It's always something...

Three Cakes in Two Days

Birthdays are pretty low-key at our house.Â There are no parties, no themes, no anybody wearing a costume and no showers of gifts.Â There is cake.Â We light candles and sing to the birthday boy or girl.Â Because the cake is just about the only thing that distinguishes the birthday from other days, it has become very important.Â And so my daughter J, who turns four this week, has bee…

Posted 2 days ago.

Getting our twelve cents worth.

The other day I caught myself using the phrase "extra dead" to describe our goldfish. I'm the first to admit that I know very little about goldfish. I have doubts though about "extra dead" being a valid term. Experience has taught me that goldfish are generally fragile creatures. Yet every now and then it seems possible to luck into a very hardy one. We had one of these when I was a kid. …

Posted 1 week ago.

Carrying Twins (after the pregnancy)

Last week I bragged that I had mastered the twin learning curve. That's not exactly what I said of course, but my comment that things have gotten easier made me reflect a bit on when things were not easier. As in, when things were rather challenging, when there were cracks in my typically calm demeanor.

Posted 2 weeks ago.

It Gets Easier

Every parent occasionally falls victim to unsolicited advice. Sometimes it's actually helpful. Sometimes not so much. And depending on the source, you might tuck the little nugget away for later, pretend to follow it only when that person is around or simply repeat it to your friends later for a good laugh.

Posted 3 weeks ago.

Table for Six

Eating out became a tad more challenging when we added our twins to the family. This was not exactly shocking. I expected that lugging two infant carriers around and trying to time things so I didn't have to spend the entire meal nursing babies would mix up the scenario to some degree. I just had to remember certain limitations when I ordered. Linguini? Yes. I can even twirl it left-handed. A gian…

Posted 1 mon. ago.

Babies' 1st Christmas... and 2nd and 3rd and...…

We're still celebrating. I remember when I was a kid that there was a certain amount of disappointment on the 26th of December. Christmas was over. No more pretty presents sitting under the tree just waiting to be unwrapped. No more trying to guess what they might be. No more comparing the size and quantity to that of my siblings. By the time we opened them up we were suffering from anticipation o…

Posted 1 mon. ago.

A Long Drive

I think I'm going to have to chalk this one up to "be careful what you wish for." It was just two weeks ago that I wrote about little glitches becoming fond memories. I almost sounded in favor of things going wrong just so you could have a story to share.

Posted 1 mon. ago.

Merry Christmas!

Here's something a little different this week because I have decided to give myself a week off. Instead of writing something new, I'm just going to post a short Christmas story that I wrote a few years ago. Hope you enjoy it. The Gift

Posted 1 mon. ago.

Ghosts of Christmases Past

Back in the late 70s there was a woman, my mother, putting the finishing touches on her Christmas preparations. She wanted to make things nice for her husband and her two and four-year-old daughters. I was the younger, more innocent of the kids. Mom was pretty much ready. Her decorations were up, the presents were wrapped and under the tree, and she probably had a good plan for how we would spend …

Posted 1 mon. ago.

Age Math

This week I am celebrating a birthday. By celebrating, I mean having a birthday. There might be cake. Probably only if I make one. Birthdays aren't quite as exciting as they used to be.

Posted 2 mon. ago.

about this blog

It's always something...

Amanda grew up in a small town in northern Ohio. It’s the kind of place where teachers accidentally called her by her sister’s name and even occasionally, her mother’s. Even though Amanda has grown comfortable in Cary, ties to her hometown, where her father is currently Mayor, are still strong.

She moved to the Triangle when she got married in July of 1999 as her husband, D, had a job here. She soon found work in a field she never knew existed, but gave up a paycheck when her first child was born in May of 2003. Y got a little sister, J, in February 2006. Exactly one day after J turned three, the household was blessed with twins, baby boy G and baby girl M.

Mandy usually appears weekends on TriangleMom2Mom.