My Story
When the Paycheck Disappeared, the Real Education Began
I grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and I always knew I wanted to work with kids. After finishing my degree in counseling, I spent twelve years as an elementary school counselor — the kind of job that fills your heart and absolutely wrecks your energy reserves in the best possible way. I loved every single complicated, rewarding moment of it.
When my youngest was born and my husband and I sat down to look at childcare costs, we made the decision that I would step away from my career to be home with our kids. It was the right call for our family — and also a financial earthquake. Going from two incomes to one meant rethinking absolutely everything: grocery shopping, birthday parties, family vacations, the way we thought about fun.
What surprised me was how much I learned about parenting by being forced to get creative. When you can't spend your way to a good time, you discover what actually works. And my background in child psychology kept reminding me: the research has always said that connection, routine, and emotional attunement matter infinitely more than expensive toys or curated experiences.
Why This Site Exists
The Gap I Kept Seeing in Parenting Advice
So much of the parenting content I found online assumed a certain level of financial comfort — aesthetically perfect playrooms, weekly activity classes, elaborate holiday traditions. I kept thinking: where is the content for families like mine? Families who are doing everything right emotionally but working with real constraints?
That's why I built Childhood Relived. It's the place I wished existed when I was figuring this all out — a community where parenting wisdom and financial reality sit side by side, and nobody pretends that a beautiful childhood requires a big budget.
What You'll Find Here
Practical, Warm, and Always Honest
I write about emotional milestones, daily routines, toddler meltdowns, sibling dynamics, and the weird specific magic of raising small humans. I also write about budgeting for groceries, planning affordable family road trips, finding free or cheap activities that kids actually love, and making peace with a single-income lifestyle without feeling like you're missing out.
Everything I share comes from my own experience — both as a trained counselor and as a very real, very imperfect mom who has burned dinner, lost her patience, and cried in the bathroom. I'm not here to perform perfect parenting. I'm here to help you do the real thing, beautifully and affordably.