Last night, I offered to drive two friends to our book club meeting. When I picked up my friend Sarah, I mentioned, “There’s sort of a weird smell in my car. I haven’t been able to find it yet.” This was an understatement… “Oh, I’m sure it’s not that bad,” she reassured me. However, upon […]
5 Reasons I’m Celebrating My Kids’ Independence
Today, in addition to celebrating the many beautiful freedoms I enjoy as a US citizen, I also want to celebrate the independence my three children (ages nine, five, and three) are gaining. They’re growing up fast, y’all. When America was born, our fledgling nation declared its independence from England. We started our own thing, made our […]
You’ve Still Got It, Mama
Someday I’d like to introduce my kids to ME, the ME I was before they were born. That girl was fun. She read and wrote all the time and had dinner with friends in cute bistros. She and her boyfriend (now husband and father to the three kids) got lost on back roads in her […]
Hometown Interloper
I’m home this week. Not my home in Arkansas where we now live, but back home, in my mom’s house in Tennessee, the house where I grew up, with my three kids and my dog. (The hubs is working out of town.) I’ve visited many times since I left for college in (gulp) 1996, […]
To My Son at His Preschool Graduation
Yesterday, we celebrated a milestone! You graduated…from preschool. Your teachers put you in a silky red polyester cap and gown, had you and your classmates perform cute songs, and had you walk across the stage as your Director called your names. They even played “Pomp and Circumstance,” although I’m not sure what’s so pompous about […]
10 Things Mompetition Can Teach Us About Real Parenting
A while back, I created the Mom-Olympics, complete with fictitious events where moms can compete for the crown and title of Greatest Mom in the Universe. It’s hilarious, and you should go read it, but there’s also an underlying subtext. Whether consciously or unconsciously, all moms know that there’s a sidelong glance out there, an awareness that even […]
Our Vows as Parents
This summer, my husband and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. Although we weren’t young by any means when we married (27 and 28), we were fairly naïve on what would come down the road in the “then comes Carrie with a baby carriage” department. Our angelic daughter was born two weeks after our […]
10 Things I Want to Say to People on House Hunters
My husband and I love HGTV. We sit around at night after the kids have gone to bed, drink a few beers, and make snarky comments about the unendingly picky, weird people HGTV finds to be on its flagship program House Hunters. Honestly, these people aren’t all bad, but we have invented a House Hunters […]
House Hunters Drinking Game
If you’re here, you probably read 10 Things I Want to Say to People on House Hunters. If not, you can see that, too! Drink when the following words or phrases go down in that magical thirty minutes. Space Open Concept floor plan The ubiquitous closet joke (Haha…where will your clothes go?) Man cave That […]
Gearing Up for Summer
In a few weeks, my kids will put down their pencils and art supplies at school and head home with me for the summer. They’ll hang their backpacks up for a few months and be all mine. Like moms everywhere, I am equal parts excited and intimidated by this process. As I count how many weeks […]