This post contains affiliate links. I settled onto the couch, laptop in hand, as three excited kids crowded around me. They talked over each other, trying to be the first to be heard. “Look up sports ones!” “No, Star Wars!” “I want princesses!” When Pride Gets in the Way of Parenting It was the end […]
How to Steal Time
This post originally appeared on Mom Babble. I awoke to quiet talking and took a moment to get my bearings. Our room was unusually dark, mostly because our three kids were camped out on our bedroom floor. With their bedrooms vacant, we’d forgotten to turn on the nightlight in the hall and the dim green glow that usually […]
When Your Kid Is a Brat
Originally published in 2012. This will come as no great surprise to those of you who already have children, but it may be shocking to the ones who haven’t yet delved into the wonderful world of parenting. Brace yourselves, future dads and moms because here it is: Sometimes I don’t like my kids. Thankfully, most […]
Ready or Not
I wrote this post in October of 2012. It was the second post I ever published on my (now defunct) first blog. I still remember all the mixed emotions of this moment. Nothing about parenthood is easy, is it? I’m sitting here trying to work up the nerve to eat a piece of toast. It’s a […]
Bedtime: The Not So Silent Killer
Bedtime has been killer this week. KILL-ER. Like make-me-want-to-throw-myself-off-a-cliff bad. The boys haven’t been too terrible, other than the fact that it takes ten minutes to complete every one minute task. But the girl. Oh, the girl. She’s just tired. I know that’s it. Because right around the same time every night this week, she’s […]
The Day I Learned the Truth About My Mother
Eli needed pants. He had recently ripped holes in the knees of not one, not two, but three pairs while out on the playground, and that was in one week alone. The few pairs left either had grass-stained knees or were quickly creeping into high water territory. Clearly it was time for replacements. There […]
The Lie Every Parent Wants to Believe
I stand in your bedroom doorway as tears create rivulets down my cheeks, pooling on my chin for a millisecond before splashing onto my shirt. You are sound asleep, curled on your side facing the wall. The Lie Every Parent Wants to Believe I sneak across the wood floor and lay beside you, on top of the […]
Dear Teacher, Don’t Let Him Fool You
Dear Teacher, In a couple of weeks my son will walk through the doors of your classroom and for the next nine months many of his waking hours will be spent with you. I know as the days, weeks, and months pass, you’ll get to know a side of him that even I am […]
Today I Wasn’t Perfect
Today I yelled at my kids more times than I can count. Yesterday I took them out for ice cream. Today we ran errands and I did housework. Yesterday we spent all day at the beach. Today I was short on patience. Yesterday I had it in abundance. Today I Wasn’t Perfect Today I […]
When Comparison Tries to Steal My Joy
It sneaks up on me when I’m not paying attention; subtle, unassuming, pretending to be my friend. “I’m only here to help,” it tells me. “I’ll show you how to be a better person.” I look where it’s pointing; at that woman with the cute clothes and the stylish haircut. Then I look at my […]