Today, Stuff Kids Write (the new blog project I’ve started with Chase McFadden) features a hilarious letter from a six-year-old to her dad, who shot a tom cat. Click here to check it out; I challenge you not to laugh. But first, I thought I’d offer you some information on farm girls, tom cats, and […]
Wild Gen X Tales
Babies, Monkeys, and Bangkok
We were leaving the chaos of Bangkok for the chaos of the Thai countryside. Inside our ubiquitous white tourist van were a driver, my in-laws, my husband, and our four-month-old twins. It was our kids’ longest journey; from our apartment in Bangkok it was a four hour drive south to a semi-private beach near Prachuap […]
Surviving the First Week with Newborns
Just over a week ago, my new blogging buddy, Rob Shep and his lovely wife Monica, celebrated the birth of twins. Their son Hayden has been home for a bit, and yesterday their daughter Reese was discharged from the hospital. This post is a Welcome Home message for all of them. And a walk down […]
Remembering Grandma’s Cookies
I enjoy baking more than crafts, but that doesn’t mean I do it often. When I do bake, I tend to use my mom’s recipes, most of which come from her mother. I love my grandma’s recipes. They’re Depression-era farm recipes, which means they’re easy and economical and contain no bizarre ingredients like Cream of […]
A Music Memoir in 12 Questions
With all the 80s fun I’ve been having recently, I’ve been able to listen to music I grew up with. Whether it was Toto, Peter Gabriel or (God forbid) Air Supply, there are a lot of songs that have somehow influenced my taste in music today, which is a tad eclectic. A couple of weeks […]
My Love-Hate Relationship with Movies
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of guest posting at Educlaytion, a blog by Clay Morgan, a talented pop culture guru and history professor. Each Friday Clay runs a Friday Flick Face-off, where he picks a theme and pits movies up against each other, with readers having the chance to vote for their favourite. For my […]
Lie Your Way To a Happy Pregnancy*
Since I endured a pregnancy, I feel this experience grants me the authority to spout opinions on all women’s pregnancy…much in the same way that everyone who has been to school seems to be an authority on education. Given my gestational expertise, then, I thought I’d forge ahead and offer some flippant advice to those […]
5 Childhood Milestones I’m More Than Thankful For
When you have twins that are your Alpha and Omega, every stage of child rearing is not only a first, but also a last. There is no need to keep anything for the next kid, because there is no next kid. It’s an all-or-nothing approach to parenting. While there are some developmental stages I might […]
Children, Swearing, and the Middle Finger
When I was young, I remember watching my older sister and mom bake a cake. I got into a fight with my sister and called her a bastard. My mom froze, beaters in hand, and said in a tone I rarely heard, “Where did you hear that?” “School,” I said, eyes downcast, tears threatening to […]
Board Games: The Fast-Track To Family Conflict
Board games are an activity steeped in nostalgia. I remember playing marathon Cribbage games with my mom at the age of 6, running to my dad every hand so he could tell me what to discard. I remember playing Rumoli with my whole family during two-day rural power outages. I remember playing Scrabble with my […]