How to Keep Your Kids Off Drugs

As a mother of six it’s one of my great fears that at least one of my children will end up as a drug addict. We already have more than one extended family member in recovery and it’s really a path I don’t want to go down. So I’m always… Read More

September 21, 2011

Waterboarding, Reading Logs and Other Forms of Torture

JHW.JHW.JHW.JHW.JHW.JHW Those are my initials. I must write them a dozen times a day. Between signing planners, permission slips, and various pieces of paper sent home from various schools, I feel like I need a rubber stamp. Nothing, though, gives me fits like reading logs. You know what those are… Read More

August 26, 2011

Would intestines be pink or red?

I was an avid colorer growing up. I wasn’t a good enough artist to make up my own artwork, I much preferred coloring someone else’s drawings. But not all coloring books are created equal. Even as a 9 year-old I understood that. On the bottom rung were the cheap coloring… Read More

August 22, 2011

So you’re stuck at home with a baby/toddler/preschooler, huh?

There are a lot of kids around the country starting school soon. Mine are, including Jasper–the last of my six babies–who is heading off to Kindergarten. It really signifies the end of an era. The end of me being the mother of very little children. This is what it boils… Read More

July 5, 2011October 21, 2015

Save your Summertime Sanity with Stations!

My kids started driving me crazy the day after school got out. There was the constant squabbling, playfighting, and watching each other play the wii for hours on end ( I loathe that, but it’s just so peaceful while they do it, that it’s hard to crack down and turn… Read More

May 31, 2011

I have barely posted anything over the past two weeks. As I mentioned earlier, it’s been a bit busy around here. This is the last week of school and I am both excited (no more early mornings!) and dreading it (Ada and Arabella were driving me insane this morning and… Read More

April 21, 2011

At least I’m not making everyone march to dinner

It occurred to me a couple of days ago that Easter is this coming Sunday. I mean I knew that. There are giant bags of candy hidden in my closet. (I’m on top of the really important things.) But I kind of forgot about the whole Easter dress thing. Which… Read More

April 13, 2011

The Rainbow Party

Because I have about a million kids I don’t do birthday parties very often. We have birthdays just about every month from December-June and I get pretty birthday-ed out. Plus it’s really expensive. Poor little Adelaide turned six this year and has never had a party so we figured it… Read More

April 5, 2011

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

March 24, 2011

Finn, as in Huckleberry

My poor son, Finn. Everybody thinks he’s saying “Ben” when he tells them his name. So now we just automatically say, “Finn, as in Huckleberry”. I’m sure there are probably people that still don’t get it but at least they won’t admit that they’re clueless. It was his birthday last… Read More

March 14, 2011

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