Category: parenting

Three Men And A Lady

Vacation Three. I know, right? Another trip? Seriously, Jyl, how many trips are you going on this year....? No, I get it, we were just gone a month ago for a week to Georgia. Then the kids went off to California while Rich and I had a quickie (stahp) in West Virginia. And now, North … Continue reading Three Men And A Lady →

Blogiversary

I had a birthday celebration email in my inbox from the WordPress folks - seems that it was one year ago that I signed up for the service. I've be waiting by my physical mailbox all week to see if a cake arrives. I hope it's delicious. As with all not-really-a-milestone-but-I-lean-to-the-side-of-overthinking-milestones, I’ve also spent the … Continue reading Blogiversary →

Despite the protests

In addition to the now resolved internal struggle of 'face-to-face or virtual' for Zack, we've been having a similar debate with Zoe. Well, maybe not that similar. Pandemics, protests, and riots are probably not the same as 'just' a pandemic. We shouldn't have been surprised that the road to Zoe's next step would be lined … Continue reading Despite the protests →

Virtually Decided

Today we pushed the button to transfer Zack from 'regular' school to online school. Yes, it is considered a transfer and, yes, theoretically it means that he is no longer a student at Hanover High but now a student of Hanover County's online school. We went in circles for weeks on what the best choice … Continue reading Virtually Decided →

Why I’ll never call it your dead name

We were sitting at hibachi last week, a late celebration of Zoe's birthday, and when the server asked her her name (for the obligatory and annual corny song by the staff ), she visibly bristled. We should have known this would happen as this birthday year, dinner included her good (hmmm....) friend (you know, friend...), … Continue reading Why I’ll never call it your dead name →

Breaking Out

Day One (Friday): Last night, as we were wrapping up dinner, I said I wanted to have a quick staging conversation about vacation (which was about thirty hours away) as I felt like we weren’t even ready. My sweet husband responded with something along the lines of ‘it’s only going to take me like ten … Continue reading Breaking Out →

525,600 minutes

Zoe told me that she loved me today. Via text. Unsolicited. Where she actually had to think about it and use her thumbs and had a chance to backspace rather than pushing send. Not the usual drive by at bedtime that we half-heartily exchange 'Goodnight, love you, see you in the morning,' while barely hugging. … Continue reading 525,600 minutes →

A Graduation Story

Life with teens: A lovely day turned into a lovely dinner OH KABOOM WE'RE HAVING AN ARGUMENT *$!@*@&$(%. What the what? Thursday: Twas the night before graduation and all through the house, every creature's disgruntled, my kid is a louse. The cap and the gown hung in the shower with care, in hopes a diploma … Continue reading A Graduation Story →