BacktalkBacktalk

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Let’s call it what it is: Being a teenager is just damn hard these days. Back in the Stone Age when I was sixteen, I didn’t spend six months planning my summer in order to ensure I was filling the requisite boxes for my college apps. No, I was busy perfecting my tan (grease up with baby oil, wait 15 minutes, turn), chasing down my latest crush (is he at the beach, the swim club, or the movies today?), and reading every Jacqueline Suzanne or Judith Krantz novel I could get my hands on. Sure I had a summer job. I babysat my neighbor’s kids in the mornings so she could go to her yoga class (Yoga? What weirdo does that?). It was a great summer. I was bored all of the time.  Read more

Last week, the web was rocked with news that Abby Sunderland, the 16-year-old who was circumnavigating the world alone, had gone missing. Immediately, the response from parents the web over was to criticize her parents: "who would let their teen do such a crazy thing?" I would. My parents did. My question is, "who wouldn't?"  Read more

Sibling Rivalry: It's Not Fair!

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With three children in the house (and two of them twins), sibling rivalry is inevitable. It's rampant. And it's exhausting to referee. I don't keep a tally of how many birthday parties and playdates each child has or buy presents to make up for any shortfalls, but I do what I can to even things out, keep the accusations of favoritism at bay and generally preserve my sanity domestic harmony.  Read more

(Ed. Note: This is a response to the anonymous piece from The Afghan Women's Writing Project "I Am for Sale, Who Will Buy Me?" on BlogHer.)My older daughter Iz has fully embraced the tween battle cry "it's not FAIR!!"  Read more

BackTalk:Caffeinated Kids

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Do you let your children drink coffee? What about caffeinated soda? What about those energy drinks, like Red Bull? On this weeks show we explore this topic.  Read more

Bullies

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"I got in a fight with a girl today," my five-year-old daughter announced after her first morning of day camp. "Really?" I said, surprised. "What was it about?" "Well, she said everyone had to listen to her and do what she said. But I said they didn't. And she was mad." "Oh," I said, secretly pleased. "Well, did you two not get along after that?" "Oh no," she said. "We got out of the fight later and played."  Read more

Parenting Special Needs Children

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Without a doubt, this parenting gig is hard. One of the better quotes I've ever heard uttered about parenting is in the movie "Terms of Endearment" (1983) when Emma (played by Debra Winger) explains to her husband just how difficult parenting alone will be for him. She says, "As hard as you think it is, you end up wishing it were that easy" and it's the most poignant and honest assessment of parenting as I think I've ever heard.  Read more

We've got a brief family vacation coming up next week and I have a little secret for you... I'm not looking forward to it. We'll be headed to an amusement park in Santa Claus, Indiana and staying in a hotel room that's actually an RV. In an RV park. Yes, in Santa Claus, they have RV hotel rooms. Because that is how they roll. Honestly, this sort of thing is so crazy, it would generally be right up my alley. Add a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old to the mix, though, and it's so not up my alley. In fact, it's basically a nightmare.  Read more

Backtalk- What Did YOU Talk Back About?

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So this month we talked about breastfeeding, vacationing with your children, and blogging about teenagers. As long as you aren't blogging about breastfeeding your teenager while on vacation you probably have good company in the momosphere.  Read more

Summer is right around the corner and that means many blogging moms are gearing up for a vacation or two with the family.  Read more

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