Giving New Meaning to Parenting

The surprisingly excellent USA team has gone home in tears. And England’s stiff upper lip is drooping badly this morning after Sunday’s ‘humiliation’. At the corner store, I heard delivery men in solemn discussion – “He couldn’t make it today… you know, in light of what happened…”
“Awww mate… bring him over to my place [...]

All 4 of the boys played soccer again this spring after taking a couple of years off from the sport. We deliberately drive to a nearby town for soccer because we like the philosophy of the league there; it’s worth the drive. There’s a league in our own town, but it’s more [...]

Before I became a parent, I swore that my kids would never be overscheduled. I was in the know. Hadn’t I secretly read all those articles in my mom’s magazines that teenagers won’t admit publicly to reading for fear of being mercilessly ridiculed throughout high school and at all high school reunions to [...]

This week reminded me how much work is involved in being a parent. This was the first week of soccer which forced us to switch my older son’s (OS) Tae Kwon Doe to Mondays to avoid conflict with soccer practice. The new Tae Kwon Doe is much earlier than the old one, which [...]

I remember when I first became a mother. I considered a day where I had showered and thrown in a load of laundry while taking care of my newborn to be a success. As time went on, things got easier, but I was still really busy. I remember having a sneaking suspicion [...]

Last week, I wrote a screed about the evils of games. Funny how life works out. See, this past week, my sixteen year-old made the varsity squad for his high school soccer team. So, um, yeah, that was kinda ironic.
And so I have to go to the games and watch him play with guys who [...]

There’s a baseball game tonight.
(By the time you read this, the game will be over. You will know what I don’t know as I write.)
The game? It doesn’t matter. Does that matter?
The Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox have each played 162 games this season. They have each won 88 and lost 74. One [...]

We have all heard the sayings. There are many sayings, each with a slightly different rhythm but the same message. We have all been told that “It” is not just about winning. And yet, at the same time, American society prizes winners. Competition is supposed to bring out the best and let [...]

I am pleased to report that the hydration pack was a success.  Yes, my husband would probably say it was also successful in making me look like a dork, and yes, he’s probably right.  I think though he might be a little biased due to the fact that I filled the “bladder,” yeah it does [...]

I had many fears about doing the triathlon. For example, I was worried about leaving a trail of vomit behind me and perhaps finding myself on a Youtube clip. However, my bigger fear was about what would follow the event. I worried that once the triathlon was over, so was my exercise [...]