Stop Telling Your Kids They’re Special

“You can’t always get what you want, But if you try sometimes you just might find, You get what you need.” -The Rolling Stones, You Can’t Always Get What You Want We are ruining them. Our kids. Every day that we lavish praise on them and reward them for mediocrity we’re ruining them. We’re teaching […]

Female Body Image: A #FeministFriday Discussion

This is the Sixth in our Feminist Friday series, a collaborative effort with Gene’O (@Sourcererblog) and Diana (@parttimemonster) and Natacha Guyot (@natachaguyot) We’ve had some interesting, thoughtful, lively discussions over the last month. To see a roundup of the last five weeks’ discussions, check out Gene’O’s summary here.  This week I have the honor of hosting our topic and […]

America, This Is Your Rape Culture

“Me and a gun and a man On my back But I haven’t seen Barbados So I must get out of this Yes I wore a slinky red thing Does that mean I should spread For you, your friends your father, Mr. Ed” -Tori Amos, Me and A Gun My daughter had this funny thing […]

My Brother By the Numbers

“Tell me how… ‘n show me now.. To understand… What makes a good man? Tell me now… Hey walk the line… Hey understand… What makes a good man?” -The Heavy, What Makes A Good Man It’s different every year. I never know what to expect. Some years it’s a day of celebrating. Some years it’s […]

What the Elf??!!

“Every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I’ll be watching you” -The Police, Every Breath You Take To Elf or not to Elf…  That is the question.  I have to confess, I’ve been a bit of a scrooge when it comes to this Elf on the […]

Oh, brother.

“Remember the times that we used to share…  You got to remember the times that we used to share….  But the only way for you to survive is to open your heart, it will guide.” -Lenny Kravitz, Sittin’ On Top of the World I didn’t want a younger sibling.  I wasn’t completely opposed to the […]

I Got Your Back

“Yesterday, lost in a crowd, yesterday lost in a crowd, I was lost…. now I’m found.  Yesterday I was lost, and you kicked me some food. Boy it was nice, to be here with you.” -Rusted Root, Lost In A Crowd My childhood was one long awkward period. Most people have a few awkward years, […]

Digging Deep, Letting Go and Catching Butterflies

“You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.  You shine just like sunlight rains on a winter snow.  I just had to tell you so.  Your eyes sparkle as the stars, like the moon they glow.  Your smile could light the world on fire, or did you know?  Your mind’s full of everything that […]

Listen To It Loud: Arctic Monkeys: AM

“I guess what I’m trying to say is I need the deep-end, keep imagining meeting, wished away entire lifetimes, unfair we’re not somewhere misbehaving for days” -R U Mine, Arctic Monkeys Bad. Ass.  Sums it up, the new Arctic Monkeys album released last week.  I was expecting to be non-plussed.  I just couldn’t get into […]

Yet Another Response to “FYI (if you’re a teenage girl)

This blog post  by a mom of teen boys has stirred something in a lot of people.  Some people are praising the message of modesty while others see disturbing ideals lurking beneath a mother’s warning.  I see a little of both sides and have my own thoughts on this mother’s tactics. I understand her plea […]