The Subjects: My children, ages 8, 8, 6 and myself.
Hypothesis: Changing my attitude first will produce the same desired effect in my kids.
A few years ago a gentlemen asked my dad how he raised such nice kids. Everyone in the room paused, listened in, and waited for my dad to impart his words [...]

There’s nothing wrong with the way I grew up. I rode backwards in the station wagon, we only had two TV channels and Halloween only lasted one day. We made our costumes, carved our pumpkins, and trick-o-treated all on Halloween night.
When did people make Halloween a month-long celebration? And by people, I [...]

Growing up watching re-runs of Leave it to Beaver set me up for disappointment and self doubt later in life.
June Cleaver is my hero. Clean house, happy kids, and home-cooked meals. Ward, Wally and “The Beaveâ€? were served a hot meal and a smile every morning for breakfast. She was [...]

Being the lowest kid on the totem pole, I had my share of childhood trauma. The first injustice I suffered at the hands of my older siblings was when I was just a baby. My oldest sister was playing with me on the couch. She was holding me up by my hands and somehow flipped [...]

It has been our family rule that my kids can’t play at homes where I don’t know the parents. My 8-year-old twin boys have begged me to let them play at the neighbor kid’s house. I have told them “no” for months. I see the neighbor kid’s mom on the playground. We have exchanged salutations. [...]

Growing up I had a nice mom. You would think that little girls with nice moms grow up to become nice moms themselves. Not in my case. Here are few examples of how not-nice I can be.
I had the nerve to take my kids to I.H.O.P for breakfast, instead of Denny’s like [...]

Parenthood and pet ownership go hand-in-hand
Our family has owned a hamster for five months, but not the same hamster. We try to be conscientious pet owners. We prepared for our new pet in the same way we prepared for a baby: we read a manual, created a lovely habitat, and bought all the [...]

My real name is not Annie. It is Annette but I have been Annie since Day One. I’m not even sure why they bothered to name me Annette. Mom and Dad just should have put Annie on the birth certificate.
When I started college, I thought that I would try out Annette [...]

As I think about my busy life as a mother of three kids and all that a mom has to do to keep the ball rolling, I realize moms have so many titles. There are the regular ones such as Mom the Cook. Mom the Nurse. Mom the Teacher and Mom the Chauffeur. [...]