In the 1980s our version of social media were Slam books. Spiral notebooks that you could write about your interests and hobbies, and more importantly, who you liked. I remember this looking like a rating scale of 1-10 based only on appearance. Yuck. Boys would rate girls, girls would rate boys. Slam books would have … Continue reading How to help your teen stay healthy on social media →

If I am being honest, I have not felt very patriotic since the fall of 2016. After the election and the aftermath that followed, I quit reading the news. It made me too anxious, and almost made me get a ticket. Here's that story. Apparently in the winter of 2017 there was a new law … Continue reading Not feeling very patriotic this year →

I feel like summer is flying by. How is it almost July already? I thought I would give an update on what we have been doing. Summer feels very different with a house of teenagers. I can still very clearly remember the summers where the kiddos were booked with camps every single week. Those days … Continue reading Summer updates →

We just returned from a week at the beach. As most readers know, we are a house divided in many ways - our basketball loyalties, interest/disinterest in cars, and our personality types. The guys in our family are extroverts. They love doing new things, being social, etc. The gals are firm introverts. This difference is … Continue reading Vacationing with introverts →

I will start off by acknowledging that the last week of school is always stressful. The schedule is never regular, there are often overnight school trips which mean less good sleep, and most of all, parents moving mountains to get the teenagers to all the school and social engagements that come with the last week … Continue reading grumpy teens →

One more week of school and then we are officially in summer break mode! I feel like I have a solid plan in place for the teens (jobs, camps, time to relax), but they are also going to help me with a big summer project - cleaning out the attics and crawl space under the … Continue reading Summer projects →

For new readers to the blog, our beloved family dog Smooch died unexpectedly while we were on spring break. Coming home and putting away all of her things, and she had a lot of things, was really hard. What happened next has been surprising in an amazing way. Our cat Fireball turned into a dog. … Continue reading Fireball the “dog” →

The teen girl had a special studies day last Friday. The topic was how to be better about saving our planet. They watched the documentary Straws and came up with an action plan on what they can do individually to be better stewards of the environment. Of course the 14 year old girl's plan for … Continue reading Be better about saving our planet →

One of my new favorite Netflix shows is Dead to Me. It is a dark show about a husband who was killed in a hit and run accident. The driver who hit him befriends his wife in an effort to make amends. I told you it was dark. The best part of the show is … Continue reading How to say no →

The last few months have not been kind to our family. Our family dog Smooch died unexpectedly while we were on spring break in California. And I loved that damn dog more than anything. Even her giant tongue that did not fit into her mouth. She was instead of another kiddo, so I am sure … Continue reading Move your body when you are sad →