Some days you know your day is going to be shot to hell before you even open your eyes. For me, it all started with a bang. It all started when Stone, my nearly 3 year old son, walked into the room this morning – which in itself was an innocent enough of an act. […]
Some days are better than others. Most days leave me feeling beaten and looking bedraggled. I am constantly at the mercy of my two toddlers, as their disposition often sets my day. I know, this is a deplorable state to be in. After all, what self-respecting Black woman allows a 2 year old to determine […]
And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and remain there until I bring you word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. – Matthew 2:13 When I hear […]
For the last two weeks Nadjah, my eldest, has come home with a bad behavioral report from school at least 3 out of 5 days a week. It has been absolutely maddening for me. As long time readers of the blog know, Nadjah is not a hooligan, but she’s no saint either. She’s capable of […]
After making so much progress, my son has reverted and returned to taking a dump in his diaper. This may not sound like a big deal to you, but when you consider that he is a 36 lbs individual who consumes portions of food fit for boys 3 times his age, you can imagine that […]
Sometimes I wonder if my kids know how good they’ve got it. At least four times a day, I ask one of them to pick up a toy or wipe up a spill that threatens to cripple a member of our household if it is removed from its precarious position. “But I didn’t do it!” […]
I’m not a feminist; nor am I whatever the antonym of a feminist is. I am just a person who believes in equality, and I shall not rest until men have equal access to contraception! In the whole debate over women’s “reproductive health”, and “rights to privacy”, and all the other PC labels that rights’ […]
They say that seven is the number for completion, and I have completed had it with Douche Bag. Have you seen the Unicef commercial with Alyssa Milano? You know, the one where she is unsmilingly holding up two quarters, urging viewers to give $0.50 a day to save the life of a child? Did you […]
September, 2014. It’s a date that I frequently repeat sometimes quietly; sometimes loudly; often mindlessly. September 2014 is when ALL four of my children will be of school going age, and for once, I will have some free time to myself. That is, all things being equal and the world doesn’t come to an end […]
Salaam: It means “peace”. My kids go to a Fulton County charter school. Their classmates are Egyptian, Senegalese, Korean and Indian. Their teachers are from Russian, Japan and Italy. They are the only public elementary school that studies environmental science for a grade. Every student in that school also receives instruction in a foreign language […]
*Readers: I must apologize to you. I haven’t blogged in over a week, because I simply haven’t had the heart. Last week, 7 year old Jorelys Rivera was raped, beaten and stabbed to death in the town next to mine, and the crime affected me emotionally. She was playing on her playground when she was […]
You know, I find that the longer I live, the less I tend to judge people. This morning I sent my 2 year old son to daycare, and I feel GLAD about it. In fact, I’ve been looking forward to sending him away since Marshall gave me the approval last Tuesday. Of the 4 kids, […]
These wicked child rearing “experts”. Once upon a time there was a child rearing expert who wrote an article on potty training. In that article he/she proposed that after the potty training parent was successful in getting the toddler (or in some cases – preschooler) to sit on the toilet and produce either a liquid […]
The only thing that gives me comfort in my distress is the knowledge that I am not the only mother to suffer this type of humiliation. Yes fellow mothers – you may call me Misery; and I do enjoy your company. In what has apparently become my children’s unending quest to destroy my self-esteem, I […]
Nadjah ripped open her backpack last week and thrust a sheet of paper in my face. It was a permission slip from her school, requesting my signature to allow my student to participate/try out in the school’s first ever Cultural Talent show. “Presentations must be no more than 5 minutes long and must represent a […]
They say that half of all Americans will be obese by the year 2030 if the trends we’ve seen in the last few decades are not reversed. Think about that: Fifty percent! Take a look at the person sitting across from you right now. If they’re not the one who’s obese, then it means that […]
Move over Tiger Mom…or at least scoot over a tad. There is a new ferocious feline matriarch on the prowl, and her name is “Panther Mom.” And, as her name suggests, she is Black. I was visiting Mom Five Times a few days ago when she finally looked up from her incessantly buzzing smart phone. […]
Have you noticed this anti-kid movement gaining steam in recent months and weeks? Large corporations and small businesses alike are beginning to impose bans on small children, preventing parents and children alike from patronizing particular establishments. Hey, we live in a free world and capitalist society and businesses are allowed to admit whomever they please […]
If you didn’t have thick skin before you had kids, you will certainly develop it afterwards. From the moment a child is conceived, he/she changes your life. From morning sickness to stretch marks to, hair loss to weight gain, nothing ever is really the same – and that’s just in the first two years of […]
Move over Cesar Millan! There’s a new canine charmer in town, and his name is Stone Grant. There is only one thing my son loves more than the outdoors, and that’s putting the outdoors in his mouth. Previously I would merely grimace when he put bits of pinecone and rose petals in his mouth, […]
Caroline says I have a permanent scowl on my face. “I never see you smiling,” she burst one day. I looked up from the diaper I was changing/floor I was sweeping/laundry I was washing/child I was chastising (I don’t recall, but surely I was doing one of these many things) and met her concerned gaze. […]