Who better to turn to for book recommendations than Julia Scheers, mother of one and author of

“Fashion is my passion and my kids can’t get in the way of that.”–random woman

I’ve been feeling sort of bad lately because there will be parents who will fawn over my daughter, and I’ll just look at their kid, and their child won’t seem to stir me in the same way. If a parent keeps complimenting our child do we have to return the favor? I’ve done [...]

Ever since I moved from San Francisco to Hawaii I have been having back yard Sunday bar-b-ques. I love grilled meats, fruit, vegetables, and drinking during the day, and I’d like to share what I’ll be cooking this Memorial Day. Kid and adult-friendly food, of course. I swear you will not be [...]

When you have kids and you want them to be adventurous eaters I suggest going bi and swinging both ways. I don’t cook two different meals. I just make one that’s kid-friendly and then once I’ve got my daughter’s portion taken care of I sex it up for the adults. Last night’s burritos [...]

It was a great experience being on a panel with Patricia Wood at the 2008 Hawaii Book and Music Festival. It’s nice to see that people in Hawaii read–hopefully it wasn’t just the Slurpees, free Starbucks, and jumpee houses that lured them there. The keynote speaker was Michael Ondaatje, author of the [...]

I wrote an essay for the Guardian.The version they ran was basically the same version I submitted. A few tweaks here and there. I’ve been having fun getting off the fiction track–writing true stories about parenting, vices, and mothers who annoy me, but I’ve found that it’s much easier to write about family [...]

This Saturday (May 17th) I’ll be on a panel at the Hawaii Book and Music Festival. I’ll be up there with Patricia Wood author of THE LOTTERY. She’s terrific–smart, animated, engaging, exuberant. I, however, tend to zone out at these things or simply nod like crazy, pretending to understand what the moderator [...]

“I would not recommend this housecleaner. Oh my God the appliances she finally got around to cleaning are now covered in a swirly pattern because she scrubbed the stainless steel against the grain.”–mom at the playground

I thought of some other toddler-friendly hip-hop to add to yesterday’s post. Maybe I should say “kid-frenemy” instead of “kid-friendly” because there’s always going to be the occasional F-bomb as I learned last night during family dance-off.
Pete Rock and CL SmoothEric B. and RakimEPMDBeastie Boys

Busted. I drove into the roundabout at my daughter’s preschool forgetting to turn down the music. I was listening to Nas–”Life’s a bitch and then you die that’s why we puff lye ’cause you never know when you’re gonna’ go.” The base made my Passat station wagon vibrate. I quickly turned [...]

“…She’s not my mom. She’s my babysitter. I have two babysitters.”“Why?”“’Cause I was adopted.”“Oh. How do you know?”“My second mom told me.”“How come you were adopted?”“I don’t know. Someone needed money.”–conversation between two young boys at the playground

I’m reading Meg Wolitzer’s novel, The Ten Year Nap. It hasn’t kidnapped my attention or anything, but the writing is super smart and I’m enjoying its topic: educated women who temporarily leave the workplace to raise children and who can’t seem to find their way back. I just came across a scene that [...]

“I wasn’t expecting that,” the 20-year-old said. “But it’s been nine months [since the birth of the last baby], so yeah.”–oldest son in the Arkansas Duggar familyreacting to news that mom is pregnant with 18th child.

I made out with some great things–a new ipod (my first one died) and a top from Lululemon one of my favorite stores. I asked my husband: “Why do these pants make my ass look so good?” He said: “They lift and separate,” and I believe that is the key. They lift [...]

We were at the playground, my daughter and I. She went to the sand pit to play with another kid. I couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl, which was intentional I assumed. It was one of those organic San Francisco babies dressed to look like a migrant worker. [...]

“It’s not just about plastic toy refusal. You need to make sure the wood toys use the most eco-friendly type of wood, like sustainably produced hardwoods. Avoid material from threatened domestic redwood and overseas rain forests! Check the edges of toys and puzzle pieces for layers of pressed woods, like plywood and [...]

My daughter is almost four and we have yet to go to a “child-friendly” restaurant. We were close once. We actually sat down at a family diner, but when they handed out the kid’s menu we left. Not only is the kid stuff the unhealthiest on the menu, it’s also the stupidest. [...]

“Why would she want to wipe poop from his butt when he’s ready to do it in a potty? She’s in a diaper coma.”–Overheard from passing joggers

Once you have a child your partying days and ways are over, right? I say no, but yes, the rules have changed. Like clothes, boyfriends, handbags, you must update. You must change. For example, back in the day I used to like going to bars, playing pool, getting smashed and sometimes [...]