The Mint Chip Mama Sundae: A Weekly Guide To Hot T, Navigating Mom Life, And New York

The Mint Chip Mama 2022 Holiday Gift Guide Saved By The Bell Mug

Your uncensored guide to January Mom Life and the crazy inner thoughts of this tired mom of three.

The Mint Chip Mama Sundae: Mom Life Sunken Meadow Park

Weekly Musings: January Mom Life

Hello and welcome to my first Sundae! Like the name? My husband thought of it. So to be fair I will give him credit this one time. Thanks Ross!

I am so excited to kick off this new series! This is a very big year for our family and one we have been planning for years. I will have lots to talk about! I’ve wanted to start a weekly newsletter for so long. There is so much that I want to share each week. I hope you enjoy reading it and it gives you some unique ideas to bring into your home. Even better, I hope it sparks some good ideas to get out and go somewhere new! We love exploring the New York area, hiking on Long Island, and visiting different family friendly places in the Northeast. Where do you like to go?

One of my 2023 goals is increasing my email list, so please sign up below. That way, each time I post something new it will come straight to your inbox. Every week I’ll be sharing answers to the same questions, like a mom blog Mad Libs. If there is anything else you want to see, just let me know!

The Mint Chip Mama Sundae January Mom Life

Starting With: My Question to YOU This Week

What’s the connection to the mug in the blog’s main image and the title of this series? Comment below! Need a hint?

The Mint Chip Mama Sundae: Mom Life Lyle Lyle Crocodile DVD

What Am I Watching? What Are My Kids Watching?

We just finished White Lotus. Wow. They don’t disappoint with their big endings!

My kids are watching Lyle, Lyle Crocodile The Movie based on one of their favorite books – Lyle, Lyle Crocodile.

What are you watching? Comment below!

The Mint Chip Mama Sundae: Chocolate Peanut Butter Mochi Cake

What Am I Eating?

I’m still doing my spite diet of four almonds* for breakfast at noon after intermittent fasting. But with that said, our local supermarket had a sale on a cheesecake sampler so I got excited about that. Of course this was after we finished my favorite boxed cake mix – the chocolate peanut butter mochi cake from Trader Joe’s. Life is short, eat chocolate. If you squint you can see the “2023 in chocolate chips”.

*save 15% with code: “TMCM15

The Mint Chip Mama Sundae: January Mom Life Michelle Obama

What Am I Reading?

Michelle Obama’s The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times.

While I don’t have as much time as I’d like to sit and read I do always try to have at least one or two books on my nightstand. I’m really enjoying this book so far and think she really captured what a lot of parents went through at the beginning of the pandemic. Also – large print – oh yeah, it’s life changing!

The Mint Chip Mama Sundae: Mitzvah Market

What Am I Writing?

I’m so excited to have my next piece published for Mitzvah Market titled: From First-Time Moms to First Mitzvahs. In this article I write about all the emotions that recently rushed over me while sitting at the Central Park Children’s Zoo and thinking about the early days of being a first time mom in Manhattan.

The Mint Chip Mama Sundae: January Mom Life Zen Battle

What Are We Playing?

We are still completely obsessed with Zen Battle. This game is not only beautiful, but fast, fun, and easy. I love a new game that I can open and understand how to play in five minutes flat. The only thing I don’t like about it? My six year old keeps kicking my butt.

The Mint Chip Mama Sundae: Mom Life Bryant Park

Where Are We Going?

We started our week (and year) with one of our favorite traditions – a first day hike. This year we went to Sunken Meadow Park on the north shore of Long Island. The weather was perfect!

We also took a hookey day to see Almost Famous on Broadway. Another day of beautiful weather was a gift and we caught a quick lunch in Bryant Park before the show.

The Mint Chip Mama: Stop This Nursing Strike

What Blog Post Am I’m Thinking About?

I’ve been thinking about breastfeeding and how much of a part of my life it was for so many years. I was also thinking about my middle son and how he’s had a decisive personality since he was a zygote. When he went on a nursing strike in 2014 it destroyed me. Some friends joke that I had my third kid because I needed breastfeeding closure. I will neither confirm nor deny this claim.

Awaroa Lodge - Kayaking in Abel Tasmen National Park, New Zealand January 2006

Travel Before Mom Life: Thinking Of A Place I Went Long Ago

Since it’s January I’m thinking about my amazing honeymoon seventeen years ago in New Zealand and Bora Bora. On this date in 2006, we were staying in the North of the South Island at a super cool resort called Awaroa Lodge in Abel Tasman National Park. Not only did this remote ecolodge have the most spectacular night sky view but we met travelers from all over the world and went on a gorgeous kayaking trip with them.

The Mint Chip Mama Sundae: Instagram

This Week’s January Mom Life On Instagram:

From reels to posts and carousels, walks to new products, see what’s going on in my Instagram. I can usually be found dancing around or lip-syncing to something silly. We have a picture at Upper Francis Pond from a nice winter hike, a reel lip-synching to the Backstreet Boys, a series of New Years’ Eve pictures from my favorite group – Long Island Ladies of Seasonal Style and finally my blog post “The Best Winter Family Activities Around Long Island: Winning December Break And Starting 2023 Like A Boss!”.

Please let us know what you think of this post! Was it helpful? Did you go to any of these places? Try any of these things? If yes, please like the post, comment below, and share it on your social media.

Also don’t forget to follow us on FacebookInstagram, Pinterest, Amazon, and Tik Tok and email us at themintchipmama@gmail.com with what you want to see next!

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Published by Stacey Wallenstein

Stacey Gish Wallenstein created The Mint Chip Mama blog in 2013 to share her love and passion for giving children meaningful life experiences and helping moms like her navigate the challenges and benefits of raising children in the New York metropolitan area. Before becoming a full-time mom in 2010, Stacey spent the better part of the preceding decade as a high-end customer relationship management (CRM) professional for some of the most well-known brands in the hotel, luxury, fashion, and beauty industries, such as Harrah’s Entertainment, Chanel and Christian Dior, Inc. She managed customer loyalty programs for thousands of clients around the country and created social media strategies for a span of industries including healthcare services, restaurants, consumer packaged goods, specialty foods, local attractions and retail locations. After 13 wonderful years in Manhattan (the last three of which spent as a city mom), Stacey and her husband moved to Long Island in 2014, where they now reside with their three children (13, 10, and 7). There, she is a founding member of her local Parenting Center, which provides classes and coordinates events designed to educate and inform parents while fostering an environment of support and friendship within the community. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Stacey has been active in the New York area alumni organization for nearly twenty years, serving as a board member on the school’s University of Michigan Alumni Club of New York City. She also holds a Masters in Psychology from The New School in New York City. Please check out The Mint Chip Mama in the Press: The New York Post, Psychology Today, NY Metro Parents, New York Family, Parents Magazine, Newsday, News 12, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt: Kids, NerdWallet, Big Apple Kids Guide, and more! The Mint Chip Mama was also nominated as "The Best Blog On Long Island" for 2022, 2023, 2024, one of the Top 20 New York Mom Blogs & Websites, and one of the Top 100 Mom Lifestyle Blogs on the web! For more updates, follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Pinterest.

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