Yesterday when I picked my kids up from school they were all rambling along about their day; who was absent, what they did and who they played with at recess and all the while I was just agreeing and shaking my head. They all have so much to say at once and with three of them in the car I typically feel like a bobble head in the front seat trying to listen to all of them. My youngest son, who is in third grade this year, waited for the afternoon hype to die down and then he hit me with a question about a comment his teacher wrote on one of his papers. I don’t remember exactly what it said, …

Labor Day has come and gone, the days are starting to cool and the nights are getting even cooler. If you weren’t back into the swing of things before, you definitely are by now. School has started, and that can only mean one thing: busy families. For my family that means one night after another with hockey and soccer practices. I’ve quickly fallen back into bad habits of feeding my family on the go and doing homework on the fly. What happened to me? Last year, I vowed to start packing fruits, veggies and other easily portable foods rather than grabbing fast food or concession stand junk. I …

When the idea of playing for the freshman football team first came up, my stepson, J, went back and forth several times before deciding whether or not he was interested. Most of the conversations ended with “probably not,” partly because he’s already got multiple other time commitments as he begins his high school journey, most notably as part of both the marching band and jazz ensemble. That’s probably more than enough for any freshman to do. J, though, decided midsummer that he was going to participate in the off-season weight lifting program and then give football a shot. Over the first …

We’ve reached the end of an era in our house. My stepson is moving on from the world of middle school and organized sports, and on to high school. J has grown up playing little league baseball and various versions of organized basketball, and this past week he played in his final little league game. He is 15, so to say “little league” sounds a bit odd anyway, but looking toward his freshman year of high school, he already has so much on his plate that playing fall baseball isn’t even an option. I asked him how it made him feel, and he replied like a typical 15 year old would — “kinda sad.” So…

Greetings Wentzville! Today I’m writing to you from my beach lounger in sunny, beautiful Florida. I bet you’re asking yourself, "Didn’t she just write about taking a beach trip?" Why, yes I did, but I’m fortunate enough to be back again. Jealous? It’s OK, I would be too if I weren’t me. All of the beach time I’ve had this summer, coupled with trips to the pool, I’ve come to realize that people must no longer own mirrors. The swimwear I’ve seen this summer is so ridiculously inappropriate I almost want to shield my own eyes. Watching this has forced me to come up with rules for swimwear. I’m …

Last week my husband and I packed up the car, and took my kids on their first ever beach vacation. I couldn’t wait to get to Gulf Shores, but in typical fashion for our family, this trip did not start, or end, without drama. I’m really not a fan of drama, in fact, having two middle school girls in my house part of the time leaves me disliking drama even more than your average person. They bring enough, and I could do without any. But, as I said, this trip, like most everything we do, had its share. We were set to leave on a Saturday morning. My kids were spending the night with Granny and the…

A little more than two years ago, I was an active runner and exerciser. I found time to work out five days a week and was training to do a 5K when my life was suddenly changed forever. It all started with a little bit of back pain when I was working out. At first it was something that I was taking ibuprofen for after I exercised. After a few days of no relief, it turned into something that started to hinder my workouts. I was in pain when I was jumping or running on the treadmill, and it quickly became a pain that hurt any time I moved. The first step I took was to call my doctor. Even though…

The first week of summer started with a bang. I always hope for an explosively fun summer with my kids, but the way it started this year wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. As Memorial Day weekend got underway, I got antsy to take my kids to the pool. My in-laws live near a fun community water park, and I thought that would be a great place to kick off our summer! Everyone grabbed their suits and towels, and off we went. When we arrived at the pool, we took careful deliberation to put all valuables out of sight. Like most kids these days, my kids can’t go anywhere without a Nintendo DS or …

Over the years with four children involved in sports, we’ve had our share of coaches. In the wide array of sports that my children play, and as is probably the case on most kids sports teams, some are exceptional, and some are just mediocre. Thankfully we’ve never had to deal with any that are really bad. As I think back over the years, especially when my kids were just starting their sporting careers, we were fortunate enough to have exceptional coaches who taught our children skills as well as good sportsmanship and good attitudes on, and off, the field. Of course there was the soccer coach…

My husband and I grew up in the recently tornado devastated area of Maryland Heights. We both graduated from Pattonville High School. My in-laws still live there, and we have many friends who also still live in the Pattonville area. My two stepchildren are Pattonville students. We go to homecoming every year, we attend fundraisers and do what we can to support our alma matter and the Pattonville community. When news broke of a tornado touching down, Jeff and I knew there was nothing that would stop us from helping. We went out every day for the first week, canvasing neighborhoods that we knew…

As I sit at my laptop wracking my brain about what to write about this week, I’m watching the TV weather people talk about impending tornadoes. This year seems to be particularly treacherous for these looming disasters. Thoughts of the weather took me back to the storm we had a couple of months ago when we experienced the midnight tornado scare in St. Charles County. I remember lying in bed with my husband and hearing the tornado sirens just as I was about to fall asleep. It was quickly approaching 11 p.m., and all I could think about were the four little people sleeping upstairs. My husband …

When my husband and I first met and were dating, he labeled me a "go mom." What is a ‘"go mom" you ask? My definition of a "go mom" is a mom (or parent) who stands on the sidelines of her child’s game and tells them to go; i.e. run, skate, get the ball, etc. At first I was a little put off by this label. I was a cheerleader in high school, and I don’t know how NOT to stand on the sidelines and yell at people to go! I spent years yelling, "Let’s go Green!" "Shoot!" and anything I could think that would inspire my team. The first time my husband pointed this out to me, we were at my daughter’s …

Like every tween in the world these days, my 12-year-old daughter is dying to have a Facebook account. My husband and I are both on Facebook, I know many of her friends are on Facebook, but for a 12 year old, are those really valid reasons to allow her to have an account of her own? Before making any decisions, I decided to check out Facebook’s rules and age policy. The Facebook Privacy Policy states the following: No information from children under age 13. If you are under age 13, please do not attempt to register for Facebook or provide any personal information about yourself to us. If we …

Last weekend, both of my sons played in their respective "state championships" in youth hockey, with one of them winning and one of them placing second. I’m not sure how many teams these tournaments included, but it seemed most, if not all, of the teams were local. I was told the criteria for getting into this state championship tournament was based on their regular-season records and tournaments in which they all played, etc. I didn't bother to do a whole lot of research on it. But a few days later, something curious happened. In another tournament, my son’s team, which had just won this "…

My 12-year-old daughter is a basketball player and a softball player. Or, rather, she always has been. As we drift further into her tween years and approach the teens, she has decided she’s no longer an athlete. I beg to differ. Last Saturday, she had a basketball game. Her team is pretty good, but she’s not even close to being the star of her team. Truth be told, none of these girls are standout athletes, so it always surprises me that they continually win game after game. This particular game was no exception. The team she played also had no standouts, with the exception of a girl who …

Every day when my children get home from school, I pull the fresh baked cookies from the oven, pour everyone a glass of milk and we all sit around talking about how wonderful their school day was. They focus on the day’s homework and even study for tests that are days away. Let me put the virtual breaks on this story before I get too carried away. Afternoons at my house are far from the fairy tale we read about in books and sometimes see on TV. I have four children, who attend two different schools — one in public and three in private. They all arrive home at the same time and the chaos …

It’s 5 a.m. on Saturday. The world is dark, and so is my brain. I shuffle through my house and up to my 7-year-old son’s room to wake him. Am I crazy? Well, not completely. Today, I’m a hockey mom. On any given day, I can be found hauling around bags of equipment: hockey, baseball, basketball, softball, soccer or gymnastics. Today, my son has a hockey tournament that is 33 miles away. He has multiple games that are 12 hours apart, and that’s just today. This is a three-day tournament. This is a typical Saturday for me. We all know that being a parent is more than a full-time job, but do we …