Illyse Lane

Gut Feelings

This time last year, I walked out of a teacher conference wondering if everything would be ok. There were nearly four months left of school. There was still time for the pieces of the puzzle to come together. I told myself all would be fine. And then, with one week until summer, I realized all was far from fine. That when two teachers look perplexed as to why something isn't clicking, you should b…

Posted 3 days ago.

Apples Slamming Into Trees

When I was in college, enrolling in classes for the upcoming semester was done over the telephone through a process called Touchtone Registration. And it required preparation. If you were conscientious and motivated, you'd set your alarm for a few minutes before the magical phone lines opened. You'd roll out of bed, spread out the bulletin with your choices circled and wait with receiver in hand t…

Posted 1 week ago.

Hope for Later

I once knew a mother. Outside of the casual hello, we didn't speak much. Â I'd never met her husband. I'd only be able to recognize two of her three children. So perhaps I really didn't know her at all. But I do know that when I started writing this, she was not well. A grim diagnosis back in the fall had given a label to the disease that was fighting to take control of her body. And although he…

Posted 2 weeks ago.

The Slightly Gross

Every few weeks, I have these moments. I sit and stare at my keyboard. My brain temporarily shut down. I believe the term is writer's block. When these blank moments hit on the weekends, I don't worry. Â The distraction of our routine often leads to a sudden onslaught of ideas. But when these moment come during the week, it's not quite as easy, as the pressure's on to come up with something slig…

Posted 3 weeks ago.

Packaging

I've fallen hard.Â The newly relocated grocery store that has moved to my side of the street had me at the "we're open" signs. I'd been skeptical. A parking deck? An elevator? But a walk around the outside and a quick peek through the window before opening day sold me.Â

Posted 1 mon. ago.

With Love Comes Torture

Walking out of the bookstore, my eye caught a book title I couldn't resist. 101 Ways to Torture Your Husband. Not that I am intentionally looking for ways to make Really Big Guy's life miserable, but I was curious. What could the author tell me that I didn't already know?

Posted 1 mon. ago.

Reverse Psychology

I was not a believer. Even though all the meteorologists agreed that snow was inevitable, I refused to accept it. After all, we've been down this road before. So when I felt the first drop late Friday evening, I skeptically cracked a smile. And hours later, with a light dusting covering our yard, I insisted to my family that by morning, there would not be much more than the mere inch that had alre…

Posted 1 mon. ago.

Taking It Literally

It was 4:00AM. The house was silent. And then the dog sat up. He started barking, prompting Really Big Guy to go exploring. He found one kid in bed but the other was missing. At least temporarily. Little Guy was hiding under the kitchen table fully dressed for school. He'd been trying to reach a cereal bowl on a high shelf. And the racket woke the dog who barked and then woke us, simultaneously st…

Posted 1 mon. ago.

Good Things Come In Grocery Packages

January. What can I say? The holidays have long past. Our normal routines are in full groove. And we may be left with sticker shock as to how much our wallets shrank over December. But I'm not talking about Christmas. I'm talking about groceries. Maybe it was the fact that without school, the kids were around the refrigerator more. Maybe it was since the weather was cold, it took more energy to st…

Posted 1 mon. ago.

Things I Learned in Canada

I'm not adventurous. I like short distance trips. Familiar settings. I don't care for any form of mass transportation. I like to be in control. So when I was voted the parent most likely to be sitting on the bus with Big Guy's hockey team for the roughly 17 hour drive to Ottawa, I didn't see myself as the fortunate parent. This nearly week long trip played into everything I dread.

Posted 2 mon. ago.

about this blog

Illyse Lane

Illyse is a TriangleMom2Mom featured blogger, appearing every Thursday.

She is a stay-at-home mom who also works as a freelance writer. She resides in Raleigh with her husband and two sons, ages 9 and 10.Originally from New York, Illyse fled the cold to attend Florida State University. After a brief return to life in the city, she relocated to Raleigh to work for GE Capital and has never looked back. Illyse is sure that as long as all the boys in her home continue to speak, she will have plenty of material to write about.

Illyse appears Thursdays on TriangleMom2Mom.