Motherhood is a trip . . . are we there yet?
8/20/2013 I think I’m a grandmother. Before the age of 50, I’m a grandmother. I’ve taught my girls all their lives to wait until they’re in their thirties to get married, have kids, settle down. I’ve encouraged them to see the world, have experiences, live in different places, have different jobs, fall in and out…
12/6/2011 Some recent facts and findings: I found a homemade bong made from a plastic water bottle. The thing was configured with a hole punched in the side and tin foil around the lip, and the smell was obvious. It was right on my daughter’s floor—I was just looking for the lint brush. My daughter allowed…
12/2/2011 Sadly, life with my troubled teen has been dismal and miserable for the past few weeks. I’m a bundle of nerves, stressed to the point of physical illness, and spend my days grinding my teeth and feeling like I’m suffocating. I can’t say or do anything right; even my most innocuous comments, like “Have…
11/23/2011 Today is Wednesday, but let me backtrack to Tuesday night. I’m a sucker. I won’t learn. I always trust, hope, and pray that things will be better. We didn’t fight Tuesday morning when I drove her to work. There was little communication throughout the day. This deserves a mention—until this past week, she was…
Original Publish Date: October 17, 2011 So the fall/early winter is birthdayville in my family. Me: September; older daughter: October; my sister: November; toddler nephew: December; and “troubled teen:” December. As my girls get older, it’s more and more impossible to be creative with gifts. A set of nail polishes in a cute box or…
Original Publish Date: September 12, 2011 I particularly wanted to find out about my daughters’ age groups. The survey says: Young Adults Aged 18 to 25 Youths Aged 12 to 17 Read this piece–it’s very interesting and informative: http://oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k10NSDUH/2k10Results.htm#2.3
Original Publish Date: August 24, 2011 I admit it, I’ve been duped a thousand times by my daughter, and despite knowing it, I continue to fall for her lies. I think it’s wishful thinking that “this time,” she is finally being straightforward and I have nothing to worry about. I catch her in lies all…
Original Publish Date: June 23, 2011 Within the last week, I’ve spoken to the new probation officer assigned to my daughter’s case, for which she’s appearing next week. I had a great conversation with the woman, and she clearly is convinced that my daughter is nothing less than a saint—two jobs, enrolling in school, “thinking…
Original Publish Date: June 2, 2011 Our story always gets better! So I was having some company the other day and naturally decided to do some housecleaning. The worst room in the house? My 17-year-old’s, of course. She was at work, so I did the usual stuff—picked up the dirty clothes and put them in…
Original Publish Date: May 10, 2011 I’ll cut right to the chase. I came home, smelled something funny in my house, and saw my daughter opening windows and lighting incense. I couldn’t believe it–my daughter had been smoking pot in my house. At first, I thought I was imagining things, but when I saw the…