I came to the sport of running late in life. Though I ran on my high school track team, I hung my running shoes up for many years until the strain of sleepless nights and baby weight became too much for me. In my early thirties, I dusted off on my running shoes and I […]
News Flash: Our Teens Are Over Scheduled And Parents Are To Blame
When my son announced last week that he wanted to apply for his first summer job, I was dubious. Though he’s fifteen years old and quite responsible, I wasn’t sure I was ready for him to take on the commitment of a part time job over the summer. Frankly, the thought of having to drive […]
Teens Can’t Limit Screen Time And It’s Your Fault, Parents (Yes, Really)
It starts before the sun has even broken on the horizon. The sleep barely gone from my eyes, I reach for my phone to see what time it is, I tell myself, even though I have a clock on my nightstand. Emails. Texts. Facebook. Instagram. It’s been a mere 8 hours since I last visited my […]
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 […]
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 […]
Fruit Loop #1’s Five Stages of Mom Fury
“Mom, I have something I want to discuss with you. And I don’t want you to say no. And I want you to hear me out. And I want you to keep an open mind, okay?”. With these words, Fruit Loop #1 looked at me from the passenger seat of the car with his hazel […]
Our Parents Had It Easy. And I’m Jealous.
The other day, I got the dreaded “Your phone storage is almost full” message and realized it was time to clean up my phone. Read: it was time to play “Press Your Luck” over which apps I could keep, how many photos to delete and just exactly how many text messages were necessary. No whammies, […]
What I Don’t Remember….
Is anyone else feeling the stress of being the World’s Most Perfect Mom EVUUUR? Is anyone else looking at The Pinterest wondering who the heck has the time to make crafts, perfect crockpot meals and put outfits together that would make Polyvore swoon? Does anyone else look around them and see moms who spend more […]
Say Cheese!
Today, as I was taking photos of the Fruit Loops at the bus stop for their first day of school, I started to sweat. I wasn’t sweating because I was experiencing the vapors over having a quiet house for seven consecutive hours. I wasn’t sweating because I was going to miss the cherubs (pfft….see above). […]
The Volunteer Pledge
It’s that time again. The time of year when parents start humming “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year”, when Staples sells pencils for $0.06 and you can hear the collective groan of suntanned, sleep deprived children across the country. The time of year when parents practically skip to the mailbox to find teacher […]
The Keeper And Real Life Parenting
Sometimes, you meet a blogger and you think to yourself, “Man, she says EXACTLY what’s in my head. Loud and proud”. You think, “Wow. I have ALWAYS felt that way but sort of didn’t know it until RIGHT NOW as I’m reading this blog and nodding my head the entire way through”. And then, you […]
Mom Bullies Suck
We talk a lot about bullying these days. A lot.< Mostly, in relation to kids and teenagers. We hear stories everyday about kids who are tormented by their peers for everything from their shoes to their sexual orientation to the type of house their parents own. Bullying itself is not new. Not by a long […]
I Make No Apologies For Being A Selfish Mother (You Shouldn’t Either)
I think I might be a selfish mom. Scratch that. I know that I’m a selfish mom. I know this because, last night, when it came to dessert, I took the biggest bowl of ice cream for myself. And I didn’t give it to my husband. Or the Fruit Loops. I took it for me. […]
Becoming THAT Mom
A few nights ago, I had a phone conversation with my bestie in a darkened parking lot and it went something like this: Me: “Would you believe I’m sitting in a parking lot killing time between activities while Fruit Loop #2 eats a reheated dinner from two nights ago in the back seat?” Her: […]
10 Parenting Truths Other Mothers Won’t Tell You…But I Will
When I joined the ranks of Mommyhood 15 years ago, I was blindsided by the truths that become glaringly apparent the day you join the club. And, as these truths became more evident, I sometimes felt like the other mothers who already knew them were giggling at me next to their lockers and whispering behind […]