In honor of my Jrue’s fifth birthday on June 7, I thought it great to crack open his brain and take a peek inside, something I had not performed since he began specialized education and consistent speech therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorder. I discussed the discovery of his unique…
About five or so 3 a.m.’s ago, I woke up out of sleep because of this question: “Why are all cartoon animals shirtless or pant-less?” I am careful about using generalizations and considered the implications of “all.” Is it true that “all” of them are half-dressed? …
Jrue was much younger, perhaps 21 or so months old at the time. I had instituted reading at bedtime around the month he had turned one-and-a-half years old because I am a big believer that a joy (or minimal tolerance) in learning starts when a book opens. Once an English major, always…
I’m starting to see, despite having grown up the eldest of three members of the species, that little girls really are a bit of sweet and a bit of spice. Or whatever “in-between” the moment requires. My daughter spent the past weekend showing us some of…
This past Christmas, grandma wanted to purchase some kid-friendly tablets for each of my two children and my niece, who is five months older than my daughter. We researched which tablets had the features we most sought for the children: durability in terms of being able…
My hubs became a fan of “Game of Thrones” long before I eventually jumped onboard. He has viewed every episode since Season One and has analyzed each main plot point via YouTube theory channels, so he is, thus, my go-to advisor on all things “What’s happening here?” and “Who’s family line is this daughter from…
My preschooler is an incomparable individual already. Jrue has an amazing memory and can diagram lyrics and jingles and whole children’s stories in his brain, then can ricochet them into the air sporadically without much rehearsal. He is a sweet boy with the gentlest spirit, which I believe…
In case I hadn’t mentioned it before, keeping children alive can be a pretty strenuous position. My 4-year-old, Jrue, eats so infrequently that I actively wonder if a cloned robot was swapped with our real son without our knowledge. My almost-2-year-old, Jai, is hell-bent on obtaining the world record for…
Ah, a new year. A clean slate. The chance to start anew. Day 1 of __. A new year is an automatic promise for opportunity and change. There’s ample time now to slowly (quickly?) transform a not-so-appealing element in an individual’s commonplace. As a society, we habitually love to consider tweaks…
We potty-trained Jrue over Memorial Day Weekend 2016 using the 3-Day Potty Method, a systematic approach that mostly involves no bottom-wearing on day 1 and no diaper- or underwear-toting on days 2 and 3. The idea was to rid Jrue of the feeling of the barrier—if there was no diaper under his butt…