Dear Herbie the Elf, I feel as though it’s time we had a talk. I’ve been very unhappy for a very long time and I bet that if you were honest with yourself, you’d admit that you have known for a while that things were not right between us. I’m sure that you’ve noticed that […]
Dear Publix: Thanks For Making College Parents Ugly Cry At The Holidays
The holidays are upon us and many of us are waiting anxiously for our college kids to barge in the front door yelling, “I’m home!” And, for those of us who sent our first kids off to college this fall, it can feel like an eternity as we count down the days to having all […]
Grandparents Are The Real MVPs When It Comes To Raising Teens
When my husband and I were planning our wedding, our videographer asked us for pictures of us as kids for an opening montage he was planning. As my future mother in law and I combed through photo albums, it seemed every picture of my husband made her sigh even louder. As she reminisced, she told […]
Beyond Flowers And Food: There’s Only So Much Lasagna You Can Eat In A Crisis
On the day my father died, I drove to work on that crisp October morning with my mind fixated on the pumpkin spice coffee I was going to treat myself to on the way. “Maybe a muffin, too,” I thought. Why not? I bustled into the office where I was subbing as a school nurse […]
I Didn’t Expect My Son’s Sixteenth Birthday To Hit Me So Hard
As the waitress slipped the huge piece of chocolate cake across the table, the candle that she’d added illuminated my son’s teenaged face. With a big smile, he listened as we sang “Happy Birthday” to him and he eagerly tucked into the cake when we were finished. He joked that he’d probably need to order […]
27 Reasons Prom Was Epic And Awesome In the 90s
Recently, I saw a friend’s post about how her son asked his girlfriend to prom and, I’m not going to lie: my husband didn’t go through nearly as much trouble when he asked me to marry him 25 years ago. Gone are the days when you stood by your locker and hoped that the cute […]
“Hootie and The Blowfish” Helped Me Grieve The Loss of My Dad
When I was in college, I fell in love with a guy named Hootie. And yes, back then, country music mega star Darius Rucker was known as Hootie, and yes, I realize that I’m showing my age when I call him Hootie. On any given day in my dorm room circa mid 1990s, the sounds […]
The “Golden Girls” Taught Me What I Need To Know About Raising Teens
In my house, Saturday night prime time television shows were sacred in our house. My brothers and I would put on our pajamas, make popcorn in the air popper and crowd around on the floor while my parents settled in on the couch. I can still feel my teenaged brothers elbowing me to make room […]
Five Not So Secret Ways To Convince Your Teen To Communicate
It’s an age old trope: teens, by nature, don’t communicate and it’s impossible to get them to open up once they turn 13. You hear rumors from other moms that raising a teen means accepting that he or she will clam up for the entirety their teenage years. When my kids approached their teen years, I […]
The Day I Realized My Teen Needed Me to Help Him With His Mental Health
This is a sponsored post. I was compensated by Med-IQ through an educational grant from Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. and Lundbeck to write about depression in college-aged students. All opinions are my own “I’m exhausted, Mom. I can’t do it all. And all I keep hearing from my teachers is that I’m not committed enough. […]
If You Don’t Have A Best Friend While Parenting Teens, You Won’t Survive
I looked at the text from my best friend and immediately started laughing. “I’m on a college visit and I just want you to know that we are in over our heads. Did you know dorm rooms have granite countertops now?” She proceeded to tell me that she felt like she was living that nightmare […]
I’m Just Going To Say It: High School Was Better (and Easier) in the 90s.
On my way to my bedroom late one night, I saw the familiar sliver of light coming from my son’s room. Burning the midnight oil again, I thought. When I cracked the door open, I found him hunched over his computer, eyes bloodshot and tired, furiously typing on the keyboard. I ruffled his curls and told […]
Twenty Years and Two Teens Later, These Are My New Marriage Vows
This year, my husband and I will celebrate twenty years of marriage and we’ve had many discussions about how to mark the occasion. Should we take a trip? Should we throw a big party? What is the best way to commemorate the fact that our marriage has outlasted three washing machines and two water heaters? […]
Hubby And I Disagree About Alcohol And Our Teens And It’s Stressful
When I was fourteen, I attended a cast party after a high school theater production. When I walked into the house in my white Keds (with friendship pins) and my jeans rolled just so, the parents of the hostess directed me to the back patio where the party was being held under the starry spring […]
My Teen Is Dating And I’m Pretty Sure I’m Embarrassing AF
I knew this day would come but I didn’t think it would happen so fast. It seems like just yesterday my little boy was sitting next to me, in overalls and holding a Thomas train, gazing at me with love and affection. The day he promised to marry me made my heart sink because I […]
Your First Child Can Make You Feel Like You Are Screwing It All Up
When the nurse handed me my son after delivery, I panicked. I felt my heart start to race, my hands started to shake and I could feel sweat forming on my forehead. “Am I holding him the right way? What if I don’t know what he needs? What if I screw him up?” I looked […]
My Teens Have Curfews And Science Says It’s A Good Idea
My son and his friends looked ridiculous as they posed for Homecoming pictures. Though they were all freshly shaven and wearing ties, they were also donning silly white “clout goggles.” Because my son isn’t old enough to drive yet, the boys had gathered at our home so that I could drive them to the dance. […]
Advanced Placement Classes Are Hell And It’s Okay If Your Kid Says NOPE.
When our kids were small, we moved to a new school district in time for my son to start kindergarten. As I was filling out his new student paperwork, I realized, unexpectedly, that our new district had a different age cut off than our previous district. This meant that my daughter, already enrolled in preschool, […]