An article out of Scotland this morning had me reaching for the Platex Living Gloves in preparation for a drive-by-slapping, but further study has me thinking there just might be a few tasty nuggets on offer with this whine served up by a grown child taking issue with her parents' behavior.

Seems her sixty-something mom and stepfather have decided to SKI -- spend the kids' inheritance -- and she's none too happy about the turn of events. They are traveling, and have even decided to... more

Have you ever heard of a woman named Kathleen Casey-Kirschling?

No?

Me, neither, until this caught my eye, but now the poor woman has me conjuring images of Godzilla in Tokyo.

You see, poor Kathleen has the dubious honor of having been identified as America's "First Baby Boomer", and she is someone to be feared. (Bwaaaa haaa haaa!)

Having been born one second after midnight on the 1st of January in... more

With me not all tongue-in-cheekily contemplating the likelihood of having my son in bed with my husband and me until past the point that he's driving and shaving, the headline in this article, "Still Sleeping with Mom and Dad", and the accompanying photo showing a 23-year-old and his 21-year-old sister huddling under the covers between mattress-hugging parents caught my eye.

Little did I realize, however, that a complete read of the story and the comments it inspired would end up giving... more

As I mentioned in my blog about our trip to Bird Island, we have been there before.

Sam was ten-months-old at the time of our first trip, and managed to cut a couple of teeth and take his first steps over that weekend. The images of a chubby little guy being toted on Dad's back are our burned into our memories of the islands, and it seemed almost strange to be back in a place so little changed with a kid that had so much ... changed, that is.

Although I can... more

We are just back from our weekend break on Bird Island, and although the whole weekend long I had thought my Monday Older Parent Blog would be all about how parenting at my age differs from how I did this when I was much younger, an entirely different slant presented itself during the course of the trip.

First, a little history:

This was our second visit to Bird; our first was in 2003 when Sam was ten-months-old and Cj wasn't even a glimmer ... although I have to think that she was already writ... more

Ack! I'm an environmental nightmare, and I've not until the very minute given it more than a passing thought. It's this report that has me choking on my green tea this morning, and giving some thought to changing.

Me! Miss (or Mrs.) Environmentally-aware, former-hippy-chick, green-as-anything, outraged-over-waste, blah-blah, blah, is no longer part of a solution, but a major contributor to a problem. I live in a tropical paradise and what am I doing? I'm trashing... more

Perhaps it is only due to a good case of denial or delusion, but I honestly do not often have the fact that I am really old to have kids as young as mine flit across my consciousness. It's not that I convince myself that I am a springier chicken than I am or go out of my way to trick other eyes into seeing me younger than my chronological age, I simply don't think about my stack of years very often and tend to go about my parenting ... and my life, for that matter ... much like I have at the other ages I've been so far.

When I'm out and about with my children, I'm... more

After close to two years of writing these blogs, of being up to the third wrinkle above my left eye in adoption-related issues on a daily basis in efforts to keep myself and you informed, I find my patience wearing thin and my mood degenerating into a far less sunny disposition than would be healthy.

Okay, I've never been the Suzy Sunshine type, being far too irascible by nature to constantly look on the bright side ... the Monty Python version of the tune with that theme is more my speed ... and a tendency to over-think usually nips any overly-optimistic thought-blooms... more

Continued from the previous post, where we've been wondering if and how adoption impacts marriage, or vice versa.

Although it often falls to the hopeful mom to climb the Kilimanjaro of paperwork and whittle it down to a manageable pile with handy x's in all appropriate places, there's no saving the hubby some time-consuming and downright uncomfortable dealings as the process of adoption becomes more of a project than a pastime. Home study visits, physical checks, fingerprinting... more

In reading over the comments left on yesterday's blog about falling in love with my husband, I'm thinking this morning about how often I hear adoptive parents singing the praises of their mates and wondering if there's a correlation between successful marriage and adoption.

Not to discount the many single adoptive parents in the world. Not at all! Having been a single mom for a long time myself, I have nothing but respect for those who take on the mantle of parent without... more