Sunday, July 15, 2012
Summer’s here and the living is easy—however, some of the questions I have to answer when my kids get curious are not!
There are some parents who can drive 50 plus miles with their kids in the car and the silence is absolutely deafening. No matter what engaging tidbit is presented to hopefully entice even the smallest of nibbles, the kid won’t offer up so much as a sigh. Well, in my world, that never seems to be the case. Whether it’s the ride to church, the jaunt to the milk store or even a ride to the emergency room to have a Lego removed from an ear canal, somehow my powder blue minivan becomes the catalyst for whining, joke-telling, bodily functions (ah, you’ve got to love 10-year-old boys!), tattling, chattering, confessing, complaining and most of all – questioning. The questions vary on any given day, but a reliable sampling of these riveting …
Sunday, July 1, 2012
The family bed is a very controversial topic, but what about when it includes the family pet?
Now that I’m a mid-lifer (you do the math) I’m realizing more than ever how little I actually have control over in life. I no longer fret over my child’s public comments concerning her dentist’s bad breath or worry that I’m really too old to wear my hair up in a cheesy clip. So if people want to talk about the things happening in my bedroom (especially all the noises, more on that later), let them. It all started (bear with me, this will end up in the bedroom, I promise!) when my husband began traveling on a regular basis for work two years ago. Ah yes, thanks to our thriving Rhode Island economy (hey, it’s not that I like I’m bitter, I’m just telling it like it is) he has had to do business elsewhere, as in not in the Ocean State. But …
Sunday, June 24, 2012
We all have dreams--and after reading one of my son's reports on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.--I now have a new one!
My kids got out of school last Friday and no sooner did the bus roll out of the hood, their backpacks – heaping with everything they could possibly clean out of their lockers – came tumbling into the living room and landed on every possible open walking space all within 35 seconds. I twitched momentarily then gasped for breath knowing that they’re in my charge now for the next 10 weeks! As I sifted through piles of reports, essays, math packets and petrified food remains, I reminded myself that I’m not a newbie summer-vaca mom, and that every year the 10 weeks of summer gets a little longer, I mean easier. I may be a S.O.B. (Save Only the Best mom) but I treat the belongings of their last-day-of school treasures much differently than …
Monday, June 18, 2012
Dr. Seuss was amazing, brilliant, and can still teach all of us – young and old – how to live life!
I’m on a literary high at the moment. As the school year winds down and the balmy days of summer arrive, I can think of nothing more I want to do this summer than read. I believe this addiction to books may have something to do with the past nine months. Oh good God no, I’m not pregnant, but having all eight kids in school this year, I vowed I would read at least one, maybe two, big girl novels before June. Well, let’s just say I exceeded my goal and have read nearly a dozen choice novels, but even better—my youngest child Annie, now finishing up kindergarten, learned to read this year. When she’s not dolling herself up with my make-up and heels, she’s reading a book to her Barbies, the dogs, the dog’s fleas—basically anything that will…
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Tired of all the wet stuff falling from the sky? Might be a good time to catch up on your reading!
Too much of anything is never a good thing, am I right? I won’t waste time talking about overindulging in greasy fries, Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food or my favorite beverage of choice – Diet Coke. (C’mon, you all know me better than that!) Nope—I’m talking about those droplets of water that have been falling from the dank, gray skies for what—the past month or so? Ok, that’s stretching it, but it sure did feel like forever, doesn’t it? Normally the weather doesn’t affect my mood much, but during baseball season it’s a completely different story, and I have to believe I’m not alone wondering when this very long season of bat and ball will come to a merciful end. And summer baseball hasn’t even started! I like baseball as much as the next …
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Decorating every nook of the home has always been a passion of mine, until recently. Now I’m decorating something even more important—myself!
For the past year I’ve been rambling away to anyone who will listen that I am desperate to try a Caribbean makeover in our home. I’m not talking about scattering actual sand throughout the family room or making a thatched canopy for our bed. I’m basically talking about livening up the main living spaces with fresh paint in shades of turquoise, mango and lime green. Add in a few framed tropical prints, whimsical seashells for the mantel, spunky new throw pillows and a nifty new area rug or two and I’ll consider the project a success. If you’re wondering why I am still in the talking stages and haven’t actually lifted a brush yet, I have no real good excuse except that life keeps getting in the way. Mind you, I’ve already purchased the paint…
