Good Moms Are a Lot of Things

Dichotomy

2012-02-14T09:57:00.000-08:00

...continued... Wednesday Josh and I went into school. Josh wore his sport coat. Just to be extra scary. We retrieved Princess from her room and went to wait outside the conference room for Mr....

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The Bus Ride of Doom

2012-02-04T07:55:00.000-08:00

So it finally happened. I'm impressed she made it two quarters- I had given her a month. Princess is suspended from the bus Monday and Tuesday. I'm not even remotely disturbed about the suspension,...

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When the School Shows Up on Your Caller ID

2011-11-16T10:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday one of the more dreaded numbers showed up on my screen: the upper elementary. Hello? Mom? Hi Princess. What's up? I need some pants. (Long involuntary silence) Ummmmm, there are some in...

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The Giant Pile of Grossness

2011-11-15T11:08:00.000-08:00

Every time I've thought, hoped, and prayed that Princess would one day be healed, that's what I focused on: the "being healed" part. The end result. Abra-cadabra, voila, you are healed. Sadly, that...

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Transition

2011-11-13T11:47:00.000-08:00

We are in it. And it's hard to put into words what's going on, so smart me thought, huh, it's a labor word. I'll look it up. The first site on the list was Amazing Pregnancy.com, so being lazy,...

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Ever. For Any Reason

2011-09-29T06:17:00.000-07:00

Two years ago Josh and I were badly betrayed by someone the children knew as well. This person had been outwardly kind to them, and there was no way to hide the betrayal from them, so they've had a...

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Calculating

2011-09-20T13:04:00.000-07:00

Homework continues to be the o joy that it was last year. So far, there is only one difference, and that is that Princess did not give us a honeymoon during the review month of September. Yesterday...

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Clearly, I've Done Something Right

2011-09-14T08:21:00.000-07:00

and it's not often I can say that, so I think I'll say it again. Just to make myself feel good: Clearly, I've done something right. I find that major transitions, such as school beginning or...

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Addictions

2011-09-02T08:59:00.000-07:00

Today I got the accusation every mom dreads: "You don't go outside with me because you're always typing on the computer to your little friends. Nyah!" This summer I've restricted Princess's play...

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Are You Ready for School?

2011-08-29T06:56:00.000-07:00

We are one of the last states in the nation to begin school. One of the ways we try to keep out of bankrupcy is by getting people to come here and pay for stuff, but you have to have employees to...

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Kerrie, Friend of the Reframe

2011-08-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

Me last year: For Pete's sake! Can't I be outside for five minutes without someone making someone bleed?! Me today: Come on, you guys! Can't I be outside for fifteen minutes without someone making...

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Goodbye, My Love. Goodbye

2011-07-25T07:39:00.000-07:00

Physicals. They giveth. And they taketh away. Four-something years ago we were informed our daughters's first mother's rights to them were terminated, and their last name was magically now the same...

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The Unanswerable

2011-07-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

WHY is it ALWAYS someone else's friends!? Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. SLAM! Which was probably for the best, because I wouldn't have known what to say, anyway. I don't think it was really a question. A...

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Fireworks

2011-07-06T07:55:00.000-07:00

Having a RADling means "family fun" is a conscious decision in which you know you're going to pay dearly on one end or the other, but you do it anyway. Because, gosh darn it, you deserve it. Such was...

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Where's MY Calm-Down Card?

2011-06-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

I have all these great ideas, and no one they work with. Since spring, I've had to restrict Princess's world smaller and smaller, keeping her closer and closer to me. She's been going 0 to 120 in...

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Peanut Ingenuity

2011-06-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

My children are geniuses. No. Seriously. They are. Ok. So there hasn't been any testing to prove it. Who needs testing when there is cold hard evidence like this: Summer (so far) hasn't...

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What Goes Around

2011-06-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

Our family's therapist suggested (strongly) that I get a "prickly mean" babysitter for Princess once a week for the summer, and take the other kids on a fun outing, or I am risking them hating her...

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Chihuahua Fear

2011-06-01T08:57:00.000-07:00

Jorge was, surprisingly, the first one of us to get in a campground brawl. I was walking him to shake down a poo before bed. With no warning whatsoever, the most obese boxer I have ever seen came...

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My Favorite Chore

2011-05-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

I love Clean Sheet Day. It's when you learn all the good stuff. Like what their secret plans are: Or what they're getting the next time they're allowed a treat: If only doing the dishes...

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Raaaaaaaoowaaaah!*

2011-05-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

*the sound of a gargle of extreme frustration Have they isolated the genome for perverseness yet? Because the second they do, I am there with my handy hypodermic syringe, I tell you. I will suck...

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A Gift

2011-05-21T06:22:00.000-07:00

We haven't even finished this year's grade, and school for next year is already thoroughly occupying my mind. When we moved last fall, we moved into a different school district. We kept them where...

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So. Mother's Day.

2011-05-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

Somewhere along the line, Josh developed the theory that I was sabotaging Mother's Day as much as Princess. It could have been that I could not stop crying in public long enough to eat a taco last...

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The Cuddle Bear Turns Five

2011-05-09T14:06:00.000-07:00

I have every intention on venting writing about the two-week depressing saga I refer to by the code name "Mother's Day," but this is so much cuter. Happy birthday Cuddle Bear. I thank God...

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Another Parenting Moment Unenvisionable Pre-Children

2011-04-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

I exit the store and pull the Suburban out of the parking space, passing the store display window as I leave the parking lot. I stop short. Cuddle Bear? What? You did that, didn't you. Yes. I...

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Because It's Been Awhile Since I've Griped About Homework

2011-04-16T15:42:00.000-07:00

I would do it again in a heartbeat. The cruise. There is no fallout that would make it not worthwhile. None. That said, the past four weeks have been....er....challenging? Difficult? Loud? A living...

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