A little less than a year ago, we took M for his first trip to the Dentist. I wasn’t sure how to pick a dentist at first. Should it be a pediatric dentist? A family dentist? Should I just pick one out of the phone book?
We chose Dr. M because my sister recommended her. I was told that she was very nice and friendly with the kids, had a very popular office, and the office had lots of “stuff” to entertain the kids. I guess …

M has weaned, and I sometimes can’t even believe it. It happened about a month ago, at age 5 years and 1 month. I wasn’t sure it was going to stick for a while there, so I haven’t written about it until now. We actually talked about it the other night, too. For a few weeks I had been afraid to talk to him about it. Part of me was sad, and I wasn’t able to say it out loud. The other part was …

Yesterday was One Of Those Days where both kids seemed to wake up on the wrong side of the bed. J in a period where she’s prone to short tantrums and wanting/not wanting to do something at the same time. M is a handful; he’s got a lot of energy, is very anal retentive and doesn’t like being by himself much. When he’s having a bad day, I feel emotionally exhausted by noon. Time takes on new meaning – 2pm translates to Please let …

As my family drove by a school yesterday, on the way to pick apples, we saw an elementary school, all the little 5-year-olds lined up outside. I had my customary fear reaction, accompanied by a sharp intake of breath. Boy, am I happy that my son isn’t going to school! Arp looks, smirks, and says, “Federal Dis-attachment Center.” Not only is my husband witty, but he was underscoring something that has been on my mind a lot lately – how parents are discarding their own attachments …

The other night, the whole family was in the big bed at bedtime.  We were reading a book about the rainforest in Central America.  J was already nursing, and M was asking to nurse.  I prefer to nurse them separately, so I started joking with M to put him off a bit…
Me: You know, sometimes I get tired of nursing all the time.  Since we’re gong to Costa Rica soon, and they have lots of monkeys there, how bout we find a monkey mama to fill in for me a …