Girls – At the first hint of digestive difficulties, girls stop eating to avoid vomit. They would rather sleep on the bathroom floor than have an accident in their bedroom. Girls will quietly play or watch a cartoon between naps. The first sign of recovery is the girl changing from pitiful to cranky. Even when […]
After multiple suggestions to dress in layers when visiting New York, I bought a sweater for my travels. Knoxville’s winter is so brief that I usually just toss a coat on over my shirt. I didn’t really have layering clothes and it took some effort to find a sweater that was neither Granny-wear nor too […]
Let’s be honest. You are not going to be back next season. Terra Nova was a fun concept that was executed like the original Land of the Lost. As your audience is not single digit age, filled with 90% sugar cereal and sitting six inches from the television screen, you seriously underwhelmed everyone. Accept the […]
Once upon a time, Doug declared that he could build Amy a playhouse in a single weekend. Since Doug is a perfectionist/artisan, that project continues more than a year later. Sunday afternoon, while Doug fretted over making the perfect cuts in a tiny scrap of red cedar, I said “be careful” and wandered off to […]
“Where is the apple cider?” “Did you look on the juice aisle.” “It is not on the juice aisle.” “Just heat apple juice with red hots and it’ll taste the same.” “That sounds good, but I want to put cider, ginger ale, red hots, cinnamon sticks and cloves in the percolator.” “You’re doing it the […]
Me: “Today is Carl Sagan Day.” Noah: “Who?” Me: “Oh, Noah. Get out your iPad and accurately describe Carl Sagan in 140 characters.” Noah: “Seriously?” Me: “Completely serious. Didn’t you ever wonder why your dad and I like to say bill-i-ons and bill-i-ons?” Noah: “No. You guys say LOTS of weird stuff.” You know that […]
Dear relatives who have finished all of your Christmas shopping except for my children, I will send you the requested list of ideas. Making that list requires that I first plan our shopping list. Before I can sit down and plan all that shopping, I have to plan our Christmas Card picture. Deciding that picture […]
When hopeful college students first began occupying public parks, they were not the first urban campers. Homeless people were living in parks, empty buildings and cars long before the Citizens United ruling. Fighting attempts to help the homeless with the hateful excuse that they will go away if we ignore or punish them is a […]
There has been some unauthorized growing by the children. Not one of them filled out the proper paperwork declaring their intent to have growth spurts. They completely disregarded the two weeks notice rule. Since the penalties for unauthorized growth are getting to wear shorts in the winter, the children don’t really take seriously my need […]