So before I forget, allow me to direct you to my latest recipe over at Alpha Mom, the perfect option if you kind of secretly love old-fashioned chicken casserole type things but are 1) gluten-free, 2) a fan of spices other than salt, and 3) religiously opposed to recipes that involve canned soup. This one is our alternative to chicken pot pie, but it's topped with (gluten-free) cornbread. If you're not gluten-free, make the cornbread with regular flour; I don't judge. Also, have you ever noticed that sometimes you ask me questions, or say "hey, can we see a picture of that?" and I don't...
Sometimes people ask me about the secret to success when it comes to a blended family, and usually I laugh and laugh and then ask them what they mean by "success," and also, have they actually MET my family...? But I think I've figured it out. The key is to make All Things Family mimic the child's natural propensity for mood shifts. Even-tempered kid? Keep things on a nice, regular keel. Not-so-even-tempered kid? Hit the outlet mall. Where else can you go where---when your mother inquires about where to find that shirt in the window, and when the sales associate informs her that that's the...
I think we all know I've been a little out of sorts for a bit. ("O RILLY?" you say, because you are mostly nice and only a little wanting to poke fun at my uncharacteristic use of understatement.) Various... things... and medications... have left me feeling... well, let's say... unfulfilled. ["Hey Mom," said a child of mine, a few days ago, "I've been reading your blog and apparently you hate everyone and everything. How's that going?" Testament to my priorities: I just felt self-satisfied that this information was obtained from my blog when said child LIVES WITH ME. I must be doing a...
Today I am tired of all the ways in which my family of special snowflakes is so extra snowflakey and specialish. Today I just want to be a regular family with regular issues and all of the same stuff that everyone deals with because half-grown humans are dealing with hormone poisoning and incomplete frontal lobes. This means you get to delight in the one way in which our family is just like any other, and that means that over at Alpha Mom I'm helping you to clarify when you're allowed to exist and when your teenager needs you to just stop it, seriously, GOD MOM. Now if you'll excuse me, I...
Sometimes I share stories because it's something I want to be sure to remember, myself. Sometimes I share stories because I think they're funny. Sometimes, there's something that causes me to have MANY MANY FEELS and then part of the way I deal with that is by sharing (either for solidarity or because misery loves company or whatever). And then, sometimes, I'm just here to make you feel better about your own parenting choices. Just another service I offer! This went up at Alpha Mom yesterday, and already a couple of commenters called it an excellent "Pinterest antidote," which made me laugh....
I continue to be a giant barrel of fun wrapped up in a drooling, spontaneous nap. Perhaps I should try to enter a new line of work, such as mattress tester. (Not that I'd be all that good at it; turns out I can sleep just about anywhere.) Now I have a new thing to keep me awake, though! Woooooo! Lucky me. Have I ever mentioned (once or a hundred times) that I have terrible skin? More specifically, I have finicky, easily insulted skin, as befits a delicate flower such as myself. As a teenager I had the occasional pimple, no big deal, but my acne has continued to worsen in adulthood until it...
I have two sort-of-parenting-related things for you today: 1) I'm coming clean and I've donned my fireproof suit; over at Alpha Mom I'm explaining why I feel justified in snooping on my children. Now I just sit back and wait for someone to explain to me why I'm a terrible person, right? Because that's how the Internet works. 2) While I am merely angering random people online, some other folks are doing awesome charitable things while being rockstars. For the entire month of October, my friends Asha Dornfest and Christine Koh (co-authors of Minimalist Parenting) are donating 100% of royalties...
I don't know if my life used to be more interesting than it is now, or if I just used to believe it to be more interesting. (Maybe don't tell me. Allow me my fantasy that my life was once better than it is now.) I keep thinking, "I'll write once something fascinating happens." But guess what! I suppose this is middle age, yes? When you realize that your life is just not all that exciting...? (To be fair, I actually had that epiphany over the weekend when Otto was watching Formula One and I plunked myself down on the couch next to him. The coverage cut to a new thermal imaging camera they're...
This morning I realized it was October (hello!), which of course meant I had to attend to two very important events: 1) Peanut butter pilly time (sung to the tune of "peanut butter jelly time" while feeding Licorice her monthly meds in a big glob of Skippy) and 2) Updating the kitchen calendar. The calendar is serious business. It requires colored pens. And consultation of several other calendars. And discussions with barely-awake family members. As I filled it in, I began to fantasize about what I wished was ACTUALLY on the calendar rather than the stuff that was REALLY on it. You can read...
