Thursday, December 6, 2012
Christmas comes but once a year - but the cost of it can last much, much longer!
Pay no attention to the yards of yellow tape currently draped around our home, and don’t worry—it doesn’t indicate a crime scene—but possibly something just as ugly—a construction site. Make that a “Holiday” construction site! Regardless of your religious affiliation, this is the time of year where most families are gathering their most festive ornamentation to decorate their front lawns, their mantels, their 7-foot pre-lit designer trees, their wardrobes, their pets, and some even the hoods of their cars. Since we are Christians, we celebrate Christmas, which if I recall correctly, all started in a manger with hay, not in a mall with credit cards. Forgive me if I sound a little sour, truly that’s not the case at all. My friends and …
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to grab those beach buckets you just stashed away - unless, of course, you use an imaginary one!
As the mother of eight, if I’ve done the calculations correctly, I’ve attended more than 65 open houses to date at the beginning of each new school year. These events are certainly status quo but are also pivotal landmarks of how quickly time passes in our young children’s lives. One moment we are “oohing” and “ahhing” at the self-portraits they’ve created in kindergarten, and in no time at all we’re listening to their high school teacher explain the importance of molecular geometry configurations predicted using VSEPR theory. (I’ll take the kindergarten open houses any day of the week!) It’s not that I don’t enjoy open houses, but because I’ve gone to so many, sadly most are now just a blur. (Sorry, don’t mean to sound so callous!) …
Sunday, November 4, 2012
The question "What If?" is one I normally don’t ponder, but when the right questions are asked, that gets me thinking.
As a writer, I have the extraordinary privilege of leading two separate lives. My first full-time job is that of a mom. I’m sure you don’t want me to bore you with the details about what it takes to keep a household with eight kids and two dogs cranking each day, so not to worry — I’ll be brief. Let me just say that as monotonous as much of motherhood can be, for me, no two days are ever alike. I can go months without having to unclog a toilet and the minute I realize my upper arms are in need of some toning, wham, I get to plunge one or two toilets a day for a week! Or everything in the laundry department is effortless and almost pleasant, until some kid leaves a black sharpie in his pocket, and because I neglected to check it in …
Friday, October 19, 2012
As we move closer to Election Day, the candidates are all scurrying to showcase their platforms via TV ads. Thankfully, we know they mean what they say because they end each ad with "I Approve This Message."
Well folks, we’re getting closer to the finish line — at the time of this writing, Election Day is only 18 days, 13 hours and 22 minutes away. We all know the outcome — one of the candidates will be elected, and with that said, we’ll only have to put up with a couple more weeks of watching political ads, looking at signage all over town, and enjoying the spirited posts that our dear friends post on Facebook who are routing for the other party. You know the friends I’m referring to, right? We all know someone who can’t help themselves but to rant and rave about their political stance and then throw the rest of us who don’t agree under a fast-moving bus. I love politics as much as the next guy, but somehow I’ve managed to stay on speaking …
Thursday, October 11, 2012
I’ve yet to meet a single parent who thinks raising kids is a piece of cake and is completely filled with sunshine and blissful joy the majority of the time. (If you disagree, I bow before you and would love to drink what you’re drinking!)
Sometimes I like to think parenting can be compared to eating a deliciously awesome hamburger — there’s nothing better when the burger is grilled to your exact liking, and the perfect combination of condiments just make your taste buds sing. But even with that type of perfection, how many times do you bite into that juicy concoction only to have your teeth nosh down on one of those hard, grisly things, completely ruining the love affair you were having with your burger? Ugh! If you’re like me, you just want to gag and throw the whole burger away. Not that I’m comparing the complex role of parenting with that of a grilled goody, but in essence, when everything is going along well with your family life, there’s just nothing better. But …
Thursday, October 4, 2012
With today's financial uncertainty, families do what they must do to make ends meet!
I was recently asked how my large family made ends meet, and did we get by on things like mac and cheese and accepting hand-me downs, and did we have to spend the majority of our free time doing affordable things like playing card games, renting movies from Redbox and every once in a while live it up and go on vacation outside of the state. I put down the stick I was whittling (homespun Christmas gifts you know!) and thought carefully before I replied. “It depends on what ends you’re talking about.” I mean, “ends” can mean so many different things — financial, spiritual, emotional, material, time and schedule, relationships, parenting, work-related, meals, hobbies, obligations, friendships—the list of “ends” goes on and on. Okay, so I …
Friday, September 28, 2012
Patch offers readers all things local, but by golly, nothing can grab more attention than the coveted Police Log that runs several times throughout the week. Why? Can someone tell me the reason why?
It’s been nearly two years since the Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch site launched our grass roots on-line source for all things local. I was and still am thrilled to be a part of it! From my very first "Family Tides" column, I've smiled whenever folks in town discuss our Internet presence for all the latest, local happenings. I love to acknowledge the time, effort and journalistic thought that go into making this type of 24-hour news source resonate with our interested and supportive reader base. As an author and writer, I continually set professional goals for myself and measure them throughout the year. My niche is family-humor based pieces, for which I have no problem putting myself (and sometimes my unsuspecting family!) on that …
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
25 years ago, Cheryl never thought her trip down the aisle would bring us to where she is today.
September 19, 1987 is somewhat of a blur. I remember waking up to a very foggy, drizzly and dank morning, but nothing could stop this bride from running to the mailbox at 5 a.m. to hang paper mache wedding bells. My wedding day had finally arrived and there was no way a bit of damp weather was going to rain on my white, frilly parade. When you’re 23 years young, starry-eyed and in love with someone you’re crazy about (notice I didn’t say he was my best friend — no disrespect and hate me if you want, but this was not the role I wanted him to play), and are about to embark on one of the most important and love-filled days of your life, it seems utterly impossible to think that 25 years would ever happen this quickly. No way could we …
Thursday, September 13, 2012
If you think The Real Housewives is a reality TV series to behold, you haven't met Honey Boo Boo!
Last week I had the surprise of a lifetime. Sadly, I wasn’t visited by the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Prize Patrol, but something else unexpectedly caught my attention, and from what I understand it captured three million other American’s as well. Stumped as to what roused many of us to be transfixed to our TVs for a few hours last week? Nope, it wasn’t Billy Clinton sharing his values and morals with us during the Democratic Convention—it was something even far more outrageous from them thar parts down south—a 6-year old Georgia Peach by the name of Alana Thompson—affectionately known to her family and fans as Honey Boo Boo! If you haven’t had the ultimate pleasure of becoming familiar with America’s newest reality TV darling you either…
Monday, September 10, 2012
Adjusting our rear view mirror is something most of us take for granted when we drive. In real life, however, checking out what's in our past can help direct our path going forward.
Two of my eight children have their driver’s licenses, and two more are currently learning how to drive. The entire process from permit to road test has provided me more excitement than one human being should ever be allowed to experience. Like the time I nearly flossed my teeth with a six-foot pine tree that my daughter decided to invite through the passenger window, or when my son didn’t know quite what to do at his first rotary (I believe he referred to it as a rodeo) and we circled it about six times before he bravely yielded the right of way to himself. There is a learning curve that comes with teaching a child to drive — every child is different, and every parent’s ability to handle being the passenger when items like guardrails and…
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