We have two weeks left in the school year. Which means, in two weeks I will be the proud but super weepy mom owner of a high school freshman. My mind… via GIPHY I don’t know why I didn’t anticipate feeling all of the feelings, but here they are smashing me in my chest and hitting me all upside my face basically every day of

Today’s post is being sponsored by Neutrogena My mother’s genes blessed me with relatively clear skin and a youthful appearance. It has meant that throughout my life I’ve relied very little on makeup and other cosmetics to care for my skin. Except for when I was 1. I was apparently all about the red lippies then! Even as I’ve gotten older and more exhausted and

Morning routine or not, mornings are hard. via GIPHY Not some mornings, all of the mornings. Somehow, as we approach summer they seem to get even more challenging to muddle through and I find myself reheating my coffee multiple times while running around my house in various states of undress, yelling random instructions to my children who can’t be bothered to give many cares about

Motherhood is a special experience for every person who chooses to embark upon the journey. I became a mother early in life, well before I thought I was strictly ready to and, as it turns out, it was precisely the right time for it to happen. I am forever grateful that my  personal ambition didn’t get in the way of this life. That I didn’t

I have always been a super responsible person. Like when it really matters. Maybe not day-to-day-getting-basic-things-that-can-technically-wait done responsible. But like, live-life-like-an-adult-a-good-percentage-of-the-time-and-keep-other-people-alive-simultaneously responsible. My mom made sure of it and encouraged me to be a person others could count on. So, I was an excellent student –As, As, and more As. I was an honest daughter –always forthcoming about my whereabouts (basically always, just maybe that

Because she says so and, when you get invited to The White House to have a little face to face time with First Lady Michelle Obama, you probably just go ahead and do what she says. But, let me back this story train up a little bit. A few weeks ago I received hands down the most awesomely, exciting invitation of my lifetime. Thanks to

My parenting style has grown and changed quite a bit over the years. I did the crunchy mom thing and the helicopter mom thing. I dabbled in the free range realm a bit (not fully, never fully), and have gone hard-line mom from time to time as they’ve begun to approach the you-wanna-test-me teen years. I feel like I do pretty well –they are open

But let me start with some truth: We didn’t read a single book during spring break. via GIPHY There was a time in my life, particularly following my exit from the teaching career, where I would haul out the book baggies and the activity books and cram in as much fun-ducation as possible during our school breaks. I would make word games and laminate worksheets