• Best Thing Ever,  Childhood Memories,  Confessions,  Do I Really Want My Readers To Know This?,  Something That Could Change Your Life

    From Dress To Undress, and Back To Dress

    September 30, 2011

    When I was a kid, I wore skirts and dresses all the time. I’m guessing that even though the early 1970’s was at the tail end of the “girls should wear dresses, not pants” era, my mom probably also took great joy in dressing me up in those adorable frocks in earthtone color palattes as well as the ones made from vibrant, crazy prints and plaids. Being a girly-girl back then, I didn’t mind at all. As I grew up, it became more acceptable–and practical!–for little girls to wear pants. I eventually (by fourth grade) fell in love with the comfort of jeans, and there was rarely a turning back.…

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  • Blessings,  Childhood Memories,  My Kid Has Mad Skillz,  Reflections on Parenting

    Discussing The Duck Chick.

    July 21, 2011

    Jim and I pride ourselves on having excellent relationships with our teenaged sons. We all talk together, a lot. Unfortunately, every now and then our younger son J can’t get his entire thought out because he gets interrupted by our older son D (okay, and sometimes Jim and I). It’s very, very frustrating for him (understandably), which is why I make sure to make the most out of any time I can get alone with him. I ask him lots of questions that require essay-like answers and really LISTEN to him. Like yesterday, for example. I had to take him to the doctor because his right eyelid was swollen up…

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  • Childhood Memories,  Confessions,  Do I Really Want My Readers To Know This?,  Too Funny To Ignore

    Like Mother, Like Son: A Mother’s Day Story About Similarities…And Vitamins.

    May 7, 2011

    First, a “Non-disclosure Disclosure”: I am not being compensated in any way by the brands mentioned in this post (I WISH). The mention of their names is important to the flow of my story. Thanks for your time and attention. J and I stopped at the grocery store last night on the way home from a post-lacrosse game dinner out with Jim, who drove separately. We were walking through the health and beauty section when J disappeared into the next aisle over. Eventually I made my way over to him, just in time to see him place a hand on a bottle of Flintstone’s Sour Gummies vitamins. “What do you…

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  • Childhood Memories

    S.

    March 31, 2011

    When I was in elementary school, I was pulled out of class regularly for sessions with a speech therapist, for a lisp. I hated leaving my classroom for the private sessions in which I had to practice my “s” sound. The speech therapist was nice enough and I never caused a scene about my dislike for the whole process, but it was–by far–my least favorite part of school. I remember being frustrated that I couldn’t always make the right sounds for her sometimes. Youngsters don’t really have the capacity to understand that certain things are indeed under their control, that if they work hard and keep trying even as they…

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  • Childhood Memories

    The Hotel Diaries: Part Four

    January 15, 2011

    Just joining me? Read Part One here, Part Two here, and Part Three here!Although I was again seized with anxiety about picking up and moving, especially after being in Texas for only two years, the move to Knoxville in general was very exciting for our family. My dad got a job as the General Manager of the Holiday Inn near the UT Campus as the entire city was preparing for the 1982 World’s Fair, whose grounds happened to be walking distance from the hotel. (We got Season’s Passes and were regulars at the Fair. I may have to blog about that sometime. It was amazing. In fact, the UK pavilion…

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