I gave Jeanine Cummins a blurb for her new novel, The Crooked Branch, which just released. It is an excellent, entertaining book, funny and dark in parts (with lots about the Irish potato famine) which everybody should immediately buy and read. You should also pick up THE OUTSIDE BOY (which I just recommended to myContinue reading “Mommy Groups: The Power and the Glory”
Category Archives: kids
Girl Kitty
A few months ago, we began to experience a rat problem. They lived in the bush behind our house, the morning glory that wraps the fence. Morning glory is the devil’s plant– it’s related to poison oak, so it can give you a rash; and if you leave torn shoots on the ground, it willContinue reading “Girl Kitty”
Gil Webber Killed Santa Claus
Little Girl has been asking for a Gil Webber doll. Again. I can’t believe I’m posting about Gil Webber twice on one blog. To recap, we looked for one around Easter, and despite the best efforts of me, three Target stores, Toys R Us and the Mattel helpline, not a one could be found. TheseContinue reading “Gil Webber Killed Santa Claus”
The Writer and the Whale: An Overactive Imagination
After Cadillac and I got back from our trip, I regaled the kids with tall tales about Cadillac. My kids’ motto, like the X-Files, is, “I WANT to Believe.” They love hearing stories and sometimes believe them, even if they are far-fetched. And they often add onto them, spinning them into Paul Bunyan-Babe the BlueContinue reading “The Writer and the Whale: An Overactive Imagination”
Homework Woes
I’d like to begin this post by saying I don’t think my kids have too much homework. I am trying to figure out a way to get my 7-year-old to do her homework without dissolving into a whiny puddle of tears. She has about 3 pages of homework a night; one math (two sided) andContinue reading “Homework Woes”
The First Day of School is the Best Day of School
My kids watch a show called Fred. The guy who plays Fred (who got his show by posting skits on YouTube, so good for him) speaks in a Chipmunk-esque voice that’s so annoying, I refused to watch it for years. But then I accidentally watched some and it was pretty funny. He sings a songContinue reading “The First Day of School is the Best Day of School”
TwainFest and The Right to Vote
Then, in the most important lesson of the day, the woman stamped it.
DENIED.
School Phone Calls
It has begun. The thing I dread even more than back-to-school sales and making the kids get up early.
In His Own Time– On the Spectrum of Normal
Anyway, we were at the grocery store and my son sees this kid. This kid has his head down, way down into his jacket like he’s just praying he’ll disappear. But Son walks up to him, grasps his hand, claps him on the shoulder, and says, “Hey, Old Buddy, how ya doin’?”
Dollhouse Progress
We’re making good progress on the old dollhouse. Apparently people who enjoy dressing up in Downton Abbey-esque costumes are going to live here, like the lady in purple, because my daughters decided it will have a modern kitchen. The purple lady is in what will be the kitchen. The wallpaper is Victorian era, allegedly. IContinue reading “Dollhouse Progress”
MARGARET DILLOWAY 