Category: Parenting
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The day I almost put my child in a dumpster
So who else went dumpster diving last weekend? Saturday was one of those high-intensity parenting days where the kids fought all day — loudly and with much enthusiasm — at home and in public. Mommy (that’s me) had no patience left. Mommy (again, me) had already texted this message to another mom who was bringing…
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Overachieving mommies: Stop ruining Valentine’s Day for the rest of us
Overachieving mommies, I beg you: Hands offa Valentine’s Day. Checking Facebook tonight before bed I saw a disturbing number of posts from people who were still up near midnight. Why? Because they were making homemade Valentine’s Day cards for their kids’ classes. I even read a few posts that mentioned presents for classmates that needed…
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A Retroactive Christmas: When the spirit hits too late
This is how Christmas felt this year: I was on a freeway driving someplace that I HAD to get to and I had to make good time. I blinked through my lopsided glasses as I tried peer through the salty, grimy haze on the windshield, not completely certain that some of that haze wasn’t in…
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Open letter to the protester holding the picture of the bloody fetus
Dear Abortion Rights Protester, I’m going to admit: My sister and I were less than thrilled to find out that there was going to be a big prayer hoedown of some sort at Independence Mall today. We didn’t mind so much that y’all were sharing your message — we were more concerned about traffic and…
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Sins of the father: Making peace with my dad’s anger
I read an article this morning in The New York Times that blew my mind. It’s about how environmental factors in fathers’ lives — nutrition, stress, chemical exposure, emotional trauma (whoa!) — can activate or de-activate genetic information in their offspring. The kicker: These environmental exposures can happen long before child-bearing years and still affect…
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Consumed by The Motherhood: After 9 years, I can finally tell the tale
I didn’t take to motherhood like a duck in water. My own mother was — and is — so good at it. Endlessly patient. Endlessly understanding. Endlessly giving. She was born to be a mother the way Mozart was born to be a musical genius. (Nope, not an overstatement.) Me? I feel selfish in comparison.…