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General, Parenting

March 6, 2021

Stay Away From the Green Handles

Our son Kiefer didn’t learn not to put diesel fuel in a car that takes unleaded gas, and I don’t tell this story to embarrass him, I tell it to embarrass Todd and myself, because what in the world.

General, Parenting

August 4, 2020

The DMV and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Website

I wrote this (but hadn’t posted it yet) just a couple days before everything started with my dad, and then I forgot all about it. But this morning Todd took Kiefer to a third-party facility to *finally!* get his driver’s permit, so it seems like the right time. No sweet stories of pain and hope here, just a tale of website woe.

Family, General, Parenting

February 20, 2020

My Shoes-Optional Son

We were halfway to school when Foss suddenly announced that he had forgotten his shoes at home. Cooper, ever anxious at the thought of arriving late to school, groaned aloud in horror and irritation.

Family, Parenting

November 20, 2019

The Superpowers & Not-So-Superpowers of the Boy with a Cape on His Underpants

I recently took Will (who had just turned four years old) to Target to pick out some new underwear (for him….just to be clear). One of my favorite things about kids his age is their total, unabashed innocence about their bodies. I love that I can take him to the underwear section of a busy […]

General, Parenting

February 14, 2019

Finding Nine O’Clock: The Mental Gymnastics of Parenthood

Will did not wake up well the other morning. At first he didn’t want to wake up at all, then he didn’t want to get dressed, then he didn’t want to eat, then he didn’t want to put shoes on, then he suddenly wanted to eat right as we were walking out the door, then he cried in the car because he had no shoes.

Featured, General, Parenting

June 28, 2018

My Son, the Enraged Banana Monster Loving Toddlers (And Liking Them Too)

Our home is a very happy place, but it is not an exaggeration for me to say that with a toddler around, I feel a near-constant undercurrent of tension, wondering when my adorable little darling boy is going to suddenly explode into an enraged banana monster.

General, Parenting

April 29, 2018

DJ Dentist and the Hip Hop Hygienist

Have you watched A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix? There’s a line in the theme song that says “This show will wreck your evening, your whole life, and your day.” Change “show” to “shot” and you’ve got the theme song to Kiefer’s nightmares.

General, Parenting

February 21, 2018

You Can’t Schedule a Fiasco

But the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and a mere two days into this heroic new schedule we had one of those “spills and stubbed toes” kind of mornings, a “tears and exhaustion” kind of morning, a “poop-fiasco-that-nobody-wants-to-hear-the-details-of” kind of morning.

Narrative, Parenting

October 25, 2017

Mud Babies An Illustrated and True(ish) Short Story

He looks back at Will, and down again at his own filthy self.
“This,” he thinks, “got a little out of hand.”

Featured, Narrative, Parenting

March 8, 2017

A Little Bit Morning An Illustrated and True(ish) Short Story

Part 1 – Mom It was Saturday morning, and my four year old showed up next to my bed, poking me gently but insistently in the back. I flopped over to respond to him, first suppressing that momentary dread that always accompanies the sudden appearance of a small pale face several inches away from mine […]

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