One Small Step

While I was pregnant with Little L, I lost count of the number of ultrasounds my doctors ordered for me. Throughout my last two trimesters, they were concerned that her head was not growing at the pace that it should have been. It wasn't dangerously small, and there was nothing to worry about, they always said ... and yet, more ultrasounds, right up until the last few weeks before her birth. She a…

• Posted 5 mon. ago.

Toy Nostalgia

"Take it back!" Randy said after he'd assembled the Fisher Price "Racin' Ramps Garage" that one of our daughters got for Christmas.

• Posted 6 mon. ago.

The Night Before Christmas Bedtime Remix

"Are you ready to read?" "Yeah!" "OK, here we go: Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse --" "Mommy?" "Yes?" "Is that the mouse's house?" "Yes." "Why he live in a teacup?" "Well, I'm not sure. It's just the right size, I suppose." "Oh. It has a crack in it." …

• Posted 6 mon. ago.

Disney on Ice ... Or Bust

Back when I was a gainfully employed magazine writer, I found it impossible to leave the job at the office. If I wasn't interviewing a source at 9 p.m., I was thinking about what he or she said and how it might fit into a story as I washed up for bed. In the shower, in my car on the way to the grocery store ... in the produce aisle at the grocery store.

• Posted 6 mon. ago.

Santa Protection Program

• Posted 6 mon. ago.

Disequilibrium

A couple months ago, MJ went to sit on a chair at our kitchen table and missed. I'll admit that I laughed. "What happened, there, Charlie Brown?" I asked her. "Did Lucy pull the chair out from under you?" She looked up at me from the floor with a goofy grin and said, "Oh, I just fell over." The next week, she did it again -- and not for attention, mind you. She just couldn't seem to hit the mark…

• Posted 7 mon. ago.

Most Mischievous Little Person

Parenting experts tell you to meet each pout over a "no, you can't do that" with a stern look and a firm stance. To be hardcore. And Heaven knows we have lots of reason to practice that philosophy in our house, what with the Most Mischievous Little Person on Earth living right here under our roof.

• Posted 7 mon. ago.

Tar Heel Dreams

I have this recurring nightmare -- more like a daydream gone bad, really -- at the beginning of basketball season or at other times when collegiate pride is on the line. It begins something like this: One day, 14 or so years from now, I return home from someplace where I've been bragging about how my daughter turned down full academic scholarship offers from multiple colleges (because this is a fa…

• Posted 7 mon. ago.

The Grammy Alliance

The impending Christmas season offers parents an extra dose of authority over our kids. Usually, we only have our own weight to throw around, but for the next few weeks, we also have Santa's considerable heft to use to our advantage. Santa is watching ... "If you don't stop eating the Play-Doh, I will tell Santa in our nightly phone conference." ... "Santa came by while you were at school and said…

• Posted 7 mon. ago.

A Cube of One's Own

When I walked into the office building in which Randy was working last Monday to get my free spousal flu shot, dragging with me my two little ones, I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen such an inviting place.

• Posted 8 mon. ago.