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My kids think I’m a ninny.  If you ask Noah and Holly, I’ve missed the boat and the last big wave, and definitely am not as cool as so-and-so’s Mom.  After all, she lets her children have internet access in their bedrooms and I don’t.  Well, phooey, I’ll just have to deal with being un-cool.  I may be not be as tech-savvy as ...

This morning I turned on the television before I even got out of bed and propped myself up on my squishy pillow, ready for my Waltons fix with the kids before school.  Before they ran in to snuggle with me under the covers I channel-surfed to make sure the sky wasn’t planning to fall, like I always do.  (‘Cause if it’s gonna fall, see, I ...

My son was hit by a car as he ran into the street after a tennis ball.    My worst nightmare.   The car, driven by a 91-year-old neighbor, hit his left side.  I’d been standing 30 feet away with the cable guy staring up at a phone wire on one side of our new house, and my husband was nearby vacuuming out the car near where ...

Noah’s first encounter with a bully happened while he was still in diapers, when another two-year-old shoved him off his sunny perch atop a little-tykes picnic table.  A stunned Noah retaliated with a toothy bite to the other boy’s leg and a stunned me fretted that my son was being bullied by a baby-thug – and becoming one himself.  ...

Wild night last night, huh?  As for my clan, we hunkered down in our new home’s cobwebby old basement with a game of Boggle, our kitty, a cell phone, flashlight, crank-powered emergency radio and a thermos of water.  Oh, and some M&M’s.    Best not forget the instant joy whilst dodging tornadoes and lightening ...

We were surrounded by boxes.  Some had already seen active duty in more than their fair share of moves and sported several layers of packing tape, badly tattered corners and barely viable seams.  Those travel-weary boxes looked like we felt, as we contemplated the rigors of yet another move.          ...

A day spent at an amusement park can make your wallet feel like it’s taken one spin too many on the tilt-a-whirl.  Simple planning and a few insider tips will make you and your wallet feel a bit less spent when you head to Six Flags Great America and Hurricane Harbor in nearby Gurnee, Illinois.      For starters, peruse ...

I told Noah about the Vaseline on the toilet seat.  And about putting conditioner in the shampoo bottles.  I may even have mentioned the Saran Wrap my bunkmates and I stretched across the toilet seat in the cabin next door while everyone else was at dinner.   That one is a camp pranks best-hit.  An oldie but a ...

I became a parent nearly a decade ago.  A few blunders later, I’ve come to a few startling conclusions.    For starters, I learned early on that it’s politically incorrect to bring Happy Meals to the playground.  Who knew?  Take it from me though, the other mommies and daddies in the sandbox will hate you if you ...

Do I have “sucker” stamped on my forehead?  Am I a pushover?  Do I look like I was born yesterday?  Apparently the kids at our elementary school think so.    The morning I was slated to make my debut as a hot-lunch lady, Noah asked if I would sneak him an extra dessert at lunch time.    “No way pal. ...