Being a mother and a casual observer of the human race, it warrants me the right to shed light on the interesting public response to parents out and about with their children.

 

One is the perfect number for our family, and happily for us, one precious girl arrived three years ago this month. As an only myself, I’m prepared to pave the way. Although only children are now ubiquitous, negative stereotypes about them persist. The stereotype that I find the most natural and the least inconsiderate to live up to is that of “immodesty”. My manicure, stylish top, statement necklace and even my eye-makeup are often a joyful shade of lemonade. My only girly-girl child dons her own lemon and white striped dress and matching hair accessories.

Have you all guessed by now that my six-year-old daughter weighs in on most issues, and that she is the not so “ghost-like” writer of many of these entries?

Yesterday over breakfast, she asked why I get so “fancy” just to go to work. I looked down and saw a blouse, slacks and about a 1 ½ inch heel on my shoes and declared that there was nothing fancy about me. I was wearing business casual. That meant nothing to her.

“Why don’t you wear something comfortable to work like I do at school?”

Well, we have a dress code policy at work, and I dress this way because…

Kids love adventures, especially ones with gooey slimy creatures!

“Honey, get up. Your pants are getting dirty.” Isn’t that what every man wants to hear when he is on one knee and proposing to his girlfriend? Well, that’s the response my husband received when he asked me to marry him 12 years ago. At that moment, all I could think about was how he had on a new pair of khakis and how dirty the ground was and how it was going to be hard to get the dirt out of the knee. I did eventually get to the “yes” part, but I think he had to ask me again before my brain started functioning properly. What can I say? I don’t respond to surprises well.

Let me preface this entire post by saying it's pretty much the most uncomfortable thing I've probably ever written.  And this coming from someone that wrote a book with an entire chapter about my sex life with my husband; so there's that.  But after what I will refer to as "The Incident" I felt I had to tackle this topic head on.

My family and I just got back from a road trip.  We made the nearly 5-hour trek from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area, where I was a bridesmaid in my cousin’s wedding.  Prior to the trip, I gathered all the necessities I needed to keep my 2 ½ year-old and 4-year-old from having a meltdown mid-ride.  DVD Player, check.

I recently saw Honda's new commercial for their new CRV in which a spritely young lass travels the country, taking photos in a different t-shirt in every state she visits, crossing off states one at a time from her "leap list." Being the curious cat that I am, I had to Google leap list to find out more...and loved what I found!

“Every poem tells a story, and every poem is in some way about love,” says Rennie McQuilkin, author, teacher, publisher and founder of the prestigious Sunken Garden Poetry Festival at the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, Connecticut.

Incompatible, irreconcilable differences, parting of ways…it doesn’t matter how you phrase it, but a long-term relationship has ended for me. I’ve known him a decade longer than I’ve known my husband, and he has outlasted any girlfriend I’ve ever had. Joe has been present in times of tremendous joy, pain, sorrow-he has seen it all, and he sat and listened without judging. That’s hard to come by these days. And the relationship ended so abruptly that I haven’t had much time to process my emotions until now.