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Coffee Break with Liz and Kate » Entries tagged with "parenting"

Liz’s rant: School daze

August 9th, 2010 | 1 Comment

I read an article the other day about how the start of a new school year is like New Year’s Day. And I suspect that’s true to a certain extent. The school year doesn’t begin at the stroke of midnight, though. Champagne doesn’t flow freely (ok, except for those parents who are celebrating the fact that little junior and juniorette will no longer be hanging around all day long, claiming there’s nothing to do). But there will likely be a few new resolutions made and a few high hopes launched. We’ll swear bedtime will be a smoother process and everyone will hop out of bed with a smile on their face as soon as the alarm goes off. Promises of a set schedule for homework, complete with a great snack, every supply … Read entire article »

Filed under: Headline, Liz's Rants

Liz’s rant: Dirtbag of the year?

May 19th, 2010 | 2 Comments

Just when I think I’ve heard it all, it never fails. I hear something else. Something that defies all notions of decency, while bordering on unbelievable. Something that leaves you scratching your head, wondering where these people come from and how they’ve survived on planet earth as long as they have. Enter today’s rant, somewhere in Massachusetts, where a man allegedly offered to swap his 3-month-old daughter for beer. Or maybe it was crack cocaine. Police can’t be entirely certain at this point. Apparently, this dad of the year if you live on “Planet All the World’s an Idiot” had left his motel room/home with his girlfriend and daughter to visit the convenience store next door, where he approached the gas station’s maintenance man. The report goes on to say that this “dad” … Read entire article »

Filed under: Headline, Liz's Rants

Liz’s rant: Shop ’til you wonder why you’re there

December 14th, 2009 | Add a Comment

I love my daughter. Really I do. She has a few quirks, though. She can’t make a decision to save her life. (Fact – deal with it.) Today was no exception. “Let’s go to the mall,” she said… On a Sunday afternoon, less than two weeks before Christmas. Had she lost her mind? “Don’t you have friends to submit to this torture without taking your mother?” I asked. And she did. Except that she’d just gotten back from a round-the-clock softball tourney in Indianapolis. And since her last game was at 5:30 Sunday morning, and she didn’t get home until about 1 p.m., her friends had conveniently made other plans. So had her brother and I. In fact, we’d been at another store when she’d called to say she was home, and made that dreaded mall … Read entire article »

Filed under: Headline, Let's Celebrate, Liz's Rants

Kate’s Escapades – I Believe in Santa Claus

December 8th, 2009 | 7 Comments

I’ve always known that this dreaded day would come . In fact, it’s been 25 years in the making. I had hoped to stretch  it out one more year, but alas, it’s not to be. And let me tell you, I am heartbroken.  Much more heartbroken, it seems, than my son is. (Note to reader…if you have a small child lurking over your shoulder, who happens to be able to read, please send them off to frolic and play before you read further, unless you’d like the dreaded day to come before you’re prepared for it, like it has for me.) The youngest of my seven kids now “knows”. I’ve seen it coming all through the year.  First the Easter Bunny fell by the wayside. (Isn’t he always the first to go? … Read entire article »

Filed under: Headline, Kate's Escapades, Let's Celebrate

Guest Rant – A Real African Dog
by Donna Hansen

September 4th, 2009 | Add a Comment

One day Baby’s friend from across the street, Z, started pounding on our front door. I opened it, my first mistake. “Where’s Baby? There’s a hurt bird out here he has to see!” Z exclaimed. I thought ‘Boys and their desire for the Horrific.’ While Baby went outside to inspect the injured bird, I put Boomer the Basset Hound in the backyard, his Kingdom, and went out to start the truck. We had errands to run. I pulled around the corner to grab that child of mine. He and Z were watching the bird flutter around only about an inch off the ground. The poor thing would fly a foot or two and fall back to the ground. While it looked ok, it definitely wasn’t. As it was fluttering around it flapped through … Read entire article »

Filed under: Headline, This 'n That