Get Your Kids to Do Their Chores!

I just love all those helpful tips from all those self-help experts on how to get your kids to do work around the house (insert sarcastic emoticon here).

Quality Time Travel

I worked until my second child was born -- then made the transition from working mom to SAHM. Unfortunately, my professional work ethic came with me.

I Slept with My Husband

When our oldest daughter turned 13, we celebrated. I'm not talking about an elaborate birthday party with my daughter and too many of her 13-year-old friends -- although we had one of those. I'm talking about dinner, alone with my husband ... at a restaurant (fancy) ... with drinks (alcoholic) ... and a movie (R-rated)!

Lies I Told Myself (New Mothers Take Notice)

As a blogger for this site, I try to provide the perspective of a mother with older kids (the perspective of a smart-ass sometimes just slips out). It is from that vantage point of experience that I thought I would address any interested new mothers out there -- and share some lies I told myself when I first became a mother 14 years ago.

Sexy Halloween Costumes Scare Me

I am crazy for Halloween. We go all out in our home. It's a time of year when no matter how old you are, you get to be a kid again ... that is, unless you are a kid.

Threesome, Anyone?

This may come as a surprise to my friends, who know me as a left-wing, hippie liberal. I'm supposed to be all for sexual freedom. And I am, between consenting adults ... in private. So when I heard that "Gossip Girl" would be featuring a threesome on their November 9 episode, I put my fringe-moccasin'ed foot down.

The Other F-Word

If I could have had three wishes in high school, they would have been: 1) to be thinner, 2) to be thinner, and 3) to be thinner. But how do I set a good example for my daughter?

I'll Make You Pay for That!

I will move Heaven and Earth to give my children their hearts' desire. But last week I made my 11-year-old reimburse me for a pack of gum.

I Hate It When I'm Right

"Mother knows best" is not just a colloquialism, it's a fact ... stated colloquially. But just like our ability to read minds or see into the future, it's both a blessing and a curse.

You Want to Be a WHAT?

My oldest girl just started high school, a time when choices start to matter and mistakes can take longer to fix. Maybe it was time, I thought, to persuade her to give up her lifelong career goal of becoming Bon Bon, the fourth Powerpuff Girl.

Life in the Faster Lane

My oldest daughter had to fight for everything: getting to see a PG-13 movie before she was thirteen, going to the mall alone with friends, getting a Facebook account. My youngest daughter gets to reap the benefits of the battles her sister fought.

The Last Birthday (Party)

Hypochondriac Kid ... or Lazy Mother?

I have repeated the story of the boy who cried wolf so many times that I have become the mother who cried the boy who cried wolf.

Cute Is a Four-Letter Word

At almost a foot shorter than her sibling, it is more than just a metaphor to say that my youngest has grown up in her sister's shadow.

Mommy, the Potty Mouth

True Confession: I swear in front of my kids.

My Daughter the Slob

For the most part, I am pretty proud of my teenager's departures from the mommy mold. But there is one area in which we are so different that I'm about to tear my hair out.

Reading My Kids' Minds

Frustrated in my attempts to get my girls to open up, I have found a pretty good intermediary: books. That is why I have undertaken the tactic of reading what my children read.

I Don't Want To Be a Role Model

As far as I'm concerned, there is only one mother that I might consider a worthy role model for my children: Mother Teresa. And even then, I would suggest they question her fashion sense.