My sister and I used to love dumping our candy loot on the ground and organize it into categories right after Halloween. My sister would tear through her candy, but not me. I'd eat a few pieces and save the rest to eat over time so I could torture her with a Reese's in the dark days of February. 

As a kid, I also loved meeting my friend on her bike so we could ride into town to the local pharmacy where I would buy my favorite candy. My friend and I would swap sweets and laughs on Saturday mornings. 

Going Trick or Treating with our kids last night reminded me that sweets and candy were a part of my childhood. My favorites, Twizzlers and Reese's, still bring a little thrill with the first bite. But there was a period of time during my dieting days where I wouldn't go near candy. Too much sugar, too many "empty" calories, and not even close to a "clean" food. 

If you're staring a pile of leftover candy in the face this morning and feeling nervous instead of...

I rounded the corner from the pool bathroom to hear my friend shouting to my husband that they were bringing ice. Running toward the scene, I found my son on his hands and knees with blood pouring from his mouth and my husband crouched next to him. 

Last month ended our thirteen year run of having no stitches for any of our kids. Two hours, a lost baby tooth (thanks, seesaw) and three stitches later, my son and husband left the ER with every kid’s dream prescription: lots of popsicles and ice cream. He smiled through his swollen lip at the prospect of all day frozen dairy and happily ate ice cream or a blended ice cream drink for lunch and dinner that first day. 

Something typical happened though, at dinner on day two of unlimited ice cream, he looked kinda green in the face. 

“Buddy, do you want that ice cream anymore?” I asked. 

“No, mom, no more ice cream”. He groaned.

His body is pretty smart and so is yours. When given carte...

Empty red and yellow Starburst wrappers, napkins in a wad, half eaten granola bars, several unidentifiable crumbs, goggles, wet swim diapers and sunscreen tubes littered the bottom of my summer bag. 

Before the holiday, I wanted to have a fresh start before it was inundated with parade candy wrappers, pinwheels and American flags. One of the kids had also asked me for cash, so I was also looking to scrape up enough loose change for the $2 tennis racquet “noise dampener” they wanted to buy. Apparently these are all the rage if you play tennis.

“Sorry, fellas, I only found sixty seven cents”. You guys cleaned me out of cash at the last swim meet snack bar. 

I have enough trouble keeping the top of the cash funnel full and don't need anything unnecessarily sucking the bottom of my cash funnel at rapid speed.

You know what does a great job cleaning you out of cash? Every diet and “cleanse” on the market.

The latest and...

Awkward first conversations. Tricky seating. Sweaty bodies. Shouting kids. Sounds of clunky lunch trays and crinkly brown bags. The middle school lunch room wasn’t my favorite place. 

Covid has added even more parameters to the lunch scene for our daughter. Plastic dividers, limited kids per table (two kids who’ve been assigned to that particular table), and socially distanced lines in the cafeteria. Thankfully some of those rules have loosened and my daughter can sit (socially distanced) with friends. 

One day, three of her friends asked her what she was eating and they said, “oh, I’m not allowed to eat that”.  

The offender? 

An English muffin with butter. 

Apparently these friends have been told to eat bread dry or with peanut butter. 

I easily could've been these moms feeling like I was doing the noble and right thing for my child and their health by telling them butter was off limits. Packing a lunch with no...