How a Single Childless Blogger Rails Against Feminism

I don’t know if any of my blogging buddies follow Jason Cushman at the Opinionated Man, but that guy is weirdly fascinating. He blogs multiple times a day and has about 58 billion followers, a practically hypnotic feat to the rest of us trying to light up our miniscule grains of sand along this massive blogging beach. Okay, it’s more […]

My Daughter and I Invent the McDonalds of Nightmares

The funny thing about kids playing make-believe is how their wild imaginations half convince them they’re in a real scenario. You know how you sometimes wake up from a vivid dream half-confused for a moment about whether the dream really happened, even though you know you’re in your own bed? I’m guessing the kid pretend world feels something like that. […]

My Buddy Thinks Game of Thrones is Sexist Against Men, How About You?

So, I’ve FINALLY gotten on the Game of Thrones bandwagon and want to talk about it. I’d heard all about how awesome it is from friends whose opinions I respect, so about six months ago, I gave it a whirl. I knew the show was violent, but figured I could handle it since I liked The Walking […]

Are You A City Person or a Suburb Person?

Seven years ago, I lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Midtown Sacramento. I owned six pieces of furniture and all of my clothes and shoes could fit into one of them: a wooden IKEA wardrobe with guitars and fencing sabres piled on top. I could walk to work in thirteen minutes, bike to the grocery store, and […]

How to Make Kids Turn Into Bats

I found my daughter Brontë in my bathroom today, clutching her Minnie Mouse blanket around her like a straightjacket. After staring at the floor for a moment, she flung it open while she made a crazy face. She glanced at the bathroom mirror to see what effect she was having. Disappointed, she regrouped into straightjacket position and tried it again. Meanwhile, her […]

Pants-Crapping Goes Viral in Europe

See what I just did there? I made you look. I didn’t exactly pull that title out of thin air, but it probably doesn’t mean what you think it means. I’m talking about the post I wrote last week, the one called Memorial Day Weekend Hilarity. The one that starts off with my husband prancing about in […]

Biking Adventures With Extra Diablo Sauce

I’m gonna go out on a crazy limb by saying time management can be tough with children. Everything you do suddenly involves additional complications, like kids who constantly lose their shoes and move REALLY SLOW. Kids are also unbelievably messy. What used to be, say, quick Chinese take-out now involves long periods of post-meal rice grain patrol. Because toddlers are tiny bombs exploding your house 30+ times […]

Six Word Story Challenge: Insult

Someone just called me “Ma’am.” Again. That’s my entry for this week’s Six Word Story Challenge at Sometimes Stellar Storyteller. This week’s theme is “insult.” And I’m thinking other women know what I’m talking about here, that moment when your Ma’am to Miss ratio starts getting lopsided. Unless you live in the South, that […]

How to Fry Bananas in Your Panini Press

Whenever my jeans start feeling tight, I make some minor changes so I won’t have to do anything major down the line. For example, cooking more vegetable sides with dinner. Also, actually cooking dinner instead of living off pizza and cheeseburgers. Snacking on as many fruits and vegetables as you can stomach is also effective, since they end […]

Why Kids Are The Best Biking Accessories

I used to bike a lot, though I never called myself a cyclist. Mostly because I biked, in normal clothes, just to save college parking pass money and stay in shape. Not pretend I was in the Olympics. “Cyclists,” on the other hand, ride bikes costing thousands of dollars while wearing expensive spandex pants and shirts that […]