My youngest son is a space enthusiast. His bedroom is decorated with posters of the planets and the space shuttle. There are those glow-in-the-dark stars plastered all over his ceiling, and mounted directly above his bed is a working replica of the solar system.

In February 2008, when he was twelve-years-old, he found out there was going to be a lunar eclipse visible in our area. He was so excited about it that he posted a note on the main entrance to our house so we wouldn’t forget. He eagerly waited for the…

Did you know that there are about 14 million single parents here in the U.S. today? They are responsible for raising 21.6 million of our nation’s children. (Based on 2005 census statistics, released in 2007)

And within the last few years, I became part of that growing single parent population.

After my divorce was final, though I didn’t set out to surround myself by other single parents, somehow it just happened. Two of my best friends are single moms, and I even know my share of single dads that are being added to the…

We are supposed to be a nation of tolerance. If you criticise someone for being gay, for being fat, for being black or being female you will (quite rightly) cop a severe tongue lashing for your lack of empathy. However, apparently it’s quite okay to criticise people for being thin.

The phrase ‘real women have curves’ springs to mind. A lot of people have been saying it in response to Jennifer Love Hewitt’s bikini photos. Initially it sounds great, after all – real women are allowed to have curves and still be real women.  Huzzah! What…

My mom was 7 months pregnant before she told anyone. At that point, even she had only known for two months, but everyone close to her found out when she turned on all the gas in her trailer, shut all the windows, and tried to slip easily into the next world.

After her roommate discovered her unconscious in the kitchen and had her rushed to the hospital, my mom spent the next three months under house arrest at her older sister, Pearl’s house. But it only it only took three months for her to fall…

Yesterday I did the shopping at the market and noticed a woman there trailing two kids round with her. Dressed in head-to-toe Nike, they whined their way around, putting whatever they felt like in the trolley, and screeching like banshees every time the mother dared to question anything they’d added. I think I spotted some apples in the trolley, but the rest was all pizza, crisps, chocolate, fizzy drinks and other crap. They’d have got more nutrition chewing on their own shoes than eating that weekly shop.

Then they arrived at the electronics department and found…

When you become pregnant people have all sorts of advice and nice things to tell you, like, “Oh, your hair is going to look amazing!” And, “You’ll have such a beautiful glow!” And, “Don’t worry! Breastfeeding makes those pounds just melt off!”

Well…here’s a list of things that people don’t tell you about labor and birth:

1. That baby is gonna come out when that baby is good and ready and not a minute before. Don’t listen to all that ‘BS’ people tell you… (“Go for a nice, long walk!” “Have sex every day!”)…

When my children first walked into the house quickly and stealth-like, and then emerged from the craft room with two pairs of safety scissors, I should have paused to find out what was up. Alas, I was immersed in my baked ravioli recipe and only mildly considered investigating.

Ten minutes and one butchered rosebush later, I had a beautiful centerpiece for my table. (The neighbor who lost her roses still had a full bush left, thank goodness. I checked to be sure.)

After the initial lecture about taking other peoples flowers from their gardens,…

We went to the zoo this morning. Mia, who’s not quite two, was much more interested in the animals this time around and when it came time to leave, she wasn’t so willing. But I told her we could stop by the park near the entrance of the zoo, where they have a few slides and some sand. When we got there, Mia was standing on the sand and a little boy tried to push her away. I didn’t say anything because his mom said, in a really sweet, high-pitched voice, the same tone of…