Beyond Just Mom

A city bus rides around my town with a larger-than-life ad sporting a gigantic picture like this: 

SAW A BUG???  Call (not-to-be-named Exterminator)!
Think of the message this sends.  If I see a tiny bug, I should immediately freak out and call in the troops?  Even if it’s just a fly?  What if it’s a ladybug?  Have [...]

“It was crazy, mom,” my sixth grade son breathed when he burst through the door after his first middle school fun night.
“Is that good?” I wondered, my imagination filling with crazy things that could happen in middle school.
“I think it was the best night of my life!” he gushed. 
Whew.  I breathed a sigh of relief [...]

In a few short weeks, I’ll be putting my eighth grade son on a plane to Japan for the experience of a lifetime.  He’s traveling as one of twelve middle school student ambassadors to our sister city of Hikone, Japan for a couple of weeks.  He’ll stay with a Japanese host family, attend a Japanese middle school, [...]

Cover via Amazon

 I’m not sure what this says about me, but sometimes I am thunderstruck by a twist on the same old typical advice.  Listening to a book on CD today, I almost had to pull over the car, overwhelmed by recognition, relief and mixed-up conviction by this: 
“I meet many parents who are trying so hard [...]

Here’s one more goodie from the archives to help with those fall routines:

Now that fall is approaching full swing, are you having conversations like this?
How was your day? fine.
What happened at school (or work)? not much.
Wanna talk about it? not really.
It seems like no matter how hard I try, those questions never seem to elicit [...]

This isn’t a new one, but as school gets into full swing I hear myself nagging and barking orders through the chaos.  It’s time to get back to basics, as in this oldie but goodie that I shared on AnnArbor.com today:
How’s your morning routine going? Do you hear some variation of this tape running every day:
“Get [...]

I received this email announcement yesterday: 
BECAUSE OF GROWING THREAT OF THE H1N1 VIRUS IN OUR COMMUNITY
WE WILL BE CANCELING THE POTLUCK PORTION OF THE MEETING. 
Color me confused.  The potluck itself is no big deal to me –I’m happy to skip preparing a dish– but I cannot find any logical explanation besides irrational fear.  There is [...]