Parenting Imperfect
- Parenting Imperfect
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I'm relieved it's not just me
For the last few years, I've been convinced that I'm just harder on things than other people are.
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A tactical error in the handoff
My kids are lucky enough to have half of their grandparents within a three-hour drive.
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A potentially quiet afternoon interrupted by a dog and a balloon
The kids spent most of Martin Luther King Jr. Day bickering.
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The dog is a getting to be an expert at training
This sentence took 20 minutes to type.
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Bad things can happen when trends are no longer trendy
When I was a kid, it used to drive me bonkers that my mom didn't know anything about the most important things in my world. She had no idea what a friendship pin was or how you'd make one. She couldn't name any good band, i.e., the ones a pre-teen would listen to like Duran Duran or Wham. And she didn't find Robert Downey Jr. nearly as dreamy as I did.
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Letting go can be more difficult for me than the kids
And so we enter the silly season, the one in which all of us run around like chickens without noggins.
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Despite all the fighting, sometimes the kids get along
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Going to church about much more than religious talk
After a good five years of fully intending to go to church but never quite making it out of the house on a Sunday morning, we've been attending since the beginning of the year.
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Lessons learned from puppy a lot like those from kids
And so our first summer with a dog closes. Lessons have been learned, as I suspected they might. In case you are pondering a similar addition to your house, here are a few of them.
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Summer and the wonderment of caterpillars, butterflies
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Beware the Zombie Squirrel
This is a story about Zombie Squirrel.
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Strangest days are right before the school year ends
This month's column may be more scattered than usual. As I write this, we're in that limbo between when I'm off for the summer and when my kids are. It's one of the strangest times of the year.
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Diva finally got what she wanted for half her life
I am weak.
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A parenting phobia that will leave you scratching your head
One of my two worst parent phobias came to pass last month. Even simply typing its name makes my head all swimmy. The Diva, as happens to kids her age, succumbed to lice, passed along by one of her fellow fourth-graders.
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Oh, how the worries change as the children grow
Most days, we are all just trying to do our best under really challenging circumstances.
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Newborn phase would be much better if there were deadlines
Friends of mine just had their first baby.
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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.
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Bathing children shouldn't have to be this hard
I just hurt my throat while yelling at my children.
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The Christmas crunch is getting to be way too much
There are two reasons that I would like to be Canadian.
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The Kingdom of the Mouse offers lessons and true magic
Some opportunities simply fall into your lap.
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I'm relieved it's not just me



