Adventures In Motherhood

Tripping over shoes is exactly why I agreed to a puppy, as if four kids isn't enough. Leave your shoes at your own risk with this terror around. You can tell by his shifty eyes he's up to no good! Unfortunately this cuddly deterrent, capable of devouring his weight in Christmas ornaments, hasn't scared my 15-year-old daughter, the Imelda Marcos of footwear, who has no less than a closet full of shoes laying around on any given day. I have threatened to throw her shoes on the porch with her three brothers' fragrant locker room beauties, however, that's become an expensive proposition with three pairs of hers already stolen. Apparently her fashion style is in high demand and less rancid than the boys', so I opted for a shoe rack inside, allowing two pairs at a time while training the puppy the rack is off limits. Needless to say, my advanced math teenage daughter cannot count. She entirely consumes the upper rack and most of the floor on any given day, a...

'Bothers' is what she calls them.  My daughter has not one, but three adorable brothers, through no fault of her own.  They were agreeable to her, until they stopped agreeing to listen.  As an older sister with one 'bother' of my own, I suffered the same fate, albeit technically less illicit! As a teenager, privacy is paramount. Personal belongings are not to be touched and brothers should never embarrass their sisters.  To my teen daughter, brothers are merely potential protectors or suitable for their cuteness factor, posted by mom on Instagram.  Beyond that, they exist as bothers! Shock and awe are my daughter's conflicting feelings living with her 'bothers' on a daily basis. (We as parents of a teenage girl are astutely aware of this seismic shift amplified in our home.)  My 7-year-old relishes in his sister's attention the most and unfortunately 'shock and awe' seem to be his middle names.  My daughter recently reacted to this social med...