Life At The Fringe Tue May 09 2017
I know all about living at the fringes of society. First, I was one of only two kids in first grade who had divorced parents, plus my mom was gay. But there was more to it than that. view at huffingtonpost #Parenting#conforming#HuffPost
A Divorced Mom Talks to Her Children About Marriage Tue Dec 27 2016
I don’t want my kids to grow up thinking they are failures if they get divorced. I don’t want them to think that they even have to get married. And I also don’t want them to think happily ever after is just a pipe dream they can never achieve. view at huffingtonpost #Parenting#Divorce#HuffPost
Mama, Look at Me Mon Jan 16 2017
My body is there with my children, but my mind is full of my own things: who needs to be where, when, and what needs to happen in order for that to occur, what I can cook for dinner that everyone will eat without complaining, a half-thought I want to remember to write down and expand into an essay. I look at him but don’t watch him closely. read this article #parenting#mothers#LookAtMe#HuffPost
It's Not That Hard: Talking to Children About Gender Identity Tue Feb 07 2017
I can imagine that our shift towards a more inclusive society has caused more than one parent trepidation in regard to explaining things to their children. I’m sure at least one person has said to themselves, “Hey, I just figured out talking about gay and straight. Now I have to talk about gender identity with an 8-year-old? Impossible.”
view at huffingtonpost #Parenting#Transgender#Gender
Writing Through Distractions of the Small Child Variety Tue Jan 09 2018
Writing for me has always involved coping with distractions of the small child variety. Yet, I earned two college degrees and wrote over one thousand pages while mothering two small creatures over nearly a decade, and I like to think I didn’t do a half-bad job at either endeavor—at least so far. view at thedebutanteball #Parenting#DebutanteBall#Writing#WritingWhileMothering
Sorry, Comet, Adults and Children Can’t be Friends Tue Dec 12 2017
My kids think this whole “not just a teacher but also your friend” thing sounds like a warm and fuzzy idea. I have a differing opinion. view at huffingtonpost #Parenting#HuffPost#Comet#Rudolph
Helping Kids Resist Peer Pressure Thu Jan 04 2018
f I want to trust him to navigate this world which is filled with both good and sinister people, I better reinforce his standing up for himself on the little things. view at huffingtonpost #Parenting#HuffPost#PeerPressure
Defying the Manifesto Wed Feb 06 2013
As a child I made mental notes of all the ways I thought my parents or teachers were screwing up and vowed never to do those things when I got to reign superior over children of my own. As an adult, I have gained an understanding about a lot of things my mother did or didn't do, and nothing has made me understand her more than having my own kids. read this article #Parenting#OnlyMama#humor#Fail
A Mother’s Response to the Ft. Lauderdale Airport Shooting Fri Jan 06 2017
Airports were always happy places for me. They contained the expectation of adventure and were filled with people going somewhere, and I was one of those people, too. Every summer, my brother and I boarded a plane in Rochester, NY, and followed a daisy chain of connecting flights to end in Anchorage, Alaska, over 4,000 miles away.
view at huffingtonpost #airports#parenting#fear#flying
Card Night Sat Apr 01 2017
We played cards, using nails instead of pennies to place our bets. We called the box of nails “our nail collection” as if it were something special, searched for, and discovered like jewels from a sunken pirate ship. In the one-pound box of nails—galvanized, roofing—there were two we most coveted: one stubby runt-nail, and one extra-long one. I think we all like the shortest nail best. read this article #smallMoments#parenting#lessons
Rite This Injustis! Sat Apr 29 2017
My youngest son has objected to spelling since he was first introduced to the concept. It wasn’t the work of memorization that irked him, but rather the nonsensical ways that words were spelled. read this article #humor#Parenting#spelling
Why We Need Darkness in YA Literature Thu Jul 05 2018
I buy books for my sons. I read reviews and get recommendations and thrust books into their hands and walk away. I don’t generally pre-read the books before I give them to the boys. When I do read them, I'm often surprised. read this article #YA#Parenting#Darkness
The Diorama That Led to Despair Fri Jan 31 2014
I have been waiting for years to get to make another diorama. As a kid, there was nothing cooler than building a little scene in a shoebox. Perhaps I would have become a Rhode Scholar if I could have continued building dioramas in high school and college, but when they were replaced by projects involving diagrams and essays a little part of me died and I have been mourning the Death of the Diorama and my enthusiasm for learning ever since. read this article #humor#parenting#OnlyMama
My Child Has Been Eaten by Aliens Mon Nov 24 2014
My kid has obviously been eaten by an alien and replaced with a really convincing replica.
Nothing else makes sense. I didn't notice anything unusual until Friday. The new boy looked just like Big Pants. He sounded like Big Pants. He even fought with his brother and pouted just like Big Pants. read this article #humor#parenting#OnlyMama
In Which a Non-Sports Fan Watches the World Series and Likes It Thu Nov 03 2016
I’m not a sports person, though I am a sports mom. I spend multiple days a week watching my kids play hockey or baseball, depending on the season. But I don’t actually like sports. view at huffingtonpost #HuffPost#sports#parenting
Book Review of Sink or Swim: Tales from the Deep End of Everywhere by Brenda Kelley Kim Fri Dec 16 2016
That common experience of motherhood makes this book engaging, as each story reminds me of one of my own, making reading the book feel like a conversation between new friends. view at momeggreview #BookReview#Humor#Parenting
Other People’s Questions About My Son’s Grade-Skipping, and What I Wish They Would Ask Instead Sun Aug 27 2017
To some people my son is a novelty, a social experiment, or the result of pushy over-parenting. All he is really is a kid who doesn’t want to be bored. view at huffingtonpost #Gifted#Asynchronous#Parenting#HuffPost
Parenting Styles: My Biggest Mistake with Family Game Night Mon Jul 15 2019
I was pretty excited when my eldest was old enough to play Candyland and Chutes and Ladders. I’d been waiting for years and years to reach board game age.
Unfortunately, the two-and-a-half-year age gap between my kids meant that my youngest wasn’t ready—not by a long shot. Neither was he interested in leaving us alone to play a board game without his “help.” If you have a toddler, you know just how helpful they can be. view at modernparentsmessykids #ModernParentsMessyKids#GameNightFail#Cheating#LettingKidsWin#Parenting