Mean Moms Rule: The Blog
Observations on parenting in the tween and teen years.
This blog was born in 2009 as Confessions of a Mean Mommy, and gave rise to the book you see over on the right. Since I began blogging, my sons morphed from 5- and 7-year olds who looked to me for just about everything, to 11- and 13-year olds who have perfected their eye rolls and have one foot out the door. This parenting thing just got real.
The Riedlbauer’s Effect: Our Low Vacation Expectations
For many Americans, and famously for much of Western Europe, August is vacation season. Everyone who’s anyone decamps for mountains, lakes, beaches, theme parks, the family cabin, the campground… you get the idea. We’re not going anywhere; in fact, we haven’t gone on vacation in any real sense (that is, for more than a few […]
Ain’t it the Tooth: My Tiny Toothpaste Rant
I don’t like to whine (though I am genetically attracted to complaining. There’s a difference: Complaining suggests that there’s a problem that can and should be fixed. Whining is unproductive, but sometimes feels good.) So. Here’s my current complaint. I can’t find toothpaste for my boys that meets their need for something simple, yet without […]
A Pocketful of Candy, a Bottle Full of Vodka: Who is in Charge Here, Anyway?
Couple things happened recently that got linked up in my head in one of those classic lightbulb moments. The first thing was a conversation overheard in James’ preschool classroom on the last day of school. A mom of a girl in Jamie’s class was chatting with the teacher about how she was taking her daughter […]
In The Good Old Summertime? My Lesson in Summer Vacation
I’m having a “first” this summer, as a parent. First time that I am — on the face of it, anyway — just being, here at home, with my sons. It’s been … interesting, a word my high school English teacher (rest in peace, Ms. Richman) instructed us to avoid at all costs because it’s […]
The Bus Stop Conundrum: To free-range or not to free range
Last fall, a new family moved into our neighborhood, and on the first day of school, there was a new girl at our little bus stop. They’d arrived at their house literally the day before school started. From Israel. That first day, the father took his little girl, Hadar, 6, to the stop. She wanted […]
School’s Out For Summer… Why is That, Again?
The sign at the entrance to my son’s primary school reads, under the school’s name, “A First-Class Experience.” And it is, truly. So much so, that I wish he could stay there all year. And why not? I love school, and my son does, too — he just finished first grade, and this year we […]
The Non-Helpless Dad: A Father’s Day Shout-Out to My Husband
Let me just say this upfront: My husband is, hands down, the best father I know. (Sorry, Dad.) Here he is, the day we took our first son, Daniel, home from the hospital. (Note the beard growth and dazed expression; that’s what you get after sleeping on one of those hospital recliner chairs for three […]
What’s In Your Toybox?
I was recently asked to write a guest-blog post for City Mommy, a local community website for moms in cities and towns around the country (you sign up, and access forums for local groups, and so on — a virtual coffee shop for moms). Anyway, I thought for a bit about what I might want […]
The McDonald’s Conundrum: Do You Do Fast Food?
It should probably come as no surprise that I’m not a fast-food fan. I used to love it, as a child, and even into my twenties, but no more. The few times I’ve had it, post age 30 or so, it didn’t sit right, in more ways than one. So, me and McDonald’s (or BK […]
The Volcano Experiment: The Mean Mom’s Guide to Birthday Parties
Last weekend, my sons and I went to an awesome birthday party. It was Daniel’s friend Luke’s seventh birthday. Luke’s a great kid — the boys have been in class together since kindergarten — and he has a pretty cool mom. By which I mean, she throws cool birthday parties. Last year, she hosted a […]
My name is Denise, and I’m a Mean Mom.
That’s the very first line of my book, Mean Moms Rule. Let me explain the “mean” for you, in case you were under the impression that I never hug my boys (I possibly do this too much, as evidenced by the fact that they routinely try to wiggle away from my embraces and especially my sloppy kisses, the urchins), or that I advocate for children to work in coal mines (it’s illegal! Plus, no coal mines in my area!). I say “mean” because my approach often bucks the prevailing parenting trend, which you could call helicopter-y or indulgent (I prefer my own technical term, “squishy”). It’s mean because it’s not easy. Because it’s focused on the end game, not the here-and-now (and anyone who has kids’ll tell you, they are all about the here and now).
Grab a copy from your favorite bookseller:
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