The torture usually came on Saturday evenings, in the kitchen. I’d be sitting on a stack of thick yellow phone books and a pillow, squished between my mother’s knees; she’d be perched on the hard wooden kitchen chair, bent over and leaning in at...

I'm not a very observant mom. Actually, a better way to put that is: I am not observant AT ALL. I'm rarely the first person to notice if one of my kids has a bump or a scratch, and when I'm in the throes of dealing with a whiny, unhappy kid, it hardly...

For the last two years we’ve adopted the tradition of sacrificing our sugary goods to earn the good graces and fabulous gifts of the Halloween Witch. She flies through the night sky two days after Halloween, collecting all treats that have not yet...

First, let me thank you for all of your sweet words and concern for my daughter. She is not back to one hundred percent health yet, but they felt she was healing enough to avoid putting her through too many tests that may or may not find answers when...

I don’t mean to holler and yell like a banshee when my kids get out of line. It just, like, happens. Usually, I yell after I’ve asked them nicely five times to do something -- like move their crap off the kitchen table or straighten up their...