summer that stood still—in a good way (most days). One when we watched sunsets by the ocean, went on family bedtime walks, played at home, enjoyed dinners on our deck, vacationed in the mountains, and lived in each other’s presence every single day. 

Cheers to a summer of enjoying the outdoors and fresh air, of being grateful for breathing, of wearing a bikini even 15-20 pounds heavier, of letting the ocean wash away my anxieties and worries—if even momentarily, of living and let live my kids who spent months prior cooped up away from the world. 

We might not have hopped on any planes or vacationed far away as I’d originally hoped but it’s okay. This summer, we spent it healthy and together—and that’s what matters most anyway. 

I’m not sure what fall will look like (I can only hope we won’t have to quarantine again) so I am grateful for every bit of summer fun we’ve had.