Tori Spelling Post Swap

We're excited to bring you a new post from mother and actress Tori Spelling! Every other week, we're bringing you the best parenting and lifestyle advice from ediTORIal by Tori Spelling, which is Tori's daily blog about everything from food and fashion to parenting and relationships. This week, Tori shares her son's preschool graduation.

Friday was a very momentous occasion in our family. . . . Liam Aaron McDermott graduated from preschool! It was a proud mama bear's shining moment as my boy accepted his first diploma.

Liam started at his school when he was 18 months with a class called Toddler (mommy/daddy and me). After that he did three years of Pre-Kindergarten. And, on Friday, he graduated. Somewhere deep down I wanted to chant, "Liam McDermott graduates!"— à la Donna Martin — but kept it to myself.

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My dapper man wore his seersucker suit and an M4L (Made for Liam) red polka-dot silk bow tie by Boutaugh. Liam chose the color palette all on his own, I might add. The school set up a nice stage for the graduates as well as a sea of folding chairs for the families in the school's rear yard. Everyone waited patiently when suddenly Dionne Warwick's "That's What Friends Are For" started playing, and then I saw my little man marching out in a line with his other pint-sized classmates and . . . cue the waterworks, which flowed abundantly and freely for the next hour.

They each walked on stage and promptly took the microphone to announce what they wanted to be when they grew up. Liam said, "When I grow up, I want to be a basketball player." It was adorable. Then they performed songs about growing up and moving on, and also sang a song in Spanish while wearing sombreros. Then, at the end, they played "Pomp and Circumstance" (this preschool graduation was no joke!) and announced each student's name to come accept their diploma. I waited patiently with a quivering lip. Then I heard it . . . "Liam McDermott."

Keep reading to watch Liam McDermott graduate and to read Tori's flashback to her eldest child's birth.

We're happy to share a new post from ediTORIal by Tori Spelling, Tori's daily blog about everything from food and fashion to parenting and relationships. This week, Tori shares her not-so-hidden disappointment about her baby's first word.

Miss Hattie hit a big milestone last week when she said her first word. It was bittersweet as she uttered the word, "dada."

I'm sure that mamas everywhere can agree that I wouldn't be human if somewhere inside, beneath the beaming pride I felt about her accomplishment, there wasn't a little sadness that her first word wasn't "mama."

Related: Liam's World: On S-e-x!

Liam is my little man, but he came out of my belly with adoring eyes for Dean. He was Daddy's dude from the jump, so it was no surprise when his first word was "dada." He was my first, so while I was a little sad, on the whole I totally got it and was proud.

Stella, on the other hand, is SO me. Her first word was "mama," and her second word was "shoes" — we were kindred spirits from the start. I'd be lying if I said I didn't do a little dance when Stella first uttered "mama," and used my not-so-inside voice to exclaim, "Yes, I won one!" Was there something wrong with me that I was somehow keeping parental score as judged by my children's verbiage?

So now here we were, at our tie-breaker: Hattie. She was the toss-up. For seven months, she's been our little neutral party. Or so I thought! Were she and Dean secretly plotting this all along? I had paranoid visions of Dean cornering Hattie in her jumpy, monopolizing her very busy and precious baby schedule with enunciated repetitions of "dada," so exaggerated that even our half-blind and mostly deaf pug could understand. Kind of the way you're always tempted to quickly teach a curse word to a parrot when its owner leaves the room. Oh wait — maybe that's just me!

Alas, I've now spent a week saying, "Hi, Hattie . . . MAMA!"

"How's my baby? MAMA!!"

"Did you make a poopy? MAMMMMA!!!"

I think she's getting the point.

As happy and grateful as any mom is about their child's milestones, am I alone in this whole nonsense of winning the first spoken word in a household? Let me know your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

More great reads from Tori Spelling:
Creative Ways to Eat Avocado
Caption This: Shady Lady!
Love Ever After
Bedroom Boundaries
Down, but Not Out!

Source: Instagram user torianddean

We're happy to share a new post from ediTORIal by Tori Spelling, Tori's daily blog about everything from food and fashion to parenting and relationships. This week, Tori wonders if all little girls want to be moms.

It's fascinating to me that, from the time little girls can walk and talk, they already have the mommy gene. It's so natural for them to want to be mothering and nurturing. Stella, from such an early age, was obsessed with holding her baby, changing her baby, pretending to feed it, and putting it down for naps. I often hear her calmly yet firmly reprimanding her baby doll for acting up. After she gives her tough love, I see her hug the baby and tell her, "I love you.” It's beyond beautiful!

Related: Liam's World — on S-E-X

So, as women, is it just in our nature from birth to be mommies? Do your daughters play Mommy, too? I’d love to hear your take below.

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We're happy to share a new post from ediTORIal by Tori Spelling, Tori's daily blog about everything from food and fashion to parenting and relationships. This week, Tori asks for advice on how to talk religion with kids

One of the things I love best about ediTORIal is the community we've built here on the site. I really enjoying reading all of your thoughts and comments — I have such hilarious and stylish readers! So, I decided to make a new blog series titled Momvo (mom convo) so we can all share stories and thoughts about hot mommy topics. Hope you enjoy my first Momvo post!

This morning I walked into the kids' room and I heard Liam and Stella talking to each other. Liam said to Stella "you're a Jewish" and Stella said, "No Liam, you're a Jewish." I walked in and said "technically you are both Jewish."

They both asked why and I said, "because I'm Jewish," to which Stella replied, "you're not Jewish, you are just a mom." I then asked them, without having a completely proper answer prepared, if they knew what being Jewish meant. They both said no.

At what age is it appropriate to start talking to your kids about religion and heritage? And what if you and your husband have different religious backgrounds? I know we weren't prepared to have this conversation yet and still completely aren't. Luckily for the time being they were distracted when they heard Dean call "breakfast is ready" from the kitchen.

Leave me your thoughts on this topic in the comments below!

Related Stories:
Happy 5th Birthday Liam!
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We're happy to share a new post from ediTORIal by Tori Spelling, Tori's daily blog about everything from food and fashion to parenting and relationships. This week, Tori asks for advice on children in the master bedroom.

When it comes to the bedroom, I say the more the merrier . . . No, this is not taking a turn for the obscene; I'm talking piling the whole family — chickens included — into the bed.

I've already shared my love of TV time in the bedroom, but now Dean and I are onto another debate: whether or not kids and furry family members in the bed create a boundary between us.

Related: When to Discuss Religion With Kids

Not surprisingly, I love having the kids in our bed to cuddle, and I think the bigger the bed, the better! Dean, on the other hand, wants to up the romance and downsize us to a queen bed! He even put down blue tape on our current bed to show me the size of a queen vs. king. In his defense, we actually did have a queen bed in the beginning, honeymoon phase of our relationship, so I can see why he'd associate that with romance. But now that we have three kids jumping in and out of our sheets that would never work!

Right now, our usual routine is to let the kids fall asleep in our bed, and then move them to their own rooms. So here's my question for you: do you ever let your kids sleep in your bed? What are your bedroom boundaries? And, does a smaller bed equal more hanky panky?

Weigh in on this topic in the comments below!

More great articles from Tori Spelling:
Foodista: Pudding Parade
Mompreneur of the Moment: Katie of KT Steppers
Love Ever After
Baby Makes 6!
To Juice or Not to Juice

We're excited to bring you a new post from ediTORIal by Tori Spelling, Tori's daily blog about everything from food and fashion to parenting and relationships. This week, Tori shares her thoughts on American vs. European vacation styles.

Mamas, I want your take on something. Dean and I have been going back and forth on whether or not we should go on a vacation alone — he wants to, and I refuse to go on any trips without the kids. I’m wondering, do you always bring the family, or do you ever go on vacations without the kids?

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Our conversation made me reflect back to a trip I took to Europe years ago. It seemed like Europeans did everything with their kids, and their children were also much more cultured than American children. Unlike American kids, they really engaged in conversations with adults and had no need for Game Boys or iPads. In Sardinia, I saw two kids playing chess on the beach next to their parents who were reading!

European kids are treated more like little adults: no kids menus, no kids pools. It makes me wonder, why do we, as Americans, seem to create a separate culture for our kids? Have we made our vacations family-friendly at the cost of being relaxing for the adults?

It seems like Europeans bring their kids everywhere so effortlessly. Is there a way to blend a family vacation while still feeling like you’ve had your adult time?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic below!

More great articles from Tori Spelling:
Foodista: Pudding Parade
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Bring It Back: Vintage Lunch Boxes
Reinventing Traditions: Shabbat Dinner
Fashion Forward: NY Fashion Week Street Style