Grasshopper New Media Presents...

I had an issue where the older boys caused some damage to the house a few months ago. The discussion in the comments was a great one, and one of the things that came out of that for me and Hubby was a renewed effort to get the boys into some kind of service […]

The Poo has entered what may very well be my least-favorite phase.
The crying phase.
Every time she commits an infraction and I reprimand her - however gently - she bursts into loud, wailing sobs before I can even finish my sentence.
Yesterday she demanded that we turn the TV on for her, quite rudely. Her manners are […]

As my two kids get older, I find myself with reduced stress. The kids are growing into fine adults. They are helpful, they are considerate, they are, best of all, more able to meet their own needs! They no longer ask for a glass of water or for me to carry them or any of […]

A lot of my fellow moms are fit, but the level of fitness amongst most of my mom friends can’t be compared to that of the fittest triathletes I have met. When some of them have told me that they had been pregnant, I have almost fallen over. Given a choice between believing […]

My son is sixteen, and, as such, he’s not exactly emotionally dedicated to carrying his share of the load, at least not when it comes to the work load that a home requires.
Sorry, what I mean to say is that he has one chore, taking care of the household garbage, and he constantly has to […]

Don’t you love the feeling?
You pour yourself into your child. You teach and touch and train and restrain. You wonder whether anything is working, whether what you are putting in will ever come out.
And then, one day, someone tells you. Unbeknown to you, your child that argues with everything you suggest is an encouraging member […]

Some children have been calling my boys inferior because we homeschool. The first time The Manager and TechnoBoy mentioned it to me I was pretty shocked. I’ve been prepared for adults to give me a hard time about it, but to have children make these comments was something I hadn’t predicted.
Basically, the […]

When Little Man was a newborn, J and I practiced Dr. Harvey Karp’s suggestions from The Happiest Baby on the Block as though they were the dogma from some new and compelling religion. We swaddled him, laid him on his side, shushed and shook him (gently), and let him suck to his heart’s content. […]

Time is passing all too quickly and my boys are growing up. The little guys are 5 now, while the older ones just celebrated their 10th birthday this week. (Happy Birthday again, sweeties.) It suddenly hit me the other day: I don’t have little kids anymore. They are all […]

Every time someone asks me how Max is doing, I say the same thing: “Fine; talking like crazy.” Which is true - that kid of mine, he’s a talker. Then again, I’m a talker, so maybe it’s one of those things where the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree.
The thing is, I am amazed, […]