Parenting
Raising Daughters and Turning 33
I’ll be 33 years old tomorrow. When you’re an adult, the milestone birthdays are mostly decades. Your 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, and so on. The middle numbers aren’t quite as Big to most people. Last month, I had an abnormal pap smear for the first time ever. Yesterday, I had outpatient surgery to remove the culprit(s).…
Read MoreGuest Post: My Daughter Is a Drug Addict
This is a guest post from my husband. It’s been a rough year, and he wanted to write and share this. Beyond some simple formatting, I didn’t edit it. This is his story, not mine, to tell. Currently, his daughter is clean and in recovery. We continue to take life one day at a time.…
Read MoreNo More Excuses: A Reminder to Put In The Work
“Do as I say, not as I do.” I had an epiphany last night. My 9 year old daughter and I had a serious talk about her grades, and the amount of effort she’s been putting into her schoolwork. She’s creative and intelligent, but also not necessarily motivated by “good grades”. Rather than ask for help…
Read More“Mom, Do You Still Want to Drink Sometimes?”
“How long have you been sober, Mom?” It’s a little weird to hear that from a child’s mouth, but that’s my world now. My oldest daughter is 11 years old. She’s never seen me drunk, and doesn’t remember seeing me drink any alcohol, but she’s been affected. I don’t say this to shame or pile…
Read MoreWin at Parenting: Tell Shame to Suck It
The hardest part of recovery, for me, was forgiving myself for how my mistakes impacted my children. The fact that I got sober while they were too young to ever see me drink stays on my gratitude list, but the impact is there. Shame tends to creep into our parenting when we least expect it.…
Read MoreYou Don’t Have to Be Perfect. Be Present.
I had to drop something off at my girls’ school this morning, and as I pulled up, I noticed the parking lot was full all the way to the street. There was a moment of internal mild panic. I hadn’t heard of anything going on! My kids usually keep me in the loop, and I get regular…
Read MoreLife After Divorce: Surviving Holiday Separation Anxiety
Divorce is a level of hell that I wouldn’t wish on anybody. It’s one thing to separate from a person that you can no longer be with. It’s another thing entirely to be separated from your children for weeks at a time. The holiday custody schedules can be brutal, especially if you don’t have an amicable situation with…
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