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    Manic Motherhood

    Manic Motherhood

  • Parenting Guru: Shopping for a Teen's First Car

    I have been to hell. And I'm probably going there again. And quite possibly a third time. But I will be damned if I go there a fourth time. And where, you might ask, is my personal hell? Oh, that would be car shopping with a nearly 16-year old boy.

  • Parenting Guru: What's on Your Gratitude List?

    I never make resolutions. Frankly, they depress me. I never follow through on them and I end up looking at them at the end of the year and wondering why I even bothered. Instead, I make a list of the things I am grateful for throughout the past year. Sure, it's a small list. And the stuff on it isn't important - I haven't solved world peace, nor have I discovered how to make energy from wind or rain. But it's my list...and after you read it, tell me what is on your gratitude list.Oh, and please note, these aren't in any particular order. Our dog, No-no Lulu, has stopped eating throw pillows. ...

  • Parenting Guru: What I Wish to Give My Teenager

    Dear Teenager:

  • Parenting Guru: Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner

    Dear Food Network,

  • Parenting Guru: I'm a Messy Neat Freak

    Shhhhh. I'm going to tell you a secret. And you have to promise you won't tell anyone else. You know, it's just between me, you and anyone else reading this.

  • Parenting Guru: Resisting Halloween candy is futile

    This is the worst time of the year for me. Oh, it's not the ghosts and goblins that seem to pop up in front of every house in my neighborhood. And it's not the witches and vampires and princesses that will be coming to my door soon.

  • Parenting Guru: Kids sue mom for "bad mothering"

    In today's news of the stupid, ridiculous and weird, we have the case of Kimberly Garrity. Kimberly was sued by her children, Steven Miner, II (23) and Kathryn Miner (20) for bad mothering.

  • Parenting Guru: Summer surprises from my goofy dad

    This is my father. This is not a typical picture of my father. First, he's not a big hat guy. Second, I didn't know he knew who Goofy was. Turns out, he does know Goofy. And it turns out, he likes to pretend he is Goofy.

  • Parenting Guru: I don't want summer to end

    I was just getting used to summer when I realized that it's nearly over. Suddenly my mailbox is flooded with notices from the school. Pick up this! Pay for that! Practice now! And I face the undeniable reality.

  • Parenting Guru: My child hated water

    I love the water. I love to swim. I grew up swimming. We lived all over the place - usually somewhere warm - and always had a pool. My husband swam competitively in middle and high school. Our big plans when our son came along included moving to a house in a better school district, with a pool.

  • Parenting Guru: Road trip with the family

    Families and road trips are summer. Oh come on, we've all done the road trip from hell at least once. Or, if you are like my family, you do a road trip from hell at least once a year, sometimes twice because honestly? We're not the brightest crayons in the box. Anyway, this is the tale of a road tri

  • Parenting Guru: Driver's Ed...why isn't it scary anymore?

    Today's teens have it made. Don't believe me? Check out driver's education. I'm telling you, the whole thing has changed from back in the day. Why, when I went to driver's ed, we had to actually attend a class.

  • Parenting Guru: I wish I had learned Spanish

    I'm having a little trouble with my teenager. You see, I was apparently elected Spanish teacher for the summer. Sadly, I do not speak Spanish, which makes teaching it difficult. Well, I know some swear words, but I'm kind of thinking that's not what my teen needs to learn.

  • Parenting Guru: How not to camp

    I do not camp.

  • Parenting Guru: Waiting in the carpool line

    I don't know how this happened, but apparently I have amassed over a million hours sitting in the carpool line. Seriously. Oh sure, you think I'm exaggerating, but sadly, I'm not. Okay, fine. I am. Maybe it just seems like a million hours. But I did I read online that the average parent spends 3 yea

  • Parenting Guru: Ear piercing and letting the boy become a man

    I've been having a bit of an internal struggle. Well, maybe not entirely internal, since I tend to either blog about my feelings or scream about them. But anyway, I'm having a bit of a struggle. Specifically, I am struggling with allowing my baby to grow up. And yes, I am well aware that my baby is

  • Parenting Guru: Thank you, teachers and coaches

    Dear Teachers and Coaches,

  • Parenting Guru: A tale of icky store behavior

    Here on Shine we discuss parenting a lot. Many of those discussions involve the behavior of kids in public places, like stores. And truthfully, I've been in a lot of stores. And I've seen a lot of kids at their worst…and some parents too. Usually I don't say anything, because honestly, I have been

  • Parenting Guru: Spring Break? What Spring Break?

    The minute I woke up, I knew it was going to be one of those days.

  • Parenting Guru: Aurgh! My son has one of my annoying traits

    Being a parent isn't for the faint of heart. For most of us, it's the most difficult job we've ever come to love. And I think I speak for many of us when I say that we had absolutely no idea what we were doing when we signed on for it.