Isabella Duton’s children are the biggest mistake of her life. But before you dismiss her as a wretch, consider what your reaction would be to a father who wrote the same article. I know that I judge her differently than I would a father. I can’t believe she and I are members of the same [...]
March 18, 2013
When I was growing up, I sat at our dining room table and wrote big books with crayon pictures. I wrote stories about girls and cats and snow picnics. I had a thing for the snow picnic, the idea of a basket under a tree, blanket spread out on the snow captured my imagination for [...]
November 27, 2012
NPR’s Weekend Edition interviewed a working princess; she pretties up birthday parties and birthday party clowns? Well, they mess ‘em up with balloon dogs and crying kids. FYI, the princess party industry has been recession proof, if you’re unemployed with access to your old prom dresses, it’s something to consider. I have little [...]
November 16, 2012
On Teenager Island, rituals of bed and bath and books are no longer. All that remains of Unicorn-Lollipop-Toddler- Island, are ghosts of your children in the curls of a four-year old girl, or in the hand of a boy, hidden inside his father’s palm. When parenting on Teenager Island there are a few essential items: [...]
October 23, 2012
I’m going to share my come to Jesus work moment, wherein, Jesus is home and work was hell. After Hayley wrote about returning to work, I recalled my geriatric social worker gig, work re-entry, mid-divorce transition, from SAHM to professional, dressed up impostor. Three years ago I was working in a hospital as a geriatric [...]
October 9, 2012
Gabe: ”Mom, you should vote for Jill Stein.” Me: “Hmm?” Blank, benign smile masking my lack of Stein-knowledge. My son, the one who became a revolutionary this summer campaigned for Jill Stein this am, just at our house, but still. He told me she won’t get voted for, or taken seriously, but she’d do the [...]
September 10, 2012
Last Sunday, my sister, my thirteen-year old nephew, my fifteen-year old Sadie-girl, and my forty-something-something self, went apple picking. But a man wearing an apron stopped us before we could wander into the sweet humid orchards. Apron-man’s message? We would have to take a hayride and hand over fifteen dollars cash before any picking. No [...]
May 16, 2012
Consider this a warning to all ya attachment parents, I was the woman on the cover of Time, in her skinny jeans, pert breast popping out of her tank top, future linebacker nursing on that pert breast… okay, I was never nearly as cute, but I nursed one kid until she was two and hiding [...]
April 11, 2012
Heather@ThatUncomfortable Itch, wrote a piece about her fifteen year old daughter wanting a tattoo for her birthday. She also wrote about the tenaciousness of a fifteen year old and the wily campaigns they can run when there is something they WANT: As fabulous as Cass is, she scares the hell out of me every [...]
August 9, 2011
On Friday afternoon I got a phone call you don’t want to get. Ever. From the police, from my son’s phone, from the site of an accident. Was he okay? Was he okay? I repeated that over and over as I searched for my keys. The officer wanted to know if I could meet the [...]
"A thoughtful, provocative look at the not-so-pretty and the sometimes-out-there sides of parenthood."--Kristen Kemp, Baristakids.com
April 15, 2013
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