Parenting Imperfect

Parenting Imperfect

I just don't know if I can turn over control of the washer quite yet

I'm starting to think that the Diva should be taking care of her own laundry. My reasons are many.

6 days
Bathing children shouldn't have to be this hard

I just hurt my throat while yelling at my children.

34 days
The Christmas crunch is getting to be way too much

There are two reasons that I would like to be Canadian.

62 days
The Kingdom of the Mouse offers lessons and true magic

Some opportunities simply fall into your lap.

90 days
And the band played on ... right into the next generation

In what may later turn out to have been a fit of self-preservation, my brain repeatedly decided to forget that band starts in fourth grade.

115 days
Being the Stuff Master to the Diva takes a lot of work

About 30 seconds after my first child was born, I somehow became the master of all of her stuff.

145 days
The kids are growing up faster than we can keep up

My husband and I just celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. If you add to that the number of years we spent either dating or living in sin, our relationship is now old enough to drink.

174 days
Parenting would be easier if only I knew Dink's secret

By Adrienne Martini One of my college housemates had a family dog named Dink.

202 days
The apple fell far from the tree, but I love her for it

This will come as a shock to exactly no one who knows me but I am not the girliest girl on the planet.

230 days
As the kids' needs for Mom change, Mom's life changes

Now that both kids are in school, all of the thankless work from the last eight years is starting to pay off. As a result, I don't see as many other people as I used to.

258 days
Some surprises aren't found in the surprise itself

I turned 40 earlier this month.

286 days
If time could just speed up and slow down at the same time

At the end of February, I had something happen that I hadn't experienced for almost nine-years: I woke up in my own house and there were no kids in it. This was, in a word, astonishing.

314 days
The Boy may just become this generation's Harpo Marx

The Diva has reached a new stage of development, one that is difficult to make public because this is a small town and her identity is known, if in a limited way. And so I'll merely give you the broadest outline: girls and their social networks are strange and, frequently, cruel.

342 days
While life is often boring, trips make it much more interesting

Our life, by and large, is pretty boring. There's school. There's work. There's a few fun moments, like the Diva's riding lessons or the occasional movie.

370 days
Memories of the kids as they were then mostly recalled in pictures

I have a nearly identical revelation every time I'm forced to go through the stacks of snapshots I really should put in an album already: how did my children get to be so big?

398 days
Even if the box is fun, it's not really enough for Christmas

If I were a true pragmatist _ or a cold-hearted Grinch _ I wouldn't buy any gifts for the kids this year.

426 days
New car's features give kids something else to bicker about

By Adrienne Martini My husband and I gave in to the inevitable and bought a new (to us) car.

454 days
Bedtime routines and stalling techniques change with time

The bedtime battles have changed as the kids have gotten older.

480 days
New year, same kids --- but boy are they different from each other

And, lo, the day came and there was great rejoicing. I rejoiced, at least. I suspect that primary and secondary school teachers did not.

510 days
Parenting Imperfect: Summer starts with great possibilities, but when does school start?

Summer, like pregnancy, goes on for three weeks longer than is tolerable.

538 days