More Grandchildish Behavior

I am drool resistant, attract dirt, love to wallow, don’t mind eating things off of the ground and sometimes need changing.

I fit right in with kids.

So… I guess I want grandkids more than Veronica does… CONTINUE READING >>

I am drool resistant, attract dirt, love to wallow, don’t mind eating things off of the ground and sometimes need changing.

I fit right in with kids.

So… I guess I want grandkids more than Veronica does… CONTINUE READING >>

Grandchildish Behavior

I’ve had two unexpected conversations recently that have given me pause for reflection. The first was with my father-in-law while dining over Mexican food in Kansas. While catching him up with our kids’ lives, he asked me if they were dating anyone of note. I told him that at the moment there were no significant others. Then, the bolt out of the blue,”Oh, you must be sad that you won’t be having grandchildren anytime soon.”

The next exchange was with my daughters, The Piglet and Decibel.

“All of our friends’ mothers are on crazy grandma patrol. How come you aren’t nagging us about having babies?”

It started out as gentle teasing, but… CONTINUE READING  >>

I’ve had two unexpected conversations recently that have given me pause for reflection. The first was with my father-in-law while dining over Mexican food in Kansas. While catching him up with our kids’ lives, he asked me if they were dating anyone of note. I told him that at the moment there were no significant others. Then, the bolt out of the blue,”Oh, you must be sad that you won’t be having grandchildren anytime soon.”

The next exchange was with my daughters, The Piglet and Decibel.

“All of our friends’ mothers are on crazy grandma patrol. How come you aren’t nagging us about having babies?”

It started out as gentle teasing, but… CONTINUE READING  >>

A Little Talked About Sign of Aging

Here’s the thing. My best features come from my Romanian roots. I’ve always enjoyed having dark hair and blue eyes. I am psyched that my “gray” hair is silver, some people pay big bucks for that. Dracula was Romanian, and by most accounts was a particularly handsome man-thing.

That being said, we Romanians are a very hairy people. My beloved Grandpa not only had follicles growing out of his ears, but in his later years his lobes looked like small woodland creatures. My stunningly gorgeous mother had quite the collection of… CONTINUE READING >>

Here’s the thing. My best features come from my Romanian roots. I’ve always enjoyed having dark hair and blue eyes. I am psyched that my “gray” hair is silver, some people pay big bucks for that. Dracula was Romanian, and by most accounts was a particularly handsome man-thing.

That being said, we Romanians are a very hairy people. My beloved Grandpa not only had follicles growing out of his ears, but in his later years his lobes looked like small woodland creatures. My stunningly gorgeous mother had quite the collection of… CONTINUE READING >>

Life After Kids

When Veronica and I began to think about our life after raising kids one of the first things we did was Google “empty nesters.” We wanted to see if anyone else was looking at this the same way that we were. With a feeling of “isn’t it great that the kids have moved out, and we’ll have life to ourselves again?” CONTINUE READING >> 

When Veronica and I began to think about our life after raising kids one of the first things we did was Google “empty nesters.” We wanted to see if anyone else was looking at this the same way that we were. With a feeling of “isn’t it great that the kids have moved out, and we’ll have life to ourselves again?” CONTINUE READING >> 

The Couple of Things

I was recently interviewed for a magazine article about empty nesting from the Dad’s point of view. As usual, I was happy to add my two cents. Most of the questions involved the logistics of pulling off our GypsyNester lifestyle, things like selling the house, making an income, traveling and the like. But one question completely caught me by surprise CONTINUE READING >>

I was recently interviewed for a magazine article about empty nesting from the Dad’s point of view. As usual, I was happy to add my two cents. Most of the questions involved the logistics of pulling off our GypsyNester lifestyle, things like selling the house, making an income, traveling and the like. But one question completely caught me by surprise CONTINUE READING >>

Un-nesting. Could it be Blissfully Real?

I’m constantly searching for material that dispels my internal anti-mantra, “You are a bad mommy. You shouldn’t be so happy that your children have left the nest. You are a bad…” In my latest frantic search, I came across a theory that I love. Un-nesting.

Suzanne Koven, M.D. writes in her post for Psychology Today entitled “The Un-Nesting Instinct”:

Celia’s story started out sounding pretty familiar-a cliché almost. She was fiftyish and going through menopause and, in addition to the weight gain and hot flashes, she found herself irritable and sad. Her children, she told me, were a particular source of sadness. “You mean because they’re growing up, moving away?” I asked. ‘No,’ answered Celia, ‘Because they’reCONTINUE READING >>

I’m constantly searching for material that dispels my internal anti-mantra, “You are a bad mommy. You shouldn’t be so happy that your children have left the nest. You are a bad…” In my latest frantic search, I came across a theory that I love. Un-nesting.

Suzanne Koven, M.D. writes in her post for Psychology Today entitled “The Un-Nesting Instinct”:

Celia’s story started out sounding pretty familiar-a cliché almost. She was fiftyish and going through menopause and, in addition to the weight gain and hot flashes, she found herself irritable and sad. Her children, she told me, were a particular source of sadness. “You mean because they’re growing up, moving away?” I asked. ‘No,’ answered Celia, ‘Because they’reCONTINUE READING >>

No, We Won’t Buy You a…

Our main goal as parents was to end up with happy, healthy, self-sufficient adults.

We can’t tell anyone how to do this — everyone’s different and Lord knows we made our share of mistakes along the way — but we can offer an insight that we’ve gained through our own offspring’s transitions from childhood to adulthood.

Don’t give kids everything they want, just everything they need.

A whole lot of what they want is stupid crap and… CONTINUE READING >>

Our main goal as parents was to end up with happy, healthy, self-sufficient adults.

We can’t tell anyone how to do this — everyone’s different and Lord knows we made our share of mistakes along the way — but we can offer an insight that we’ve gained through our own offspring’s transitions from childhood to adulthood.

Don’t give kids everything they want, just everything they need.

A whole lot of what they want is stupid crap and… CONTINUE READING >>