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.
What Superstorm Sandy Taught Me About Parenting (That I Already Knew But a Reminder’s Always Nice)
When I was a young kid — surprise! — I was a big reader. I could read any time, anywhere, and I can’t recall a single moment of my childhood in which I was bored. Unlike my sister who was prone to carsickness, I could read in the car, so even a relatively short trip […]
I Don’t Think Watching “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” Will Turn My Sons Into Bullies.
Just read a blog post on Babble.com that decries the latest danger that must be kept from our kids. Ready? It’s Charlie Brown. Well, specifically, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!”, because this 46-year-old* piece of beloved Americana threatens to turn your kid into a bad-mouther at best, and a bully at worst. Or something. […]
Are Smartphones Making Our Kids Lonely?
Last weekend, we took the boys to a local frozen-yogurt place — a treat because, after we pushed Daniel hard to study for his science quiz on the parts of a cell (which, as an aside, seem to have more parts than they did when I first learned about nuclei and mitochondria), he got a […]
The Magic Beach. Some Thoughts on Life and Love.
That photograph, above? It’s the best picture I took this summer. When I downloaded the photos I took during our three-day trip out East on Long Island in late August, I literally gasped when I saw this one. I’m usually a pretty crap photographer, and of course this is the beach at sunset, which is […]
Please… No Snacks!
Last week, I took the boys, as usual, to piano lessons, which take place at our piano teacher’s house. Over the years we’ve been going, the kids’ lesson times have changed — we’ve been there on Fridays before dinner, Wednesdays immediately after school, and now, midday on Saturdays. While one of them practices in the […]
Guest Post: Single Mom Seeks Wealth (And Good Behavior From Her Kids!)
A big part of my Mean Mom approach is being married to a Mean Dad. My husband is old-school in the right ways (he’s tough and consistent) while eschewing some of the old-school-dad stuff like hiding his face behind a newspaper and leaving all the child-rearin’ to me. He’s out there (literally) kicking a soccer […]
Settling Down: Thoughts on September
Since my last post was a sort of farewell (“here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?”) to August, I thought I’d check in with an I-love-September post. School has started. Despite a first September week plagued by high humidity and rain, it’s now my favorite, most energizing, soul-pleasing (not to mention hair-pleasing) weather of the year. […]
Thoughts on the End of August
It’ll come as no surprise to people who know me personally that I can be … let’s call it cranky. Which is why those who know me are often tempted to tell me to just relax, just enjoy your time with your boys, just get into the relaxed rhythm of summer. Be like everyone else! […]
American Girl Doll the “Price” of Admission for a Birthday Party? FAIL!
This’ll be short, because it’s a short story that’s left me, on the how-do-I-feel spectrum, adrift between puzzled and spitting mad, and I’m interested in opinions. The other night, at our friends’ house for pizza, my friend, Sally, mentioned that her daughter, Phoebe, who is five, was just invited to one of her pals’ birthday […]
What Swimming Lessons Taught Me About Letting Kids Fail (And Why Madeline Levine is My New Hero)
My children finished up their annual six weeks of day camp last Friday. We tried a different camp this year, partly because our friends were switching and we do a bit of carpooling; partly because it’s less expensive than even the relatively inexpensive YMCA the boys have been going to for four previous years; and […]
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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