Monthly Archives: August 2010

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…

This is all it takes to be a hero evidently

By Sarah We won’t be taking a holiday this summer. But one Saturday, my husband, Brian, decided to take the tinies camping anyway. In our backyard. He dug out our camping gear which includes a camping stove we bought on clearance at the outlets, sleeping bags, provisions and the tent we borrowed-but-never-gave-back from his parents….

The Road to Degradation

By Michael I think she was four, possibly a precocious three. She was up on the chair, playing on the touchscreen, trying to win a matching game and then a ring toss of sorts. Her mom came by to help her, instruct her and cheer her on. Of course, the chair was a bar stool…

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…

One Way to Skin a Snake

by DeeDee My husband took the kids away last Sunday so that I could tackle the garage. A daunting task, to be sure. But  the thought of having the place to myself so that I could sort, organize, toss, and generally FILE ALL MY JUNK filled me with a little giddiness. The garage had become…

A Wolf In The Woods

By Beck So the other day I was casually reaching for the kitchen tap and nearly grabbed A GIGANTIC WOLF SPIDER THAT WAS LURKING ON IT. And I will immediately digress to say that wolf spiders are PERFECTLY named – they’re so hairy and lulking and frightening! Good job, spider-naming person! Anyhow. Giant spider, right…

They Call Me Mommy — Most Of The Time

By Kelly I will never forget the first time it happened. It was around 7:00 PM on a sunny summer evening. I asked Natalie, then two years old, to call her Daddy inside for dinner. She went to the window, looked out toward the lake and yelled, “Coh-ee! Dinner ready!” It was as startling as…

But you can’t tell mom…..

By Michael Parents are supposed to be a team, working together, presenting a consistently united front. As we all know, that’s why parent and partner have exactly the same letters. So I was reminded last week about a question that challenges all of us at one point or another. Is it ever okay to have…

Honoring their instincts

By Gretchen “Mom?’ my child said in a small voice, ‘I don’t think you should eat the pie.” I was caught by surprise and asked why. My husband had bought the pie only minutes earlier, indulging one of my late-pregnancy cravings for something untimely and ridiculous. I was looking forward to strip-mining my key lime…

World Breastfeeding Week: How Breastfeeding Changed Me

By Sarah World Breastfeeding Week is on. This year’s theme is Just 10 Steps, which is about the 10 steps to ensure breastfeeding success for health care professionals and parents.There are a lot of good resources available and, if you haven’t read it yet, there are 101 good reasons to breastfeed. Joseph breastfeeding at the…