I received an email recently from Lauren Hoyt-Williams, PR Big Shot for SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove.  It went something like this:
“So, um, I just wanted to follow up and see if you might actually be interested in RSVPing to the invitation I sent you for the upcoming event at Busch Gardens next week.”
Basically.
(She [...]

As of about two o’clock this morning, I am officially the mother of a ten year old.
Ten.
One Zero.
It now takes two whole digits to accurately describe him.  Or rather, his age.  It obviously takes more than mere numerals to describe the rest of him.
As we drove to Walt Disney World yesterday to celebrate his birthday [...]

Dear Devin,
You told me over dinner that Grandma has taken you to Chuck E. Cheese like a million times.
You lamented the fact that I have never taken you to Chuck E. Cheese’s since we’ve lived in Florida.
“Yes, well, Grandma is clearly a better parent than me,” I told you.
“Can I move in with Grandma then?” [...]

The first night we got home, I forgot to feed my kids dinner.
I haven’t cooked a meal in over a month.  Jared and I ate out or ate string cheese and beer or, in most cases, just didn’t eat at all.  I’m always amazed by single people who go through the effort of cooking entire [...]

.!.
It was early Saturday morning and no one in the house had really started moving yet.  I was in my pajamas, enjoying my morning coffee and making shopping plans on the phone with Hilly and Faiqa.
Emma came bursting out of the sliding glass door onto the back patio.  She was wearing nothing but her underwear [...]

“Mama, you wanna battle?”
We were packing away the markers and the BIG GIANT DIEGO COLORING BOOK so that we could all sit down and have dinner.  Together.  As a family.
I’d just spent 20 minutes coloring Diego and a baby jaguar and was high on the quality kid time I’ve been missing lately.  That’s the only [...]

“Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!”
-Dr. Seuss
Now that Hilly has had a chance to tell you herself, it’s OK for me to talk about it here.
Hilly hasn’t been here for the last week just visiting.  She’s been checking out the area to decide if it’s a good place for her [...]

My dad called last night at about 8:30.
“Are you doing your show?” he asked.
“Yep. Do you have to assimilate to be American.”
“Oh, um,” he hesitated, “maybe I won’t listen to that one.”
“Why not?”
“Well, I’m kind of… well… I’m probably a little conservative on that,” his voice took on that goofy quality it always does [...]

There are two things you need to know to understand what I’m about to tell you:
1) Once in a while, I wear a thong. As in that underwear that is mostly loin cloth in the front and string up your butt in the back.
2) I haven’t been alone in a bedroom or bathroom since [...]

My mom says it’s just a phase.
My jaw muscles say it feels like this phase has gone on forever.
My back teeth are being worn into nubs from the constant attempts to not. lose. my shit.

I’m pretty sure I’m the world’s worst mother.
I’m also pretty sure that the most annoying, frustrating, brain bleed inducing [...]

For most of my life, I have clung to traditions.
They tell me what comes next. They assure me that I belong somewhere. In a life that didn’t always provide a strong sense of security or an abundance of constants, my traditions offered a much needed anchor.
When I got married and had children of [...]

Our first encounter with Disney World was a disaster.
It was a year ago. Devin’s birthday. He was turning eight in a new place, and I was swirling in the darkest depths of my depression.
Instead of enjoying A Very Mickey Christmas, we were snapping at one another and trying to figure out why in [...]

“So I have to do the blah blah blah, which I already know…”
“Oh good.”
“And the gobbldeygook formation, and I’ve practiced that tons…”
“Uh huh. That’s great, Devin.”
“I’ve already done everything I have to do for my yellow belt. Except for breaking a board.”
“You’re going to be awes- I’m sorry, what?”
“I’ve already done all the [...]

SciFiDad is having a baby today!
Well, OK, he isn’t having a baby. His wife is having a C-section today.
This will be their second child, first son, and reading his blog over the last few months has been an interesting walk down the proverbial memory lane. He is terrified. Excited, of course, but [...]

Monday, Hilly wrote a post that broke my heart.
Confessions of a Blogger Who Is Not A Mommy was an interesting look at what adult women who have not had kids encounter in their relationships with other women.  It hurt my heart to think of this beautiful person being identified for something she is not instead [...]