Tommy: “Mom, can you get by the co-op this week?” Me: “Umm, why? Do you need something?” Tommy: “Yeah, my dorm room gets really stinky, so I want some horse feed to leave out in a bowl to make the room smell good. Not the cheap feed though. The good stuff that smells so fresh.” […]
I don’t smoke, so I don’t feel the personal assault that the many, many smokers in Tennessee are going to feel about the proposal to make it illegal to smoke in a car if children are in the car with you. It seems like a basic common sense choice not to smoke around children and […]
Teenage romances are practices for adult relationships. They are almost always temporary. Knowing this, how are we supposed to feel about our children’s dates? I know we can’t have the special person join along on all the family outings. Are we allowed to like the boyfriend/girlfriend of the moment? Is it truly terrible if I […]
teen: “Can I spend the day at the park with my boyfriend?” me: “The park? That sounds like fun. We’ll bring your little brothers and sister and make a day of it.” tip-tap sounds of texting on phone teen: “We changed our minds. We’re just gonna hang out at the mall.” me: “The mall? We […]
We frequently have people tell us, “We can certainly tell that Amy has older siblings.” Doug hears: “Amy is so bright.” I hear: “Amy has a teenager’s mouth.”
Sarah’s free Wall-E tree came in the mail and she was thrilled. She wanted to immediately plant the tree in a temporary planter to help it last through the winter. Instead of waiting for me to find some potting soil, she went outside and dug up a shovel full of our front yard. I didn’t […]
When life was so simple that I could get worked up over things that don’t matter, I complained about the evils of putting small children in beauty pageants. I made sure everyone knew I was boycotting the televised pageants for 18-year-olds. I was very confident and uncompromising in my brilliant pre-parent years. Then, I had […]
Sarah has been counting down the days until Twilight hit the theaters. When Noah and his friend asked to go see the teen vampire romance, I was a bit surprised. “Umm, are you going to see the girls in the audience?” I started calculating when and where the two 12-y-o’s would go to the movie. […]
The road beside the high school is in the process of getting a much needed sidewalk. Currently, teenagers walk all over the road, oblivious to the fact that they are endangering themselves. The sidewalks are intended to reduce the mobs of teenagers darting out in front of cars before and after school. I commented to […]