Author Archives: Megan

The Wish I Wish Outloud

By Megan Every weekday at 4 PM my phone plays a lively guitar tune. It’s the alarm I’ve set to remind Peabody and me that we need to get ready and go meet Bean as she gets off of the school bus. Without fail, Peabody hears the music and begins grinning ear to ear. Just…

Stop the Insanity!

By Megan CHAOS, people! I live in BEDLAM these days! Everywhere I look, and more painfully, every where I step, lie Peabody’s Matchbox cars. And Bean’s Barbies and Lincoln Logs and colorful rubber pads from Hullabaloo and much of the contents of my lower kitchen cabinets and drawers. Al and I dutifully police up all…

10 Tips for A Smooth, Successful Overnight Getaway for Mom and Dad

By Megan Al and I went away for a night this weekend. The kids stayed home with our beloved babysitter, Lara. This was the first time Peabody’d ever gone to bed and awakened without at least one of us at home, and I’m not gonna lie to y’all, I wasn’t so sure it’d go well….

Slap-happy Campers

By Megan We took the kids camping for the first time last weekend. I’d never really camped before, so it was all new to me, too. One thing I learned was that there is a LOT of zipping involved in camping. And not much sleeping. The first night in camp, Peabody’d been in bed for…

T.G.I.S.

By Megan Here in the Midwest, people suck the stinkin’ marrow out of summer, because winter sucks the marrow out of our souls, except souls don’t have marrow, bones do, but for the purposes of my clever opening sentence we’re going to just set all that aside and nod our heads in agreement, right? Winter…

Journeys, The Pink and The Blue

By Megan I’ll spend this week packing and training and mentally preparing to participate in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure in my adopted home city, Chicago, starting Friday. But the busy-ness and excitement of this culminating week, after many months of fundraising and walking and shoe-fittings and sock-experimentation hasn’t in the least…

Putting Down the Books

By Megan I cleaned out and organized my desk on Saturday, unearthing, among many other long lost treasures, my dog-eared copy of Paul Weissbluth’s Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Bean gaped over my shoulder at it, as if she were looking at the Ghost of Christmas Past, and then she looked up at me with…

In Which I Look Forward, But Not Too Far

By Megan Al took Bean to see Toy Story 3 yesterday, so I got to spend the afternoon alone with my little Peabody. First we did the weekly grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s, which he adored because he got a cookie and a solo shower of attention and affection from the Trader Joe’s gang. After…

Sunday Night Teaches Me

By Megan We spent a beautiful afternoon in the shady back yard tonight, soft summery music the soundtrack to our kids’ play and their parents’ chatter. Al made a redneck slip-n-slide with the sprinkler and a huge piece of thick black plastic, the very same tarp we taped tightly over Peabody’s windows back when he…

Letting Go

By Megan Parenting-wise, I tend to do things my own way. Among the mothers on the block, I’m THAT one – the different mother, who nurses her kids for sweet forever, drives the pediatrician crazy with her delayed immunization schedule, (mostly) insists on organic, natural foods and listens to public radio in the car. I…