Truth Fairy
She had been wiggling that tooth for at least a week. First with her tongue. Then with her finger, despite our repeated reminders to keep her hands away from her mouth. As is usually the case, it was the first…
Drive Time
It happened on the way to Water Country. My hands were clammy on the steering wheel. I could feel my heart thumping in my ears. A set of deep-breathing exercises did nothing to calm my anxiety as I signaled to…
The Insiders
Every parent of all girls or all boys has all kinds of ideas about why that particular arrangement is preferable to another. That’s just what we do. As the mother of three daughters, or a girl-maker as I have referred…
Santa Babies
From their second-level perch, it’s apparent that the line starts just outside the food court, winds around the snow-flocked enchanted forest, and doubles back in front of Auntie Anne’s pretzel cart. That’s convenient – the mom decides as she…
Hallo-when?
When I was a kid, Halloween was one day. It was a glorious day to be sure. But it was one day - in the life of a busy, happy family with six children and two working parents. When Halloween…
Rooted in Tradition
It was eighteen years ago in early autumn when my husband and I took our dog, Rosco, and our two-day-old marriage camping. Over the years, I've learned that most couples cannot begin to fathom why we would have thought a…
Not-So-Special Delivery
What is the point exactly? That's what I want to know. It's the question I ask, silently, every time I hear a mother chronicling every last detail of her agonizing labor and delivery story to a wide-eyed woman with a…
An “F” for Mommy
Something happened to my kids on the way to school. At home, they had a certain propensity for sassiness. Okay, so they weren't miscreants by any means, but with us anyway, they definitely spoke their minds. And I encouraged…
Dreams Come True
We were done. As in, we had decided on two kids, and I knew we were done. Yet, there I was, pregnant as all get-out, swollen with impending motherhood – smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer. In…
