I have a daughter and she’s perfect. She does all the right things. She is obedient. She is mindful and kind. She plays nicely with friends. My son, on the other hand, is a stinky whirlwind of destruction. He’s a great kid but he does stupid things. His friends do stupid things. Boys are a …
Daughters
I never realized how surreal it would feel to watch my daughter grow up. One day she’s a tiny little infant, dancing around the house in cute little tutu’s, with bows as big as her head holding back her hair and before I know it, she’ll be asking for the keys to drive to the movies with her friends.
Tonight my daughter told me she hated me. She screamed it, in fact, before flipping her hair and marching upstairs to her bedroom. The door slammed and while part of me wanted to run after her and talk to her, I knew the best thing would be to give her time to cool down. My …
If you are a stepparent then you can completely understand what I mean when I say that being a stepparent isn’t something everyone can accomplish successfully. To be honest, I am not sure if I can even say that I am a successful stepmom, especially when I feel like I can always be better. In …
You bring home this perfect, tiny, wrinkly human from the hospital, and you expect life to be easy. I mean, you know there will be sleepless nights, dirty bottles galore, and diapers that smell of toxic waste, but you’ve read all the books. You know how to raise this child. You got this! You’ve memorized …
I’ve written before about how easy it is to be a wonderful dad. To be a wonderful dad, all you have to do is just be there. I’m great at just being there. My kids love me. I’m also a great husband. I buy my wife Ben & Jerry’s when she’s had a long day. …
Ladies, you know I’ve raked our men-folk over the coals in a blog or two. I guess you all liked that because it gets shared a bazillion times. Right now a wife in China is reading my posts and thinking…well, I don’t know what she’s thinking because I don’t speak Mandarin. But you’re not perfect, …
I’ve got to say, men, we’ve really let ourselves go. We’re like that significant other who kept it tight for the first year then tossed it away in a slippery slope of Fiddle Faddle and Orange Is The New Black binge watching. I don’t like what we’re becoming: a pack of callow, feckless man-babies. I …
My ten-year-old came home from school the other day practically bursting at the seams: “We talked about puberty at school today.” “Yeah?” I asked. “What about it?” “The teacher said there are signs it’s starting. Like you start craving chocolate and get moody.” Inside I rolled my eyes a little. We live in Texas and there’s …
We all think our kids are the most beautiful ever, but mine really is. She’s ten and has this long, blonde hair, huge pool-water blue eyes, and a smile that she must have stolen from her dad…because it’s the same smile that made me fall in love with him. And smart? This kid remembers just …
While I have a great relationship with my mother, we didn’t exactly bond over Saturday afternoon window shopping or lessons on how to apply the appropriate amount of lip stick. There are definitely some things my mother should’ve told me… Being raised in the 40’s and 50’s and within a highly conservative environment, the feminist …
When I found out I was having a girl, my mind raced ahead to the bazillion things I wanted to do with her. In my mind I was a Pinterest mom both before my child was born, and before Pinterest was a thing. Mine would be the sweetest, most amazing, daring, and way coolest of …