Double-booked

Tonight my husband and I will have to split up and each take a child to an event. Laura has her cheer banquet and Eric has his cub baseball dinner/fundraiser. The funny thing is, we’ll be at the same facility, but in different rooms. How weird is that? Maybe we can carpool!
It may one of [...]

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Mysterious teenagers

My almost sixteen-year-old daughter is keeping so much to herself these days, I feel like I hardly see her. When she’s not at gymnastics practice or cheering at games or with her friends, she holes up in her room for hours on end. Tonight she briefly emerged from her room to use the computer, then [...]

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Need some advice?

I’m the type who likes to consult others and is willing to take their advice, especially if I ask for it. I’m a firm believer that I don’t always have all the answers (or even the right ones) and that different viewpoints can shed light on what may seem to me like a closed door. [...]

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The Chauffer

One of my errands on the way home from work tonight was to pick up my impatient son at a friend’s house, drive him home so he could quickly shower and grab a bite to eat, then rush him back over to that friend’s house so they could head to a movie. While watching my son [...]

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Saturday school

My fifteen-year-old daughter went to Saturday school over the weekend. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the academically enriching experience the name belies. Instead, it was more like The Breakfast Club. She was serving detention time for wearing a too-short skirt to school on Monday. When she chose to wear the skirt that day, she knew it was [...]

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Expectations

I’ve been thinking a lot about expectations in the last few days. My family has high expectations of me and what they think I should do for them. For example: my husband expects me to remember everything that could be linked to a time or date on the calendar. It doesn’t matter to him where [...]

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Teenage daughters in love

My teenage daughter is spending more of her free time in the evenings talking on her cell phone to her boyfriend. She hardly ever talks to me any more. She goes straight to her room after gymnastics practice and either calls him or waits for him to call her. Maybe I’m a bit jealous of [...]

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A future in gymnastics

My daughter’s recent switch to a new gym was fraught with uncertainties for both of us. She was reluctant to leave her friends and a coach she’d known for 9 years. I was also struggling with questions of whether or not the move was for the right reasons or if I was just following the [...]

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Daughter’s first date

Our daughter went on her first date Saturday night and I must admit, it was hard to let her go. I don’t know if this is how my mom felt when I had my first date, but I know I wondered what my daughter was doing and worried about her until she came home. I think [...]

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Communicating with teens

I had an exasperating conversation with my 13-year-old son last Friday. It was his father’s birthday and we were planning to go to dinner that evening. I called home to give him an advanced warning to get ready for the event. I considered it a form of insurance for both of us, since my showing up at home [...]

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