Category Archives: Bad Things

How to have a terrible block party

Tuesday night was the National Night Out. It is supposed to be the time when every neighborhood in the country has a party. Well, that’s not a lofty goal, is it? Being a block captain, it is my job to be in charge of our street’s party during the National… Read More
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Living in Austin–The Critters

So, Austin is hot. And hot places have one thing in common: there are lots of critters. It only makes sense since it rarely gets cold enough to kill all the bugs and snakes. Yes, there are scorpions here. If you live in a house less than a year or… Read More
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Story Problems for Today’s Mom

Good Gravy, the last few days have been crazy. When did summer get so busy? (Answer: this week.) I thought it might be easier to explain things as story problems, although I always hated them when I was in math class. Instead of figuring out the dumb problems, I always… Read More
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It’s May–the month that kills.

This is the end of May. Like you didn’t know that. But May is brutal. It is busybusybusy. Much like December, but without being pine-scented. There is the end-of-the-schoolyear everything: Concerts, tournaments, dinners, awards assemblies, concerts, graduations. And teacher gifts. Let’s not forget the angst those cause. Thursday (probably today… Read More
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My tuppence on The Wedding

About the Royal Wedding. I missed it. Due to my stellar math skills, including but not limited to the complete inability to do subtraction, I thought with time zone differences the wedding would be on Saturday morning. Add to that the fact that I don’t really have TV (we have… Read More
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The doll head

A few weeks ago I noticed a weird little pink thing in my driveway. I went and looked at it and it turned out to be a decapitated head from some sort of doll. Random, I thought, that there would just be a doll head with no body in sight.… Read More
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Let’s pause for a parenting tip

This is a parenting tip that I just barely learned with baby #5. it’s so advanced and so counterintuitive that only the most advanced parents may employ it*: If your child starts to throw up, DO NOT pick the child up and dash madly for the closest bathroom. You will… Read More
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Cops and cookies

Yesterday, Valentine’s Day, I decided to make a big heart-shaped chocolate chip cookie for a friend. I ended up making way too much dough so I thought, “who could use a cookie? Probably nobody since we all have sugared-out kids by Valentine’s Day afternoon.” But then I thought about my… Read More
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