Parents get mixed signals with raising daughters
Tweet What’s a parent to do? On one hand, I’ve heard for years that I need to help my daughter be comfortable in her own skin. On the other, I hear about an obesity epidemic affecting our children. So, I’m supposed to help my daughter be comfortable at whatever weight she will be (at 10 [...]
Read More →The joy of lying
Tweet Lying is bad. Lying is wrong. Lying is necessary … for parents. As soon as sperm meets egg and the miracle of life begins, parents are entrusted with a moral get-out-of-jail-free card. In short, parents are allowed to lie as long as it’s in an effort to either save money or sanity. Funny [...]
Read More →One wild and “hairy” week
Tweet We playfully call it the “Cop Knock.” It’s The Diva’s subtle way of telling us she’s about to enter a room and we’d better be prepared. We call it a “Cop Knock” because it’s loud and the way she bursts into a room three seconds later is so frightening that My Lovely [...]
Read More →Teens are confusing
Tweet Like the teenagers we struggle to raise, parents are never satisfied. We complain because they ignore us, disconnect from us, roll their eyes when we speak, act like we were born in the Stone Ages and are generally as about as pleasant to hang around as a bag full of angry badgers. [...]
Read More →There’s a new Diva in the house
Tweet It’s like living with a tiny tyrant, a pint-sized Imelda Marcos with fewer shoes, Paris Hilton minus the paparazzi. The Diva’s no longer The Diva. That tongue-in-cheek title’s been wrestled away by Jellybean whose become the most demanding cuss this side of Celebrity Rehab. And the way she talks to her dear [...]
Read More →Daddy to the rescue
Tweet It’s the shout heard ‘round the house. The one that makes my skin crawl, not because I don’t wanna help a Jellybean in distress, but rather because … well … I just don’t want to do it. “DAD-E-E-E-E-E! Can you come and wipe me?” Ewwww! Honestly, I thought after we got the [...]
Read More →Daddy to the rescue
Tweet It’s the shout heard ‘round the house. The one that makes my skin crawl, not because I don’t wanna help a Jellybean in distress, but rather because … well … I just don’t want to do it. “DAD-E-E-E-E-E! Can you come and wipe me?” Ewwww! Honestly, I thought after we got the [...]
Read More →Parenting is about the small joys
Tweet There are joys great and small that come with being a parent. For every first word or graduation ceremony, there’s an expected giggle or insight that makes us swell with pride. Public humiliation is such a small joy. And it’s a door that swings both ways. Jellybean’s embarrassed me by, for example, [...]
Read More →The Music of Our Lives
Tweet Music has played a huge part in my life. I got my first kiss at a fifth grade lock-in while slow dancing to Bon Jovi’s “Never Say Goodbye” off the seminal Slippery When Wet. When my house burned down, the only thing I actually mourned was the loss of my KISS records. [...]
Read More →Cool doesn’t care about temperature
Tweet My grandmother – or maybe it was Captain Kangaroo – used to say, “Cool doesn’t care about temperature.” While such wink-and-a-nod sarcasm was mainly aimed at yours truly, they pertain to teenagers of any generation, when looking good and fitting in defy all other forms of logic. It’s why so many young [...]
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