You’re Not Alone (II)

I’m not saying these are all about me. I’m just saying if you feel the same way, you’re not alone. You’re not alone if… 1. You go out for dinner as a family once or twice a week. It’s great to be home, but it’s also good for your kids to learn how to act in a restaurant–and…

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Dollar Store Discourse

Welcome to Part II of this truly captivating and informative piece on Dollar Stores. In this installment, we will dig even deeper into the depths of the Dollar Store to uncover a timeless life lesson living just beneath the dust. And oh, there is a very, very slight chance that you or your child MIGHT need to get treated for lead poisoning. I’m sorry, but…

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Dollar Store Shakedown

Dollar Stores are kind of gross. How do I know this? Because I shop there. The products are all dusty and the stores smell funny. I wonder: Do they come out of the cartons that way or have they been sitting around awhile? I don’t know. All I know is that when I leave, my hands feel really…

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Big Dogs and High Horses

I used to have a Golden Retriever named Barney. He was not our family dog; he was my dog. He was named after the store in New York City. Barney was very handsome and very regal–and he carried himself as such. He wore a Burberry collar, he stayed clear of lake water and he made me blow…

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Doctor, Doctor!

Have you ever been at a soccer game and said to another parent: “Your kid is going to be the next David Beckham…” or maybe you’ve seen a little girl dancing around in a tutu and you think to yourself, “She could be a wonderful ballerina one day.” Every now and then my 3-1/2 year old daughter, Sweet Pea, will…

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You’re Not Alone

I’m not saying these are all about me. I’m just saying if you feel the same way, you’re not alone. You’re not alone if… 1. You tell your kid that your “ears are hurting”  because you want her to stop talking for one second of her life. Just one second. Of her life. ONE second with no talking. Please.…

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Birthday Bashing

Somehow, over the years (when I wasn’t looking) the birthday party bar was raised. Organizing a fun and memorable fiesta for your kid now seems tantamount to planning a Bar Mitzvah. What’s more, when all is said and done, the kids are expected to send out the thank you notes, which really means that the moms are saddled with the job. I don’t remember my mom ever…

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How To Bribe Your Kid

My daughter, Sweet Pea (3-1/2) is really mean to my other daughter, Lovey (18 months). I know that Sweet Pea loves her little sister; I also know that siblings antagonize each other, but one night, in the car, Sweet Pea’s outright contempt for Lovey got to the point where I could see it possibly doing some real damage down the road. Sweet Pea: Mommy, daddy–daddy, mommy? Us: Yes?…

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Walt Disney’s Progress Report

My girls aren’t big into TV. They like the show Imagination Movers, but outside of that, TV is not really their thing. Disney movies are what’s big in our house. I have to believe, on some level, that Walt Disney and his people knew his movies were going to be big. He was a pioneer on the…

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Ode To Sippy II

My daughter “Lovey” has no love for the sippy cup. Her allegiance is with the bottle. Sometimes she will drink from the bottle with such ferocity that I end up on a chair, fist pumping and chanting “DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!” (That’s just good parenting.) I don’t mind giving her the bottle before bed. She has only been on…

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