Eighteen 6th graders filled our yard last week for a back-to-school hang out. It's definitely not called a "playdate" at this point because that would, low-key, not be cool. The kids would all dip if they found out it was still called a "playdate". 

It was the classic pre-teen awkward social interaction with boys on one side of the line and girls on the other side of the imaginary line. They came together for the pinnacle of the event. 

The Kona Ice Truck. 

I don't know what genius thought up this dream machine, but every year it makes our summer at 4th of July, long swim meets and pool parties. There's nothing like getting that cup of shaved ice in the shape of an ice cream cone and playing flavor maker with the bottomless syrup dispensers. Ice, ice, baby. 

The kids mingled and shared their concoctions and then it was promptly back to boys v girls. All we needed was a disco ball, streamers and an awkward eight minute slow dance song from Journey and I would've...

At long last, pre-orders for my book, Raising Anti-Diet Kids:A Parents Actionable Guide To Ditch Diets and Cultivate Bidy Respect it’s here!!!

While my goal isn’t to make it to the top of The New York Times Bestseller’s list, I do want to be a bestseller for our Mind Body Mondays crew and hope you’ll buy the book. 

Writing this story for you took three years, and was written on airplanes, in the car, late nights at my desk, on the sidelines, in pick up lines and early mornings when the house was (somewhat) quiet. It’s truly the handbook I wish I had starting out as a parent, or better yet, before becoming a parent. I wish my parents had this book when I was struggling as a teenager. I’ve poured my heart and soul into this book, revealed things even my friends don’t know and covered every possible scenario I could think of regarding food and body for parents and kids. 

The front and back cover art was drawn by my oldest girls and if...

The smell of movie theater popcorn lingered in the air as I snapped a picture of my girls and their friends dressed in pink. They posed inside the life size cardboard Barbie box adorned with balloons. The theater lobby was dotted with pink patrons in eager anticipation of the new Barbie movie. I was anxious to see if Greta Gerwig could portray a new Barbie that would encourage all women to break out of their plastic mold. 

Let’s see…. (very small spoilers ahead) 

Great cast with some diversity. Check. 

Awareness of patriarchy and the unequal and unfair treatment of women. Check. 

Acknowledgement that women are held to impossible standards. Check  

Ryan Gosling with some LOL moments. Check. 

You singing along with the cast to The Indigo Girls. Check.

Margot Robbie rejects Ken and the happily ever after. Check. 

You laughing and crying. Check. 

You wondering if you still have roller blades in your basement. Check. 

The...

Once a month I host a mom’s get together before school pick up. It falls just before lunch so I put out a spread. Not the kind that would make my Italian Nana proud, but it does the job. Fresh berries, granola, a crisp veggie tray, cheese and fancy crackers and a few sweets. The food mostly goes untouched and our family happily enjoys the extras. My kids can’t understand why the good food goes to waste.

This Spring, I asked one of my friends if she wanted anything to eat and she said, “oh no, I’m intermittent fasting”. 

I simultaneously understood her position and felt sad because diet culture, one and my friend, zero. 

I promptly replied, “No judgement, but I don’t agree with that concept”. I try to keep any commentary light which will be hard this fall when I want to open my book and ask her to read chapter one which is all about diet culture and why diets don’t work for the vast majority of people. 

“But...

As a family of 8, there's a short list of things I can't live without. 

Topping that list is our double stack washer and dryer. Those suckers run 6-7 days a week and sometimes multiple times a day. Don't ask me why, with all the laundry we do, that we still find ourselves running frantically around the house five minutes before a game searching for the right jersey. And don't get my started on the missing sock mystery. 

When one of our beloved work horses stops working, we call somebody to fix it......quickly. 

The next day, a trusty A&E truck pulls in our driveway and Don gives me the grim news that one dryer is broken and the other one is on its last leg. To fix both would be almost as expensive as ordering new ones. 

I give the kids the bad news as I'm driving them to soccer and one of them pipes up and says, "that guy looked like he ate a lot of food". 

*Long pause while I collect my thoughts. Older daughter sighs heavily and remarks,...

My friend came to me in a panic, unsure of how to respond to her eight year old daughter. 

The night before, her daughter had looked in the mirror and asked her mom if she was fat. It's hard to not feel like this is a loaded statement as every woman in America has been brainwashed into diet culture's code of ethics that states every good woman should do her part to stay, maintain or at the very least throw spaghetti at the wall until she finds a weight loss gimmick that sticks. 

My friend, stunned by her daughter's comment replied like you probably would have....

"No, no, no honey, you're not fat. You're beautiful and strong and just look at all the things you can do!" 

I would've said the same thing until I knew better. 

Assuring this sweet girl that she's not fat actually just reinforced the idea that fat is bad and thin is good. My book takes a deeper dive into how to respond to these comments, especially if the comment is coming from a...

Everyone has a "naughty" friend their childhood. The one that pushes the teacher's buttons, the one who gets in trouble at school yet acts like an angel at home, the one who lies and gets away with it (most of the time), and the one who smokes and drinks well before its appropriate or legal.

That friend of mine was Erin. 

We played the Ouija board, toilet papered houses (I swear it was for school) and loved a good, innocent prank. 

One day after school in my basement, we decided it would be a good idea to prank call the operator (remember you could just hit zero?) and sing her the song, Smooth Operator by Sade. Mind you, * 69 may have entered the scene, but caller ID wasn't a thing yet. This operator was no dummy. As soon as we got through enough Sade to have us doubled over in stitches, we hung up the phone. 

Not a minute later, the phone rang. And whaddya know? 

It was our operator friend telling us she was so smooth that she knew the number we were...

I don’t make time to do my hair. I should, but I don’t. I realized long ago that something's gotta give when trying to get six kids ready for school and my hair lost. 

I have all the things like a nice hair dryer and curling iron, but they just collect dust while I attempt a rather pathetic two minute post shower detangle spray and hair towel routine. To say I look forward to my haircuts is an understatement. Upon entry, the smell of fruity hibiscus hits my nose, I’m brought a cup of hot tea and then whisked off for a scalp massage. What makes every haircut special, though, is the conversations I have with my stylist. Over the years, I've had two, in particular, who consistently make my day. I’ll refer to them as daymakers. You know those people who leave you with a happy, perma-smile, kind of feeling. They're doing more than cutting hair and are rare gems worth treasuring. 

At my last haircut, my daymaker stylist and I, as usual, talked about the...

Is it me or are celebrities going further off the deep end of reality?

If you haven’t already heard about, read or listened to Gwenyth Paltrow’s (aka GP) latest interview with Dr. Will Cole, you’re in for a doozy, because GP is officially out to lunch (well, not literally because she apparently doesn’t eat lunch or breakfast but I’ll get to that in a second). I refuse to post the link to her interview because it’s full of dangerous ideas.

The interview with Dr. Cole, a chiropractic doctor, opens with her being embarrassed that her IV drip was still connected. I’m sorry, but I thought IV’s were reserved for those who were sick and actually needed real medical care? Apparently, Gwenyth likes to mainline her vitamins because multivitamins are just so 1980’s. I can already smell the smoke from the flames that will go up about this interview, but I keep listening to the dumpster fire. 

Gwenyth moves on from the IV’s...

Growing up, I was expected to go to church. It wasn't a bad thing for me. I actually liked it. We'd pick up my Nana and I'd hold her hand in the car or stroke her fur coat in the winter. She always looked fancy and pulled together with her fresh nails, hair and make-up, gold jewelry and a matching knit suit. My extended family was there and afterwards we went to the grocery store for hot ham and rolls and donuts with Casey Kasem's top number one song revealed on the way. 

Times have changed...

Yesterday at 8:50am, a couple of my kids stared me down and told me they were only going to 9am church if we got donuts afterwards. They know they can have donuts without going to church, but whatever gets them out the door so we make it in time for the homily works for me. Get in the car, kids.

As our kids fast walked/ran for the donuts after mass, I walked in slowly talking with my friend. This was clearly enough time for her daughter to approach her mom and ask for a...