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A Bubble Soccer Birthday
Birthdays come once a year, whether you are ready for them or not. But by the time your child is a tween, let’s face it, the ideas are starting to run thin. You’ve likely already done the children’s museum birthday, the McDonald’s birthday, the YMCA, the Boys and Girls Club, the movie theatre. Maybe there was a princess or pirate birthday party thrown in there a time or two and a climbing gym too. Well, move over overdone theme parties, Bubble Soccer is the perfect idea for your teen or tween birthday. My youngest daughter likes to plan her birthday parties months in advance of the event itself. In fact as soon as Christmas has…
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What Does Ten-Years-Old Look Like?
This past month my youngest girl turned 11 and we celebrated with a Minecraft cake and a sleepover and a family dinner at Lone Star Texas Grill. We all learned to ski together as a family in Tremblant the weekend before her birthday party. In many ways, that was the perfect start to sporty spice’s birthday week. This is the daughter I still joke never met a sport she didn’t like. The one who wandered off at Disney when she was four and nearly gave me a heart attack on the spot. The one who sported my eye shadow the day we went to visit a local martial arts studio…
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Hey Mom, What’s a Bong? Answering Kid’s Drug Questions
Kids really do say the darndest things. Usually when I am driving. It’s a minor miracle I don’t crash the minivan with their constant random Nattering questions and hijinks. I’ve heard Mom, did birth mom have any other kids? And can I meet her now? Like tonight? Also random statements like: We aren’t biologically related, right? Then there’s always: Do you miss Grandma? Does Daddy miss his Mom? Do you know why the sky is blue? Did you ever smoke? Did Daddy smoke? Here’s me driving along thinking, ‘Hey what’s for dinner? What did I thaw? Did I forget to thaw anything again? Is there a sale on coffee at…
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Navigating Adoption and the Tween Years
Just 11 short years ago, my oldest daughter could be picked up and carried around. Sigh. Now she’s a tween. Let me just say the tween years are clearly preparation for the teen years ahead. But adoption and the tween years, well that’s just a special planet in the parenting journey. And me with Payton last summer at a Dove event. My kids are all sorts of awesome. Except when they are not. Sound familiar? I’m not complaining, because I love them, all the time, even when they are not particularly loving. Anyways I slept very poorly last night which is unusual because I am always exhausted when I finally…
