The Only Thing That Gets To Me Is Everything

My family is more than four months in to this temporary situation of living apart – my husband in Chicago during the week, the kids and I in Houston. There are many things about our...

I’m Too Young To Have a Child This Old

It happens often when I mention my 17yo daughter to a stranger or someone I’m just getting to know, they ask in genuine surprise, “Are you old enough to have a senior in high...

Everybody Knows My Name

My 4yo son and I have a routine at the grocery store checkout. If he stays in the cart, he gets to help me with the debit/credit card machine. I instruct him: “Press the green...

How a Photograph Changed My Perspective

I’ve had a challenging week with my 4yo son. He’s gone through a series of big-boy milestones recently, and I’m thinking that maybe they all came crashing down on him this...

Helping My Little Dude Become a Big Boy

When we decided 6 1/2 years after having our “last child” to have one more baby, I could hardly guess the particular challenges such a large age gap would add to my parenting of...

Review: Cottonelle Fresh Flushable Wipes

I don’t often write here about the “ick factor” involved in mothering five children. But let’s just say, I’ve come to the conclusion that children are rarely...

Confusing Self-Sabotage with Freedom

I cannot guarantee the clarity of this post, since I’ve been up after midnight four nights in a row, and up early with a toddler who doesn’t care.  Somewhere in the hazy...