Giving New Meaning to Parenting

Last week, in grossed-out desperation, I put a sign up above the toilet with “Directions for Use” written upon it in fancy font. I’m not kidding. And, mothers of sons, it’s a breakthrough. All of my ranting, explaining, and pleading have never had the stunning effect of this simple sign. The same things that I [...]

Stu and I have both written recently suggesting that as parents we should BE interested, not ACT interested in our kids.  Well, that seems pretty obvious,  can I get a round of “uh….  duhs”?  Of course we should be interested in the Punks. (In case you’re new here,  Punks is short for Pumpkin-heads a.k.a. my [...]

Summer. Slothful Summer. Season of gentle breezes and daydreams and the lull of the creeping heat. My children finish their classes and claim what is rightfully earned: a few weeks of nothing, pure, unadulterated, un-adult-altered nothing. As Walt Whitman wrote, “I lean and loafe at my ease.”
But that time has passed and I must start [...]

There can be no doubt that we are living through times of significant change. The economic climate is, ahem, in a bit of a bad way. You have a new president, a ray of light? And then there’s the state of our Earth.
I recently read the bestseller Your Money or Your Life, it’s [...]

Have you noticed? It’s February. If there’s any one month of the year that I do not enjoy, this is the one. Here in Michigan the novelty of winter and snow has long since worn off, and the routine gloom does not inspire me to cheerfulness most days. What should be the shortest [...]

When I started working from home a few years ago my biggest worry was how I would be able to do both of my jobs at the same time, parenting and photo editing. At first I relied on daycare a couple of days a week. He was only 2 and needed much more energy than [...]

Elizabeth Pantley has done it again. The author of the “no-cry” book franchise has just brought out her newest installment- The No-Cry Nap Solution. Those of you that have read or used Pantley’s other books, The No-Cry Sleep Solution, The No-Cry Discipline Solution, and The No-Cry Potty Training Solution, know that Pantley’s books [...]

I’ve never really been one for New Year’s resolutions.
Ok, so I do make them, but I rarely make it until February keeping them.  However, I don’t have much problem encouraging others to make resolutions themselves.  So here it is, my suggestion for this year’s resolution-  Read to your kids every night.
I know, I know.  Every [...]

My favorite part of the day comes after the sun sets.  Sometime around eight each night, my husband gives our son a bath and plops him into our bed.  After bath time comes story time, and while bath time is Papa time, story time is my time.  My little man is warm and clean, smelling [...]

Recently, we were walking through one of our neighborhood parks, and we saw a little league game. Our son loves to watch people play sports, so he immediately wandered over to the fence and sat down. It didn’t matter that a playground was calling to him 40 yards away; he just wanted to [...]