So, just as directed, Saturday morning we got Jolie out of bed and joyously proclaimed, "NO DIAPERS TODAY! JOLIE GETS TO WEAR UNDERWEAR!"

We said this as if we were announcing Candy For All Meals Day or Super Fun Carnival Day. Except we were referring to the onset of Potty Pain of Unspeakable Proportions. Slight difference.

We had her go to the potty and put her in her first pair of big-girl Dora underwear. (Yes, they sell such things.)

Approximately 30… Read More

As soon as Jolie was eating table foods, we got one of these Tiny Diner portable placemats for use at restaurants. For one, we felt the need to contain the mass destruction that is Jolie Eating. Even a generous tip can only make up for some of the industrial-grade janitorial jobs we would leave in our wake. For another, since most of her food ended up on the table in the process of consumption and we couldn't well… Read More

Memorial Day weekend is right around the corner which means the opening of many swimming pools (and for us, the opening of many bottles of bleach and carpet cleaner for our pee-filled extravaganza. Jealous?)

One childhood memory of swimming at a public swimming pool stands out, and not for a particularly fond reason.

I was 7 years old and my family was visiting family in southern California. We were at the community pool with my cousins, and my 2-year-old little brother… Read More

I spoke too soon.

The other day, I got a call from Jolie's school. Whenever I see that school number pop up in my cell phone caller ID, I break into a cold sweat. Did she fall? Get hurt? Sit on someone?

It was her teacher. Informing me that Jolie asked to sit on the potty three separate times that morning and once, produced some pee.

Super! What else happened? Did she fall? Get hurt? Sit on someone?

Her teacher thought that this excitement… Read More

Much to my mother's chagrin (who equates ability to potty train with intelligence), Jolie is not yet potty trained. Apparently, I was ONE when I was potty trained which I find highly suspect. I mean, hello, could I even walk then? (And, really, who wants a potty-trained 1-year-old anyway?)

While JP and I have not made major efforts on this front, aside from providing her a pint-sized potty and giving her the option to exercise her right to sit… Read More

One of the bloggers I read regularly recently wrote a piece about the overmedication of children for disorders like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder. As a trained psychologist she worries that many more children are getting treated for these conditions without a clear diagnosis. It seems like a convenient way to instill order and "proper behavior".

This totally resonated with me.

As a parent of a child whose spaz-ness often prompts one of us… Read More