Dinner is a Battlefield

When I stop and think about the two tasks that most befuddle my 3-year-old - those being eating and sleeping - I can't help but think I must still be living in caveman times. It feels like, with all that modern science can accomplish, from the wonder that is Pixar to powering a car on shelled corn, we should have come up with a solution by now for kids who won't do the two things all adults crave …

• Posted 1 day ago.

Time Broker

As I drove away from MJ's summer camp last week, I had already broken the two hours of toddler-free time I had before me into efficient, 20-minute chunks. Twenty minutes at the grocery store, where I would feed Little L her bottle with one hand while steering my cart with the other. Twenty minutes at home to give the baby a snack and then clean her bottles. Twenty minutes to change her diaper and …

• Posted 1 week ago.

I Dream of Lightning McQueen

• Posted 2 weeks ago.

Repeat After Me: "I Do Not Want Another Baby"…

Dear Maternal Subconscious,

• Posted 3 weeks ago.

What Do You Mean I'm Sensitive?

After one recent, long morning and early afternoon full of whining and requests -- mostly by my children -- I put them both in bed for naps and got out my yoga mat. I opened the back door and let the fresh air come inside and listened to the soft breeze blowing the trees in my backyard. The perfect setup to focus on my long-neglected self, my aging bones and sad little bits of muscle. A rare escap…

• Posted 4 weeks ago.

Love in the Time of Toddlerhood

• Posted 1 mon. ago.

Fighting for a Cure

A strange thing happens when I'm on the phone with my mom. My sister calls her at the same time. The reverse is also true. But it's not just a mother-daughter thing. Sometimes, my dad even noses in on the tele-connection we share. My family is as close-knit as they come, so it's no surprise that we find ourselves picking up the phone to talk to one another at the same times and on the same days.

• Posted 1 mon. ago.

Life in the Fast Lane

Speeding up I-40 and out of town for the Memorial Day weekend, I was reading a story to Randy in Sports Illustrated about IndyCar driver Danica Patrick. "Her father ... had raced snowmobiles and midget cars in his younger days, and he instilled the thrill of speed into his daughters Danica and Brooke, buying each a go-kart when Danica was nine and Brooke seven." Randy's eyes lit up from the driver…

• Posted 1 mon. ago.

Having It All, Right Away

My grandmother, no-nonsense mother of seven, had a rule about children: Don't tell them how cute they are all the time; you'll spoil them. She had a special sort of rapport with kids that focused on needs, not wants -- there was no thought of wants because there was no money for wants. And everyone respected her. My own parents had the same approach with my sister and me. We were loved, but not fu…

• Posted 1 mon. ago.

Heed the VOM, Be the VOM

I spend a lot of time listening to my inner VOM -- Voice of Mom.

• Posted 2 mon. ago.