Laugh with me because perfect parents don't exist.

Under 5

Sibling Rivalry

My mother-in-law said the child on the bottom during a fight was probably the one who started it. She successfully raised five kids, the including the father of my children, so I took stock in her parenting advice. My daughter, Kay was born just 13 months after her brother Tommy. He had the drunken gait […]

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Stubborn is as Stubborn does

“Stubbornness becomes persistence which leads to your success as an adult, If I let you live that long.” I told my children that far too often. The other thing I told them was, “Stubborn should be a four-letter-word.” They get their stubbornness from my side of the family. At age 16 I remember saying, “That’s

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Eat Your Peas

I hid vegetables in my children’s food not for their nutrition, but to avoid their criticism.  With three kids and a foggy memory,  I didn’t really know who liked what food.  One kid would declare with disgust, “I’ve NEVER liked mushrooms.” or “I want cucumbers, Garry’s the one who doesn’t like them.  He only eats

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Translate my toddler's words, please!

Translate “Muntz!”

I always assumed Tommy’s first language would be English. Nope, it was Klingon. I recognized the sounds since I’m a Star Trek fan, but I couldn’t translate them. Tommy sat in his high chair, well into age 2, chattering guttural sounds that were more like growls than words. He’d cast his blue eyes up at

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