Adventures In Motherhood

I've been shaking my head a lot lately over angry drivers while wondering how my pristine driving record could upset so many Portlandians. In a progressive city where it's the law to stop for pedestrians, I'm shocked by the vulgarity I face on a daily basis as chauffeur-mom to four children. In the past month I've faced humanity and determined we need to save the planet, one less car at a time... "Mom, he's looking back at us and he's giving you the middle finger," my daughter laughed on our way to drop her at the airport two weeks ago.  "It's not me, it's got to be for someone else," I said, stopping behind the man with the erect middle finger sitting in the old sedan at the intersection.  Green light. Go! Sure enough, the dude turned left, abruptly merging into the right lane and slowing down to pull alongside me. Yep, she was right, he was clearly making sure both my teen daughter and I saw him flip me the bird, rath...

"We are the only kids that don't have smartphones at school!” insisted my four children when we moved to Oregon two years ago. Even my 1st grade son had children in his class with the latest and greatest smartphones at that time. I recall a similar conversation from my own childhood revolving around getting a corded telephone for my bedroom. New technology, even greater challenges; flipping awesome! Having moved halfway across the country at the start of my daughter's 8th grade year in middle school, we were keenly aware of her need to build social relationships ASAP. When she named every known child her age with a smart phone, we quickly realized that she was quite possibly the only 8th grade student in Oregon and Colorado without one. Having experienced traumatic family moves during my formative teen years, my daughter knew I was an easy sell, and my three younger sons began their campaign as well. Fortunately as parents, we had Bill Gates on our side. How can childr...