Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen. Those are the candles I will light this year. My youngest three children are officially tweenagers. I blinked and up they grew, two of them suddenly taller than me. The grades passing, ever faster. When, exactly, does a child become a tween? Somewhere along the way, I forgot to ask. WHERE […]
I’ve been coping with the fact that my daughter will be graduating from high school in May in the healthiest of ways – denial. I could have happily continued this course of action, but my plans were foiled this week by the delivery of the dreaded graduation announcements. I remember when I placed that order […]
My family and I were early adopters of the Elf on the Shelf. We had a hard time finding an elf because they were so new and being snatched up faster than that year’s “it” Christmas toy. My husband and I high five’d when we found one at a local book store and got ready […]
By the time my son started his senior year of high school, he was “that” guy. Alex wasn’t just regular popular, he lived at the pinnacle of popular. I watched him bloom from the quiet kid we used to call The Professor into an outgoing, charismatic three sport varsity letterman. He never met a person […]
My teenage son started therapy several months ago and it has been really great for him. Initially, it didn’t feel so great, though. It felt scary, foreign, and a little bit like failure. As parents, we want to be everything our kids need us to be for them, and when they need outside, professional help […]
The big moments in parenting will surprise you. I’ve been a mom for nearly 16 years and they still surprise me. One night you might be laying in bed, starting to doze off while watching TV and someone will wander in and say, “Hey Mom, can I talk to you for a minute?” You’ll absentmindedly […]
Every day I worry about my teenagers. I worry about them, and their peers, in ways that I never expected. I’m not surprised that I worry about them, but I’m very surprised about the things I worry about most. I was prepared to worry about totally different things than what the reality of parenting teenagers […]
I have a request. Can we just stop with the condescending hot takes about Kids These Days? Every time I scroll through my social media feeds, there’s another blog post or tweet that’s gone viral, lamenting lazy, disrespectful children and teenagers. Kids these days have no moral values…their parents have no discipline…they don’t respect authority…they […]
Even before I became a parent, I absolutely knew that I loved babies and toddlers. I had worked in early childhood education for years and was eager to have my own little ones. This is probably why we had our first child before we had our first wedding anniversary! As certain as I was about […]
