Live and Let Di

It's What I Love About Fridays

In our neighborhood, Fridays are sacred. Friday nights mean Fuquay Bengals football games and complicated scenarios of who is going where afterward, who is picking up whom and who is sleeping over where. Friday nights mean adults together with friends and no one going any farther than one can go on a golf cart. Nothing is planned, but we all plan on it. Last Friday we ended up at Karenâs hous…

Posted 1 yr. ago.

Baby Showers Bring Mad Glowers

I've been out of the baby shower groove for years now. Itâs been a long time since one of my circle of friends has been capable of or interested in conception at all. Except perhaps our focus on making sure that our daughters avoid it at all costs!

Posted 1 yr. ago.

Back-to-School Homework for Parents

My feelings about back-to-school are often like my kids' feelings when, even though the song predated their births by many years, they start singing, "Schoolâs Out for Summer!" I donât even mind slogging through the back-to-school section at Wal-Mart looking for a 3-inch binder (what?

Posted 1 yr. ago.

Tooth Fairy - International Woman of Mystery

I don't know who mourns the loss of belief in various magical childhood myths more, the children or the parents. I can personally attest that I have had a child walk in my room in the wee hours claiming the Tooth Fairy had not come. Disbelieving, I would jump out of bed, grab a dollar from my purse on the way and proclaim that it was just stuck between the pillow and the headboard. Pretty lame ...…

Posted 1 yr. ago.

The Olympics - The Drinking Game

Somehow, when I was playing quarters at the Tick Tock at St. Lawrence or playing beer pong at Sigma Chi, I never really visualized myself caught up in a drinking game when I was in my 40s. The other night proved me wrong. As we gathered around the bar at the Cantina (for new readers, the Cantina is a bar in my friend Kim's garage) watching the Olympic opening ceremonies, a drinking game (an event …

Posted 1 yr. ago.

The Symptoms You Don't Talk About

The older you get the more constant and disgusting your various symptoms get. I have been battling a stomach flu for the past four days. No, I'm not going to regale you with the yucky physical symptoms of my ailment. But I think it's only fair to open up and share the really embarrassing aspects that affect ailing Moms.

Posted 1 yr. ago.

The Raven Rule

The things I didnât learn in Kindergarten, I learned from my children.

Posted 1 yr. ago.

My Summer Reading

I opened the book and with the first words, âWhen I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.â I was swept back to a time more than 30 years ago when "The Outsiders" was the book I read over and over and over again. And now my son, a 12-year-old seventh grader, has just read it. Upon reading …

Posted 1 yr. ago.

Throwing in the Towel

Recycling towels is a good thing. Itâs good for the environment since fewer towels in the wash means fewer loads of laundry. Itâs good for the Mom because fewer loads of laundry means a slightly less irritable happy Mom. It seems like such a simple thing. By way of demonstration, I would like to provide a visual example of the appropriate way to hang a towel in order to ensure that it is…

Posted 1 yr. ago.

The End of Privacy

When you are splayed out on a table giving birth with what seems like sold-out stadium seating all around you, you may have a fleeting thought between pains and pushes about the embarrassing lack of privacy. Well, hang on girl, it only gets worse! They tell you about losing your abdominal muscles, hours of sleep, and sanity, but the loss of privacy is rarely discussedâ¦I guess because once you…

Posted 1 yr. ago.

about this blog

Live and Let Di

Diane is a TriangleMom2Mom featured blogger, appearing every Wednesday.

I try to be the voice of Moms with teens. My daughter Haley is 16. She's at that age where she is convinced that I know nothing. I'm thinking I'll seem a lot smarter when she's 22. We bond over Broadway shows. My son Rory is 13. He started reading the sports page when he was 5 and his passion for anything sports-related has grown ever since. This year he beat out 9 guys in their 40s to win his Fantasy Football League. Watch for him on ESPN in a few years.

My husband Hurley works from home, but travels quite a bit. When he's gone, I usually take a break from making dinner and cleaning the house. Oh, I don't do those things regularly when he's here either! Our parenting philosophy is "choose your battles." The only problem is that we often choose different battles. It keeps it interesting!!!