Last week we had a new babysitter watch the kids, and she happened to stop by to meet everyone on an afternoon when 11-year old Jack had karate. This is new for us, him having an activity without me or one of the other four kids. He is rarely out of the house alone. Dare […]
Since the dawn of time, kids have been asking why they need to learn things. When I was in school I asked these questions, and now my own kids ask them too. “Why do I need to know how to diagram a sentence?” “When am I ever going to have to write a book report […]
Dear Jack, Listen, we need to talk about something that’s been driving me crazy lately. You really need to stop swearing. I can’t take it anymore. I am so tired of hearing you say bad words all the time. You know, like the other night when I asked you over and over to put your […]
In high school I played the flute for both the marching band and the school orchestra, and sometimes, we traveled to perform at musicals. I think we got paid something like $20 a show, which I promptly squirreled away for my next pair of parachute pants, because I wore those nylon trousers like a boss […]
This is a great title for a blog post, isn’t it? Great title. Great. Good stuff, right here. I just wish I knew what else to write after such a great title. This label thing can be so confusing. Don’t get me wrong—I love that my 11-year old son, Jack, is labeled. This is a […]
Dear Teachers, Now that we have two full weeks of school under our belts, I thought I might crack the venetian blinds to our life with five kids, and give you a little peek inside of my philosophy about school. I do not pack snacks. We have a generous supply of pretzels, fruit, nut-free granola […]
My 11-year old son, Jack, is now pulling out his own teeth. He starts picking at them in the morning, wiggling them loose by the afternoon, and by dinnertime he presents me with a baby molar he wrenched free. Then he runs upstairs to carefully place it in a long line of teeth he pulled out […]
You probably don’t remember me, but we crossed paths at the mall the other day. I was walking to my car with my kids, and you were also in the parking lot. You were shouting for your son to stop before he stepped into the crosswalk. “Derek! Wait! Stop!” You looked at me and snapped, […]
When I was pregnant with my oldest son, Joey, I worried about a million things; car seats and strollers, sudden infant death syndrome and folic acid. I worried he might be born a hermaphrodite, or with cleft a palate, or a pointy head. (I worried about the pointy-head thing because my brother had a pointy […]
