On Friday nights, I'm not a mom. That’s a little dramatic. Basically, on Fridays, I take the night off. I don’t pick up anyone from school. I do not drop anyone anywhere. No one is allowed to ask me what’s for dinner. It does not concern me because Dad’s in charge. It’s Mom’s Night Off. The origin of Mom’s Night Off was this… I needed one night a week when someone didn’t ask me what was for dinner. It is the question that drives me most up the wall as a parent. What’s for din

Have you ever put something on and knew it was right? Like when a fantasy character first puts on the chosen one’s amulet, when the wizard finds the right wand, or when Madonna told her boyfriend, “Don’t worry, this belly button is going to take us to the top.” It’s beyond feeling cute. It’s when you slide into a portion of your identity. Too woo-hoo for you? Just bear with me. I have a story to tell. I had two instances of feeling instantly at home. When I first dyed my hair

The reason I don’t make weight loss or food-related New Year’s Resolutions is that we have too many birthdays in January. Everywhere we turn, someone else is having a birthday. It’s a parade of cakes and pizza. For W.’s birthday, I have a tendency to test new types of birthday cakes. He never asks for anything complicated; I usually feel the need to kick it up a notch. As I once queried Hubs, “This is how I’m extra, isn’t it?” “Yeah. It is.” In the past, we've purchased cakes