Parenting | PulseonParenting

We Will All Be OK: a Teenage Boy Going Through Puberty

Sep 18 2018

He’s moody. He’s all arms and legs. His voice cracks uncontrollably. He eats like there’s no tomorrow. And then tomorrow, he eats the same way. He doesn’t understand why he is sad. He alternately hates you and and needs to snuggle with you. Sound familiar? A pubertal boy drowns in a cesspool of changing emotions, feels self-conscious about his raging acne, and takes naps like he did when he was an infant. (Not to mention he is nervous and confused about the changes in his body.) And that’s the tip of the iceberg. The process is hard…

Sep 11 2018

9/11. Seventeen years ago. How can that be? That day will be in our minds forever like it was yesterday. I remember where I was. I remember the crazy-busy workday. I remember believing what a cruel hoax I thought this was, because of course, this couldn’t be happening. I remember the faces of certain patients to the detail. I remember words exchanged. I remember the confusion, the desire for detail our office couldn’t receive because our clinic was t.v.- and radio-free, and smartphones weren’t “a thing” yet. I remember a patient coming in the office and stating that many firefighters…

Aug 29 2018

My daughter, sitting in the cramped airplane seat next to me, sobbed uncontrollably. Even though these tears were triggered by disappointment (she desperately wanted that window seat so she could see London as we flew in), they were really from travel exhaustion. And from coming down with a cold. My son didn’t want to go to his week-long boy scout camp; staying home to play video games seemed a lot more fun. At least that’s what I thought his protests were telling his dad and me. When we arrived to drop him off at the rendezvous point, the floodgates…

Jul 31 2018

I love me a beautiful writing journal. Browsing all the shapes and sizes, colors and patterns, snap closures and leather ties is, for me, better than shoe shopping. I’m proud of my collection of bound volumes adorning my bookshelf, but I have a dirty little secret: I’m not so good about writing in them. Even the brand-new, shimmery, technicolor volume beckoning to me from my office space is not motivating me to finish writing in the yummy “Land of Oz” journal I currently use. Not that I don’t love journaling because I do crave the chance to free-write but…

Jul 17 2018

My family and I spent the last two weeks “back home,” “back home” being central Iowa and eastern Nebraska where my husband and I spent our formative years. Our kids think it’s weird when their parents talk like this because to them, home is where the puppy is. Where Dad and Mom grew up (read: no puppy…) can’t possibly be “home.” Ironically, my daughter challenged me to read and finish a book on the plane trip back to Iowa: On the Way Home by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the diary of the trek she and Almanzo and Rose took from DeSmet, Dakota…

Jun 21 2018

My daughter loves to play games. Clue. Battleship. Uno. (She totally cleans up with the last one, so we’re sending her to Vegas when she’s 21.) And we love to indulge her, being players of games ourselves. But when she pulls out the Game of LIFE, I’d rather play the game of hey-let’s-chose-something-else. Darn you, Hasbro. LIFE is hard. (just like the real deal.) I always need the players’ manual at the ready because the rules are so complicated. (If only actual life had one of these.) And I don’t like the stakes. Whoever retires into fabulousness (chose either “Countryside…

Jun 14 2018

When I hear those two words, “growing pains” that little memory file in my brain opens and B.J. Thomas starts crooning in my head: As long as we got each uh-uh-ther… . It happens to you, too, right? Or maybe not. I know, I’m hinting at my age (note the pants in the photo above) by recalling the 1980’s family sitcom Growing Pains and its earworm*** of a theme song. And about the time that saccharin prime-time show aired I had exactly what the title described: (actual) growing pains. But what are they, really? “Growing pains” are often used to describe any…

May 31 2018

“Mom.” “Mom…Mom.” MOM, MOOOOOMMMM!!!” I know, right? We’ve all been there. (Not to exclude the guys, so please feel free to substitute “Dad!!!”.) Maybe we’re on the phone, or the toilet, or on a mission to get the bills paid while making supper. Inevitably (even at age 13), kids need us at the times we are most indisposed. They are checking in, making sure we can disengage from other aspects of daily living in case they want us. Younger kids “check in” by testing boundaries, shocking us parents to attention. My twins used to climb up on the dining table…

May 14 2018

Whew! I hadn’t talked in front of a group in many years…so it was good to push my limits at the Durango Diaries event last week honoring mothers. A few days ago I published my story for what was hopefully your reading pleasure:). Please find below the link to the video version (The presentations are in reverse order…I got to be in the warm-up-the-crowd position and went first, so my story is the final one posted). I invite you to also watch the other four stories as well. These moms are amazing! Make sure you have tissues handy… https://durangoherald.com/durango-diaries…

Mar 21 2018

That’s WAY more than you need, put half of it back in the serving bowl. You just ate, you can’t need a snack yet. Your brother can have two hamburgers…he is growing faster than you are right now. Ugh. These phrases are my dance around the weight issue. Trying not to mention that my child weighs too much, and the fear of fueling a body image problem or an eating disorder, this dialogue is the best I’ve come up with. Reading my rationale on my computer screen, I see how woefully inadequate and controlling I sound. Not overtly bad,…

Category - Parenting

We Will All Be OK: a Teenage Boy Going Through Puberty

9/11 and Our Kids

Crying: Just Let it Out

Journaling: Not Just for Writers

Sharing Our Childhoods With Our Kids

the Game of LIFE

Growing Pains: What They are and What to Do About Them

Step 5 to Live an Extraordinary Life: Slow Down

Durango Diaries: My Mothers’ Day Story

How to Talk Body Weight With Your Child Without Talking Body Weight