Heather Hemmert

Heather lives with her husband, daughter and son and has learned to accept that Utah is now her permanent home. Before becoming a stay at home mom, she taught elementary school and loves to use that background to create fun activities to entertain her children. Though staying home with the kids is great, Heather has always enjoyed finding more ways she can keep herself sane, including elaborate cross stitch designs and playing with any puppy she can find. She particularly loves to read and write and prides herself in always remaining honest in her posts about life as a wife and mother, even when the truth is sometimes embarrassing.

You remember that old singsong rhyme, “First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage?” It got me thinking about the order of those events. Love, then marriage, then baby. Now, while in today’s society it’s perfectly acceptable and normal to see many parents in love without being officially wed, …

We all hate when our parenting is called into question, either by a complete stranger or even a close family member. We all hate the judgmental, unsolicited advice. We all hate when other adults try to parent our kid, especially when it’s the opposite of how you want the situation handled. And as a (now) …

“Hey, come on in! Sorry about the mess, it’s been a crazy couple of days. I was going to get to the dishes but then the baby wouldn’t stop screaming unless he had my undivided attention. Here, let me move all those clothes so you can sit down. I promise they are all clean—I was …

Note from Baby Gizmo (October 15th, 2017): A previous version of this article credited Donna Gill Allen for the hand washing experiment, based on a Facebook post of hers that went viral. However, it has since been discovered that she is not the original poster and creator of the experiment. The picture and word-for-word explanation belong …

You want your husband. You want to feel like your 20-something, newlywed horny self again. But some days (most days), it’s hard to switch off “mommy mode” and turn on “hot sexy wife mode.” I get it—we all get it. Parents know how vital it is to keep our relationship with the spouse on the …

Car shopping is stressful. Car shopping with kids in tow can make it even worse. But there’s something to be said about bringing the kids so they can help you test out the new car, simulating what it’d be like to get them in and out. But you’ll still have a task ahead of you. …

Just buy the minivan. Look, I get it. Minivans are not “cool.” They don’t zip around like a fun sports car and they don’t have the power of a big Dodge Ram truck. They tend to be used by “soccer moms,” toting their 5+ kids around to activities. And they are a sad reminder that …

Sharing is caring, but sharing is hard! This is the motto we lived through after my second child joined our family when my oldest was only two years old. If you’ve got another baby on the way and you’re worried how you’ll get your older child(ren) to share/take turns, or if you’re struggling to get …

For any parent of a growing family, having enough car seat space for all the kids will eventually become an issue. I just personally solved this problem in the same way we all do: bought a new, BIGGER car to accommodate. We traded in our Chevy Captiva, which only seated 5, for a Nissan Quest …

Because parenting can be so hard, sometimes it helps lift my spirits to picture how I’ll get back at my kids in their teenage years for all those early morning wake up calls, the embarrassing public tantrums, and for that one time my toddler pulled down my skirt in the middle of church while my …

If you’ve ever considered adding a second child to your family, chances are you’ve had the inner debate of the “perfect” age gap more than once. But is there really an ideal amount of time to wait? It’s my opinion that the “perfect” age gap between your kids does not actually exist. What really matters …

When my second baby came into the world and latched permanently to my breast, I figured my oldest would have questions. But her being only 2 years and a month, she didn’t have questions—more like jealousy. It’s not like she could remember her own breastfeeding days so it wasn’t that. She just realized how many …