We paused outside of the orthodontist’s office for one last picture of my son with his braces. Today was two and a half years in the making: his braces were finally coming off. Though he’s used to me documenting his childhood milestones with silly selfies and pictures of him with his friends, my son still […]
I’ll Never Be A Broadway Actress And I’m Okay With That (I’m Lying)
When I was six, I landed the acting role of a lifetime: I was cast as the lead in the critically acclaimed The Little White Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings. From what I’m told (read: according to my mother), I not only knew my lines inside out and backwards but also the rest of the […]
Sorry, Not Sorry, Kids: I’m Not Paying For You To “Find Yourself” In College
Hubby and I started saving for the Fruit Loops’ college educations within months of their births. We researched the best ways to invest college funds, started 529accounts for both children and we crunched numbers. We realized pretty early on that it was going to cost some serious cash for our kids to attend a state school, […]
I Hope My Teenagers Realize How Important Siblings Really Are
One of my favorite photos of my kids was taken when my son was four and my daughter was two. They are sitting side by side, with their backs to the camera, playing in the sand on the beach. She’s wearing a pink sun hat and he’s wearing an orange fisherman’s hat. While you can’t […]
When Your Teen Is Testing Your Patience, It Makes You Miss “Time Out”
Everyone tells you toddlers are a lot of work. The minute you announce you are pregnant, in fact, people start warning you that the toddler years are fraught with tantrums and noisy outbursts over unpeeled apples and socks that feel funny. Three year olds have just enough vocabulary to make it very clear that they […]
When I Turned 40, I Wanted A Boob Job. I Got Braces Instead.
I am an angry, miserable woman in pain. Let me rephrase that. I am a 40 something woman who took a long look in the mirror and didn’t recognize most parts of her body. And I decided to do something, anything, about the fact that I don’t look like I’m 21 anymore. I know, I […]
If I’m Being Totally Honest, I’m Jealous AF of My Teenagers
As I entered the family room, I marveled at just how much space my teenage son now takes up on the couch. His legs sprawled towards the carpet and his shock of curly, unwashed hair brushed his forehead as his face scowled at the phone in his hands. He’d been there for hours, too: due […]
10 “Unputdownable” Books You Should Buy Yourself This Winter
For as long as I can remember, reading has been my salvation. In fact, my earliest memory is that of my then eighteen month self sitting in a play pen on a hot summer’s day while looking at the Golden Book “The Poky Little Puppy.” For a shy girl who moved a lot growing up, […]
10 Books You Should Read This Spring Because I Said So
It’s no secret that my favorite pastime in the spring is to lay around with my nose in a book. There’s something about the feel of the warm sun and the sounds of birds chirping after the longest winter EVER as I escape to imaginary places with characters that stay with me long after I […]
Forgiving Your Spouse Means Admitting You’ve Done Stupid Things, Too
Show of hands: Who has a spouse who has committed an Act of Stupid so incredible that you want to scream and yell like a stark raving lunatic? Show of hands: Who has BEEN the spouse to commit the Act of Stupid? I can raise my hand to both. Let’s face it: in the day […]
I Totally Win At Thrift Shopping (and You Can, Too, With These Five Tips)
When Hubby and I first started out, we had nary a pot in which to piddle. Zip. Zero. Zilch. No moolah boolah whatsoever. In fact, in the now outdated VHS of our wedding ceremony, Hubby can be seen giggling, actually giggling, through the “for richer or poorer” section of our vows. The man had to […]
Since Moms Have To Do Everything Anyway, I’m Writing My Eulogy, Too
When you die, what will people say about you? What will the people around you choose to fit into a teeny tiny column in the paper in the midst of their angst over your untimely demise? Will your eulogy be the standard issue “He was born, he was an engineer, he was a Knight of […]
KOTFL Exclusive: Read A Never Before Seen “Sweet Valley High” Chapter!
No, that headline is NOT clickbait, I promise. You will recall that I recently had the mind blowing experience of meeting Sweet Valley High ghost writer and prolific author Eileen Goudge in the most unlikely of ways. Read about that HERE. And, seriously, grab the tissues: the story is a doozy. Eileen is a New […]
I Met My Writing Hero Thirty Years After We Met At Sweet Valley High
When I was ten, my family moved to the Lone Star State. For a Yankee girl like myself, the transition was anything but smooth. My clothes were wrong, my accent sounded foreign to the kids at school and I missed my friends terribly. Throw in glasses, braces and a wicked case of acne and, well, […]
If You Ask Me What I Do All Day, I Will Junk Punch You
When the Fruit Loops were small, I was a stay at home mom. Mostly. By “mostly”, I mean that while yes, I started my blog and worked part time as a nurse, for the most part, my main job was keeping the Fruit Loops from completely spilling out of the box. And, it continued that […]
The Day A Car Accident Made Me Realize I Was A Douchebag
You know how sometimes Life tries to quietly teach you a lesson and you ignore it? And then Life tries a little louder to teach you that lesson and you swat it away like an annoying fly? And THEN Life yells REALLY REALLY loudly and gets all up in your business and you get all […]
My Father Died And My Kids Had Questions I Wasn’t Prepared To Answer
It is often said that to really experience life, you should see it through the eyes of a child. Never is that more true than when there is a death in the family. On October 4, 2012, my father passed away expectedly unexpectedly. He had been battling esophageal cancer for 9 months and while doing […]
The Boston Marathon Bombing Does Not Make Me Afraid To Run
Five years ago today, two terrorists attacked the runners and spectators of the the Boston Marathon. On that day, I was in an airport in Nashville, preparing to return home from a long weekend. As my friend and I proceeded through airport security, we could tell tensions were heightened and we didn’t know why. It […]
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