There are days - weeks even - when I wonder how I ended up here: mother, voter, composter. It’s all just so grown-up and yet I don’t feel much different now than I did when I was 15 years-old. Becoming an adult is a gradual process, one that we generally recognize as starting with certain milestones like being able to vote or legally ordering a beer. Then, gradually, the responsibilities get bigger and a little more serious and start involving the welfare of people other than …
5 Steps to Conquering Fear AND Your Kid’s Clutter
I don’t care if you have three graduate degrees and a PhD in Metaphysical Philosophy – you can never be prepared for the fear that comes with being a parent. It’s the worst kind of fear, because it’s a special kind of fear that seeps into every corner of your life. The thought that our kids will grow up without understanding the importance of giving back or being charitable citizens? Activate fear response. When your teenager starts dating a guy named "Big Easy" she met at the movies? Fear. That …
GROUNDED: 5 Tips to Help with a Fear of Flying
I have AVIOPHOBIA , ACROPHOBIA, CLAUSTROPHOBIA and AGORAPHOBIA, the fear of flying, heights, small spaces, and not being able to escape. Throw in a few dozen snakes and Samuel Jackson and you have a hit action movie. You can imagine how fun it is to sit beside me on a plane. This list of FEARS from Wikepedia accurately sums up what goes through my head every time I squeeze my ass into a far TOO SMALL airplane seat. The fear of flying may be created by various other phobias and …
PSA: Doctor Google is NOT Your Friend
I woke up on Sunday morning to the ever-so-delightful coppery taste of blood in my mouth, and breathed a sigh of relief to see that there was no blood on my clean pillow sheet (priorities, yo). By the time I made it into my bathroom, I already knew there was swelling in my lower lip. It was the morning that kept on giving, really. Upon inspection, I hypothesized that I had A) bitten my lip in my sleep, or B) my kid had sucker punched me when we were both asleep. In any case, I knew that it was …
The One In Which I Hate Technology, Online Games and Electricity
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about young kids and online games. For the record, I don’t like them. Also for the record, my son plays them. But he does a lot of things I don’t enjoy seeing happen, like dirt-bike jumps and growing. I hate these games in general and in specific. I hate them the way our grandparents hated Elvis and socialism and people who wore their hat to the dinner table. These games make my skin crawl and I scream into my mouth when my son asks for his iPod. We …
