Marital Hiss
The opposite of marital bliss.
The category that predates the divorce — essays from inside a marriage that was already broken before anyone admitted it. The emotional desert years, the gaslighting, the moment it became undeniable. Read this one before Divorced Now What if you want the full story in order.-
Prom Nightmare
Pop quiz hot-shot: Your 17-year-old tells you on Monday night he needs money for prom tickets cause he asked a girl to go and she said yes. Tuesday night you find out the prom is in 3 days and Wednesday is the last day to buy tickets and there is no money in the budget for this last-minute expense… What do you do? What do you do??!! Well, if the 17-year-old in question is my hapless step-son, notorious for misinformation and bad decisions, I say NO, along with an accompanying hour lecture on the consequence of his piss-poor planning, done mostly for the husband’s benefit, as he was looking like…
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Drinking the Haterade
On gentle parenting manifestos, blended family reality, and why lofty parenting ideals don't survive contact with an actual preteen.
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I’ve got the pre-holiday blues…
What to do? I am generally overwhelmed and completely unmotivated for this holiday season. Maybe it was the two days of gray and rain, maybe it’s the stress of moving and unpacking, but I definitely have the pre-holiday blues!
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Pool of trouble…
We bought this house a year ago, particularly because it has a wonderful in-ground pool in the backyard. We have three active children, of which the youngest two aged 9 and 7, are full of energy and love to be active having fun. The oldest one, 14, is more at ease with his nose glued to his computer screen or a video game console. So last summer, the two youngest spent every waking moment swimming that they could. It was great for me, because with the stress of having just moved in and not being able to find most of our stuff, I wasn’t happy leaving the house knowing I…
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Haze Gray Matter
I think the most irritating thing about my dear military husband is that he likes to pretend that I don’t know what he is up to. Let me explain: I took a short trip this past weekend to visit my mother. He was supposed to have been on that trip, but his ship’s schedule changed at the last minute so he had to stay behind to get underway while I was gone.
