Mornings

When my husband brought home an ancient record player he found at a thrift store last year, I rolled my eyes. We are not skinny-jean-wearing, man-bun-loving hipsters. Actually, my husband has very little hair at all but we do not speak of this. I thought this vinyl business was a passing interest that he’d have for a week or two and then we’d all move on and I’d have to find somewhere to put this piece of junk.

I can’t be the only person who walks away from certain talks with my kids and thinks ‘Oh my God…I am seriously messing these children up.’ Right? There are always going to be parenting battles I feel like I’m losing. That has to be true of just about every parent out there, right? It’s not like parenting is a constant fail state for me. Overall, I’m very happy with the way my kids are growing up.

As a mom of all girls, I’m used to seeing this expression when I announce I’m pregnant with yet another girl: It’s the underwhelmed, slightly sympathetic look of someone who assumes I was heart-set on having a boy. Since I have girls. And obviously, if I’m not pregnant with a boy, I must be brutally disappointed. My husband and I never felt that way. We always wanted a large family, and were excited to find out we were expecting again,

Oh, 4 years old. It’s a magical time filled with new experiences at pre-school, pushing boundaries, expressing opinions — and driving parents completely insane. My middle child recently turned 4, and it’s been, well … interesting. I mean, she carries on full conversations and is reading. And yet, simple requests like, “Hey, can you please… Read more »Read more